In the first week of August in 1949 — almost exactly 75 years ago — Life magazine put us on its cover.
The most popular publication in America — read by tens of millions — headlined the story “Fairfield County: Country Home of Smart New Yorkers.”
The 10-page spread — nestled among stories on the return of the last World War II prisoners, a feature on circus impresario John Ringling North, and editorials on “schools, steel and statism” — began:
Between the sailboat-dotted waters of Long Island Sound and the woodsy border of New York State, in the corner of Connecticut that juts down toward Manhattan Island, lies Fairfield County.
Its scalloped shore lie gives it hundreds of miles of valuable waterfront property, while the rolling country inland offers countless sites for a home with a view and even room to farm.
For all its rural atmosphere it is swiftly reached from New York City by the electrified New Haven Railroad and the high-speed Merritt Parkway.
Life’s caption reads: “Tea on the lawn replaces cocktails for the family of H.S. Richardson (center), who is chairman of the executive committee of Vick Chemical Co. The Richardsons’ “Mount Vernon type” house is on the so-called “Gold Coast” of Greens Farms … This area along the shore of the Sound is the home of the county’s very conservative ‘Proper New Yorkers.'”
One-tenth of the county’s population, Life said, “is supported by well-paid jobs in Ne York …. Thousands of successful New Yorkers, attracted by the rolling hills, the leisurely life and other New Yorkers, have flocked to towns like Greenwich, Darien, Westport, and Redding.”
They “sail their boats, ride their horses, drive around in their station wagons and lead a luxurious life.”
Of course, Life noted, “their existence is not utopian. The commuter’s day revolves around the 7:43 to New York in the morning and the 5:16 out at night.
“But for the New Yorkers who can, or think they can, afford a country home, Fairfield County is probably the best — and the newly fashionable — place to have it.”
Life said: “The Railroad Club Car is an exclusive, air-conditioned arrangement for wealthy commuters who prefer not to ride in coaches. This one … costs a member $140 a year besides the regular commutation fare.”
Two pages were devoted specifically to Westport.
Titled “Its ‘idea people’ live around Westport,” the story said:
Among the first New York “discoverers” of Fairfield County were artists and authors who moved there shortly after the turn of the century because their commuting schedule was not so rigorous as that of the businessman. They also liked its atmosphere of old New England.
Today Fairfield County as almost as many ‘idea people’ as it has people of wealth. Many of the authors, artists and actors live around the town of Westport, a onetime colonial shipping center just west of the town of Fairfield.
There are probably more professional artists within a 25-mile radius of Westport than in any comparable spot in the U.S.
The Westport Artists Club, which was formed only four years ago, already has 148 members.
Life noted: “Country Playhouse in Westport gives better than average plays, including tryouts of Broadway-bound shows. Here Eddie Dowling (in bow tie) and Meg Mundy (behind Dowling) rehearse a popular old one, ‘The Time of Your Life.'”
The Westport section included these photos:
Westport artist Stevan Dohanos (left), who illustrated many Saturday Evening Post covers, paints an Easton church.
StevThe caption reads: “Eva Le Gallienne takes a nap on the lawn of her Westport home. She lives in a farmhouse, has 15 acres of land where she keeps chicks and cairn terriers. She has lived there 22 years, calls it a ‘retreat from theater people.’ This summer she made a one-week appearance in the Westport Playhouse.”
These photos show (left) Metropolitan Opera conductor Fritz Reiner, and James and Laura Fraser, sculpting outside their studio. “He designed the buffalo nickel,” Life’s caption notes.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
Thanks to all who came to last night’s “06880” blog party. We hope you had a good time!
The weather was perfect. The sunset was gorgeous. The turnout was diverse, the chatter fun.
The “06880” gifts — Bluetooth speakers, sourced by Annette Norton, of Savvy + Grace — were very well received.
Thanks, as always, to Westport’s Parks & Recreation Department. Their front office staff — and the young people in guest services — went way out of their way to make things run smoothly.
The next “06880” event: the Soundview Summer Stroll on Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). The entire beach exit road will be closed, for music, food, and tons of kids’ activities. See you there!
Terry Brannigan grabbed Warren Bloom’s guitar, and picked up where the veteran singer left off. His brother Eamon Brannigan, photographer John Videler, and “06880” board member Annette Norton enjoyed the show. (Photo/Dan Woog)
The fun continues this Sunday, with the 1st-ever Soundview Summer Stroll. It’s co-sponsored by “06880” and the Compo Beach Improvement Association. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
As (almost) always at the “06880” blog party, there was a magnificent sunset. (Photo/Ken Schwarz)
Compo Beach wasn’t the only place to be last night.
The Bacon Brothers drew a full — and very enthusiastic — house, at the Westport Country Playhouse.
They played autoharp, electric cello, mandolin, 4 electric ukuleles, harmonica, drums, bongos — and sang “Footloose” as an encore.
Just a year after facing near-calamitous financial difficulties, the Playhouse has enjoyed a spring and summer with a wide range of artistic and musical productions.
The Bacon Brothers, at the Westport Country Playhouse. (Photo/Susan Garment)
Speaking of entertainment: Tower of Power is the newest addition to the Levitt Pavilion lineup.
The funk and soul band — recording and touring favorites for over 55 years — come to the amphitheater (itself celebrating 50 years) on Saturday, September 21 (7:30 p.m.).
For this event, chairs will be provided for all ticket-holders. There will be a full bar and food trucks, too.
There’s plenty going on at the Levitt before then, of course. This weekend, for example:
Tonight (Friday, July 26, 7:30 p.m.): NYC SKA Orchestra. Click here for free tickets, and more information.
Tomorrow (Saturday, July 27, 6:30 p.m.): Westport’s own Chelsea Cutler; opening acts Jake Minch and Lisa Heller. Click here to purchase tickets, and more information.
Sunday (July 28, 7 p.m.): Singer-songwriter Griffin House. Click here for free tickets, and more information.
Now the 2016 Staples High School graduate is in Paris.
The first heat for his men’s pair is Sunday (July 28, 5 a.m. EDT). Click here for the full schedule. Click here for a story from Dartmouth, where Oliver rowed in college.
The Sunday Compo Beach worship service is always meaningful.
This week’s event (July 28, 8:30 a.m.) is even more special.
The United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston is sponsoring a food drive. Attendees are invited to bring non-perishable items to the area near the cannons. All are welcome; bring a beach chair!
The UMCWW will also collect food tomorrow (Saturday, July 27) at the church (49 Weston Road), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The goal is to stock the Homes with Hope pantry with cereal, pasta, peanut butter, tuna, soup, fruits and veggies.
United Methodist Church, 49 Weston Road. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Carl Addison Swanson has a warning for Westporters. He writes:
“I am not a scientist (although I did get an A in 11th grade Chemistry at Staples.)
“Both of my maternal grandparents were chemists and professors at Harvard, with an actual building named after them (Esselen) before it crumbled to the ground.
“That said, my recent run down North Avenue and some of its side streets revealed to me a number of little yellow signs on lawns indicating caution, for pesticides had been just sprayed.
“I decided to do some research on what they are spraying. The most popular: 2,4D, organophosphates, carbanmatees and other phemaxy and benzoic acid herbicides.
“I have no idea what these are. But if you cannot pronounce them, beware.
“And my research indicates you all should beware! 2,4D, for example, causes cancer, birth defects, and a whole slew of bad stuff. If your kids and/or pets are frolicking in the grass, this is not good.
“I respectfully suggest Westporters ask your landscapers what they are spraying for.
“They told us in Vietnam that the 19,000 pounds of Agent Orange was harmless. More than 300,000 vets have died from its exposure since we left in 1975.”
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Coming up this weekend at Sherwood Island State Park:
Saturday (July 27, 1 p.m.): The Nature Center hosts Cia Marion of Westport. The avid monarch butterfly “nurturer” will speak discuss its life cycle. If the timing works, she will show actual eggs, larvae, chrysalis and adults she has watched grow this summer.
Sunday (July 28, 1 p.m): Master wildlife conservationist Paul Colburn discusses Eastern coyotes in Connecticut.
Monarch butterfly (Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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Since 2006, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 94 million pairs of shoes to people in need.
Westporters have done their part, donating over 3,000 pairs.
That means 3,750 pounds of shoes have been diverted from local landfills. Westport’s donations created $27,150 of economic opportunity for families and communities around the world, through the non-profit’s “4Opportunity” program.
In countries like Haiti, Honduras and Guatemala, Westporters’ donations provide consistent, quality food, housing and education for 3 families for an entire year.
Ken Bernhard (left) and Ted Freeman, with June’s Soles4Souls shipment.
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Bear — the dog that hangs out at Westport Hardware — is away this week.
But he’s not far from the heart of customers. This sign hangs in the popular store, during his absence:
(Hat tip and photo/Jonathan Alloy)
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John Eric (Jeb) Ball — a well-known graduate in Staples High School’s Class of 1983 — died peacefully July 19, surrounded by his family. He was 59, and lived in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
While always active and healthy, Jeb was suddenly diagnosed with a serious infection that required heart valve surgery. Despite fighting extremely hard for his life for 3 weeks in intensive care, Jeb passed away due to complications from endocarditis.
In the days and weeks before Jeb’s hospitalization he played golf with his sons, went horseback riding in Utah, traveled to Australia for business, and celebrated his 32nd wedding anniversary in Maine with Ginger.
Jeb was born in Tokyo on January 14, 1965, and grew up in Westport. He earbed a BA from Wabash College in 1988.
Jeb held executive leadership roles in the printing industry before moving into HVAC, where he served as vice president of sales and marketing at Fieldpiece Instruments.
Jeb is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart, Ginger (Grace) Ball; children Jack, Bridget and Colin (24; his mother Stephanie of Cotuit, Massachusetts; brother Scott of Cotuit; sister Jacqueline Vitaro of Duxbury; sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father Robert.
A celebration of Jeb’s life is set for August 12 (noon to 4 p.m., Marshfield Country Club).
His family says, “All will remember Jeb for his sense of humor, sharp style, quick-tempered wit, passion for the art of conversation and debate, and sly dancing. It is our wish for everyone to spread Jeb’s big personality in all that they do.”
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association. For an online guest book, driving directions and more, click here.
And finally … as Oliver Bub, the rest of the US athletes, and thousands from around the world gather in Paris: Let the games begin!
(From our beach party and Soundview Stroll, to the Olympic Games with Oliver Bub, “06880” is where Westport meets the world. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
“Play With Your Food” — the staged reading, script-in-hand series (plus delicious lunch) that has entertained and delighted audiences at local venues for 20 years — has reached the final curtain.
“All good things must come to an end,” says Carole, Schweid, artistic director for the series’ organizer, JIB Productions. She has had health issues, and executive producer Diana Muller is retiring.
Carole Schweid
After 350 performances, with 200 professional actors and 135 playwrights, the final performances are October 15 (MoCA CT), October 16 (Pequot Library, Southport) and October 17 (Greenwich Arts Council). All performances are noon to 2 p.m.
“Theater, lunch and hijinks await,” Schweid promises. “Plus cake!”
“Twenty years is a long time,” she notes. She looks back fondly on those 2 decades — and the beginning, when she and fellow PTA Cultural Arts Committee member Nancy Diamond were talking about their 2 passions: theater and food.
Realizing there was no theatrical entertainment around lunchtime, they had a “let’s put on a show!” moment.
Carole Schweid and Nancy Diamond, “Play With Your Food” founders.
Schweid has a BFA from Juilliard, and Broadway stage experience in “Pippin” and the original cast of “A Chorus Line.”
She and Diamond knew there were plenty of actors in the area — and plenty in New York who would be interested in a lunch-hour gig.
They also knew everyone’s time was tight. So they focused on one-acts. There would be a staged reading, followed by a compelling talkback with the director, actors and/or playwright — and lunch, catered by a local restaurant.
“Play With Your Food” would nourish the heart and soul — and stomach. And it would all take place relatively quickly, during lunch hour (okay, hour-and-a-half).
Let’s eat!
The first “Play With Your Food” was at Toquet Hall. Schweid and Diamond marketed it through postcards to friends.
It was an instant hit. The audience wanted more.
Over the next 20 years, they got it.
Schweid and Muller searched all over, for the best one-acts. They traveled to one-act festivals around the country. They prowled book fairs and libraries.
From Arthur Miller, Langston Hughes, Tom Stoppard and Ray Bradbury to Mark Twain; from up-and-coming playwrights to obscure, semi-forgotten ones — if Schweid and her colleagues liked a show, they figured, audiences would too.
There were 3 productions a year. Schweid likens them to a sandwich: a couple of “funny or wacky” shows at the top and bottom of the schedule; another with “heft” in the middle.
The plays range from comedies and romances to mysteries and musicals, from classics to unpublished works. Despite the wide variety, all share one element: The audience must leave in an uplifted mood.
A lively scene from a staged reading.
“Play With Your Food” expanded to Southport, Stamford and Greenwich. The Fairfield Theatre Company provided “the perfect black box” experience. In Westport, they outgrew Toquet Hall. MoCA, on Newtown Turnpike, offered more space, and an artsy vibe.
Big names graced the “Play With Your Food” stage. James Naughton, Mia Dillon, Stacy Morgain Lewis, Scott Bryce, Mark Shanahan and many others embraced the chance to do a different, unique and fun kind of theater.
“Who gets to hear people like this, in a setting like that?” Schweid asks.
Plus, she notes, “You didn’t have to travel. This was all home-grown.”
When COVID struck, Schweid and her crew pivoted. “If Joe Papp can do Shakespeare in the Park, why couldn’t we do Chekhov in the parking lot?” she wondered.
Former Staples High School Players actors like Matt Van Gessel and Max Samuels helped audiences weather that storm.
Lunch was an essential part of the experience. Popular places like The Porch, Blue Lemon, Da Pietro, Matsu Sushi and Spic & Span made meals almost as memorable as the plays.
“We celebrated good acting, good writing, good food, a good community coming together, and intellectual or emotional stimulation,” Schweid says.
“That’s how people will remember ‘Play With Your Food.’
“And that’s what I’ll miss.”
(Tickets for the final “Play With Your Food” shows go on sale September 4. Click here for the website. Hat tip: Dick Lowenstein)
From 6 p.m. until dark, everyone in our community — online and real — is invited to Compo’s South Beach, for our 11th annual “06880” blog party.
It’s a very casual, very fun, bring-your-own-food-and-drink (and chairs) event. Meet old friends; make new ones; watch the sun set (if the clouds part), and enjoy a summer evening with people drawn together by this hyper-local blog. See you there!
PS: Don’t worry. The clouds will be gone by the time we begin 🙂
Bring yourselves (and a bit of food) to tonight’s “06880” blog party! (Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
But the fun doesn’t end when our blog party is over.
This Sunday (July 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) marks the first-ever Soundview Sidewalk Stroll.
The family-friendly street festival is a gift to Westport, from “06880” and the Compo Beach Improvement Association. We’ve got help from the Parks & Recreation Department and Westport Police.
With Soundview Drive closed to traffic, Westporters are welcome to walk, bike, rollerblade and play, from the Soundview parking lot to the Compo Road jetty.
In addition to music from 4 great bands, youngsters can enjoy face painting, a balloon artist, craftsand more.
Volunteers from the Compo Beach Playground Committee will run this schedule, all day long:
On the hour: Tug of war
20 minutes after: Water balloon toss
40 minutes after: Inflatable relay race.
Old Mill Grocery & Deli will offer favorites from their menu.
The Soundview Summer Stroll is a great chance to meet old friends, make new ones, join the cool street scene, and enjoy Compo without worrying about traffic.
Best of all: It’s free! (Beach emblem required to park.) Don’t miss this one!
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Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice got a raise, and an additional year on his contract, this week.
The Board of Education vote was unanimous. His new salary — retroactive to July 1 — is $321,661. His contract runs through the 2026-27 school year.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice
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Speaking of education: Coleytown Middle School has a new principal.
Her commute will scarcely change. Janna Sirowich moves to her new post from Coleytown Elementary School, where she has spent the past 16 years as principal. Before that, she was a literacy leader and classroom teacher in Westport.
“While Janna is overwhelmed with gratitude for her years at CES, she is equally excited about this new opportunity and what lies ahead for her and CMS,” says superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice.
Janna Sirowich
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Westport Police made 3 custodial arrests between July 17 and 24.
A 58-year-old Westport man was charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and tampering with a witness following a June incident at Birchwood Country Club. An employee was pushed to the ground by the man, who he did not know. Despite being warned not to contact the complainant, he did so twice.
A 48-year-old Westport man was charged with driving under the influence following a complaint by a passenger in the vehicle.
A 22-year-old New Britain man was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and larceny, and conspiracy to commit those crimes, following the early morning theft of an ATM from the Wheels gas station and convenience store on the Post Road in February.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
Failure to obey state traffic control regulations: 17 citations
Traveling unreasonably fast: 8
Failure to obey stop sign: 6
Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 6
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 5
Driving while texting: 3
Illegal shellfishing, closed area: 3
Illegal shellfish taking at night: 3
Violation of local shellfish regulations: 3
Failure to obey traffic control signals: 2
Reckless driving: 1
Speeding: 1
Distracted driving: 1
Failure to yield to a bike at an intersection: 1
Following too closely: 1
Driving while texting, 2nd offense: 1
Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 1
This beautiful butterfly flitted past Lauri Weiser.
It alit just long enough for her to catch it, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Lauri Weiser)
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And finally … John Mayall, the pioneering British bluesman best known for influencing some of rock’s biggest names, died Monday in California. He was 90.
(“06880” looks forward to 2 great events: tonight’s “blog party,” and Sunday’s Soundview Summer Stroll [stories above]. As always, we look forward too to readers’ support. Please click here. Thanks!)
In walkable cities around the world, bridges connect one side of a waterway to another.
Venice’s Rialto, Florence’s Ponte Vecchio, Pari’s Pont Neuf, and just about any bridge in Amsterdam, are wonderful connections for strolling, shopping and dining.
In Westport, the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge might as well be the George Washington or Triborough, in terms of pedestrians’ willingness to cross it.
It does not unite the two sides of the Saugatuck River. Instead — in our minds, at least — it separates them.
The Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge spans — but does not really connect — two sides of the river. (Photo/Harrison Gordon)
Try this test: When you hear “downtown,” what comes to mind? Main Street, Church Lane, Parker Harding Plaza, the Library — right?
You probably don’t think of the west bank, just a few yards away.
However, a few recent developments might bring a new focus to the other side of the river.
Stephen Kempson is expanding. The British custom tailor is adding 700 square feet, in space previously occupied by Age of Reason.
Several years ago, Kempson inquired about the property. Then COVID hit. As parents searched for educational toys for their homebound children, business boomed.
But in April, after 40 years, owner Nina Berger closed her store.
Kempson is now adding a custom women’s collection, with exciting colors and textures. Renovations should be completed by mid-September.
Post Road West, reflected in the Stephen Kempson window. (Photo/Dan Woog)
A replacement for Winfield Street Delicatessen, next door to Stephen Kempson, will open before that.
The owners of Arezzo — the Italian restaurant around the corner — were eager to take that space. They’re adding salads, sandwiches, paninis and more to the breakfast and lunch menu.
That’s not all. Bella Bridesmaids took over the place next door to it. The Lifeworx eldercare agency expanded too.
Westport River Gallery and Laura Bazante Stylist continue to thrive. So does Noya Jewelry, across Riverside Avenue.
Across the street, work continues on National Hall. The former site of several restaurants — before that, a boutique hotel, furniture store, and (much earlier), a bank, newspaper office and the town’s meeting hall — will soon become corporate offices for AIG.
That won’t bring anyone through its doors. But it will provide a steady base of customers for businesses nearby.
National Hall (Photo/Dave Dellinger)
The changes on the west bank of the Saugatuck River are exciting. They’ll be followed (at some point) by new parking options at the Parker Harding and Jesup Green lots.
Will all that be enough to entice folks to walk a few yards over the Saugatuck River bridge — about the same distance as from Anthropologie on Main Street, to Cold Fusion?
I don’t know.
And I know the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge will never be as beautiful as the Rialto, Ponte Vecchio or Pont Neuf,
But it’s a lot nicer than the George Washington or Triborough.
(Every day, “06880” covers Westport retail, restaurants, real estate and more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Will humans follow dogs across the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge? (Photo/Maxx Crowley)
Terry Brannigan is a native Westporter. He’s seen plenty of town projects — with varying results.
He’s thrilled with a recent one. Terry writes:
It’s time to give credit where credit is due.
The new sidewalks all over town are amazing. They’ve come out beautifully. They’re built to last.
New Hillspoint Road sidewalk, by Old Mill Grocery & Deli. (Photo/Terry Brannigan)
Equally amazing is that the company leaves the place as clean as a whistle when they’re done
We should give them the right of first refusal on any work in this town they can accommodate!
Terry’s right. The sidewalks are wide, good looking, and much needed. They seem to have been installed efficiently, quickly, and with little disruption. Congrats to all involved!
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
The Westport Library’s children’s section bursts with great materials.
Now it’s even fuller. They’ve added 379 new books and audiobooks to their digital collection.
Among the authors: Kwame Alexander, Dhonielle Clayton, Beverly Cleary, Suzanne Collins, Kate DiCamillo, Sarah J. Maas, Rick Riordan, Lemony Snicket, Jasmine Warga and Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Oh yeah: Westport’s own Tommy Greenwald is in there too.
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WPKN-FM (89.5 in Bridgeport) — called by the New Yorker “the greatest radio station in the world” — will air the complete original recording of the 1969 Woodstock festival next month.
Not the double album released as the “Woodstock” movie soundtrack.
Not some outtakes, added later.
The entire concert. Complete musical performances by every band — all 32 sets, from Richie Havens, Joan Baez, the Who, Sly & the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Ten Years After, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix and more.
Every stage announcement. The entire 4-day affair, 55 years after it happened.
The show runs August 15-18, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
What makes this “06880”-worthy is the Jim Motavalli connection. WPKN’s publicity director — a 1970 Staples High School graduate — was at Woodstock.
He drove to Max Yasgur’s farm with his twin brother John (also a longtime WPKN DJ) in their first car, a 1962 Chevy Nova convertible.
Jim Motavalli recalls: “I had a wonderful time. I was 17. People always ask me about the music, but a big part of what made it special was the tribal gathering, Woodstock Nation if you will. Just being there was exciting, though the music wasn’t half bad.”
The Westport Artists Collective’s opening reception at the Ethan Allen Design Center was packed, earlier this month.
There should be a great crowd too, at the closing party (August 1, 5 to 7 p.m., Fresh Market shopping plaza opposite Mitchells).
Ten members’ works are displayed through several room settings, on the walls and easels. The public is invited.
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Set your alarm. (Or program your device.)
“Loving” — the 1970 film about a successful illustrator, his mistress and alcohol — will air on TCM this Friday (July 26), at 12:15 a.m.
It’s of interested to “06880” readers for 3 reasons. The film was based on “Brooks Wilson Ltd.,” a novel by Westporter John McDermott.
It was filmed in part here, at the Saugatuck train station, Greens Farms Elementary School, Main Street, and a private home on 27 Long Lots Road.
And it starred George Segal and Eva Marie Saint (a Westport Country Playhouse regular). Local residents Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward appeared as extras. Westporter Diana Douglas also had a role.
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Westport resident Peggy Lovro — a native of China, and a Mandarin teacher at Brien McMahon High School’s Center for Global Studies in Norwalk — was the guest speaker at the Westport Rotary Club’s Tuesday meeting.
She discussed the benefits of international study tour programs for cross-cultural learning. CGS — a magnet school focused on languages — attracts students from throughout Fairfield County.
Peggy Lovro
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This may not be where you and I — or even many birds — would perch.
But there’s no place like home, for these Cockenoe Island residents.
Carl McNair snapped today’s “Westport … Naturally” image.
And finally … Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving member of the legendary Four Tops, died Monday in Detroit. He was 88, and suffered from heart failure.
The group — founded in the 1950s and active through the 2000s — achieved its greatest fame with a string of ’60s Motown hits. Fakir’s tenor blended well with lead singer Levi Stubbs’ baritone.
There are way too many great Four Tops songs to include here. These are just some of my favorites. (Click here for a full obituary.)
(I can’t help myself: I’ve got to ask readers to click here to support “06880.” Thank you, sugar pie honey bunch.)
The other day, Playbill ran a story about “Broadway Senior.”
The program — a counterpart to Broadway Junior, which adapts and licenses shows for middle schools, in age-appropriate ways — offers opportunities for people 60 and older to perform shows like “Guys and Dolls” and “Into the Woods.”
Why do they need to be adapted? In some cases, references to youth don’t work for older actors. Other times, they can’t exactly sing and dance as if they were 20.
The article — highlighting a production at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in Manhattan — was moderately interesting. (Best line: “This is a ‘Guys and Dolls’ where, if you need help standing back up after sitting down and rockin’ the boat, a stage manager will be there to assist.” (Click here to read the full piece.)
But what caught my eye, in a Facebook post about the show, was that it was directed by Isabel Perry.
Isabel Perry
A 2015 graduate of Staples High School, where she was a key member of the Players drama troupe, she’s now a Brooklyn-based director of theatre and film. She has worked at La MaMa, Lucille Lortel, Lincoln Center and Second Stage.
Isabel is also a script reader for The Playwrights Realm, a member of Roundabout Director Group, and an instructor at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. At Northwestern University she studied theatre and Asian American studies, and directed “The Dolphin Show,” the largest entirely student-produced theatrical production in the country.
Which got me thinking: What are other Staples alums doing, in the entertainment world?
Plenty.
Players directors David Roth and Kerry Long keep close tabs on their grads. Here is a partial — but very wide-ranging — list of what their (and our) “kids” are up to.
(We apologize in advance for any names we’ve omitted. Click “Comments” to add other great Players’ alumni achievements.)
Justin Paul (Class of 2003) got an Emmy nomination for his music in “Only Murders in the Building.”
In addition, Justin and Caley Beretta (2010) spent the past 3 weeks in London workshopping a new musical.
Justin Paul has not forgotten his Staples Players roots. In March, he joined directors Kerry Long and David Roth to discuss “James and the Giant Peach” — a show he co-wrote — prior to Players’ production of it. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Whitney Andrews(2010) graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, with an MFA in acting.
Clay Singer (2013) is playing Perchik in “Fiddler on the Roof” at The Muny in St. Louis.
Samuel Adelmann (2014) is also playing Perchik, in a different production of “Fiddler on the Roof”: at Valley Opera and Performing Arts in California.
Christian Melhuish (2016) is in “Legally Blonde” at the John W. Engeman Theatre at Northport, New York.
Jack Baylis(2015) is playing Warner in “Legally Blonde” at Theatre Aspen.
Zoe Mezoff (2017) is playing Hodel in “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Lexington Theatre Company in Kentucky.
Nick Rossi (2019) is performing in “Jersey Boys” and “La Cage Aux Folles” at the Lake Winnipesaukee Playhouse.
Georgia Wright (2019) played a show of her songs at the Brooklyn Music Kitchen. She was booked for the gig by talent agent Cara McNiff (2014),
Sophie Rossman (2021) is studying at NYU Tisch’s International Theatre Workshop in Amsterdam.
Cameron Mann (2024) starred in the movie “Greg’s Going to Rehab,” shot in St. Louis in June.
This is not Cameron Mann’s real hair. Then again, is not in rehab in real life, either.
Cooper Sadler (2024): in the ensemble of “Mary Poppins” at The Summer Theatre of New Canaan.
As for Players co-director Kerry Long — a 1997 Staples grad — she and Players set designer Jordan Janota worked on the film “Miracle on 74th Street.” It was shot in Manhattan in June.
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