Comedian Colin Quinn appeared in a sold out performance of “Stand Up for Homes with Hope” at the Westport Country Playhouse tonight. Before the show, he met with guests including Lisa Marriott a show organizer and Homes with Hope Board Member Chan Wheeler. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Tonight’s opening night audience for the Staples Players production of “The Music Man” gave the performance a standing ovation. Sixty-four Staples students are taking part in the production along with eight more from elementary and middle school. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

More than 300 guests tonight celebrated the opening of Westport Arts Center’s “MORE Than Words/#iammore” exhibition featuring juried works by the community on the theme of courage, resilience and empowerment in the face of bullying.  Among the works on display was “Be Nice,” a lenticular image by Westport artist Miggs Burroughs (r) of model Lucy Zuckerman (l) using American sign language to communicate “Be Nice.” CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow.com

Members of the Westport Artists’ Collective are pictured tonight at the opening reception for the Westport Arts Center’s latest exhibit, “MORE Than Words/#iammore.” Many of the artists are represented in the show, which features juried works by the community on the theme of courage, resilience and empowerment in the face of bullying. Of special note is the new junior category, featuring art from students ages 10-17. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow.com

Today’s start of a three-day estate sale at the Morningside Drive South home of the late Westport artists Walter and Naiad Einsel drew dozens of buyers and browsers. Many of the items were produced by the artists while many were among their eclectic collection dating to the 19th century. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

A preview of the estate sale Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the home of the late Westport artists Walter and Naiad Einsel on Morningside Drive South. Click here for details. Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

An estate sale of a variety of unique items by the late Westport artists Walter and Naiad Einsel will be held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at their home on Morningside Drive South. Click here for details. Naiad Einsel died on April 3 at age 88. (See WestportNow April 6, 2016) Walter Einsel died in 1998 at age 72. (See other videos here, here, and here.) WestportNow.com videos by Helen Klisser During

There is a new home for an iconic painting of Staples High School band members by Westport artist Stevan Dohanos—Staples High School.

At unveiling (l-r) Caroline Elizondo, Michele Mechanic, Jim Marpe, James D’Amico, Kathie Bennewitz, Christie Stanger, and David Roth. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo by Kerry Long

“The Band Played On (The Big Game),” drawn for an Oct. 19, 1946 Saturday Evening Post cover, depicts five members of the 1946 Staples High School band. In recent years, it has been in the first selectman’s office at Westport Town Hall.

The painting will hang in the Staples auditorium lobby throughout Staples Players’ run of “The Music Man” on Friday and Saturday, and on Nov. 13, 18 and 19, alongside the promotional posters for the 2001 and 2016 Staples Players’ productions of “The Music Man” that were inspired by the painting. 

Taking part in an unveiling of the painting in its new home were members of the Friends of Westport Public Arts Collections Committee (WestPAC), which conserved the work, along with First Selectman Jim Marpe, Staples High School Principal James D’Amico, Town Curator Kathie Bennewitz, and Staples Players Director David Roth.

By Susan Granger

Denis Villenueve’s “Arrival” is an exciting, provocative, intellectually stimulating sci-fi thriller.

Combining the wonderment of Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” while jettisoning the perception of linear time, it’s about Earth’s first contact with an alien civilization.

When 12 mysterious spacecraft touch down around the globe, renowned linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is summoned by Col. Weber (Forest Whitaker) to try to decipher their intergalactic intentions.

Still mourning the death of her young daughter, Louise realizes that this is a mind-bending adventure. En route to the nearest landing site in Montana, she’s joined by theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), an expert in binary code.