The holiday season is a time for caring and sharing, but can be especially difficult for families facing extreme financial challenges.
It is the generosity of individuals and organizations that makes our community a special place. Donors can “adopt” a family or make a general contribution toward the program.
If you would like to help struggling neighbors in our community during the holidays, contact Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau at 860-434-7208.
The Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce hosts the Community Tree Lighting outside Center School starting at 4 p.m. this afternoon, which kicks off the “Light Up Old Lyme” weekend. Parents and community members are welcome.
Under the baton of Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) Music Director, Carrie Wind, the LOLMS Band will play seasonal music and the LOLMS Chorus will lead the singing of carols.
The Old Lyme Holiday Tree outside the Town Hall will be lit at 4:30 p.m.
The Chamber will serve cookies and hot chocolate, which are generously sponsored by Essex Savings Bank, to all the performers.
A number of events immediately follow the tree lighting. We have published separate articles on LymeLine about them and provide a link to them here so readers can gain more detailed information about these events.
Holiday Book Sale: Preview Night with Wine Reception hosted by theOld Lyme Library’s BookCellar from 5 to 7 p.m.
Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes (OL-PGN) Library: $10 admission. Refreshments and wine. Books from all genres, including rare and collectible books, first edition fiction, and more. All books half-price or less. Benefits the library.
Opening Reception for ‘Deck the Walls’ at Lyme Art Association from 5 to 7 p.m.
Holiday Concert by the Old Lyme Town Band at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme at 7:30 p.m.
Christmas, 1864. With the nation at war, it is not a silent night. All is not peaceful or bright. On one side of the Potomac, an escaped slave hurries her daughter toward the capital and freedom. On the other side, a young Confederate runs away from home with hopes of joining the fight. In the capital, Mrs. Lincoln is in desperate need of the perfect gift for her husband Abe.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel creates a historical and musical masterpiece in “A Civil War Christmas,” one that is uniquely American. In the shadow of our own partisan divide, can the nation put aside its differences and share in the hope and generosity the Christmas season has to offer, and the promise of Christmas future?
Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2018-19 season with “A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration.” in the Harriet S. Jorgenson Theatre on the UConn campus at Storrs from Nov. 29 through Dec. 9.
The ensemble cast is led by Tony Award-nominee Forrest McClendon. McClendon is a UConn alum and grew up in Connecticut. He last appeared onstage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre in “Peter and the Starcatcher” in 2016.
McClendon is a Tony Award nominee for his Broadway debut as Mr. Tambo in “The Scottsboro Boys,” first created at the Vineyard and Guthrie Theaters. Post-Broadway, he received a Barrymore Award for his reprisal of the role at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. He also starred in the London premiere at the Garrick Theatre, which received the London Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, and he is featured on the Off-Broadway and West End recordings.
Forrest received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from UConn, and made his professional debut as the Padre in “Man of La Mancha” at Nutmeg Summer Theatre.
Tabatha Gayle is an AEA Jamaican-Asian performer, multidisciplinary creative, and activist based in NYC. A 2018 BFA Acting graduate of the University of Connecticut, she performed with the Connecticut Repertory Theater in productions such as ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ (Gwendolen), ‘Shrek The Musical’ (Humpty Dumpty/Soloist), and ‘Our Country’s Good’ (Mary Brenham).
Director Elizabeth Van Dyke serves as the Producing Artistic Director of Going to the River and The River Crosses River: A Festival of Short Plays by Women of Color. These programs support and champion the work of African-American Female playwrights and women playwrights of color. The artistic home-base for these programs is the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City.
The creative team includes: Elizabeth VanDyke (Director), Anna Brewster (Scenic Design), Matt Lazarus (Lighting Design), Corey Brittain (Costume Design), Mitchell Prescott (Sound Design), Lizz Mangan (Dramaturg), Paul Feyer (Music Director), Caitlin O’Rourke (Production Stage Manager).
Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Select matinee performances start at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Single tickets are available now. Single tickets range from $36 to $40. All student tickets are only $10 and there is always a senior discount.
Children must be at least 4 years old to attend CRT productions. For additional ticket information or to charge tickets by phone, call 860.486.2113. All sales are final; no refunds. Play selections and performance dates are subject to change.
Call the box office at 860.486.2113 for tickets and additional information or visit www.crt.uconn.edu for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change.
CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department’s most advanced student artists. The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment.
It seems that the newest trend in film is to go from first screenings at movie theaters to permanent availability on Netflix, following the trend that TV shows have started.
Originally, it was seen with popular, but not so artistically influential, stars such as Adam Sandler. But now iconic brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have followed through on this trend with the release of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western collection of vignettes ranging from bank robberies to covered-wagon journeys.
I finished the film as I expected I would: scratching my head, pondering the meaning of every story in the anthology. But this is the case with nearly every film by the Coen brothers. This happened when I finished No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and even The Big Lebowski.
But have no fear, in our digital age, you will not be perpetually stumped. With the assistance of Google, one can find a medium that can help you understand the artistic, and often spiritual, meanings of these films.
But make no mistake: you will enjoy Buster Scruggs. This will not be ranked as one of the Coen’s most memorable and definitive films, but you will be entertained.
They’re back at it with their quirky humor and folksy manner of storytelling that is present in every film (even ones as dark as No Country, upon further reflection.) You will also see tributes to other iconic directors, such as Stanley Kubrick (through their amazing landscape shots that help reinforce the environment of the story), and Spaghetti Western legend Sergio Leone (via silence, creating a build-up of suspense) — and this is more than fitting, being a Western movie.
For most readers, it will be quite easy to screen Buster Scruggs on finishing this review. Simply open a new tab in your internet explorer and log in to your Netflix account.
For everyone else, you will have to go through the painstaking process of pulling out your credit card and paying a whopping $8 to $14 to have thousands of videos at your disposal. It is a convenient way to watch movies now, but I believe it takes the joy out of the occasion of going to the movies … and I hope to write about this in the future.
‘Til next time, this is the Movie Man signing out …
Lyme-Old Lyme High School Honor Roll Quarter 1 2018-19
High Honors
Grade 12: Teresa Allan, Kendall Antoniac, Kathryn Atkinson, Jacqueline Barry, Casey Blue, Mackenzie Blue, Gary Bocian, Claire Britton, Cassandra Burrows, Ann Cote, Thomas Creagan, Noah Crolius, Emma Danes, Britney DeRoehn, Corey Drummond, Olin Frederiks, Zachary Gidius, Emily Grenier, Kylie Hall, Colin Hallahan, Sarah Hayward, Haley Heath, Kate Hickie, Liam Holloway, Aoife Hufford, Mya Johnson, Jess Kegley, Ciara Klimaszewski, Sophie Kyle, John Manthous, Brynn McGlinchey, Hannah Morrison, Leah Neithamer, Emily O’Brien, Jacob Olsen, Katherine Reid, Nicholas Roth, Noah Rumm, Kellie Sablone, Caroline Sagristano, Anna Sather, Justin Shaw, Penelope Small, Eli St.Germain, Emily Tan, Caroline Wallace, Colleen Walsh, Alexander Williams
Grade 11: Audrey Berry, Faith Caulkins, Rory Cavicke, Emilia Cheesman, Elizabeth Cravinho, Isabel Dean-Frazier, Arianna DelMastro, Maria Denya, Raymond Doll, Samuel Dushin, Theodore Enoch, Araselys Farrell, Nicholas Fava, Tanner Griffin, Sophia Griswold, Kamber Hamou, Lauren Huck, Jeffy Joshy, Renate Kuhn, Rachael Larson, Brenna Lewis, Jacqueline Malizia, Melissa Mauro, Thomas McCarthy, Ryan McTigue, Chandler Munson, Kyle Myers, Samantha Olson, Sofia Pecher-Kohout, Carter Popkin, Jared Ritchie, Jane Scheiber, Brady Sheffield, Garrett Smith, Emily Speckhals, Evan St.Louis, Olivia Stack, Haley Stevens, Philip Sweeney, Olivia Tetreault, Ryan Tetreault, Lydia Tinnerello, Kiera Ulmer, Megan VanSteenbergen, Theodore Wayland, Trevor Wells, Anna Williams, Maggie Wisner, Conner Wyman, Katherine Zelmanow
Grade 10: Sophia Arnold, Juliette Atkinson, Rachel Barretta, Ava Berry, Emma Boardman, Sadie Bowman, Kyuss Buono, Kate Cheney, John Cox, Megan Cravinho, George Danes, Bianca Dasilva, Emily DeRoehn, Corah Engdall, Leslie Farrell, Sadie Frankel, Fiona Frederiks, Lillian Grethel, Catharine Harrison, Isabella Hine, Regan Kaye, Paige Kolesnik, Grace Lathrop, Owen Macadam, Mackenzie Machnik, Elle McAraw, Emma McCulloch, Emma Meekhoff, Marina Melluzzo, Riley Nelson, Sophia Ortoleva, Connie Pan, Olivia Papanier, Anwyn Paynter, Lauren Pitt, Ezra Pyle, Ethan Rivera, Hayden Saunders, Tait Sawden, Jesper Silberberg, Tessa St.Germain, Jake Stewart, Lian Thompson, Angus Tresnan, Lauren Wallace, Kelly Walsh, Alison Ward, Ellery Zrenda
Grade 9: John Almy, Grace Arnold, Hannah Britt, Mackenzie Bussolotti, Evan Clark, Ryan Clark, Anne Colangelo, John Conley, Grace Coverdale, James Creagan, Caroline Crolius, Elias D’Onofrio, Elise DeBernardo, Elizabeth Duddy, Eleanor Dushin, Liam Fallon, Victoria Gage, Samantha Geshel, Aiden Goiangos, Andrew Hedberg, Madison Hubbard, Fiona Hufford, Julia Johnston, Nevin Joshy, Kian Kardestuncer, Cora Kern, Michael Klier, Felse Kyle, William Larson, Alex Lee, Reese Maguire, Abigail Manthous, Langley Marshall, Grace McAdams, Jacob Meyers, Samuel Mullaney, Elle Myers, Brendan O’Brien, Michael O’Donnell, Bella Orlando, Adeline Riccio, Margaret Rommel, Frank Sablone, Olivia Schaedler, Calvin Scheiber, Abigail Sicuranza, McLean Signora, Matthew Snyder, Abby Speckhals, Meghan Speers, Drew St.Louis, Nikolai Stephens-Zumbaum, Victoria Stout, Maverick Swaney, Olivia Turtoro, John Videll, Aidan Ward, Melanie Warren, Ellie Wells, Mary Wholean, Avery Wyman
Honors
Grade 12: Catherine Battalino, Lauren Birk, Paige Britton, Jocelyn Campbell, Liam Clark, John Coughlin, Lily Cox, Jacob Curtis, Grace Edwards, Marlena Elmoznino, Dylan Hettick-Harlow, Riley Jacobson, Warren Jones, Andrea Kathe, Jillian Kus, Henry Lahm, Elyza Learned, Joshua Liefeld, Peter Macadam, Lilah McAndrew, Danielle McCarthy, Sydney Ogden, Thomas Pennie, Eaven Rivera, James Rollins, Sadie Rubitski, Olivia Rugg, Robert Sedlatschek, Carson Swope, Adam Syed, Ethan Tracano
Grade 11: Alexandra Alpha, Anabella Arias, Emily Balocca, Emma Bass, Jean-Luc Bolduc, Chloe Cahill, Madison Cann, Ethan Carrion, Sarah Conley, Emily Evers, Jada Fuentes, Katherine Funaro, Lucy Gilbert, Grace Hanrahan, Quinn Hickie, Connor Hogan, Parker Hubbard, Daniel Kendall, Caroline King, Dylan Mulligan, Jenna Porter, Chase Reneson, Andre Salkin, Taylor Sedlatschek, Colby Sides, Summer Siefken, Taylor Thompson, Sydney Trowbridge, Jackson Warren, Katelyn Wells
Grade 10: Paige Alpha, Colbe Andrews, Kaylee Armenia, Olivia Bartlett, Truman Boller, Keenan Burr, Hunter Collins, Emerson Colwell, Axel Cruz, Michael Cushman, Trube Dean, Francette Donato, Eveliz Fuentes, Jackson Goulding, Samantha Gray, Schuyler Greenho, Emma Griffith, Destiny Kus, Gabriel Lavoie, Justen Lessard, Madelyn Maskell, Brendan McTigue, Michael Milazzo, Timothy O’Brien, Gavin Porter, Aidan Powers, Jacob Quaratella, Nicholas Vandette, Katrina Wallace, Avery Welch
Grade 9: Nicholas Adeletti, Andrew Bennett, Nihad Bicic, Ethan Carr, Lauren Creagan, Mischa Elmoznino, Shawn Grenier, Nicolette Hallahan, Jackson Harris, Zoe Jensen, Owen Kegley, Olivia Lecza, Mikayla Masilotti, Stephanie Mauro, James Mazzalupo, Colin McCarthy, Emily Mesham, Evan Morgan, Alexander Roth, Madison Thompson, Evan Visgilio, Aden Wilson, Paige Winchell, Ryan Zbierski
Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Honor Roll Q1 2018-19
High Honors
Grade 8: Bridget Allan, Olivia Alpha, William Barry, Callie Bass, Livie Bass, Jillian Beebe, Jordan Beebe, Cooper Bowman, Ava Brinkerhoff, Jamie Bucior, Gretchen Burgess, Sarah Burnham, Hayley Cann, Liam Celic, Luke Celic, Alexander Chrysoulakis, Grace Colwell, Marjorie Curtis, William Danes, Anna Davis, Cole Dobratz, John Eichholz, Alexis Fenton, Matthew Grammatico, Karissa Huang, Owen Ingersoll-Bonsack, Aidan Kerrigan, Celia LaConti, Jonah Lathrop, Monique Lavoie, Jacob Lopez-Bravo, Ford Macadam, Marielle Mather, Madalyn McCulloch, Caden Monte, Calvin Monte, Cooper Munson, Alexander Olsen, Allott Patterson, Alain Pecher-Kohout, Olivia Powers, Kelsey Pryor, Izzadora Reynolds, Benjamin Roth, Rhyleigh Russell, Eli Ryan, Anders Silberberg, Alyssa Spooner, Samantha Tan, Tova Toriello, Kaitlyn Ward, Colin Wiese, Harry Whitten, George Williams, Quinn Williams
Grade 7: Peighton Andrews, Emma Bayor, Oliver Berry, Alis Bicic, Elliot Bjornberg, Drew Brackley, Natalie Buckley, Jackson Bullock, Sarah Colangelo, Ava Cummins, Ella Curtiss-Reardon, Eva D’Onofrio, Eric Dagher, Lucas DaSilva, Mulanga Drysile, Amelia Gage, Ryder Goss, Sydney Goulding, Nyla Goulis, Alexis Grasdock, Justin Green, Douglas Griswold, Katherine Gryk, Abby Hale, Nathaniel Heon, Leland Hine, Sedona Holland, Agatha Hunt, Beatrice Hunt, Sabina Jungkeit, Emmerson Kaye, Dakota Kotzan, Brodie Lippincott, Matthew Mazzalupo, Anna McAdams, Griffin McGlinchey, Elaina Morosky, Katherine Mullaney, Delaney Nelson, Isabelle O’Connor, Dylan Paynter, Giovanna Parnoff (for Q4 of 2017-18), Grace Phaneuf, Jack Porter, Luisa Raby, Ava Roth, Charles Sahadi, Kylie-Jean Sevigny, Sydney Siefken, Owen Snurkowski, Hannah Thomas, Gabriel Tooker, Keara Ward, Louisa Warlitz, Mason Wells, Tyler Wells, Summer Wollack
Grade 6: Emma Arelt, Ella Austin, Oliver Avelange, Natalie Barndt, Micah Bass, Molly Boardman, Samuel Bocian, Justin Bonatti, Mark Burnham, Chase Calderon, Tabitha Colwell, Gloria Conley, Chloe Datum, Andrea DeBernardo, Autumn Dionne, Erin Durant, Shane Eastman-Grossel, Zoe Eastman-Grossel, Caeli Edmed, Anna Eichholz, Trinity Empie-Jones, Ella Evans, Davis Fallon, Grace Ferman, Hoshena Gemme, Marcella Gencarella, Ava Gilbert, Henry Griswold, Jonathan Harms, Hannah Johnston, Shyla Jones, Simon Karpinski, Aven Kellert, Olivia Kelly, Ella Kiem, Ada LaConti, James Lahot, Brenden Landry, Elise Leonardo, Evan LeQuire, Andrew Liu, Colette Marchant, Max Novak, Abigail O’Brien, Kanon Oharu, Filip Pecher-Kohout, Sophie Pennie, Charles Pitt, Shannon Pryor, Mutia Quarshie, Trinity Rando, Ysabel Rodriguez, Kelly Sheehan, Andrew Sicuranza, Drea Simler, Josephine Small, Audrey Spiegel, Morgan Standish, Madeline Supersano, Charlotte Tinniswood, Kathleen Walsh, Ava Wilcox, Ava Wood-Muller
Honors
Grade 8: Whitney Barbour, Gillian Bradley, Reece Guillet, Makenna Harms, Clarence Hinckley, Dylan Hovey, Madison Krol, Phoebe Lampos, Theodore Lampos, Karleigh Landers, Kennedy McCormick, Joseph Montazella, Jack Morgan, Jacob Rand, Jenna Schauder, Ned Smith, Joseph Steinmacher, Marco Supersano
Grade 7: Morgan Bell, Macklin Cushman, Audrey LeCour, Luke Legein, Avra Montazella, Kalea VanPelt
Grade 6: Christopher Anderson, Dominic Clark, Rowan Hovey, Kyle Ingersoll-Bonsack, Peter Kuhn, Nathan Morgan