Not exactly falalalala or roasting chestnuts, is it?

But that’s the best way to describe “Striking 12″ by GrooveLily — a musical presentation at the Westport Country Playhouse on December 10.

It’s a great show — but, sponsors say, the toughest part is describing it to the potential audience of families, kids, and basically everyone in Westport.

Finally, someone came up with this:  “‘Striking 12′ is to Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘Little Match Girl‘ as ‘Rent’ is to ‘La Boheme.’”

Or try this:  “‘Striking 12′ is a cross between a concert and a theater piece.  It brings the spirit of ‘Match Girl’ into contemporary New York.”

And:  “It’s a concert-with-a-story, band-is-the-actors musical, with hauntingly beautiful songs and a funny, heartwarming story….part rock concert, part musical…the hippest holiday show in recent memory.”

If that sounds like PR, it is.  I haven’t seen “Striking 12.”  But I trust the people who have.

They love the show.  They think GrooveLily — the band that plays, mixing electric violin, piano and drums to create new music with roots in classical, musical theater, jazz and rock — is way cool.

David Roth — who, as director of Staples Players, knows a thing or two about satisfying an audience — says, “I first heard about GrooveLily from someone who was obsessed by them.

“Now I listen to them a lot, and use them in my directing class.  It’s one of the most creative and different mixtures of theater and music I’ve ever seen.”

Supporters of the show want to spread the word to everyone in Westport that — despite the hectic holiday season — this is a show not to miss.

Writing on the Playhouse blog, Chad Kinsman says:

It’s not kid’s music, but music that is accessible to kids and adults, and everyone in between!  One of the hardest things about planning a family outing during the holidays is trying to find something everyone will enjoy, and I can safely say “Striking 12″ is just that. Younger patrons will enjoy the story, tweens and teens will like the band’s sense of humor, and everyone will love the songs.

He continues:

There is the poignancy (of “Match Girl,” but unexpectedly mixed with musical comedy, pop-rock tunes, old-fashioned uplift, and the little salesgirl whose holiday spirit can’t be matched.

Inside the clever lyrics and great melodies are important life lessons.  It’s a touching, family-and-friends-affirming show perfect to help spread the holiday spirit to you and yours.

I hope I’ve done a good job of conveying the excitement of “Striking 12.”

If not:  bah, Humbug!

(For tickets to the December 10 4 and 7 p.m. performances, click here.)

Then he realized:  “There are no major league players from Westport.”

John Weidman

But there was more than baseball in his future.  As the son of Jerome Weidman — author of I Can Get It for You Wholesale — he gravitated toward writing.  At Harvard he befriended 1968 classmate Timothy Crouse.  They co-wrote a Hasty Pudding show.

Despite earning a law degree from Yale (where one of his classmates was Clarence Thomas), he circled back to writing.  On a whim he wrote Hal Prince with an idea.  The producer gave him $500; Weidman wrote “Pacific Overtures,” which Prince then handed over to Stephen Sondheim to turn into a musical.

Weidman kept writing:  for National Lampoon, “Sesame Street,” then a revision — with Timothy Crouse — of Crouse’s father’s “Anything Goes.”

The Weidman-Sondheim collaboration continued with “Assassins” in 1990, and “Road Show” in 2008.  Weidman was nominated for 3 Tony Awards (and won for “Contact”); he also won a dozen Emmys for “Sesame Street.”  He’s served 10 years as president of the Dramatists Guild.

Most recently he’s worked on the re-re-revision of “Anything Goes,” which the New York Times called “zesty.”  It’s currently playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theater.

That’s a nice little story — local boy makes good — but there’s another town connection even many long-time residents may not know:

Back in his teenage days, Stephen Sondheim was an apprentice at the Westport Country Playhouse.

The Weidman-Sondheim connection goes further than even they may realize.

Martin Short

The visual of the comedian talking about his upcoming performance in Westport was compelling.  But he chatted calmly, while wigmakers buzzed about preparing him for his new role in “How I Met Your Mother,” as Marshall Eriksen’s new boss.

Short will be here on Saturday, September 24.  The event is Homes With Hope‘s 4th annual “Stand Up” benefit.  Guests “stand up” for the services the organization provides to the homeless, at the same time being treated to great stand-up comedy.

It’s a formula that works, and one that Short likes.

He’s always wanted to help people — he was pre-med until he realized he liked the idea of being a doctor more than actually being one; then he switched to social work, before giving in to his inner actor.

This is not just a fly-in-and-fly-out appearance.  Short knows all about Homes With Hope.

“It’s an amazing organization,” he says.  “I love doing events like this.  People are in a good mood, and they commit to doing good things.”

There’s nothing funny about homelessness.  But Martin Short is a very funny man.  From “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live” through “Three Amigos” and “Father of the Bride,” he’s entertained audiences for decades.

Now he’ll use his gift of laughter to help Westporters stand up against homelessness.

(Martin Short will perform at the Westport Country Playhouse.  Holders of $200 and $150 tickets enjoy a 7 p.m. plaza reception with cocktails, “short” ribs, “short” cake and more.  $75 tickets are also available.  The event includes a live auction.  For tickets and information, click here.)

No luck.

But I did find Doug Tirola.  The producer (4thRowFilms) and Westport Arts Center board member has a long history with the Playhouse.  In fact, it has informed and influenced his entire life.

Doug’s father Vincent was the Playhouse attorney — and helped save it one of the many times it nearly went under.

Doug Tirola

Doug’s earliest memories of the Playhouse are of “typical kids’ shows.”  His 1st job, a few years later, was placing posters for upcoming shows in as many store windows as possible in Westport, Fairfield and Darien.  He earned 25 cents per poster.

His 2nd job was house beautician.  “That’s theater-speak for janitor,” he notes.  Doug would prepare the Playhouse for the upcoming show, head to the Y to play basketball (or Ships to eat), then return afterward to clean up.

Mondays were special.  That was opening night — and shows changed weekly.  Local critics like Ina Bradley and Jeanne Davis were there.  They’d eat next door at Backstage (now the Dressing Room) before the play ; afterward they’d all gather on the gravel patio outside the theater, then return to Backstage for drinks.

Some theater-goers were there already.  “If the play wasn’t good, at intermission guys would wander over to the bar,” Doug says.

Doug also ushered.  His co-workers were older people, like today.  But there were also many younger ushers.  He doesn’t see many of them now.

The Playhouse, he says, was a hangout for teenagers — and not just the theater crowd.  “I played 3 sports,” he notes.  “Lots of kids wandered back and forth between the playhouse and Friendly’s” in Playhouse Square.

Westport Country Playhouse -- 80 years young.

Now — producing and marketing movies — Doug looks back on those days with a sense of awe.  “I had this sense of it being like ‘hey, let’s put on a show.’  I had no idea how hard that is.  Turning shows around week after week, with what I realize now were very limited resources — that makes me realize anything is possible.”

Doug was influenced by men like Jim McKenzie — the longtime executive producer, and a “larger than life figure” — and Todd Haimes, now artistic director of the Roundabout Theatre.

Looking back, Doug also realizes that his initial experiences at the Playhouse were special.

“11-year-olds today have a lot more options than we did then.  There’s good and bad sides to that.  But I also think there are more things today geared directly at them.  Back then, by default, kids were exposed to more adult activities — the theater, movies, even TV shows.  That forced us to interact with the adult world.”  As with ushers, Doug sees few young people involved with the Playhouse’s adult shows.

He also senses less of an overall townwide connection with the Playhouse.

“I’m not trying to be negative,” he emphasizes.  “But part of the DNA of Westport has always been the arts.  People here still point with pride to the arts, but they don’t always take advantage of them.

“My parents chose Westport over other Fairfield County towns in part because there was more diversity, but also because of the arts opportunities.  People who moved here the last 10 years, probably 95 percent would say they came for the schools and the beach.  Those are great things, but 30 years ago they might have included the arts too.

“I know plenty of people support the arts financially,” he says.  “But it’s important to go to shows, and to the Arts Center — and to expose your kids to them.”

But — on the 80th anniversary of the Westport Country Playhouse — Doug continues to beat the Playhouse drum.

“As much as I remember what it was like when I was young — the sights and smells — you can’t walk into the Playhouse now and not feel how awesome the space is.

“They’ve done a great job of honoring what it was, and doing what needs to be done for the future.”

A future that — thanks to Westporters like Doug Tirola and his father — now seems more secure than ever.

The Dressing Room sits in the shadow of the Playhouse. Other partner restaurants are not far away.

This summer, many of those restaurants — the ones still around, anyway — will show their appreciation for the Playhouse in a tangible way.  Seven have signed on as “partners” for the 2011 season.  Playhouse subscribers receive discounts of up to 20%, when presenting a ticket or stub on the day of that performance.

The 7 partners include The Dressing Room, La Villa, Manolo, Matsu Sushi, Rizzuto’s, Tavern on Main and Thali.

It’s a win-win-win.  Participating restaurants get their logos displayed in Playhouse promotional materials (and complimentary tickets).  The Playhouse gets to support — and gets support from — local businesses.

And theater-goers get great, discounted meals at a diverse mix of restaurants.  It’s a nice reminder that Fairfield hasn’t stolen all our culinary thunder.

Yet.

(Click here for full restaurant descriptions and discounts.)

Now 80 years old, the iconic establishment is honored with a display at an even older institution:  the Westport Library.

Downstairs — across from the River of Names tiles — posters, photos and memorabilia celebrate 8 decades of entertainment, enlightenment and education.

Included is a shot from the 1st-ever show:  “The Streets of New York,” starring the legendary Dorothy Gish (and the long-forgotten Rollo Peters).

Only a tiny smidgen of stuff is on view.  To see more — including a show — go to the Playhouse itself.

A scene from the first-ever play: "The Streets of New York."

Amy Chua

Unless you’ve been living in a country like China with a censored internet — or too busy ferrying your kid to piano lessons, violin lessons and math tutoring sessions — you know who she is.

Chua is the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. She took time from her day job (professor at Yale Law School) to describe her secret parenting skills.

Chua’s daughters were never allowed to:

• attend a sleepover or have a playdate
• be in a school play (or complain about not being in one)
• watch TV or play computer games
• get any grade less than an A
• not play the piano or violin.

Chua also rejected birthday cards of insufficient quality, and demanded new ones.

On Tuesday, May 3 (11 a.m.-1 p.m.) she’ll be at the Westport Country Playhouse.  The event is a fundraiser and book signing for the Read to Grow literacy program.

Chua will be interviewed by Roxanne Coady, Read to Grow’s founder and a contributor to Faith Middleton’s NPR Book Show.

The press release didn’t say if Chua will take questions.  If she does, Westporters might ask if her child-raising methods aren’t just a wee bit out of line.

Or tell her they don’t go far enough.

(Tickets are $75, which includes a copy of the book, and $125, which includes priority seating, 2 copies of the book, and a pre-event reception with Chua.  To register, call 203-227-4177 or click here.)

Liz Taylor

The Oscar winning actress — whose films ranged from “National Velvet” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” to “Cleopatra” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia  Woolf?” — rented a home here in the 1950s and ’60s.  She lived on Long Lots Road, across from the Fairfield County Hunt Club.  She was a frequent visitor to local restaurants and stores — and the Westport Country Playhouse.

If you’ve got a personal memory, story or anecdote about Liz Taylor, click “Comments” to share.

(Posted 9:35 a.m.)

Amazingly, it looks just like ours here in Westport — except it’s green, not red:

Okay, that’s a bit o’ blarney.

The special effect was created by Alysia Miller of the Westport Country Playhouse patron services staff.

The one in Connecticut, to be sure.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

While that percentage has long been paltry — it translates to 305 men, women and children, up just 13 from 2000 — Westport does have a history of involvement in the broad civil rights issues of the day.  Whenever that day was.

During the abolitionist movement, houses served as stops on the Underground Railroad.  At least one — on Weston Road, across from the present-day Methodist Church — still stands.  A once-hidden room — accessible from the outside — attests to its role in hiding runaway slaves.  (Though Connecticut was a free state, fugitives could still be captured and returned.)

Abraham Lincoln allegedly visited here during the Civil War.

That home was part of Morris Ketchum’s sprawling Hockanum Hill estate.  He frequently hosted Salmon P. Chase, as Abraham Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary sought funding for the Civil War.

Though no official record exists, Lincoln allegedly stayed at Hockanum Hill while president too.  The estate — on Cross Highway, near the foot of Roseville Road — offered an out-of-the-way respite on secret financing trips north.  The current deed refers to the “Lincoln room,” and a letter supposedly exists in which the president thanked Ketchum for his hospitality.

A century later, in the early days of the modern civil rights movement, Herman and Gladys Steinkraus lived on South Compo.  He was president of both Bridgeport Brass and the US Chamber of Commerce.  The couple were avid supporters of the United Nations, and often invited African ambassadors to Westport.  It was the 1st time some had ever been inside an American home.  Not all the Steinkraus’ neighbors were pleased.

Around that time, Ernestine White was a beloved music teacher at Bedford Junior High School.  A pupil invited her to his bar mitzvah.  A few tongues wagged — but the invitation was in keeping with the tenor of the times.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King definitely came to Westport.

Temple Israel’s rabbi, Byron T. Rubenstein, was deeply involved in the civil rights struggle.  Rev. Martin Luther King spoke at the temple in 1964.  A month later, Rubenstein and King were both arrested in the south, at a nonviolent march.  Rubenstein and others were instrumental in organizing Freedom Rides from Westport, challenging laws that enforced segregation.

Tracy Sugarman was one of several Westporters to participate in the Mississippi Freedom Summer.  He knew the murdered civil rights workers Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney, and developed deep friendships with leaders like Julian Bond and Fannie Lou Hamer.  Sugarman hosted them, and many others, in his Westport home.

The 1960s were a time of civil rights ferment, and many Westporters were active in the cause.  Both the Intercommunity Camp — bringing together youngsters from Westport, Weston, Norwalk and Bridgeport — and the school district’s Project Concern, serving dozens of Bridgeport elementary, junior high and high school students, were direct results of local activism.

The team that is TEAM Westport

For nearly a decade TEAM Westport — the first selectman’s committee charged with achieving and celebrating multiculturalism — has worked to make this a more welcoming place for all minorities.  African Americans have taken a leading role.  TEAM Westport has organized trips to the slave ship replica Amistad; led school panels, talkbacks at the Westport Country Playhouse, and community conversations; partnered with schools, religious organizations and the library, and worked in dozens of other ways, large and small, to reinforce awareness of diversity issues and concerns.

Of course there have been less visible, lower-key events too.  In 1960, Sammy Davis Jr. married Mia Britt.  At the time, 31 states outlawed interracial marriage.  Connecticut was not one of them — and, legend has it, the couple honeymooned at a home off Wilton Road.

These are just a few of the connections Westport has made, over many years, with civil rights issues.  We’re not a racial melting pot — but neither are we immune from the world outside our borders.  It was Westport’s involvement, in fact, that brought many families here in the 1950s and ’60s, when they could have chosen many other places to live.

Has Westport changed since then?  Are these issues still important, and are Westporters as involved?  If so, how?  If not, why — and what’s taken their place?  Click “Comments,” to share your diverse (and diversity) thoughts.

Sometimes a little event is life-changing.  Another group of Bridgeport students needed a police officer and his car for their PSA on graffiti.  One morning spent with a real cop opened their eyes to a whole different world.

None of those experiences — and many more — would be possible without the help of Sandy Lefkowitz, and a committed group of Westporters.

Sandy Lefkowitz

Sandy is a longtime educator.  When she was coordinator of the Westport Youth Film Festival, she created filmmaking curricula.  The Westport Sunrise Rotary asked her to help with their project involving youth from disadvantaged areas.

Sandy worked with Sarah Litty — an art teacher at Bridgeport charter school  Bridge Academy — to develop a 35-week, seniors-only Art of Filmmaking course.  An after-school club for all students soon followed.

Help came from many sources.  Sunrise Rotary, the Fairfield County Community Foundation, MSG Varsity and others donated money.  Award-winning screenwriter Patrick McCullough — a Staples grad  — was hired.

Now armed with Macs, cameras and other equipment, the Bridgeport students leaped in.  They studied scriptwriting, storyboard creation, film shooting and editing.

They learned well.  The more they accomplished, the more opportunities they earned.  After Sundance, Sandy took students to the Berkshire International Film Festival.  Two were chosen for a prestigious Wesleyan program.

They walked through every door that opened.  Perhaps not confidently at first — but by the time walked back out they felt independent, and aware of all they can do.

Their filmmaking has impacted all of Bridge Academy.  Their peers see them as successful, while teachers in other subjects incorporate their talents into lesson plans.

An English class, for example, used film in a project on the civil rights movement.  Before beginning, students learned how to conduct an interview.

Junior girls in another class made a film on nutrition.  Sandy took them to an organic meat farm, and a hospital to meet a nutritionist.  “They’re using resources outside their community, to bring something back to their community,” she notes.

Another resource is Westporter Anita Schorr.  The Holocaust survivor met Bridge students at a Westport Country Playhouse production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”  They invited her to their school, and filmed her presentation.  Now they’re creating a documentary on her experiences, with hopes of distributing it to classrooms nationwide.

The Academy’s film program has been a true bridge — between students and the rest of the school and city, and between Bridgeport and Westport.  Two Bridge students now sit on the WYFF board.  Others are collaborating with WYFF (and Westport writer/director Doug Tirola) on a promotional film about the arts.

“They see themselves as colleagues,” Sandy says proudly.

And — one day — they may be back at Sundance, debuting a film to an international audience.

(The Art of Filmmaking and Westport Youth Film Festival are programs of the Westport Arts Center, and receive funding from WAC’s fundraising efforts.)

But this is the 2010s, not the 1940s.  And when Molly Ephraim — the actress who plays the teenager in the Westport Country Playhouse‘s upcoming performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” — wanted to write about her experiences in the role, she turned to a device as natural today as a journal was during World War II.

Molly Ephraim

“An Actor’s Diary” appears on “The Playhouse Blog.”  Ephraim’s 1st entry chronicles her mad dash from Los Angeles to Westport; her less-than-dramatic initial read-through of the script, and another quick trip back to the West Coast.

Ephraim plans to describe the rehearsal process, performances, and life off stage.

Anne Frank’s diary provided an important look into the human condition.

Molly Ephraim’s blog tackles the creative process.  Along the way, we’re sure to learn more about Anne Frank too.

(“The Diary of Anne Frank” runs from Sept. 28 through Oct. 30.  For more information or ticket purchases, call 203-227-4177, or click here.)

Others do it on a lake, or during a picnic.

Some do it right out in public, with hundreds of people around.

Now — in preparation for their production of “I Do!  I Do!” — the Westport Country Playhouse wants to know how you do it.

“It” is, of course, proposing marriage.

To enter the Playhouse’s “Perfect Proposal Contest,” write (in 300 words or less) how you were asked to say “I do.”  Or how you got your partner to say it.

The winner, and his or her spouse (or date — you not only don’t have to be currently married to the same person in the proposal; it’s okay if you called the whole thing off some time after the brilliant proposal but before the actual exchange of vows) — will be awarded a night at the new Delamar in Southport, a $100 gift certificate to Da Pietro’s, a New Country of Westport Lexus (well, the use of one for a weekend), and 2 tickets to a future Playhouse show.

The top 5 finalists receive 2 tickets to the Playhouse’s 2nd annual Date Night (Friday the 13th of August — uh oh), where the winner will be announced.  Date Night includes a pre-show reception with champagne, light fare, romantic music and “Cupid-inspired giveaways.”

To enter, email your name, phone number, address and story (with optional photo) by noon on Tuesday, August 10 to:  marketing@westportplayhouse.org.

The Playhouse says “no purchase is necessary to enter.”  Technically that’s true.  But most “Perfect Proposal Contest” entrants have already bought a few minor items like diamond rings, wedding dresses and honeymoons.

They dance to great music, sing with the band, and have a funky time long past midnight.

It’s a movable Mix party.  And it takes place not in the Meatpacking District.  Not in Williamsburg.  Not even New Haven.

It happens right here in Westport.

The Mix parties — or MIX, as the word appears on posters and the website — are the brainchild of Gene Seidman.

Gene Seidman dances with Dr. Barbara Siminovich, an Argentine living in Bridgeport who attends every MIX.

A graphic designer with an interest in eco-friendly products who’s directed projects for IBM, the New York Times, Verizon, UNICEF and the USTA — and held important posts at Priceline, MOMA and Unilever — Seidman started his after-hours events a year ago.

The Saugatuck Rowing Club wanted to attract more diners.  Seidman proposed a dance party.  Word-of-mouth advertising drew 135 people.

Seidman realized he’d found an unfilled need.

“We have a problem,” the longtime Westporter (and current RTM representative) said.

“Fairfield and South Norwalk are on the up-and-up.  They’ve got more restaurants, more nightlife.  There’s not a hell of a lot to do here after 10 p.m.  We need to light a fire.”

His MIX parties provide the heat.

They’ve been held at Splash and the Dressing Room.  When they got too big for Michel Nischan’s restaurant, they moved next door to the Westport Country Playhouse barn.

The most recent event — held earlier this month at Kaia Yoga — featured a Cuban band from New York (and belly dancing).  The after-party at Manolo lasted until 2 a.m.

The mix of people is key.  The crowd skews over-40, but attitude counts more than age.

The MIX parties take place in Westport, but the crowd is more diverse — in terms of race, sexuality, even clothing styles — than you usually see here.

And everyone has fun.

For proof, check out the YouTube video.  “The best bands and best music,” someone says.

“Dynamic people,” another offers.

“Kick-ass band.”  “Everyone is smiling.”  “I came by myself, and I’m dancing.”

Ah, dancing.

A mix of a MIX.

“I love to dance,” Seidman says.  “It’s a great way for people to interact.  These days, people are so concerned about money and everything else.  They text and email each other.  But that’s not connecting.

“People have to get out.  When you dance, you connect.  When you dance, you’re beautiful and alluring.”

Lest you get the wrong idea, Seidman is married — and has been for 24 years.

“But I still want to get out,” he says.

Seidman works closely with MIX musical director Crispin Cioe.  The Westport saxophonist/composer/producer has toured and recorded with the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits and Ray Charles.

Cioe’s classic/nouveau soul band — Cracked Ice — has also played at MIX parties.

This Friday (July 30), Cracked Ice plays at the Levitt Pavilion.

Seidman is organizing the after-party — from 10:30 p.m. on, at Manolo.

It’s not a full-fledged MIX.  But everyone’s invited.

Provided you want to have fun.

(To find out more — and get on the MIX mailing list — click on www.mixct.com)

The Westport Country Playhouse is located at 25 Powers Court.  The Dressing Room restaurant is adjacent:  27 Powers Court.

That’s “Powers” Court — named for (I am told) the Powers family who once owned the land.

Not “Power’s” Court.  It’s not named for the actor Tyrone.

Even if he did appear at the Playhouse, back in the day.

Gwen McKenzie’s was by the womb.

Her grandfather — Jim McKenzie — was a Playhouse fixture from 1959 to 1999.  He served most of those 4 decades as executive producer.

Her father, Kevin — now in technical theater — worked at the Playhouse in the 1980s.

Gwen McKenzie with a portrait of her grandfather, Jim McKenzie.

Gwen’s path to the Playhouse began in Florida, where she attended an arts middle and high school.  She worked in props, set design and technical direction, and stage managed “West Side Story.”

She came north for NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts BFA program in theater design and technology.  This year, she was wardrobe supervisor for “The Who’s Tommy.”

Last summer, Gwen interned at another theater where her grandfather was a longtime executive producer:  Peninsula Players in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

But Westport holds a special fondness.

“I came up when I was little to visit Grandpa,” she says.  “I don’t remember which show I saw, but I thought it was pretty good!”

Her involvement with theater came despite her father’s advice.

“He knows there’s not a whole bunch of money in it,” she says.  “But he’s supportive now, and he knows there are so many good people in theater.”

Stage management appeals to Gwen because it touches all areas:  sound, lights, scenery and costumes.  She’s also learning about marketing and development.

Right now she’s the production assistant for “Happy Days,” which opens tonight.  Her next project:  “I Do!  I Do!”

“A few” interns know about her legacy, she says.  They should:  Many of the old posters plastered on the walls bear his name.

Anne Keefe knew Jim McKenzie well.  On Gwen’s 1st day, the artistic advisor mentioned his name to her.

Gwen would love to be stage manager of a regional theater.

“That was my grandfather’s 1st job,” she notes.  “He’d love it!”

The Westport Country Playhouse needed to find another brilliant musician– and one who could quickly learn an intricate musical score.

Angela Marroy Boerger (Photo by Kathleen O'Rourke)

They looked as far as — downstairs.  Education and community programs coordinator Angela Marroy Boerger earned music degrees from Rice University and Yale, and studied violin with Kenneth Goldsmith, Ronald Neal and Doris Hansen.

Angela was not exactly secretive about her talents — she’s played at several Playhouse receptions.  But was she up to a major musical production, with a 3-week run through May 15?

And did we mention that she recently learned she is pregnant?

Artistic director Mark Lamos and musical director Wayne Baker ran Angela through an audition.  Realizing she is an exceptional musician, they offered her the job.

Angela received the score on a Thursday evening.  On Friday night, wearing her traditional “orchestra black” dress, she played the 1st of 8 weekly shows in the pit.

Meanwhile — because not only the show but the Playhouse itself must go on — she kept her day job, planning educational programs and working with the incoming intern class.

Patrons leave “She Loves Me” with smiles on their faces.  After all, it’s an upbeat show, and a winning production.

But the biggest smile may belong to the accidental violinist.  One critic wrote:

I begin this review with the music because it’s the small orchestra, under the seasoned baton of Wayne Barker that plays a significant role in this musical comedy – which really should be termed an Operetta, in my opinion.  Worthy of special mention is a lovely violin solo by Angela Marroy Boerger.

They love her.

We then lightly suggested the Playhouse should reciprocate.

Good news:  They are!

From now through the end of the show’s run — May 15 — the Playhouse will provide a free non-alcoholic beverage to any patron showing a receipt from Da Pietro’s.

We’ll drink to that!

Step right up to the Westport Country Playhouse -- and if you've been to Da Pietro's recently, enjoy a free drink!

Janine joins many theater-goers in raving about it.  “Delightful, romantic, funny, charming and nostalgic,” she says, channeling her inner Clive Barnes.

She loved the set, the costume, the music and lyrics — she says she “grinned from ear to ear,” starting the moment the curtain rose.

Janine — the owner of Da Pietro’s restaurant — loved “She Loves Me” so much, she’s even heading back for a matinee.  And taking her husband — the chef Pietro — out of the kitchen, for “a relaxing and rejuvenating” afternoon.

But wait — there’s more!

To prove to all of her neighbors how much she wants them to see the show, Janine is offering anyone who brings a “She Loves Me” ticket or ticket stub a free glass of wine or dessert (with the purchase of a Da Pietro’s lunch or dinner entree).

Talk about neighbors helping neighbors — what a great idea!

And if the Playhouse wants to reciprocate, maybe they can give a free brownie at intermission to any “She Loves Me” patron who shows a receipt from Da Pietro’s.

Yet on Friday, May 14 the owner/founder of The Dressing Room takes a few steps east, to make his theatrical debut.  He’s got a walk-on appearance in “She Loves Me,” the musical comedy that’s been extended through May 15.

His role?  A chef, naturally (pun intended).

Michel Nischan

Michel won his spot last November.  He — okay, his wife Lori — bid $2,000 in a silent auction, at the 2009 Playhouse Gala.  She outlasted 3 others — all Playhouse patrons (and, presumably, Dressing Room regulars).

Michel wanted the role for 2 reasons:  He loves the Playhouse, and figured it would be fun.

He won’t tell “06880″ what the role entails — “I’m sworn to secrecy” — but says he must prepare for it.

Good luck, Michel.  Break a leg.

And then go back to your real roles rolls next door.

(For ticket information on Michel’s cameo appearance — or any other “She Loves Me” performance — click here, or call 203-227-4177.)

So when her husband was offered a great job “up in Connecticut” — too far to commute to New York — she felt some trepidation.  The family chose Westport, because it was close to his new job — and close enough to New York, for when Sophie needed her city fix.

The November 2008 move to suburbia was as hard as she’d imagined it would be.  It was late fall; everyone stayed inside.  Driving her kids to Saugatuck Elementary School, she didn’t see “a soul” outside.

Sophie Blondeau

Because she’d moved so much, Sophie knew she had to take the 1st step.  Soon after arriving, she called the PTA president.  She learned there was a newcomers’ cocktail 2 days later.

Submerged in boxes, making chitchat was far from Sophie’s mind.  “That was the last place I wanted to go,” she recalls.

She went.

“It was fabulous,” she says.  “I met lots of women in the same situation.”  Four of them quickly became her support system.

Sophie enjoyed commiserating sharing stories with them.  But she had another outlet too:  blogging.

Her “Take the Girl” blog — as in, “You Can Take the Girl Out of NYC But…” chronicles her sometimes rocky, sometimes satisfying, always instructive transition from city dweller to suburban mom.  It is insightful, funny — and, for longtime suburbanites, not always easy to read.

Sophie has blogged about isolation, homogeneity, the lack of walking, and missing New York.  Her audience is primarily city people, though she gets occasional “I can relate” comments she suspects are from similarly still-adjusting women in the burbs.

One of the biggest reactions came when she wrote about the new experience of shopping at Costco.  “I was so not trained!” she laughs.

Sophie says the blog is “a good way to keep me honest.”  It also ties her to her city friends.  “We always used to joke about moving to the suburbs,” she says.  “I wanted to show them if this was as bad as we said it could be.”

In the beginning, it was.  Over the past few months though, Sophie says her writing has become “more balanced.”

During the recent storm, she wrote admiringly of the CodeRED emergency alerts.  Last week she admitted her feelings about SUVs have evolved.  Describing carting 3 kids and countless bags of lawn refuse, she asked:  “Can you imagine how many trips to the dump I would have to make if I owned a Mini?”

“My feelings have changed,” Sophie says.  “The pain of moving has lessened.  I see the benefits more.”  Still, she says, “I’m probably more detached from Westport than most people.”

Among the benefits:  “I love my neighbors.  I live in a real community, not a McMansion.”

She enjoys the beach — a 6-minute bike ride away.

Sophie has “come to like  having a house, to a certain extent.  It’s nice not dealing with upstairs neighbors or landlords.”

She also appreciates Saugatuck Elementary; the Westport Country Playhouse and “the sense of arts here,” as well as “the larger than expected global community in Westport.”

The move to Westport enabled Sophie to get out of the “advertising rat race” she’d been in for 15 years.  She now works as a life coach — a benefit she credits to moving.

But of course New York still holds allure.  Sophie gets in to the city every 2 weeks or so.

And yet…

“Driving everywhere kills me.  I don’t like that people are rude when they don’t have to be — they’re not grateful for what they have.  Westport is less spontaneous than the city.  I don’t think I realized how homogeneous Westport is — it’s a little sanitized.  And the isolation is still hard.”

Sounds like another blog post just waiting for Sophie to write.

Ronnie Spector

On April 1 the “original bad girl of rock” — the Ronettes’ lead singer on mondo hits like “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain,” as well as a virtual prisoner while married to “Wall of Sound” production genius/murderer Phil Spector — comes to town with Band Together.  The “HeArt & Soul” event — at the Westport Country Playhouse — benefits Save the Children.

Band Together CT unites talented musicians with concerned citizens to raise money for local and national charities, environmental issues and families in need.  The total is over $450,000 — and the Westport show should add significantly to it.

Ronnie Spector is just 1 of the many top musicians set to appear — though definitely the biggest.

Also scheduled:  “Saturday Night Live” band singer Christine Ohlman; soul singers Gisele Jackson and Susan Didrichsen; Elliot Lewis from Hall and Oates (who did not play here); Jeremy Chatzky (Ronnie Spector’s musical director and bassist, who recorded and toured with Bruce Springsteen), and Westport native Tim DeHuff.

Ronnie Spector is well into her Social Security years.  But judging from the photo above — and the stories I’ve heard about her annual Christmas show with Darlene Love at B.B. King’s New York club– she can still bring it on.

(The April 1 benefit also includes a sale of original works donated by local artists to support Haiti relief efforts.  The Westport Downtown Merchants Association is producing the event.  Doors open at 7 p.m.; the show begins at 8.  Tickets, at $36 each, are available at the Playhouse or by calling 203-227-4177.)

Hope Boone, Jessica Rae Patton and Marianne Goodell rehearse their monologues.

Next Sunday (March 7) at 1 and 5 p.m., “The Vagina Monologues” will be performed at the Westport Country Playhouse.  The performances’ primary beneficiary is the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.  Also benefitting:  V-Day’s City of Joy, a campaign to end the rape and torture of women and girls in Congo.

“V-Day Westport 2010″ involves women from all walks of life.  Some are actors or activists.  Others are 1st-time performers.  All hope to end violence against females, locally and globally.

“The Vagina Monologues” was 1st performed Off-Broadway in 1998.  Diving into the mystery, humor, pain, power, wisdom, outrage and excitement of women’s experiences, it has been called “spellbinding, funny and almost unbearably moving…a work of art…a poem and a polemic, a performance and balm and a benediction.”

V-Day — named one of Worth Magazine’s “100 Best Charities,” and one of Marie Claire Magazine‘s “Top 10 Charities” — has raised over $70 million in just 12 years.  V-Day Westport is part of over 4200 similar benefits around the world.

(“The Vagina Monologues” is directed by Jill Jaysen of Center Stage Theatre Company.  Click here for tickets, or call 203-227-4177.  For more information on V-Day Westport, email vdaywestporttvm@gmail.com; check out the Facebook “VDay Westport” page, or Twitter @vdaywestport.)

Jill Jaysen rehearses her cast.

 Miller Pope doesn’t have to watch a TV show about long-ago Madison Avenue.  He was there. 

Miller Pope

A partner in a New York ad agency — and the youngest member elected to the Society of Illustrators — Pope was one of the many “Mad Men” who moved to Westport in the 1950s and ’60s.  Their friendships — on the train, in New York and here in town — along with their hard drinking, sometimes scandalous social lives and civic contributions — gave Westport a unique reputation that remained for years, long after Madison Avenue lost its luster.

Pope has self-published a memoir:  “Confessions of a MadMan:  From Madison Avenue to Island Sands.”  Although in desperate need of a copy editor — he writes of “dinning rooms” and “pool partys” — Pope has produced an insightful look back at a time and town that, for better or worse, is long gone.

Though many illustrators already lived here when Pope and his wife Helen went house-hunting, he was warned about “the Italians.”  The Italians he knew were people like Michelangelo and da Vinci, and the ones he met in Westport turned out to among his best friends. 

The Westport Library’s superb picture reference section; an art supply store “that rivaled the best in New York”; a “first class camera store”  and Westport Country Playhouse all nurtured Pope’s creativity. 

The Westport Artists club was “almost on a par” with the Society of Illustrators and the Art Directors Club in New York.  And “famous illustrators, novelists, TV personalities, movie actors, playwrights, industrial designers and ad men practically crawled out of the woodwork.”

Local folks served as models for Pope’s drawings. His postman, he wrote, “probably appeared in more magazines than many movie stars.”

Pope forgets little from those days.

There was a bar car on one of the late afternoon trains from NY.  I tried to make it whenever I could because it was a rolling cocktail party.  Usually I had so much fun it was a disappointment when I reached my destination. 

Often the contents of this mobile party spilled out of the merry capsule into Marrio’s [sic], a restaurant and bar which had the good fortune to be located just across the narrow street from the little Saugatuck Railroad station.  Marrio must have been a happy man because his bar had eager customers fighting to get up to his bar and thrust cash into his paws.

It is a wonder that those of us from those heady days of the past survived.  It seems that the consumption of alcohol was truly oceanic.  It was not unusual for the ad people I frequently entertained to consume 2 or 3 martinis at lunch and then go back to work. 

Of course, Mario’s (correct spelling) was not the only place Pope and his wife drank.

Helen and I had a lot of parties, and it was not too unusual for some of our guests to still be there when the sun came up.  We worked hard and played hard.

A Miller Pope illustration -- probably using Westport models.

Pope helped create Publisher’s Graphics, a business that centralized paste-up, photostats, typesetting, transparency-stripping and other mechanical work under one roof.  It soon moved from an old icehouse to a converted factory on Riverside Avenue. 

The location was perfect.  Clients rolled off the train (and past Mario’s) to the book-producing factory.  “And if that was not good enough,” Pope writes, “there were several excellent restaurants and bars right next door.”

As with any problem he’d faced in advertising, creativity was key.  One project involved photographs of kids playing.  He used local boys and girls, but the client did not want white children only.  “I sent a couple of my guys over to Norwalk to hire a few minority kids,” Pope says.

In 1975, the Popes left Westport for North Carolina.  They established beach and golf resort communities.  He became a major force in publicizing the area — and remains active today — using, no doubt, the professional (and social) skills he honed back when “Mad Men” ruled the world.

Or at least Westport.

(For information on this and other books by Pope, click here.)

A typical ad from the 1960s envisioned the future.

In addition to offering an open house, welcoming area young professionals — even sponsoring a blood drive — this Sunday Westport’s artistic crown jewel presents the Broadway Boys, in a concert of Broadway and holiday favorites.

The Broadway Boys are “the hottest male voices currently working on the New York stage.” And 3 of the Broadway Boys — okay, they’re actually in the band — are Westport natives.

Broadway Boys musicians (from left): Dan Asher, Justin Paul, Drew McKeon.

Justin Paul is the musical director and accompanist.  Dan Asher is the bassist.  Drew McKeon plays drums.

All 3 grew up in Westport — and got their musical chops at Staples.

Justin currently serves as musical director/conductor for the off-Broadway hit “Altar Boyz.”  Dan has performed at legendary jazz venues like Birdland and the Blue Note, while Drew tours internationally.

The upcoming concert repertoire includes holiday songs and show tunes.

This is musical entertainment at its best.  You can go to Broadway — or you can stay in town and see Westport’s special Broadway Boys, in Westport’s own special theater.

(Tickets are $35, and can be purchased by calling 203-227-4177; visiting the box office, or clicking here.)