Friday's Jive 01-25-13
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the cultural and entertaining events happening in our area this week:
At The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown tonight Acoustic Ladyhips will be performing rock, pop and jazz. Saturday brings a double bill of balladeers to the Buttonwood, starting at 8 p.m.: Jeremiah Birnbaum and Ben Rabb. Sunday, Food Not Bombs shares food in front of the Buttonwood at 1pm. Everyone is welcome. Prior to that, consider helping to prepare the vegetarian food at First Church, 190 Court Street at 11:30am for the meal. Visit www.buttonwood.orgfor more of their offerings.
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be performances of Circophony’s Vaudeville Circus, the latest youth circus under the directorial eye of ARTFARM’s Dic Wheeler. Circophony is a co-production of ARTFARM and Oddfellows Playhouse. It combines the dazzling artistry of circus with the style and format of classic vaudeville. This hour-long performance, featuring 11 young performers between the ages of 13 and 18, will transport you back to the 1920s with fabulous flapper costumes, acrobatics, juggling, unicycling, magic, dance, melodrama and comic sketches. A fast-paced series of acts, all to a soundtrack of live and recorded classic jazz. Performances will be at 7:30 pm at Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington Street, Middletown.
Tonight there is a closing reception for the Art For Haiti Exhibition at the Artspace Gallery in Hartford at 6pm. All proceeds benefit “Movin’ With The Spirit,” a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the people of the poorest part of Haiti. Exhibiting Artists include : Andria Alex; Andres Chaparro; WESU’s own host of the Bauer Hour, David Bauer; Joyce Senesac; Paul Baldassini; Phil Ouelette; Pierre Sylvain; and Robert Charles Hudson. For information call Pierre at 860-808-9128.
Down in New Haven at Café Nine from 5 p.m. to closing, it’s Lonesome Billy’s Birthday Rockathon: featuring Torque; The Gene Gnomes; The Benders; Gary Heriot; Al Raebuck; Knot A Band; Taylor Joyner; Tommy Lourdes; and more. Saturday from 4:30-7:30 pm, it’s the weekly Saturday Afternoon Jazz Jam, followed at 8 by Day 2 of the 9th Annual Berfest – Featuring Dead Wives; Home Movies; Native Mode; and No Program. Sunday, from 4 to 7 p.m., it’s the Bluegrass Jam At Cafe Nine, hosted by Stacy Phillips. Then, starting at 8 sharp, it’s the Sunday-After-Supper Jam: w/ host Dom Zullo and the Cafe Nine All Stars. More can be found online at cafenine.com.
In New Haven at Toads Place tonightthey’ve got Shakedown, playing The Dead and beyond, along with Full Spectrum and String Band. Saturday, it’s the original Saturday Night Dance Party. More can be found at toadsplace.com.
Up in Hartford at Blackeyed Sally’s, tonight Popa Chubby is onstage. Saturday, it’s Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts, voted Connecticut’s “Best Blues Band” by the readers of the Hartford Advocate in 2005, 2007 2008 and 2011. Sunday brings Downtown Rocks For Newtown to Sally’s, with Spark Plug; Forward Motion; Carnival of Thieves; Addison Station; and Frank Viele & The Manhattan Project. Find out the entire schedule online at
www.blackeyedsallys.comNow here’s a rundown of cinema off the beaten path here in Central Connecticut beginning at Real Art Ways in Hartford. “Chasing Ice” continues in matinees on Saturday and Sunday. National Geographic photographer James Balog discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. Tonight begins a run of “56 Up.” Starting in 1964 with “Seven Up,” the original concept of the UP series was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven Up, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives. An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century. More information can be found at
www.realartways.org.Over at Cinestudio, Trinity College’s cinema in Hartford, “tonight through Saturday is the film “Flight,” with Denzel Washington playing a conflicted man who runs into trouble and isn’t sure how to get out. The cast includes John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Melissa Leo. Sunday begins “Wake in Fright,” called “The best and most terrifying film about Australia in existence.” Gary Bond stars as a sensitive schoolteacher who ventures into the Outback, finding himself lured into a rural nightmare of debauchery and dread that exists far from any dreams of civilization. Visit cinestudio.org to find out more.