Following last night’s electrifying Angélique Kidjo performance on the green (pictured above), an appealing talk today cleanses New Haven’s palate before next courses arrive. In the mix are big portions of physical and emotional comedy, plus a couple of concert series kickoffs and a visit from a seminal band.
Monday, June 22
Interested (academically) in a life of crime? Perhaps “Art Criminals and the Art of Fraud,” a free 4 p.m. talk today at Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library (120 High St, New Haven), is for you. Speaker Vernon Rapley—a former art crime detective for Scotland Yard, and now the security director at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, which boldly regards itself as “the world’s greatest museum of art and design”—is set to “provide a detective’s perspective on art and cultural heritage crime.” Along the way he’ll cover “the methods and motives of art forgers and fakers” and “the complexity of the task of detecting and imprisoning them.”
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Tuesday, June 23
Of all the spectacles presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, the acrobatic acts are the best at leaving our mouths agape. IFAI’s acrobatics headliner is Quebec-based troupe Machine de Cirque, which begins a five-day, six-performance run at the University Theatre (222 York St, New Haven) tonight at 8 p.m. The show, receiving its U.S. premiere this week, pulls together gymnastics, juggling, dancing and drumming, with a comedic streak and perhaps, if a salacious towel gag fails, some actual streaking. Regular tickets cost $50 day of, or $45 in advance.
Wednesday, June 24
The first of four occasions in the New Haven Museum’s summer “Twilight Concert Series” happens tonight outside the historic Pardee-Morris House (325 Lighthouse Rd, New Haven). The musical talent is Goodnight Blue Moon, a local folk septet good at conjuring the old-timey New England coastal life well-suited to Pardee-Morris’s situation two blocks from the sea. “Bring a blanket,” organizers say; also, “pack a picnic,” or grab a meal from the food truck onsite. Free to attend.
Thursday, June 25
“Please put your hands together for all the brave souls who are about to get mortified!” That’s how the emcees kick off each “Mortified Live” event, where regular people in Boston or Chicago or Portland get up on stage and read embarrassing stuff they wrote as adolescents to rooms full of howling commiserators. Capturing the feeling of these readings for the rest of us is documentary film Mortified Nation, screening tonight at 7:30 at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven (360 Amity Rd, Woodbridge; 203-387-2522). Tickets, which include “refreshments” and a post-screening Q&A session with the movie’s director Mike Mayer, go for $15, or $12 for JCC members.
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Friday, June 26
The Yale Guild of Carillonneurs, responsible for the songs New Haveners hear emanating from the top of Harkness Tower, commences its 2015 summer concert series tonight with an hourlong carillon performance by guild alum and advisor Ellen Dickinson. Unlike the daily carillon performances that occur throughout the school year, on these occasions the idyllic courtyard of the Branford College dormitory, situated just below Harkness, opens up to the general public, with lawn chairs and picnic spreads encouraged. The show starts at 7 p.m., though you can start settling in half an hour before. 74 High Street, New Haven. Free.
Saturday, June 27
Whether you’re riding IFAI’s train from start to finish or getting on at the next-to-last stop, take heed: tonight’s tentpole concert on the Green marks the end of the track. Headlining is the Grammy-nominated Plena Libre, “a 12-piece Puerto Rican ensemble of virtuoso musicians,” and opening is Carlos Santiago y Su Momento Musical, a “local New Haven favorite” warming things up with “salsa, merengue and bachata.” 7 p.m. Free.
Sunday, June 28
In the annals of popular music history, there are the mainstream headline-makers, and then there are the relatively unsung influencers who paved the way. The Melvins rest firmly on the latter end of things. The band’s been throwing metal, grunge, punk, sludge and progressive sensibilities into a boiling pot for more than 30 years, influencing major acts like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Tool, to name a few, and releasing an astonishing “27 original albums, numerous live full-lengths and far-too-many-to-count singles and rarities.” Tonight, the Melvins hold court at The Ballroom at The Outer Space (295 Treadwell St, Hamden; 203-288-6400), anchoring a 9 p.m. bill with up-and-coming, also grungy opening act Le Butcherettes. $20.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
