Monthly Archives: June 2013

‘I’m Connecticut’ Comedy Opens at Ivoryton Playhouse

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A brand new play from one of the writers of The Simpsons, I’m Connecticut – which opened at the Ivoryton Playhouse June 5 – is a wacky, fast-paced, sweet, romantic comedy about Marc, a Connecticut native, who struggles with relationships and feelings of inadequacy …

Why?

Because he comes from Connecticut – land of steady habits, sanity and politeness.  This show will appeal to anyone from the Nutmeg State.

First produced at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, part of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut, in 2011,  I’m Connecticut became the biggest selling non-musical ever produced in CRT’s Main Stage Series.  The Hartford Courant called the romantic comedy “hysterically funny” and named it one of the Top 10 productions of the year.

It was also named Best Play of 2012 by Broadway World Connecticut and it won a Special Recognition award from the Connecticut Critics Circle.

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Mike Reiss

Emmy Award-winning writer Mike Reiss will be at the performances on June 6, 7 and 8, and will be participating in a talk back with the audience.  Reiss was born in Bristol, Conn., but his career now spans both coasts.  He has been a writer and producer of The Simpsons from its beginning and is currently working on season 24.

Reiss received a Peabody Award in 2006 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus.  He also co-wrote The Simpsons Movie, The Lorax, Horton Hears A Who! and Ice Age, and Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  He has published 17 children’s books, including seven Christmas tales.

The cast will include two actors from the original production – Harris Doran and Jerry Adler.  Doran is a talented young actor who, just last year, won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Long Island International Film Expo for his work in the feature film, Junction.

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Jerry Adler

Adler, a Connecticut resident, is a veteran of over 50 Broadway productions as Producer, Director and Production Stage Manager, including the original My Fair Lady (the revival of which he directed), Coco, The Homecoming, Annie and many more, as well as the Tony Award-winning Good Evening which he directed with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook – before he began his new career as an actor.

He then appeared in Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery and The Public Eye with Joe Pesci.  He has since been seen on many television productions, including The West Wing, Law and Order, Northern Exposure, CSI: Miami and was a regular on Mad About You.  He is an original cast member of The Sopranos and was “Hesh”, Tony’s mentor/advisor throughout that award-winning HBO Production’s run.

His recent films include In Her Shoes opposite Shirley MacLaine and Cameron Diaz, Prime with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman, Find Me Guilty, directed by Sidney Lumet,  Synecdoche playing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s father, and the soon-to-be-released Last Angry Man in Brooklyn with Robin Williams.  On TV, he was the Fire Chief on Rescue Me with Denis Leary and is presently Howard Lyman on The Good Wife.

Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, the cast includes Gwen Hollander*, Bill Mootus*, Rebecca Hoodwin*, Gino Costabile*, and Elizabeth Talbot. The set design is by Daniel Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and costumes by Kari Crowley

I’m Connecticut opens in Ivoryton on June 5  and runs through June 23. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm.

Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org  (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.)

The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

This production is generously sponsored by:  Webster Bank and Comcast

*member of Actors Equity

Wildcats Go Down Fighting, Fall 3-2 in State Semi to Oxford

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Oxford celebrates their victory while a downcast Old Lyme team gathers to commiserate.

Oxford celebrates their victory while a downcast Old Lyme team gathers to commiserate.

Despite a valiant effort in the seventh inning, Randy St. Germain’s boys could not quite recover from the loss of three runs in the first inning by Oxford.  It was a beautiful evening at Sage Park in Berlin and a large contingent of Old Lyme fans made the trip to cheer on their team, but although the ‘Cats clawed back two runs in the seventh, the third remained elusive.

Click here for a full report of the game by Ned Griffin and published in The Day today.

Summer Exhibit at ‘Chester Museum at The Mill’ Tells Story of Town’s Early Transportation

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Just an ordinary day in Chester Center in 1913, photographed by Hugh Spencer, and on exhibit at the Chester Museum at The Mill. A horse-drawn cart is parked in the center of town. Just up from the wagon is a gas pump. Also nearby is the stone wall, with “Chester” spelled out in white stones, where the trolley stopped during the years it served Chester (photo by Skip Hubbard).

Just an ordinary day in Chester Center in 1913, photographed by Hugh Spencer, and on exhibit at the Chester Museum at The Mill.  A horse-drawn cart is parked in the center of town.  Just up from the wagon is a gas pump.  Also nearby is the stone wall, with “Chester” spelled out in white stones, where the trolley stopped during the years it served Chester.  (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

How did our ancestors manage without SUVs, highways, and 70 mph speed limits?  Indeed, how did they manage without any cars at all?  That question drove (pun intended) members of the Chester Historical Society to create this summer’s exhibit at the Chester Museum at The Mill.

The Chester Museum at The Mill has been owned by the Chester Historical Society since 2000. It was first opened as a museum in 2010. Located on a waterfall on the Pattaconk Brook near the center of town, the mill site was once used to produce anchors, wagon springs, and augers (photo by Skip Hubbard).

The Chester Museum at The Mill has been owned by the Chester Historical Society since 2000. It was first opened as a museum in 2010.  Located on a waterfall on the Pattaconk Brook near the center of town, the mill site was once used to produce anchors, wagon springs, and augers. (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

“Over the River and Through the Woods – A Century of Transportation in Chester” focuses on early transportation in Chester, telling the stories of the beginning of the town’s roads and highways, as well as the train, the trolley, the ferry, and the steamboat.

Keith Dauer and Sandy Senior-Dauer, the exhibit chairmen, said, “Last year, as we closed our second Civil War exhibit, we assembled an enthusiastic committee to brainstorm ideas for a new exhibit.  There were many excellent ideas, but we kept coming back to the idea of telling the story of Chester’s early transportation.”

They continued, “Chester’s economy, geography and populace were greatly affected by the rise and decline of early stagecoach traffic, steamboats, the ferry, the railroad and trolley.  Our town’s upcoming downtown revitalization project, rebuilding of several bridges, and state government threats to ferry service make transportation changes particularly topical this summer.”

Keith Dauer, chairman of the exhibit with his wife, Sandy Senior-Dauer, is shown here with a wagon owned by Leonard Lieberman, on loan to the exhibit. Lieberman, a Chester native, recalls hearing that the wagon was used to help an elderly Chester woman get from Denison's store in town up to the church every Sunday (photo by Skip Hubbard).

Keith Dauer, chairman of the exhibit with his wife, Sandy Senior-Dauer, is shown here with a wagon owned by Leonard Lieberman, on loan to the exhibit.  Lieberman, a Chester native, recalls hearing that the wagon was used to help an elderly Chester woman get from Denison’s store in town up to the church every Sunday.  (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

The “Over the River” exhibit was funded in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Middlesex County.  The mission of the Community Foundation is to improve the quality of life for the people of Middlesex County now and in the future by developing endowments, making grants that have impact, and assisting donors in meeting their philanthropic objectives.

The Chester-Hadlyme Ferry over the Connecticut River is the second-oldest continuously operating ferry in the state. It was started by Chester resident, Jonathan Warner, in 1769. For its first 150 years, the ferry was primarily used for transporting animals across the river. In the days before regularly scheduled ferry service, horns or other devices were often used to call the ferryman from the opposite shore. The horn shown in the case is on loan from the Connecticut River Museum (photo by Skip Hubbard).

The Chester-Hadlyme Ferry over the Connecticut River is the second-oldest continuously operating ferry in the state.  It was started by Chester resident, Jonathan Warner, in 1769.  For its first 150 years, the ferry was primarily used for transporting animals across the river.  In the days before regularly scheduled ferry service, horns or other devices were often used to call the ferryman from the opposite shore.  The horn shown in the case is on loan from the Connecticut River Museum.  (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

On the second floor of the museum (reachable by elevator as well as stairs) is the permanent award-winning exhibit, “Streams of Change: Life & Industry along the Pattaconk.” Together, the two exhibits tell the story of the life, development and growth of Chester.

Skip Hubbard, president of the Historical Society, created this wall map showing the town’s first four official roads, which date back to 1735, and tracing how they developed over the years. Visitors are encouraged to take home the pamphlet, “What’s in a Street Name?” to figure out the origin of their own street’s name (photo by Skip Hubbard).

Skip Hubbard, president of the Historical Society, created this wall map showing the town’s first four official roads, which date back to 1735, and tracing how they developed over the years. Visitors are encouraged to take home the pamphlet, “What’s in a Street Name?” to figure out the origin of their own street’s name.  (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

The Chester Museum at The Mill is located in the historic 1850s Griswold Mill site, overlooking a waterfall and the Pattaconk Brook near the center of town.  The museum is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through the end of October.  It is air-conditioned as well as handicapped accessible.  Admission is free.

For more information, visit www.ChesterHistoricalSociety.org.

This year’s exhibit, “Over the River and Through the Woods,” opened with a reception for Chester Historical Society members and contributors on May 24 (photo by Skip Hubbard).

This year’s exhibit, “Over the River and Through the Woods,” opened with a reception for Chester Historical Society members and contributors on May 24.  (Photo by Skip Hubbard).

‘Friends of Lyme Library’ Group to Form, Inaugural Meeting Tonight

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A Friends of the Lyme Public Library group is being formed under the leadership of Janis Witkins, a library board member.  The group will hold its first meeting this evening at 7 p.m. at the library on Hamburg Rd.  All are welcome.

The group is intended to support the library’s activities and foster ties between the library and the community.  Group members will work closely with the library’s director, staff and board.

The public is invited to attend the first meeting and become charter members.

A vote will take place to create the Friends group and adopt bylaws.  Officers will be elected and committees will be formed.  A treasurer will be on hand to accept membership dues.

Refreshments will be served.