It was 1951—66 years ago—that then 16-year-old Larry Silver snapped this shot of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Little did the now longtime Westport resident know the shot would end up in the collection of The New York Historical Society and the Museum Of The City of New York. Says Silver about the photo: “When I took the photograph I was a 16-year-old student at The High School of Industrial Art in New York City. The photograph was taken with a 4×5 press camera, but I didn’t print it until around the late 70s.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo by Larry Silver

By Susan Granger

“Goodbye Christopher Robin” is the intriguing ‘back story’ about the creation of one of literature’s most beloved children’s tales.

Alan Alexander Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) was best known as a successful British playwright, churning out witty West End comedies. But, in 1919, after he returned from fighting on the Western Front during World War I, he was shellshocked and depressed, suffering from what we now know as PTSD.

Impatient with her husband’s inability to write, Milne’s self-centered, socialite wife, Daphne (Margot Robbie), reluctantly agrees to move to Sussex with him and their son, Christopher Robin (Will Tilston).

Morose Milne rarely spends time with the cherubic boy until Daphne takes off for London and Christopher’s devoted nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald) leaves to tend her dying mother.

The Westport Country Playhouse will present a Woody Guthrie-inspired hootenanny on Friday, Dec. 8, 7 to 9 p.m., in the Lucille Lortel White Barn Center, adjacent to the theater. 

David M. Lutken, who plays the title role in the Playhouse’s upcoming musical, “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie,” will lead the hootenanny. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The admission-free event is open to the public by reservation, and the Playhouse invites the audience to bring an instrument, sing along, or clap to the rhythms, an announcement said.

Leading the hootenanny will be David M. Lutken, who plays the title role in the Playhouse’s upcoming musical, “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie,” a summer ‘17 off-Broadway hit. 

Other cast members will also be joining the informal, unamplified jam session.

A Westport Arts Center visitor tonight experiments with the 3D glasses accompanying the work of artist Mark Schiff at the Westport Artists Collective Pop-Up Art Show. There was a large turnout for the event featuring art by 15 regional artists. The show is on view through Saturday, and most of the works are available for sale.The participating artists will also take part in an Artist Talk on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow.com

Featured artist Charles Douthat poses with wife Julie Leff tonight in front of Douthat’s work at the Westport Artists Collective Pop-Up Art Show at the Westport Arts Center. In addition to painting, Douthat, who practices trial law in New Haven, writes poetry and is the author of “Blue for Oceans,” a debut collection of poetry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow.com

Westport Artist Collective members (l-r) Tammy Winser, Nina Bentley, and Ginny Waters today install the works of featured artist Charles Douthat in advance of Wednesday night’s Pop-Up Show at the Westport Arts Center from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is a great opportunity to support the arts on a local level (and to do some holiday shopping.) The Collective is now 150 members strong and includes artists from across the region. An artist talk will be held on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow.com

The cast of the Script In Hand reading of “You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water is Running” takes a bow tonight at the Westport Country Playhouse following a four-story play reading. Pictured are (l-r) Kristen Hahn, a 2007 Weston High School graduate, David Beach, Kathleen McNenny, Boyd Gaines, MIchael McCormick and Peter Chenot, stage directions.  McNenny and Gaines, who played the roles of husband and wife in a comical fourth segment of the play reading, are husband and wife in real life.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com