City government—joined by a couple of music clubs, an indie bookstore, an experimental playhouse, a restaurant and an art gallery—is stepping up to help us make the most of summer this week in New Haven.
Monday, July 6
Having kicked off its fourth summer season last Monday, the city’s “Here Comes the Bus!” program brings one of two “fully loaded recreational buses” to different spots around town for the next several weeks, offering “free arts and crafts, nature education and mobile playground activities for all ages.” From 4 to 8 p.m today, and on the next four Mondays, find one bus at Criscuolo Park (along James Street south of Chapel) and the other at Brookside housing complex (6 Solomon Crossing, New Haven). Tomorrow, and on the next four Tuesdays, find one bus at Scantlebury Park (along Ashmun Street south of Webster) and the other at Edgewood Park (presumably near the corner of West Rock Avenue and Whalley), also from 4 to 8 p.m. Other locations get the buses on other days; view the full schedule on page 16 of the city’s 2015 summer camp brochure.
Tuesday, July 7
The Outer Space’s no-cover “Honky Tonk Tuesday” series hosts local trio Wry Bred tonight at 7 p.m. The “contra dance/barn dance/family dance band” gets its folksy, country-fied sound from Julie Sorcek’s flute and saxophone, Mickey Koth’s fiddle and Robert Messore’s guitar, and I reckon one of The Outer Space’s “over 80 varieties of beer” would make a very nice complement to it. 295 Treadwell Street, Hamden. (203) 288-6400.
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Wednesday, July 8
The woman most people associate with the Sex and the City universe probably isn’t Candace Bushnell, but it should be. She’s the author of the same-named 1996 book—in fact an anthology of columns she wrote for the New York Observer—that spawned the popular HBO show and a couple of movies, as well as seven more novels largely set within the orbits of well-to-do Manhattanites. The latest, published just a week and a half ago, is Killing Monica, which follows the late-career trials of a protagonist who sounds a lot like Bushnell herself—“a renowned writer whose novels about a young woman in Manhattan have spawned a series of blockbuster films,” according to the teaser copy on Bushnell’s website. The real-world writer will be at R.J. Julia tonight to discuss the book, and probably anything else audience members bring up, at 7 p.m. Free. 768 Boston Post Rd, Madison. (203) 245-3959.
Thursday, July 9
The apparent singularity of the second play of Yale Summer Cabaret’s 2015 season, titled love holds a lamp in this little room and directed by Leora Morris, goes well beyond a lowercased naming convention. It starts with the inspiration for the show: “the life and writings of Adah Isaacs Menken,” a “mixed-race American actress and daredevil who scandalized Victorian society with her nude horse-riding act and salacious private life.” It proceeds through the development of the play, which was created collaboratively “by the company.” And it finishes with the outcome of that collaboration, which is “full of pole dancing and poetry” and “cross-dressing and Kabbalah.” Beginning its 11-performance run tonight at 8 p.m. inside Yale Cabaret (217 Park St, New Haven; 203-432-1566), tickets cost $25, or $20 for Yale faculty/staff and $14 for students.
Friday, July 10
The city is putting on a free outdoor movie screening tonight at Kimberly Field featuring the funny, nostalgic treasure-hunt flick The Goonies. Located right next to the City Point section of town, framed by Kimberly Avenue, Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Greenwich Avenue, the field doesn’t quite offer a view of the ocean, but it may offer up an oceanic aroma and some seagulls, which’ll track nicely with the movie’s seaside scenes. One of those “fully loaded recreational buses” from Monday’s listing is set to be at the field from 4 to 8 p.m., with the movie scheduled to start around 8:30.
Saturday, July 11
If you were coming of age in the mid- to late ’90s, you could scarcely have missed The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, whose contagious melodic hooks, high-energy performances and cheeky music videos—belying surprisingly introspective lyrics—took ska mainstream, especially via the mega-hit “The Impression That I Get” (1997). Tonight the band’s at Toad’s Place (300 York St, New Haven; 203-624-8623), topping off a bill that starts with young L.A.-based ska band The Interrupters at 7:30, followed by the raucous punk band-with-a-purpose Street Dogs. $30, or $27.50 in advance.
Sunday, July 12
From 3 to 6 p.m. today, “Artist as Curator 2” gets an opening reception at Kehler Liddell Gallery (873 Whalley Ave, New Haven; 203-389-9555), whose member artists, in a “turning of the tables,” have curated “collage, drawing, handmade paper, painting, photography, print-making and sculpture” by 23 non-members based simply on admiration for the work. The exhibit opened on Thursday, July 9, and runs through August 30. Free to attend.
Written by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
