Despite the continuous rain and cancelations of various events today in the Westport area, the conditions did not deter a large crowd from attending the Westport Country Playhouse Children’s Series performances of “Stella, Queen of the Snow,” performed at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.  Playhouse general manager Michael Ross said there were over 40 “no-shows” for the 1 p.m. performance and exchanges for the 4 p.m. performance were offered and accepted by many. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Actress, playwright, and arts educator Mina Hartong today leads a group of children, including Austin Cataudo, 3 1/2 (gray shirt) and his sister Dylan, 6, a first grade student at Kings Highway Elementary School, in a children’s acting workshop prior to the 1 p.m. performance of “Stella, Queen of the Snow” at the Westport Country Playhouse. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

There was a packed house today for the Westport Cinema Initiative’s showing of “The Dead” at Christ & Holy Trinity Church, part of the Westport Library’s WestportREADS celebration of James Joyce’s “Dubliners.” The 1987 film directed by John Huston, starring his daughter Anjelica Huston, was the last film that Huston directed, and it was released posthumously. “The Dead” was adapted from the short story “The Dead” by Joyce from his short works “Dubliners” collection and was set in Dublin in 1904. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Among those at the Westport Cinema Initiative’s screening today of the 1987 film “The Dead” at Christ & Holy Trinity Church were (l-r) Yale Professor Mark Schenker, Kelle Rudin of the Westport Library, Joe Meyer, a writer for Hearst Connecticut Media, and state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, president of the Westport Cinema Initiative. Schenker and Meyer held a talk-back after the film, which was shown as part of the library’s WestportREADS celebration of James Joyce’s “Dubliners.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

At today’s Matisse cut-out workshop in the Westport Library’s children’s library, youngsters tried their hand at making cut-outs for a series of panels in the Higgins Room. The effort was inspired by French artist Henri Matisse’s monumental cut-out “The Swimming Pool” (1952), a favorite of visitors since its acquisition by New York’s Modern Museum of Art in 1975 and now on exhibit for the first time in 20 years. In the late 1940s, Matisse, who died in 1954 at age 84, turned almost exclusively to cut paper as his primary medium, and scissors as his chief implement. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

Westport artist Norma Minkowitz talks to attendees tonight about her intricate pen-and-ink drawings at a reception held to celebrate an exhibit featuring her works in the Westport Library’s Great Hall. Called “Drawn to the Edge,” the exhibit runs through March 25. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

By Susan Granger

Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated “Selma” about the voting-rights struggle of 1965 is not only timely but relevant, given the continuing racial turmoil over the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

The historical drama begins with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) receiving the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, then meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), whom he urges to support passage of a national Voting Rights Act.

To underscore the need for change, King and his Southern Christian Leadership advisors travel in March, 1965, to Selma, Ala., for a peaceful, nonviolent protest -– then boldly march 50 miles from Selma to the state’s capital of Montgomery.

Stressing that raising white America’s consciousness is as crucial as organizing black communities, King outlines his three principles of protest: “Negotiate, demonstrate, resist.” 

Westport Country Playhouse Artistic Director Mark Lamos interviewed Ireland-born Pulitzer prize-winning author Paul Muldoon tonight as part of the Westport Library’s WestportREADS program this month featuring James Joyce’s “Dubliners.” Muldoon’s most recent book, “One Thousand Things Worth Knowing” was released Jan. 13. Muldoon, poetry editor of the New Yorker Magazine and who grew up in Ireland said, ”I’m predisposed to rhyme more then most writers today. Rhyme was influenced through my upbringing.” He lightheartedly referred to Ireland as always being behind the times and said he was unaware that poets had strayed away from rhyme as a poetry form. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Volunteer helpers at today’s Play With Your Food return to Toquet Hall in Westport prepare to greet guests with food from Westport’s Blue Lemon and coffee by Starbucks. Performances continue Wednesday and Thursday. For more information, click here. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com