Bestselling author and Westport resident Jane Green interviews Sam Kass, former White House chef and senior policy advisor for nutrition in the Obama administration at today’s Westport Library FLEX: experiences kickoff luncheon in its Great Hall. When the library’s transformation project is completed, the space will be able to adapt to the needs of the community and this FLEX week is designed to serve as a sneak peek at what’s to come. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
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Granger at the Movies: ‘A Fantastic Woman,’ ‘Tomb Raider,’ ‘A Wrinkle in Time’
By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNowFilmmaker Sebastian Lelio sensitively examines the emotional stigma of transgender in “A Fantastic Woman,” his Oscar-winning Chilean film.
In Santiago, Martina Vidal (Daniela Vega) and Orlando Onetto (Francisco Reyes) are in love. She’s a young waitress/cabaret singer; he’s 20 years older, the owner of a printing company.
After celebrating Martina’s birthday one evening, Orlando becomes ill, suffering a fatal aneurysm. Martina rushes him to the emergency room, but he dies on the operating table.
Suddenly, grieving Martina is viewed with distrust because of her sexual identity. To the hospital staff and police, she’s a suspicious person. To Orlando’s family, she’s perverted because she’s a trans woman.
‘James and the Giant Peach’ Opens at CMS on Friday
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Coleytown Company’s newest production, “James and the Giant Peach,” opens Friday at 7 p.m. and runs through the weekend with additional performances Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at http://www.showtix4u.com or at the door. Coleytown Company’s actors are especially excited because Academy Award, Grammy and Tony winner Justin Paul will attend a performance of the musical, for which he wrote the score. He visited a rehearsal last week, which New Haven’s WTNH-TV profiled on Tuesday, and worked with his former Coleytown Middle School teacher, Ben Frimmer, creative director and producer of “James and the Giant Peach.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Getting Ready for Tonight’s Play Reading
The cast of the award-winning drama “The Whipping Man” by Matthew Lopez rehearses for the play reading tonight at the Westport Country Playhouse. First performed in 2006, the work examines a vital, but not often spoken of period in American history, the post-Civil War South, as former slaves and slavemasters struggled to acclimate to the new emancipated social order. It is curated and directed by Anne Keefe. Pictured (standing): Keith Randolph Smith (l) as Simon and John Clarence Stewart as John. Seated: Shawn Fagan as Caleb. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Buell Neidlinger, Jazz Luminary, 82
Former Westporter Buell Neidlinger of Whidbey Island, Washington, a bassist, cellist and educator who worked within a wide spectrum of jazz styles, from Dixieland to the avant-garde, died March 16. He was 82.
Buell Neidlinger: grew up in Westport. JazzTimes photo
His wife, Margaret Storer, said the cause was a heart attack.
Neidlinger was best known for his early collaboration with pianist Cecil Taylor. They appeared together on six albums made between 1956 and 1961.
He also recorded frequently with saxophonists Steve Lacy and Archie Shepp and trombonist Roswell Rudd; played in a trio with pianist Herbie Nichols; was the accompanying bassist on Tony Bennett’s hit 1962 recording of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; and collaborated prolifically with saxophonist Marty Krystall over a period of nearly 50 years. See JazzTimes obituary HERE and New York Times obituary HERE.
Staples Players’ ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Opens
Nick Rossi, Avery Mendillo, and Charlie Zuckerman take their bows tonight after the opening night Staples Players production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” with book by George Furth. Based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the production opened on Broadway in 1981 and ran for only 16 performances. However, the story of three friends, Frank, Charley, and Mary, and the fraying of their bonds and their dreams has had an afterlife as a (slightly revised) version has become popular in regional and amateur productions. It is a reprise for the Players. The 2003 version included a high school senior named Justin Paul, and the Hollywood and Broadway star met with the cast last week during a visit to his hometown. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com
Rockin’ at Toquet Hall
Teens and other music fans were attracted to Westport’s Toquet Hall tonight for the annual School of Rock House Band Rock-off of 2018. Participants in the music competition were represented by School of Rock bands from Bedford, New York (above), Fairfield, and New Canaan. The Toquet Hall teen events operate under the guidance of Westport’s Department of Human Services. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Cottage Restaurant Owner Explains Naming New Japanese Restaurant OKO
Brian Lewis, owner of the highly successful The Cottage Restaurant at Colonial Green, today announced he is calling his new Japanese restaurant OKO, located in the former Vigilant Firehouse at 6 Wilton Road. He explains:
The sign for the new restaurant went up today at 6 Wilton Road. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
‘I have been really inspired by Japanese cooking techniques, culture and ingredients for a very long time, studying and layering Japanese influences into my cooking for many years, but it was the introduction of the Okonomiyaki at The Cottage that was my real ‘a-ha’ moment in defining the direction for my next restaurant.
“Introducing the Okonomiyaki, a savory, Japanese pancake filled with seasonally-inspired ingredients, was a whimsical addition to our menu — Japanese street food with some rarefied touches. Our guests absolutely loved this dish and it quickly became a Cottage favorite, which will likely stay on the menu as a Cottage Classic.
“Ordering the Okonomiyaki had proved to be a bit of a tongue-twister for our guests and our staff, and anyone calling or responding to the ticket would add their own personal ‘flair’ to the word, so we finally gave the dish a nickname which really just stuck, calling it ‘oko,’ which we used often and with affection, if not a chuckle. To pay homage to the spark behind this entire concept, I’m excited to share with you that the new restaurant is named OKO.
Drew Friedman Foundation’s Art Scholarships Needs Based
The Westport Arts Center (WAC) has announced new needs-based art scholarships available to Westport students via the Drew Friedman Community Arts Center Foundation (DFCAC).
A $5,000 award will be given to a high school senior who will attend an arts-based college program in the fall.
WAC officials said seniors can apply for the needs-based scholarship at http://www.westportartscenter.org/education/scholarships. Applications must be received by April 30.
Scholarships are also available for individual weeks at WAC’s summer camp program. Themed weeks for children ages 4 through 12 range from painting to clay to three-dimensional art, officials said.
Granger at the Movies: ‘Red Sparrow,’ ‘Every Day,’ ‘Death Wish’
By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNowIn “Red Sparrow,” when Russian ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) suffers a devastating injury, the Bolshoi will no longer pay for her apartment and care for her ailing mother (Joely Richardson).
That’s when her lecherous Uncle Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), deputy director of Russia’s external intelligence agency SVR, makes her an offer she cannot refuse.
Her first assignment is to entice and betray an oligarch, luring him to her hotel room. What she doesn’t realize is that she’ll be raped and he’ll be assassinated. Ivan then tells her she knows too much and will be killed if she doesn’t work full-time for his agency.
She’s referred to State School 4, where the sadistic Matron (Charlotte Rampling), utilizing ritual degradation and humiliation, teaches male and female recruits how to become a “sparrow,” adroit in psychological manipulation and seduction.
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