Derby Neck Library to show movie 'The Hitch-Hiker' Monday

 

DERBY - Join us at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Derby Neck Library as we watch The Hitch-Hiker (1953), the first classic Hollywood film noir to be directed by a woman: the legendary actress and trailblazing filmmaker Ida Lupino. 

Based on a true story as propulsive, riveting, and intense as a Hitchcock thriller, the film stars Edmond O’Brien, William Talman, and Frank Lovejoy, and features cinematography by the great Nicholas Musuraca, who shot Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942) and several of the other horror masterpieces produced by Val Lewton at RKO. 

Hot, fresh popcorn will be served!

The Library is at 307 Hawthorne Ave.

Derby Neck Library to show silent film 'The Penalty' Monday

DERBY - Join us [at Derby Neck Library] at 3:30 p.m. Monday as we watch the silent classic The Penalty (1920), starring the Man of a Thousand Faces himself, the great Lon Chaney, in one of his most outrageous roles. 

Chaney’s character, a legless crime boss seeking vengeance on the doctor who needlessly amputated his legs, has a master plan so galaxy-brained it truly has to be seen to be believed. Suffice it to say that it involves posing as Satan to seduce the doctor’s daughter, amassing an army of “Reds” to take over San Francisco, and organizing the city’s dance hall girls to make thousands of straw hats in a basement. 

If you can get on its wavelength, this is the most logical movie ever made. Hot, fresh popcorn will be served.

The Library is at 307 Hawthorne Ave., Derby. 

Old School Band to perform Friday on Derby Green

DERBY - Old School Band will perform the last concert of the summer/fall series starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the Green. 

Old School Band plays classic rock and roll music. The performance is sponsored by the City and Derby 350. 

"Thanks for joining us for the annual summer/fall concert series on the Green. We look forward to seeing you next year."

Shared from a Facebook event page.

Derby Neck Library to show film noir 'I Walk Alone' Monday

DERBY - Join us tomorrow, Aug. 11 at 3:30 p.m. at Derby Neck Library as we watch the classic film noir I Walk Alone (1947).

It stars the legends Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in their first collaboration, together with the great Lizabeth Scott.

The picture’s magnificent chiaroscuro photography by New Haven’s own Leo Tover, its crackling script, and its prescient depiction of postwar capitalism as a Kafkaesque labyrinth of absurdity and exploitation, make I Walk Alone one of the seminal films of the period.

Don’t miss it! Hot, fresh popcorn will be served.

Shared from the Library's Facebook page.

Derby Neck Library to host monthly Monday Movie Matinees

DERBY - Join us [at Derby Neck Library] next Monday, March 10, at 3:30 p.m. for our inaugural Monday Movie Matinee!

Every month we will meet to view a classic movie (or two)! This month we have a Leo McCarey double feature: "His Wooden Wedding" (1925) starring Charley Chase and "Duck Soup" (1933) starring the Marx brothers!

The Library is at 307 Hawthorne Ave.

Shared from the Library's Facebook page.

Center Stage Theatre in Shelton to present 'Oklahoma!'

SHELTON - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, setting the standards and rules of modern musical theatre. 

Center Stage Theatre will present 11 performances of the classic musical 'Oklahoma!' from Feb.16-25. The theater is located at 54 Grove St.

Tickets range from $18-$50. View the full schedule and purchase tickets at centerstageshelton.org.

In a Western territory just after the turn of the 20th century, a high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides a colorful background for Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, to play out their love story. Their romantic journey, as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road, contrasts with the comic exploits of brazen Ado Annie and hapless Will Parker in a musical adventure embracing hope, determination, and the promise of a new land.

This beloved classic was revived on Broadway several years ago with a contemporary, updated rendition of the classic story. 

This production will be similarly reimagined, including a modified seating chart which includes both regular theater seating and VIP Picnic Table Seats putting you in the middle of the action with a Box Social picnic treat served by the cast during intermission.

This is shared from the theater's Facebook page.

Massaro Farm in Woodbridge to show Halloween classic movie

 

Seymour Library Evening Book Club to discuss 'Rebecca' at next meeting

SEYMOUR -The Seymour Library Evening Book Club meets once a month at the Seymour Land Trust building, 13 Chatfield Road. 
The next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28. Participants are urged to arrive a little early to meet the other Book Clubbers. 
The book for January is the classic Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. 

Copies are available at the circulation desk. For questions call the Library, 203-888-3903.


Shared from an online community calendar sponsored by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and The New Haven Independent.

'A Redbird Christmas' is topic of Derby Public Library book discussion

   DERBY - The next Derby Public Library Lunchtime Book Discussion will feature A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. 

The November/December discussion will be held at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 28.

From the beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe comes her latest New York Times bestseller - a Yuletide classic about small-town America and larger-than-life wonders. 

With the same incomparable style and warm inviting voice that have made her beloved by millions of readers far and wide, author Fannie Flagg has written an enchanting Christmas story of faith and hope for all ages that is sure to become a classic.

Oswald T. Campbell leaves behind the cold and damp weather of the oncoming Chicago winter to spend what he believes will be his last Christmas in the warm and welcoming town of Lost River.

There he meets the postman who delivers mail by boat, the store owner who nurses a broken heart, the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society, who do clandestine good works. 

And he meets a little redbird named Jack, who is at the center of this tale of a magical Christmas when something so amazing happened that those who witnessed it have never forgotten it.

Lunchtime Book Discussions are held the last Wednesday of the month and are free and open to the public. 

Multiple copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk. Drop-ins are welcome; no registration required.  

For further information call 203-736-1482. The Library is at 313 Elizabeth St. 

This is a press release from Kathy Wilson, circulation manager, Derby Public Library.

Valley Shakespeare Festival in Shelton adapts French comedy

SHELTON - Valley Shakespeare Festival is making a brief departure from the works of its namesake for its next “Theater in the Bar” production with Moliere’s bawdy comedy “Tartuffe.”

Fans of VSF are well-acquainted with the way the company’s Artistic Director Tom Simonetti likes to adapt the classics for a contemporary audience while retaining the work’s authentic language.  
“Tartuffe” presented a special challenge as it was not only written in the 17^th century, but also in Moliere’s native French.  

Many English translations have been published in the subsequent 350-plus years and, after much research, Simonetti created the version audiences will enjoy on March 10 and 11 at Porky’s Café, 50 Center St.

Jeremy Funke, VSF’s perennial and lovable Ebenezer Scrooge will play the title role, the unscrupulous lecher and houseguest- from - Hell, Tartuffe, who will stop at nothing to take his host for all he is worth. 

Dave Herigstad, last seen in the company’s summer production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as Oberon, the all-powerful King of the Faeries, will do a “180” and portray Orgon, Tartuffe’s brainwashed host who is feeling his age and looking for redemption anywhere he can find it.  

Jessica Breda, a long time VSF favorite who has played multiple roles with the company, will take on Dorine in “Tartuffe,” the out-spoken, feisty, no-nonsense maid to Orgon’s wife, and the only one with the finesse and courage to save her employers from certain devastation. 

Audiences will no doubt recognize many other returning cast members as well as meet some new ones in Valley Shakespeare Festival’s “Tartuffe,” an irreverent and hilarious look at family, morals, religion, and all the usual issues faced by families throughout the ages.  

Tickets are $20 per person for table seats and $15 per person for floor seats and are available for purchase online at www.vsfestival.org or by phone by calling 203-513-9446.  

This is a press release from Valley Shakespeare Festival, a non-profit theater company dedicated to bringing free and low-cost theater to the communities of the lower Naugatuck Valley.

'Peter Pan' to soar into Shelton High School

Sharing this from the Youth CONNection's Facebook page:

SHELTON - The Youth CONNection theater troupe kicks off its new season with the classic musical, "Peter Pan," made famous by the likes of Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan, and Cathy Rigby. 

Here is all the charm of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the children, Wendy, Michael and John, Captain Hook, pirates and Indians, embellished with show-stopping songs, "Never Never Land," "I Won't Grow Up," and "I'm Flying."

Fly with Peter and Wendy on a magical adventure to Neverland and back, from the safety of the Darlings’ nursery to the underground home of the Lost Boys, the Indians’ encampment, the Mermaid’s lagoon (home of the ticking crocodile) and the pirate ship captained by the dastardly Captain Hook and his fearsome crew! 

"Peter Pan" is the perfect show for the child in all of us who dreamed of soaring high and never growing up.

Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. July 24-Aug. 1 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 1 at Shelton High School, 120 Meadow St.

Get your tickets today at www.centerstageshelton.org.

I'm sure this will be another wonderful production presented by the talented members of the Scarpas' Youth CONNection!

Center Stage in Shelton readies musical

*Sharing this information for Center Stage owners Gary and Francesca Scarpa of Shelton. It is taken from the Center Stage Theatre Facebook page.

“To Dream the Impossible Dream!”

One of the great classic plays of the American Musical Theater, Man of La Mancha personifies the strength of the human spirit and the power of imagination.

Enter the mind and the world of the mad knight Don Quixote as he pursues his quest for the impossible dream. Against all odds, he is a man who sees good and innocence in a world filled with darkness and despair.

Don Quixote’s quest? Simply, to make the world a better place - and that he does! Man of La Mancha is a classic tale of the triumph of the human heart! 
The winner of five Tony Awards including Best Musical, Man of La Mancha is an adventure you will long remember!

Performances will run Jan. 30-Feb. 15. 

For information visit http://www.centerstageshelton.org.



Center Stage is located in the former Lafayette School, 54 Grove St., Shelton.