That’s bad news for fans of Weston’s only full-service restaurant.
It’s even worse news for at least one bride-to-be, who already put down a hefty deposit. She was told Cobb’s Mill would reopen “in a week after the funeral.”
She is not sure she can take that to the bank.
Services for Friedman — a founder of the Westport Downtown Merchants Association and longtime local commercial landowner — will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday (March 3) at Weston’s St. Francis of Assisi Church. Burial will follow at 4 p.m. at Beth Israel cemetery in Norwalk.
Drew Friedman and his wife Laura Papallo Friedman, at Cobb’s Mill Inn. (Photo/Patricia Gay)
This weekend, the national track spotlight shined on Westport.
Yesterday, Hannah DeBalsi became the 1st athlete — male or female — ever to win 4 New England indoor track championships. The Stanford-bound Staples High School senior blazed to a 10:29.46 time in the 2-mile run.
(Photo credit/StaplesSports)
In 2013, as a freshman at the same venue — the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston — DeBalsi watched Henry Wynne win the New England 1000-meter run for Staples.
This year — the day before — Wynne ran a 4:01.15 mile for the University of Virginia, at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. He added more points by helping the Cavaliers win the distance medley (his 1600 split was a blazing 3:56.37), and placing 2nd at 3000 meters.
The Reggie Lewis Center is a favorite place for both DeBalsi and Wynne. In January, that’s where he ran a sub-4-minute mile.
(Click here, then scroll down for alert “06880” reader Jeff Mitchell’s video interview with Wynne, after Saturday’s race. The 2013 Staples grad gives shout-outs to Staples track coaches Laddie Lawrence and Malcolm Watson.)
Lisa Lampanelli is one of America’s most popular (and edgily hilarious) comedians.
She’s a regular on Howard Stern, a staple on late-night TV, and a 2-time Grammy nominee for “Best Comedy Album.” She was a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice,” and participated in a roast of Donald Trump.
Later this month, though, she’ll do something a lot heavier.
I’m not as funny as Lampanelli, but you gotta admit that my “a lot heavier” line is good. The play is “Fat Girls, Interrupted.” It focuses on weight, body image and food issues from the perspective of 4 women, with 4 different problems.
“The play will do for weight and food issues what ‘Vagina Monologues’ did for women’s nether regions,” Lampanelli says.
I’m not touching that with a 10-foot pole.
The venue is a coup for the Playhouse. How often does a theater offer a world-premiere reading?
Lisa Lampanelli
But it’s also a coup for Lampanelli. A Trumbull native who now owns a Fairfield beach house, she calls the Playhouse “a bucket list thing for me. It’s always seemed so classic and iconic.”
The booking came about through her friendship with internationally acclaimed “chick-lit” writer Jane Green, a local resident. (“She’s all the good things about Westport, without the bad,” Lampanelli says.)
Green introduced the stand-up comic to Michael Ross, the theater’s managing director. He loved “Fat Girls.”
“How did I end up, at 54, in this very cool world?” Lampanelli asks.
In part, through a lot of hard work. She began creating a play 6 years ago with Alan Zweibel. He’s written for “Saturday Night Live,” Garry Shandling and Billy Crystal.
Most of “Fat Girls” took shape over the past 2 years, though. It’s insightful, important and poignant — and at times very, very funny.
Speaking of funny: What about that roast of Donald Trump? The narcissistic blowhard now bullying his way to the Republican nomination for president doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to laugh at himself.
Lisa Lampanelli, roasting Donald Trump.
“He was one of the best sports ever,” says Lampanelli. She should know: She’s also roasted Chevy Chase, Denis Leary, Pamela Anderson, Jeff Foxworthy, Flavor Flav, William Shatner, David Hasselhoff and Larry the Cable Guy.
“I could say the most crazy, incendiary stuff. I attacked Trump for his hair, his taste in women, the dopey ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ which I was on — and more stuff I can’t say in print.”
That was at New York’s Friars Club. Lisa Lampanelli’s next act opens soon — right here in Westport.
(Tickets are $100 [with a post-reading “Meet the Cast” dessert reception], $50 and $25. To order or for more information, click here or call 203-227-4177.)
There have been a lot of stories lately about bullying.
This is not one of them.
Josh Suggs and Jamie Mann.
Today’s stand-up-and-cheer story begins in April 2009. Jill Johnson Mann and her family had just moved to Westport, after 5 years in Madrid. When she searched for play dates for her son Jamie, Sharon Suggs immediately responded. Jamie and Josh Suggs soon became great friends.
In elementary school, Jamie discovered a passion: dance. He’s extremely talented, and dedicated himself fully to his craft.
As great as he is, it’s not always easy being a ballet dancer in middle school. Yet whenever Jamie was taunted, Josh — a popular, athletic, kind-hearted boy — was always there.
He literally stepped forward and confronted his peers — also not easy for a middle schooler to do. (Josh says he learned those strategies in the Kool 2B Kind program, at Greens Farms Elementary School.)
This winter, as the Bedford Middle School talent show neared, Jamie planned to dance. He encouraged Josh — a budding magician — to perform.
Josh had practiced his tricks for ushers at the New York City Ballet, when he watched Jamie perform. (How’s that for friendship! And Jamie has many other supportive friends, who have watched him dance at Lincoln Center.)
Jamie Mann (5th from left) with Bedford Middle School classmates (and friends since kindergarten) Jaimie Hebel, Maddy Edwards, Rachel Suggs, Josh Suggs, Maggie Moore and Ava Lacoseglio. They were at Lincoln Center, watching him dance in “The Nutcracker.”
But as “Bedford’s Got Talent”‘s first rehearsal neared, Jamie worried about how others would react to his routine. But he and Josh were in it together — he couldn’t back down now.
As the cast rehearsed, camaraderie — and excitement — grew. The curtain rose last month, a few days before school vacation.
Josh closed the 1st act with a mind-blowing magic show. His tricks were perfect — poised and professional. The audience loved him.
Josh Suggs works his magic at the “Bedford’s Got Talent” show.
Then — as the finale of Act 2 — came Jamie.
Casting aside any fears — hoisting an original “Broadway Billy Elliot” bag on his shoulder, and wearing Billy attire all the way down to his ballet shoes — the 7th grader proudly took the spotlight.
And made it his own.
He sang, in a Broadway-quality voice. Channeling Billy’s words, he used the show’s signature song “Electricity” to explain how he feels when he dances: “I’m flying like a bird…I’m free!”
Then he danced.
Athletically, spiritedly, beautifully, Jamie Mann danced his heart out, in front of an audience of middle school boys and girls.
It was a bold move. Jamie was doing something different.
His performance caught the eye of a theater website, This Way to Broadway. They wrote that from the opening moments, the Bedford youngsters:
proved they are different too—different from middle school kids of decades ago, the ones who would have sneered and teased a boy who dared to plie on a school stage.
The crowd roared with approval. “We love you, Jamie!” they chanted, as he began to sing: “I can’t really explain it. I haven’t got the words…”
They were Billy’s words, but easily could have been Jamie’s — trying to find a way to describe his heart swelling as his classmates validated his talents. “Go Jamie,” they cheered as he leapt and spun across the stage. The roar of applause at the end, after his series of a la seconde turns, was deafening. The sound traveled across social media for days to come.
Jamie has performed “Electricity” as Billy at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, alongside Broadway actors. No question, the experience was electric. But that evening, when Jamie danced for his classmates and their families, was also electric for everyone in the room. Especially for a kid who thought that kind of acceptance only came from a touchdown or a goal.
[Here is the entire “Bedford’s Got Talent” show. Josh performs his magic tricks at the 45:00 mark. Jamie is 1:33:30 in. Both are spectacular.]
In addition to hosting its 5th annual pre-Oscars party, the popular Main Street delicatessen with the same name had another turn in the spotlight today: It was owner Lee Papageorge’s 65th birthday.
His daughter Missy presented him with his very own statue:
Westport has long ties with the Academy Awards. Over the years, dozens of Oscar-winning actors, producers, screenwriters and other industry machers have lived here.
For decades too, movies have been set in Westport. Others were filmed here. We’re familiar with many: “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,” “Rally Round the Flag, Boys!” and “The Swimmer” are just 3 examples.
In honor of tonight’s film industry gala, indefatigable “06880” reader/researcher Fred Cantor unearthed a lesser-known production that not only explored postwar suburban life, but was also set here.
“Loving” — released in 1970 — was based on “Brooks Wilson Ltd.,” a novel by Westporter John McDermott. Clearly, he was writing about his hometown. (The plot includes a successful illustrator, his mistress and alcohol.)
A promotional still from the film “Loving.”
The film starred George Segal and Eva Marie Saint (a Westport Country Playhouse regular). Local residents Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward appeared as extras, while Westporter Diana Douglas also had a role.
“Loving” was filmed in part at the Saugatuck train station, Greens Farms Elementary School, Main Street, and a private home on 27 Long Lots Road.
The film’s setting was important enough for it to be featured in an ad campaign. (“It tops ‘Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice,'” the copy read.)
received a reasonably warm critical reception and then disappeared all summer into some kind of distributorial limbo, turning up finally this week in neighborhood theaters. Somehow it deserved more attention than that. It’s not an earth-shaking film, but it is an amusing and intelligent comedy of manners, and George Segal is fun to watch.
Sounds interesting.
So if you’re bored tonight with all the fake I-can’t-believe-I-won-oh-thank-you! speeches, click on Netflix.
Download “Loving.”
And enjoy a trip back to Westport’s movie-making past.
The house at 27 Long Lots Road, where scenes from “Loving” were shot.
Pat Saviano, Jill Turner Odice, Bob Grant and Tom Wall know their cops.
It took Pat just 5 minutes — and the other 3 not much longer — to correctly identify last week’s photo challenge as a plaque dedicated to former Westport Police Captain Eugene Pasacreta. It’s located in the park bearing his name, on the Saugatuck River directly across Riverside Avenue from the current Saugatuck Elementary School (formerly Bedford Junior and Middle Highs, and before that, Staples High).
Former (and longtime) police officer Dick Alley added plenty of great background information on his onetime colleague. Click here for the photo and all comments.
Now: Whose woods these are, I think I know.
(Photo/Peter Tulupman)
Well, actually, I’m sure I do. Photographer Peter Tulupman told me where they are.
Hopefully, some of you do too. If you think you can identify this spot, click “Comments” below. Happy trails!
The dessert gods have once again smiled on Bay Street.
Five Nearly two years after Michele’s Pies closed, The Cake Box has opened. Just a few yards away — across the road, in space formerly occupied by a hair salon — Westport’s newest bakery is already drawing raves.
It opened Friday, in response to local customers who drove all the way to Ridgefield for the delicious goods at the Cake Box there. (Owners Jordan Gregory and Robert Byrnes also operate Ridgefield Swoon, a gluten- and nut-free version of the store, with vegan options.)
Managers Greg Neil and Olivia Horne — she’s a 2008 Staples grad — get daily deliveries from the Ridgefield kitchen. Among the items: specialty cupcakes, cookies, brownies and tea loaves. Some are gluten-free.
My favorite so far: the stracciatella cupcake (vanilla with chocolate chips, and light buttercream frosting).
Greg says sea salt adds special flavor to many items.
What? No cakes at The Cake Box?
Not yet. They’re coming soon.
For now, customers can order cakes to be delivered here.
Word of mouth — about mouth-watering goodies — travels fast.
“It’s been incredibly positive,” Olivia says. “I’ve never seen any place so well received.”
The Cake Box is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They’ll extend their hours to 8 p.m. this summer.
Westporters know Tish Fried as director of the Write Yourself Free writing workshop. But she’s also the daughter of Lawrence Fried.
The award-winning photojournalist covered political, social and cultural events for publications like the New York Times, Newsweek, Saturday Evening Post, Vogue, Collier’s and Parade.
A collection of Lawrence Fried Newsweek covers.
Tish and her sister, Lauren Wendle, are moving their father’s long career of work to Connecticut. Here, they’ll begin the long process of preserving and archiving over 200 boxes of negatives, slides and original prints.
There’s another Westport connection. Fried shot several stories in Westport — including geese on the Saugatuck River, to illustrate a piece on a local writer.
Well, sort of. The day of the assignment, they weren’t there. So Fried photographed geese on a pond in Tarrytown, where he lived. The subject of the story noticed the difference (and was not pleased).
On his way to the airport, Fried often stopped in Westport to pick up journalist Ed Kiester. They traveled together to the world’s hot spots.
“This is a historic collection,” Tish Fried says. “It includes presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon, and all the Kennedys.”
A small section of the vast archives.
After a guard smashed Fried’s camera at the Moscow airport, he was offered an official apology. He refused it — and instead asked permission for a rare trans-Siberian trip.
In 1960 he received an Overseas Press Club Photography Award for his 50,000-mile exploration of life in that isolated territory.
Fried made 3 trips to Viet Nam. He turned against the war when a marine offered to take a particular hill, because it would make a good picture.
Fried was on the campaign trail with Bobby Kennedy for 2 weeks. One image became a Newsweek cover — and the one Kennedy chose for his book, “To Seek A Newer World.” Fried’s photo of the RFK funeral is in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.
Fried also photographed Chiang Kai-shek, Willem de Kooning, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder and Meryl Streep.
For years, Tish and her sister have fielded requests for images. Locating the proper ones is tough.
“Having an archivist help us organize the material is a dream come true,” Tish says. Westport Arts Center board member Michael Loeb helped fund the research.
The early part of the process is going well. Tish and Lauren constantly find amazing images. One is an Andy Warhol selfie: The artist took Fried’s camera and shot pictures of himself.
The sisters recently discovered a 2-week shoot of Louis Armstrong on tour, and a photo of Bob Dylan posing with Zsa Zsa Gabor — at Mick Jagger’s birthday party.
More discoveries await. Tish Fried is a writer — but it’s almost like she’s in her father’s darkroom, waiting for the next exciting new image to appear.
(To learn more about Lawrence Fried’s archives, email patriciafried57@gmail.com)
Conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth, by Lawrence Fried.
Drew Friedman — a longtime downtown landowner who, as a founder of the Westport Downtown Merchants Association, and landlord of restaurants like Onion Alley, Bobby Q’s and Acqua gave locally owned businesses space on Main Street, and influenced the entire downtown area — has died. He was 86.
There was a moment of silence this morning at “Weston Speak Up,” an annual affair in that town. Friedman was a presence in Weston as the owner of Cobb’s Mill Inn. He bought the iconic restaurant — with ducks and a waterfall — in 2011.
Drew Friedman and his wife Laura Papallo Friedman, at Cobb’s Mill Inn. (Photo/Patricia Gay)
Freidman sold his Bobby Q’s building in November 2014, for $9.2 million. He owned it for 31 years, renting to tenants like Onion Alley, Shoe Inn and the “Born to Explore” TV show.
His downtown holdings once included the original Westport Public Library building on the Post Road between Main Street and Parker Harding Plaza (now Starbucks and Freshii). He also owned Post Road property beyond downtown.
Friedman owned other commercial property in Westport too. Last May, he bought the 10-acre Stonehenge property in Ridgefield for $1,990,000.
Friedman’s wife Bobbi — a noted painter, sculptor and dancer — died in 2011. After her death, he married Laura Papallo.
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