Over the past couple of weeks, “06880” has spotted — and blogged about — 2 itty-bitty Westport cars.
This one’s a tad bigger than teeny-tiny — but it’s unique nonetheless.
I’d call it a golf car — except for the license plate.
People don’t normally park golf carts in front of Joe’s Pizza.
We don’t know what’s going on around town, but it makes for interesting photos.
Last month, smack in the middle of previews for “She Loves Me,” the violinist in the 5-member orchestra bowed out for personal reasons.
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.
Two days ago, “06880” reported that Da Pietro’s owner Janine Scotti loved “She Loves Me” so much, she’s offering a free glass of wine or dessert to any restaurant patron showing a ticket stub from the current Westport Country Playhouse production.
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!
Comments Off on The Playhouse Pays It Forward
Posted in Restaurants, Westport Country Playhouse
For nearly 2 decades, dermatologist Robin Oshman had an office near Fortuna’s.
When Crate & Barrel displaced her, she set up a home office in the handsome Long Lots Road house she’d owned for 20 years.
She put a discreet sign in front. She got approval from the selectmen and the Architectural Review Board. “I met all the requirements,” she says.
But that was not good enough for the Zoning Board of Appeals. They ordered her to remove her little sign.
She did.
And then — because she remembered hearing somewhere that the town has no jurisdiction over mailboxes — she called the post office.
Are there any size requirements for a mailbox? she asked.
No, they said. It can be as big as you want.
Can you put information like your name, address, profession and phone number on it? she wondered.
Sure! the post office said.
What about shape?
It just has to be the right height for the mail carrier to reach, they replied.
Oh, and be sure to put a little orange flag on the side.
Dr. Oshman designed what looks like a little sentry house. Carpenter Al Williams built it out of wood.
It’s got black and white lettering — and a little orange flag. Here — take a look:
Dr. Oshman’s mailbox went up in January. Her patients — 250 of whom signed a petition to allow the old sign — love it.
So do her neighbors. Now her patients no longer pull into their driveways, wondering where her office is.
Public Works didn’t like it, though. Someone called, saying they had to remove her structure.
It’s a mailbox, she said. Not a “structure.”
Well, a mailbox has to be on a post, they told her.
It is, she said. There’s a post inside, holding it up.
She offered to saw off the bottom, to show them. They said that wasn’t necessary.
Then they said a mailbox had to be 8 inches back from the road.
Hah! Hers is 14.
Well, it’s on town property, they said. It can’t be there.
Dr. Oshman said they’d better remove every mailbox in town, because every one is on town property.
No one ever called back.
Funny, isn’t it: Everyone driving by now notices the mailbox of Dr. Robin Oshman, M.D. (101 Long Lots Road; Dermatology; 454-0743).
No one ever noticed the discreet little sign the ZBA made her take down.
After Staples Players director David Roth casts a show, he makes sure his actors understand their characters. Last fall, for example, everyone in “Guys and Dolls” wrote biographies, describing their character’s parents, hometown, childhood, economic status and other “personal” details.
Sounds like info you’d find on Facebook? Adam Mirkine thought the same thing.
Adam Mirkine (right) directs Max Samuels. (Photo by Kerry Long)
Adam is just a 9th grader, but this spring he’s co-assistant director of “Book of Days.” The production — which opens next week — is a challenging look at the clash between theater and religion. “Getting each person to actually be his character is key,” Adam says.
To help the process along, Adam asked each actor to create a Facebook account for his character — including information like marital status, interests and favorites.
Now anyone on Facebook can find — and friend — people like “Boyd Middleton,” “Ruth Hoch” and “Walt Bates.”
“The script has nothing about their favorite quotations, books, music, movies and TV shows,” Adam says. “But they know their characters so well, they fill in what they like.”
"Boyd Middleton"'s Facebook photo.
Some actors did even more. Matt Van Gessel plays director Boyd Middleton, so he took a professional-type picture for his profile. Jake Yarmoff’s photo of Conroy Atkins — a small-town sheriff — sports a cowboy hat.
“Sheriff Atkins” is particularly good at updating his status. The other day he wrote: “Conroy Atkins is alerting the residents of his hometown about the presence of a sex offender in the community.”
The fun project has helped bring the cast together, Adam says.
There’s only 1 problem: Staples’ internet filter blocks Facebook access. So any “Book of Days” cast member wishing to add a friend, change a relationship status or post a photo must do it at home.
(“The Book of Days” will be performed in the Staples Black Box Theater on May 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m., and May 16 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at www.StaplesPlayers.com, or at the door 30 minutes before curtain. For more information, call 203-341-1310.)
Posted in Arts, Staples HS, technology
Tagged "Book of Days, Adam Mirkine, David Roth, Jake Yarmoff, Matt Van Gessel, Staples Players
Janine Scotti just saw “She Loves Me” — the Westport Country Playhouse musical comedy that’s been extended through May 15.
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.
Last Saturday, I posted a photo of the itty-bittiest car I’d ever seen in Westport.
This afternoon I spotted this one (check out the license plate):
I look forward to seeing another, similarly Woog-sized vehicle in the days to come.
After all, 3’s a crowd.
Just not a very large one.
Harvey Weinstein is big (in more ways than one).
And Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Bette Davis, Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe are just a few of the boldface names who at one point called Westport home.
But you can spot mega-mogul movie producers and Oscar-winning actors many places besides Westport.
One thing you can’t find anywhere but here is the Westport Youth Film Festival.
Organizers call it “the only youth film festival in the world run for high school students, by high school students.”
And while Hollywood is known for hyperbole, this is Westport. We’ll take their word for it.
The 7th annual WYFF returns this weekend. The schedule is remarkable — and what’s even more remarkable is how few Westporters know about it.
This Friday and Saturday (May 7-8), 65 high school student films — chosen from over 200 submissions, around the world — will be shown at Town Hall and Toquet Hall. Prizes will be awarded to 9 of them.
Friday night’s highlights include 8 movies from “Peace It Together,” a Canadian program involving Canadian, Palestinian and Israeli youth — plus Q-and-As.
On Saturday — in addition to the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. film screenings — there will be musical performances on Main Street, free popcorn and soda at Oscar’s, and t-shirt sales. At 9 a.m. there’s a bagel breakfast with WYFF organizers and filmmakers.
The films range widely: politics and current events; music; romance; comedy; self-discovery (hey, they’re teenagers). At 5 p.m. Saturday Toquet hosts “The Roy Orbison Project,” spotlighting WYFF alumni including Jon Karmen and Jake Andrews of Rubydog fame.
I have no idea what the Roy Orbison Project is, but if it’s half as good as his voice, I’ll be impressed.
Tom Seligson, a Westport-based Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, keynotes Saturday’s 6 p.m. awards ceremony (Toquet).
WYFF is one of those Westport events you shouldn’t miss — though it also may be one you never heard of.
And even if the tagline — “the only youth film festival in the world run for high school students, by high school students” — is not true, this one may be: “The only youth film festival in the world in a town without an actual movie theater.”
(For the WYFF YouTube trailer, click here. For a detailed schedule of events, click here.)
Posted in Arts, Downtown, Entertainment, People, Teenagers
Tagged Harvey Weinstein, Jake Andrews, Jon Karmen, Roy Orbison, Rubydog Films, Tom Seligson, Toquet Hall, Westport Youth Film Festival
There’s a reason this blog is called “06880,” not “06883”: Although Weston borders Westport, I really don’t know much anything about what goes on there.
Okay, I lied. I know they have 2-acre zoning, so no one in Weston ever actually sees his or her neighbor.
I know Cobb’s Mill Inn is the place for weddings, bar mitzvahs and retirement dinners. And I mean that literally — it’s the only place in town.
And I know that — just like their cousins/spouses down in Weston, Ala. and Weston, Miss. — the folks up in Weston, Conn. don’t cotton to crazy ideas.
Like evolution.
Ever since that Charles Darwin kook came to town, Weston's had nothin' but trouble.
In case you missed this story, a Weston teacher says he was told not to teach the theory of evolution. The teacher — Mark Tangarone — ran Weston Elementary School’s talented and gifted program for 17 years. But he’s leaving — because, he says, administrators refused to let him teach this new-fangled idea about man being descended from — you’ll laugh! — monkeys.
In 2008, then-Weston Intermediate School principal Mark Ribbens emailed FedExed telegraphed Tangarone that evolution “is a philosophically unsatisfactory explanation for the diversity of life.”
Take that, chimps!
The principal added: “I know personally that I would be challenged in leading a 10-year-old through this sort of discussion while maintaining the appropriate sensitivity to a family’s religious beliefs or traditions.”
Yes sirree. There’s no telling what kind of questions young Dylan or Ashleigh might ask Mom or Dad next, once they’ve had their 10-year-old brains unlocked.
They might even want to watch the Discovery Channel, provided Cablevision has wired Weston yet.
Smote down like a sinner in the hand of an angry God, Tangarone nevertheless came back for more. He hoped to teach about Darwin during the current 1909-1910 2009-2010 school year.
But, Tangarone said, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Thomas Scarice told him: “Drop it.”
An ancestor of Westporters, but not Westonites.
Ribbens called faxed sent a message by Pony Express telling Tangarone: “Evolution is a topic that is not age appropriate, is not part of our existing curriculum, is not part of the state frameworks at this point in a student’s education, nor a topic in which you have particular expertise.”
Take that, Mark Tangarone!
Sweeping aside the fact that — according to the Fairfield Weekly — evolution is part of the 3rd through 5th grade science frameworks, as well as part of the Weston Public Schools’ curriculum (starting as early as kindergarten), “06880” vows solemnly to stand with our Weston neighbors (even though we can’t see them) in their fight to haul their town into the 21st 20th 19th century.
Evolution today! A 2nd restaurant tomorrow!
This progress thing could really take off.
Last year, in the fierce budget battle over education, Staples freshman JJ Mathewson emerged as a strong voice against cuts. This year’s debate has been less contentious — but JJ still has something to say.
He asked “06880” to share his thoughts with the town. JJ wrote:
As Westport struggles to create the town’s budget for the 2010-2011 year (the RTM meets on May 4), there is still one large area of contention: What will the state of education be?
One year ago, JJ Mathewson (left) was a leader during a Town Hall rally against education budget cuts.
Last year the public school budget was cut by 2%. Then an additional $1.4 million was cut by the RTM. As a result, the public schools have experienced increases in class sizes, and many cutting edge courses at Staples have been removed.
This year the Board of Finance proposed a $1 million cut. It was reduced to $500,000 after the Board of Education announced it would seek full restoration of the original $1 million. The Board of Ed still seeks full restoration, to avoid further cuts in the school programs next year.
If a $500,000 cut is allowed to pass, Westport schools will notice another increase in class size. The proposed budget is already bare, and staff shortages are likely.
In addition, over the past few years Staples has had a noticeable increase in enrollment. Because of higher enrollment next year, further budget cuts will have a significant impact on our schools. At greatest risk are courses that teach cutting-edge interdisciplinary skills and are not state mandated.
These potential changes threaten the quality of Westport’s education. Our school system is a pillar of our community, and important to attracting residents to our community. To contact your RTM members, click here.
Posted in Education, People, Staples HS
Tagged JJ Mathewson, Westport Board of Education, Westport RTM
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