More than 400 students today attended a special 10:30 a.m. performance of “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” free of charge for Connecticut schools adopting the “Willesden Reads” program into their curriculum to study the Holocaust.  “Willesden Reads” is a program of the Hold On To Your Music Foundation, established in 2003 by Mona Golabek, who stars in “The Pianist of Willesden Lane.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A guest at the Westport Artists Collective pop up art show reception tonight at the Westport Arts Center focuses on works by Barbara Ringer. The show continues through Saturday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

There was a large turnout tonight at the Westport Arts Center for the Westport Artist Collective pop up art show. The show continues through Saturday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Westport artist Joan Miller, a member of the Westport Artists Collective, shows off her works tonight at the Collective’s pop up art show at the Westport Arts Center. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Mona Golabek, who stars in the Westport Country Playhouse musical memoir “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” today signs a book for Westporter Sandra Urist following the matinee performance. Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, it runs through Dec. 22. The production returned to the Playhouse by popular demand after a sold-out run in April 2017. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

The Westport Country Playhouse today announced its 2019 Family Festivities Series on selected Sundays from January through April, featuring musical productions based on classic and contemporary children’s stories.

“The Phantom Tollbooth” opens the Family Festivities series on Sunday, Jan. 13. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The four-show series includes musical versions of the classic, “The Wizard of Oz,” and the best-selling book, “Angelina Ballerina.”

Performances are at 1 and 4 p.m., and are approximately one-hour in length. Tickets, at $20 each, are now on sale.

Opening the 2019 series on Sunday, Jan. 13, will be “The Phantom Tollbooth,” an original stage adaptation of the beloved classic by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer.

The latest pop up exhibit from the Westport Artists Collective opens Wednesday with a 6 to 8 p.m. reception at the Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Ave., and runs through Saturday with artist talks at 3 p.m. Saturday. Pictured installing an elephant picture by Carole McClintock are (l-r) Nina Bentley, Tammy Winser, Dan Long (kneeling) Susan Fehlinger and Michael Brennecke. In addition to the work by McClintock, other participating artists include Anne Brecher-Bogart, Joan Miller, Janine Brown, Daisy Dodge, Zvi Goldman, Carmela Kaufman, Joanie Landau, Barbara Marks, Dennis Pyrch, Aleksander Rotner, Greg Ziebell, Karen Weissman, Barbara Ringer  and Jennifer Williams. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

By Susan Granger

Netflix is enticing Oscar voters by releasing “Roma,” the immersive, black-and-white, semi-autobiographical film from Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity,” “Children of Men,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”) in a few theaters in addition to streaming on Dec. 14.

Set in 1971 in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma district, the opening scene is an optical illusion: the camera reveals the floor of a courtyard which turns into a mirror of an airplane in the sky above when soapy water flows across it.

It’s being mopped by Cleo (newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), an indigenous Mixteco from the southern state of Oaxaca; she works as a live-in maid/nanny for an upper middle class family.

Status-conscious Dr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) is often away on ‘business trips’ and drives a Ford Galaxy that’s too big for the carport. Short-tempered Señora Sofia (Marina de Tavira) is obviously harried. Their four school-age children adore Cleo, who stoically cleans up the turds left by their romping Alsatian.

Scenes from today’s Westport Historical Society annual Holiday House Tour. J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com