ESSEX — Sister Cities Essex Haiti presents an Interfaith Service, Remembering the Haiti Earthquake 10 Years Later, this Sunday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3 Cross St., Essex. This service will celebrate the generous heartedness and hopefulness of all in Haiti and here in the US who have supported Sister Cities Essex Haiti since its founding in 2010.

All are welcome to join members of the organization in this remembrance of having hearts and hope for Haiti through prayers, readings, and song.

Places of worship are invited to ring their bells at 4:53 p.m. in observance of the quake’s occurrence.

Michael Iannucci

IVORYTON – The Ivoryton Playhouse provides a fresh take on Dickens’s timeless A Christmas Carol with their production of Charles Evered’s An Actor’s Carol, which is on stage currently through Sunday,  Dec. 22.

It tells the tale of Hugh Pendleton, an actor drained of artistic passion after having played the character of Scrooge one too many times, which leads to Pendleton encountering three ghosts of his own. A cast of four actors plays 17 different characters in this hilarious new look at a classic that reminds us that the most jaded among us can find magic in the holiday season – and in the theater as well.

An Actor’s Carol made its premiere in 2015 in Palm Springs in a production starring Hal Linden, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actor, best known for starring on the 1970s sitcom “Barney Miller.” The play won the Outstanding Original Writing Award in the staged reading category of the Desert Theatre League Awards.

The playwright, Charles Evered, an award-winning playwright and filmmaker, is a graduate of Yale School of Drama and a former naval officer. He has written screenplays for major studios and directed two features of his own. Evered also wrote for the hit TV shows Monk, starring Tony Shalhoub. Currently, he is Professor of Playwriting at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) where he served as the department’s first artistic director.

Evered says, “An Actor’s Carol is a comedy, but unlike other spoofs and satires of A Christmas Carol, it has heart and truth, particularly about theater.”

This production is directed by Sasha Bratt with set design by Dan Nischan, costumes by Lisa, and lighting by Marcus Abbott.

Michael Iannucci* will be returning to the Ivoryton Playhouse where he previously appeared in The Games Afoot and Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, to take on the role of Hugh Pendleton/Scrooge. He will be joined by Lev Harvey, who was recently seen in Shear Madness, Alec Silberblatt* who was here for Biloxi Blues and Moira O’Sullivan who has appeared in Ivoryton in  Biloxi Blues, Coney Island Christmas, and It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.

Performance times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.

Tickets are $35 adult / $32 senior / $20 student / $15 children under 12 and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org  (Group rates and subscriptions are available by calling the box office for information.)

The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

 *denotes member of Actors Equity

File photo of a beautifully decorated home from the 2015 tour.

ESSEX — The town of Essex opens their homes this December to support Child & Family Agency of Southeastern CT. On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Essex River Valley Auxiliary of the Child & Family Agency of Southeastern CT presents a self-guided walking tour through six distinctive houses, beautifully decorated for the holidays in downtown Essex.

Visitors can also get a jump start on their holiday shopping by visiting the Holiday Boutique, featuring hand-crafted clothing, bespoke jewelry, unique home décor, festive holiday floral arrangements and more. The Holiday Boutique opens at 9:30 a.m. and is located at Essex Town Hall at 29 West Avenue.   Santa’s Café located in the boutique will offer snacks and refreshments.

Child & Family Agency of Southeastern CT is the area’s oldest children’s non-profit organization in Southeastern CT, a cornerstone Agency helping children and families since 1809.  With over 10,535 children and families served each year, the Agency aims to provide high- quality and holistic mental health treatment to all members of the community. The Essex location offers a variety of programs, services, and therapeutic models with the goal of not only nurturing children and families but the entire community.

The Essex Auxiliary has proudly devoted itself to supporting the Agency for over 25 years, providing over half a million dollars in unrestricted funds.  Most recently, the Auxiliary raised funds to create an outdoor therapeutic area at the Essex Child Guidance office. All proceeds from the holiday house tour benefit the programs and services provided by the Agency.

This is the 15th-holiday house tour presented in Essex, and a wonderful opportunity to see some of Essex’s historic homes that showcase elegant, architectural features in their original settings. Tickets are available for purchase online at https://www.childandfamilyagency.org/for $30 in advance or $40 on the day of the event at the Essex Town Hall at 29 West Avenue, Essex, CT.

Editor’s Note: In 1944, a group of 12 women organized to aid the Agency and its work, creating the Child & Family Agency Auxiliaries.  Nearly 600 men and women from five auxiliaries give generously of their time and talent through caring for children, fundraising events, and educational services. Through multiple events each year, the dedicated volunteer members of the Essex River Valley Auxiliary take pride in funding programs that improve the lives of children and their families.