Twinkly lights in the sky whose waves are at least several years old. A 60-year-old play with a strange internal clock. Iconic time-traveling movies and set lists. A weekend that feels an awful lot like Halloween, a full week before the actual holiday.
Time’s a little loopy this week. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Monday, October 19
Wonks, politicos, live streams and 7 p.m. start times mark two parallel events tonight at Yale. One is a family-oriented stargazing party at Leitner Observatory (355 Prospect St, New Haven; 203-432-3000; free), organized to coincide with the Obama Administration’s “White House Astronomy Night” celebration in D.C. In addition to live-streaming a speech by the president, Leitner will have some of Yale’s learned astronomers around to take attendees’ questions, while offering hourly planetarium shows and chances to gaze up through its telescopes.
The other event trains gazes at a different kind of “up”: north. Joined by Tim Mak, a senior correspondent who covers American politics for The Daily Beast, Yale’s Committee on Canadian Studies streams the 2015 Canadian federal election tonight in room 202 of Luce Hall (34 Hillhouse Ave, New Haven; free).
Tuesday, October 20
“Is this farce? Or tragedy? Both. And more.” So say the showrunners for the Yale School of Drama’s 2015-16 season opener, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-winning The Skin of Our Teeth (1943), in which “the All-American Antrobus family is faced with an onslaught of natural and manmade disasters—the Ice Age, catastrophic flood, global war.” As you might be able to tell from that description, this is a play where distant historical phenomena are synthesized and condensed to thematic ends. The show’s 5-day, six-show run is also condensed, starting tonight at 8 p.m. in the Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel St, New Haven). $25, or $15 for students.
Wednesday, October 21
The future is now. October 21, 2015, is the date to which Marty McFly first travels in Back to the Future Part II (1989)—and while, on the real October 21, 2015, hover boards aren’t ubiquitous, clothes don’t auto-fit the wearer and cafes haven’t deployed floating A.I. waitstaff, that just renders the movie’s alternate vision of the present all the more entertaining. To celebrate the occasion, Criterion Cinemas (86 Temple St, New Haven; 203-498-2500) is screening all three Back to the Futures back-to-back, starting at 5:30 p.m. $15.
If a less sedentary “Back to the Future Day” celebration is more your speed—or if five or six hours in a theater makes you desperate to move your feet—the 1980s cover band The Future Heavies implores you to “come dressed in your favorite ’80s outfit!” for a trilogy of one-hour sets at Stella Blues (204 Crown St, New Haven; 203-752-9764) tonight. Happening between 8:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., expect songs from Bananarama, Tears for Fears and a host of others including Huey Lewis & The News, whose chart-topper “Power of Love,” written expressly for the first Back to the Future (1985), surely deserves a spot somewhere in the mix. $5 cover.
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Thursday, October 22
“Selling’s not everything? You really believe that?” Long Wharf Theatre’s production of Disgraced (2012), the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2013, contains lots of questions, as do most plays. But those two, uttered early on by artist Emily—who’s lamenting the failure to find a buyer for one of her pieces—foreshadows deeper sorts of selling, which she and her high-earning husband Amir, a corporate lawyer, are about to face. As Long Wharf sums it up, “When [Amir is] asked to help defend an imam accused of funding terrorists, a series of shattering events upends their perfect world, forcing them to confront the compromises they made to stake out a piece of the American dream.” The Gordon Edelstein-directed play, which enjoyed a sold-out opener last night following previews the week before, continues tonight at 8 p.m., with showings through November 8. $70.50-80.50. 222 Sargent Dr, New Haven. (203) 787-4282.
Friday, October 23
Spelling, not selling, is the preoccupation of the fourth annual “New Haven Reads Spelling Bee” tonight. Presented just before Halloween each year, it puts several fun spins on the average bee. People compete in teams. Those teams wear costumes. There’s food (apps and desserts) and a cash bar available. And there are emcees to “keep you entertained throughout the night!” Team registration is waitlist-only at this point, but anyone can join the audience for a suggested $5 donation at the door. Evans Hall, Yale School of Management. 7 p.m. 165 Whitney Ave, New Haven.
Saturday, October 24
The Young Professionals Symposium, a free all-day affair organized by Connecticut Young Professionals and Future Leaders of Yale, happens today from 10 in the morning to 6:30 at night. Making use of the university’s facilities, most of the itinerary—which includes a keynote speech from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman at noon and elective “breakout sessions” in the afternoon—happens in either Harkness Hall (100 Wall St, New Haven) or Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall (1 Prospect St, New Haven), finishing with a happy hour mixer from 4:30 to 6:30 at Elm City Social (266 College St, New Haven).
Up in Middletown, the fifth annual “Crawl of the Dead” invites drinkers dressed as zombies and zombie hunters to chase each other through seven different bars, spending an hour at each. About a half an hour from New Haven—bringing a designated driver is a very good idea—the first stop on the pub crawl, which promises “drink specials and treats,” is Vines on Church (129 Church St, Middletown) at 6 p.m.
Sunday, October 25
Harnessing Westville’s considerable artistic mojo, the “Giant Puppet and People-Making-Mayhem Parade” is back for another pre-Halloween promenade this year, starting at 10:30 a.m. at West Rock and Whalley Avenues in front of Manjares. Whether spectating or participating, costumes are encouraged, and if the plan is similar to last year’s event, then the parade route will lead to the northwest corner of Edgewood Park, where the CitySeed farmers’ market’ll be in full swing.
Written by Dan Mims. Image depicts detail of the original poster art for Back to the Future (1985). Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
