By Susan Granger

In “Mr. Holmes,” Ian McKellan plays craggy, cranky Sherlock Holmes, as the 93-year-old British detective attempts not only to “solve” his last case but also to separate fact from fiction about his life.

Retired to Dover on the southeast coast of England, Holmes lives in a cottage with a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her curious, precocious son, Roger (Milo Parker), who helps him tend his beloved beehives.

Holmes realizes that his memory is failing, along with his powers of deduction. To remedy that, he’s experimenting with royal jelly and prickly ash, a rare Japanese herb with rejuvenating qualities.

What he’s struggling to recall are the details of a case involving his relationship with a married woman (Hattie Morahan) that’s revealed in flashbacks to postwar London and bombed-out Hiroshima.

The Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts will present “Don Felder –- An Evening at the Hotel California” Saturday as its annual benefit concert, the first in its new home.

Don Felder will headline the Levitt Pavilion’s annual Summer Gala.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

A four-time Grammy Award winner, Felder is a former lead guitarist of The Eagles, one of the most popular and influential rock groups of the 1970s.

The band’s record-setting compilation “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)” sold more than 29 million copies in the United States alone and was awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America the top-selling album of the 20th century.

A member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1998, Felder served as a member of The Eagles for 27 years, putting his mark on numerous Eagles milestones.

He originated the music and co-wrote The Eagles biggest hit—the iconic, Grammy-studded smash ‘‘Hotel California’’—along with fan favorites like ‘‘Victim of Love’’ and ‘‘Those Shoes.’’

Despite intermittent drizzle, the popular Fairfield Counts played Big Band music tonight at the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com photo

Members of the audience joined in tonight when the Fairfield Counts played “Sweet Caroline” at the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

Kristina Newman-Scott, appointed Connecticut’s new director of culture in May, made her first visit today to a Westport arts institution – the Westport Arts Center. Helen Klisser During, WAC’s artistic director, welcomed her. She previously served as Hartford’s marketing, events and cultural affairs director and before that as director of programs at the Boston Center for the Arts. A native of Jamaica, she was an art consultant in Kingston for eight years prior to her arrival in the United States, where she became a citizen in 2013. In Jamaica, Newman-Scott was a popular television personality and visual artist, and worked in radio, television and the film industry there. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The cast of the Westport Country Playhouse rehearses A.R. Gurney’s new play, “Love & Money,” for its preview performance debut tonight. The play, a co-production with New York’s Signature Theatre where it will open in August, pointedly explores the trials of class, family, legacy, and race, directed by Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director, runs through Aug. 8 at the Playhouse before opening at New York’s Signature Theatre in August.  Pictured are Joe Paulik, playing the role of Harvey Abel, and Maureen Anderman as Cornelia Cunningham. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The Westport Library today announced two events related to Harper Lee’s highly anticipated and unexpected new novel, “Go Set a Watchman.”

It will hold a screening of the 1962 award-winning film “To Kill a Mockingbird,” based on Lee’s best seller, and a conversation about the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on Saturday, Aug. 8, at 1:30 p.m. in the Library’s McManus Room.

On Sunday, Aug. 29, at 3 p.m., the library will hold a discussion of “Go Set a Watchman,” also in the McManus Room.

Both discussions will be led by Sara Camarro, language arts teacher at Coleytown Middle School, who has taught “To Kill a Mockingbird“ to students for many years and has read the novel more than 40 times, an announcement said. The programs are free and open to the public.

The Staples Players summer production of “Godspell” will be performed this week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 3 p.m.

Jack Baylis (l., as Jesus) and Charles Zuckerman perform “We Beseech Thee”  in a “Godspell” rehearsal. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Kerry Long photo

Based on the Gospels of St. Matthew, the family-friendly musical brings to life the parables of Jesus Christ by putting a modern twist on traditional hymns. 

“I grew up listening to and loving the music from ‘Godspell’,” said Director David Roth.  “But what attracted us to ‘Godspell’ as a summer show was its upbeat message of love and tolerance. 

“Some of our most recent productions, for example ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Sweeney Todd,’ were very moving, but were also very dark.