Memorials and anniversaries abound this week in New Haven, from honoring war veterans to marking 150 years of the New Haven Museum. But there are also contemporary cut-ups and carryings-on from comedians John Oliver and Bill Burr, two ear-bending shows at Yale’s Sprague Hall and a fiery showbiz drama delivered by New Haven Theater Company. A temper for every occasion, in this most turbulent of seasons.
Monday, November 12
It’s Veterans Day. Yale University is holding a ceremony in Beinecke Plaza (Wall Street between High and Temple streets, New Haven) at 12:30 p.m., where speeches will be made, music be will be played and a wreath will be laid at the alumni war memorial. Rain location is inside Woolsey Hall, where the names of hundreds of fallen soldiers associated with the university are etched into the walls.
The latest creative visitor to the Visiting Artist Lecture series at the Yale School of Art is writer/musician/culture theorist Greg Tate. 6:30pm at 36 Edgewood Avenue, Room 204, New Haven. (203) 432-2600.
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Tuesday, November 13
The violin/piano duo of Igudesman and Joo (pictured above) give you something to scream about with “A Little Nightmare Music,” a comical classical concert with exquisite timing and timbre. 8 p.m. at Morse Recital Hall, in Sprague Memorial Hall (470 College St., New Haven). $25-$35, $15 students. (203) 432-4158.
DJ Lokash is a frequent visitor from New York, from whence he’s brought exciting beats and live acts to local audiences keen to groove on the latest bass sensations. It’s claimed that tonight’s show at Café Nine (250 State Street, New Haven; 203-789-8281) will be Lokash’s last until the new year, but it’s a doozie. A new series at the club, Yaki Pa’yah, will bring “bass music from around the world.” Tonight, that means a largely NYC-based crew, but an eclectic one mixing sounds from Brazil Philadelphia and other influential party cultures. Besides DJ Lokash (host of the WESU radio show Bassment Beats), you can groove to Kilbourne (of PKE) and Gecko Jones (of Dutty Artz). The $5 late show starts at 11 p.m.
Wednesday, November 14
The hotheads at New Haven Theater Company return to the works of David Mamet, whose business drama Glengarry Glen Ross they presented in 2009. This time it’s the foul-tempered Hollywood power game Speed-the-Plow. NHTC regulars J. Kevin Smith, Steve Scarpa and Megan Chenot star; George Kulp, who acted in Glengarry, directs. The production finds the company at a different downtown venue than they’ve been accustomed to: Upcrown Studios (216 Crown St., New Haven). 7 p.m.
Thursday, November 15
The New Haven Museum (formerly the New Haven Historical Society) has made a little history of its own. The institution has been around for a century and a half as of this month, and starts the birthday party tonight with a “150th Anniversary Kickoff Celebration” from 5:30-8 p.m. $45. 114 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 562-4183.
Guest composer for the November edition of the Yale School of Music’s forward-thinking New Music New Haven series is the awesome octogenarian George Crumb. Students will play such provocative pieces as 1981’s “Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale)” and pieces from the third volume of Crumb’s audacious American Songbook series for soprano (in this case Janna Baty), percussion quartet and piano. 8 p.m. at Yale’s Morse Recital Hall.
Friday, November 16
John Oliver, from The Daily Show on Comedy Central, does his stand-up act at the Shubert (247 College Street, New Haven. 203-562-5666). Gosh, wonder if he’ll talk about the recent elections. $32.50, 8 p.m.
From Daily Show to Grateful Dead. The crowdpleasing Dead tribute act Shakedown makes their umpteenth visit to Toad’s Place, carrying on the jam tradition of Garcia, Weir et al. and adding their own shookdown style (honed over a quarter-century together as a band) to the mix. Forbin and Standard Practice are also on the bill. 8:30 p.m. at 300 York St., New Haven. (203) 624-TOAD. $12, $8.50 in advance.
Saturday, November 17
The David Lean film Summertime, starring Katherine Hepburn, should make for fine autumntime viewing 2 p.m. at the Yale Center for British Art (1080 Chapel Street, New Haven; 203-432-2800). The film, also known as Summer Madness, is based on the hit play The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents, about a Midwestern schoolteacher on vacation in Venice.
Comedian and podcaster Bill Burr messes with your head 8 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University’s Lyman Center (on the school’s 501 Crescent St. campus, New Haven). $35.
Sunday, November 18
Creative Arts Workshop holds its annual charity Bowl-A-Thon to support the Community Soup Kitchen. There’s a beautiful symmetry in this fundraiser: you purchase a handcrafted bowl or mug, ladle soup (donated by a local restaurant) into it, have a warming lunch, and contribute to those for whom a bowl of soup would be a godsend. 1:30 to 5 p.m. 80 Audubon Street, New Haven. (203) 562-4927.
Kehler Liddell Gallery predicts snow this winter. The new exhibit at 873 Whalley Avenue in New Haven has a simple theme: the color white. Many artists have been inspired by this color (or seeming lack thereof). The opening reception happens today from 3 to 6 p.m.; the show continues through December 23. (203) 389-9555.
Written by Christopher Arnott.
