“There’s a place for us, a time and place for us…” Those places, this week in New Haven, include New York’s Upper West Side (as in the classic musical West Side Story), the historic Pardee-Morris House (opening for its summer season), a wealthy mansion beset by the scoundrel Tartuffe at Yale Summer Cabaret, an attic in the Czech Republic during the Holocaust (documented in Making Light in Terezin), plus some outdoor spaces, such as The Space in Hamden and some patches of flowers found on a Yale Peabody Museum field trip.
Somewhere, a place for us.
Monday, May 27
Kindly observe Memorial Day. There are parades this morning in East Haven, West Haven and elsewhere.
Starting this afternoon at Cafe Nine (250 State Street, New Haven; 203-789-8981), there’s a seven-hour All-Star Rhythm & Blues Memorial Day Barbecue event from 4-11 p.m., which seems just the right mix of respectful (since blues music often reflects on mortality and grief) and celebratory (since to many people Memorial Day marks the onset of summer, and is the last public holiday before the end of the school year). Bands featured include The Strangers, The Langley Brothers, The George Baker Experience, The Convertibles and the Cafe Nine All Stars. $10 admission includes music and food.
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Tuesday, May 28
You might have already suspected this, but “Mind Reading” is the topic at the latest Science in the News discussion at New Haven Free Public Library. Some of the Yale Science Diplomats (namely grad students Benjamin van Buren and Becky van den Honert, both from the Psychology department, and Emily Finn, who’s studying biomedical science) ask these brain-probing questions about telepathy: “Can we do it? Should we?” 6:25 p.m. 133 Elm Street, New Haven. (203) 946-8835. Also, for those who can’t see into the future, know this: the library is closed all day tomorrow, Wednesday May 29, for special training.
Wednesday, May 29
This week’s free show at BAR (254 Crown Street, New Haven), brought to you by Manic Productions, features the eclectic pop-history-driven band Decades (three guys from Lansing, Michigan, who give a punk edge to songs and sounds torn from old-school AM radio hits) and the Connecticut-based Americana band The Moving Company, one of whose members is in fact moving away (to Boston) shortly after this show. 9 p.m. Free.
Thursday, May 30
When the folks at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History (170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven; 203-432-5050) plan a field trip, they literally go to a field! “Spring Grasses of New England” is the title for a stroll where you can discover “beautiful and important plants all around us.” The two-session course, co-sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, meets today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 1, from 9 to 11 a.m. $49.
The Yale Summer Cabaret opens its jam-packed classic-studded 2013 season tonight with Molière’s controversial 17th century comedy Tartuffe. This scathing social satire is about a con man who’s wormed his way into a wealthy man’s house, where he plans to take the gullible old coot for everything he’s got—including his wife. Performances are Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 p.m., through June 15. Tickets are $25-$40, with season subscription deals available. The Yale Summer Cabaret also serves food, and this summer there are special “Late Night Friday” events from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. 217 Park Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1567.
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Friday, May 31
Various tours of West Side Story have been coming to the Shubert in New Haven since the show first became a Broadway sensation in the early 1960s. This latest go-round is based on the recent 50th anniversary Broadway revival, which upped the Spanish-language content of the racially charged musical (based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) and was the last production to be graced by the personal involvement of the show’s fabled librettist, Arthur Laurents. $15-$125. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 & 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 & 6:30 p.m. 247 College Street, New Haven. (203) 562-5666.
Dave Douglas (pictured above) is an extraordinary jazz trumpeter and bandleader who runs his own acclaimed record label, Greenleaf Music. Douglas has been a part of numerous distinctive bands (one of which, Keystone, improvised impressionistic scores for century-old silent film comedies). He brings his new quintet to Firehouse 12 (45 Crown Street, New Haven; 203-785-0468) tonight for two sets, at 8:30 p.m. ($18) and 10 p.m. ($12).
Saturday, June 1
The all-ages rock club and youth hang-out The Space (295 Treadwell Street, Hamden) is holding its first Flea Market of 2013. Flea markets in the parking lot are a tradition that goes back to the club’s beginnings a decade ago. The plethora of vendors will be augmented with live music, barbeque specialties from HanBones and the fact that the Space’s own thrift shop, arcade and Outer Space craft-beer bar will be open. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All ages.
Making Light in Terezin is a new documentary by local playwright/filmmaker Richard Krevolin. It’s about Laugh With Us, a cabaret revue written during the Holocaust by prisoners at the Theresienstadt concentration camp (where many artists and composers were sent), which was recently revived and performed by a small theater troupe in Minnesota. Subtitled “A Documentary on Art vs. Death,” Making Light in Terezin has its New England premiere at Lyric Hall (827 Whalley Avenue, New Haven; 203-389-8885) with four screenings this weekend: today at noon, 3 and 7 p.m., and tomorrow at 3 p.m. $12, $18 for the Saturday evening show.
Sunday, June 2
Another sign of summer! The Pardee-Morris House, a landmark building overseen by the New Haven Museum, opens its doors today from 12:30-4 p.m. for its summer season of tours, lectures and other events. The house, at 325 Lighthouse Road in New Haven, is (according to the museum) “one of the oldest surviving historic structures in Connecticut.” It was first built in 1750, then rebuilt after being destroyed during the British raid in 1779. This afternoon’s season-opening events include colonial-era games for kids, guided tours and photo displays. For information, contact the New Haven Museum at (203) 562-4183 or info@newhavenmuseum.org.
Written by Christopher Arnott.
