Category: Arts & Leisure - Page 71

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Getting Ready for ‘Imperial Jam’

Workers today set up the stage for the “Imperial Jam” to be held in the Imperial Avenue parking lot adjacent to the Levitt Pavilion as part of this weekend’s Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. It will feature many local bands, including the Alpaca Gnomes and the Mighty Soul Drivers. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

Blues, Views and BBQ Set for Weekend

The savory scents of barbecues fired up by passionate pitmasters and the sultry sounds of blues singers are set to converge Saturday and Sunday in and around the Levitt Pavilion for Westport’s 11th annual Blues, Views and BBQ Festival.

Sponsored for the first time by the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce (WWCC) — taking over from the Westport Downtown Merchants Association — the event opens at 11 a.m. each day, with performances starting at 11:30 a.m.

“This will be the place to be Labor Day weekend,” said Matthew Mandell, WWCC executive director. “Two days of great music and fun for every one of every age at the biggest event in town.”

The “Levitt Live” performances on Saturday will feature Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. Denson has just come off being on Tour with the Rolling Stones, Mandell said.

Monday, August 27th, 2018

Granger at the Movies: ‘Papillon,’ ‘Alpha,’ ‘Mile 22’

By Susan Granger

Special to WestportNow

If you saw Franklin Schaffner’s 1973 Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman adaptation of Henri Charriere’s best-selling autobiography “Papillon,” you’d feel acute disappointment within the first 10 minutes of this decidedly mediocre version.

In Paris in 1933, Henri Charriere (Charlie Hunan) is a reckless safecracker who’s framed for murder and shipped off to a the notorious penal colony on the remote island of French Guiana, located on the north Atlantic coast of South America. It was established by the French emperor Napoleon III in 1852.

Leaving Marseilles, he offers to ‘protect’ delicate, diminutive currency counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who has money stashed away.

Called ‘Papillon’ for the butterfly tattooed on his chest, Charrier repeatedly plots their escape, despite repeated warnings by sadistic Warden Barrot (Yorick Van Wageningen) and eventual incarceration on the former leper settlement known as Devil’s Island. Stubbornly determined, he eventually succeeds after surviving years in silent, solitary confinement.

Sunday, August 26th, 2018

Video: Kelli O’Hara Guests at Levitt Pavilion Closer

Tony Award-winning actor Kelli O’Hara joined husband Greg Naughton and his band The Sweet Remains tonight at the 45th season closer of the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts. Naughton said his wife flew from London where she is appearing in “The King and I” for the performance and to take their son and daughter to the first day of classes Tuesday in the Westport schools. WestportNow.com video by J.C. Martin

Gallery: Sweet Remains Closes Out 45th Levitt Season

Scenes from tonight’s Levitt Pavilion closer featuring the modern rock band The Sweet Remains. Westporter Greg Naughton is a member of the band and invited his wife, Tony Award-winning actor Kelli O’Hara, and his father, Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton to join the group for two numbers. J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com and WestportNow.com photos

Levitt Closes Out 45th Season

The Sweet Remains tonight closed out the 45th Levitt Pavilion for the Arts summer season with a full house of fans of their modern folk-rock sound. With Westporter Greg Naughton part of the group, special guest performers included his wife, Tony Award-winning actor Kelli O’Hara, and his father, Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton. Greg Naughton joked that the only way he could add a Tony in his house was to have another son and name him Tony. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Joining In

Westporter Greg Naughton of The Sweet Remains thanks wife Kelli O’Hara, Tony Award-winner, for joining him on stage tonight as the group closed out the 45th summer season of the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts. Naughton, who was later joined by his father, Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton, said his wife flew from London for the performance where she is appearing in “The King and I.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

NYT Spotlights Westport’s A.E. Hotchner & New Novel

The New York Times spotlights Westport author A E. Hotchner and his new novel published last month, “The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom.” The story datelined Westport with an accompanying picture appears online today apparently in advance of publication in Monday’s print edition. “I wanted to make it a jolly affair,” Hotchner said of the book, “something that would celebrate the fact that you could get as old as I had gotten and, to my vast surprise, still have some of my pebbles on the beach.”
The article notes that Hotchner is 101. Unless he’s 98. Screen shot from nytimes.com

A Remarkable Bookcycle Debuts

Westport best-selling author Jane Green has revealed her “secret project” — a mobile “little free library” inspired by the iconic The Remarkable Book Shop that graced Westport’s Main Street for 35 years. In an Instagram posting, she said the effort was designed with high schooler Ryan Peterson, her husband, Ian Warburg, and artwork created by Westport artist Miggs Burroughs. She said The Remarkable Bookcycle will be parked by Compo Beach and invited all to help themselves to a free book. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo from Instagram

Honoring John McCain

Westport’s Barnes & Noble today honored Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday night at age 81, with a special display. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com