The Sunday 2 p.m. event — co-sponsored by the Y’s Men and Library — features Congressman Jim Himes, former 1st Selectman Jim Marpe, national news anchor and blogger Alisyn Camerota, local news anchor and feature reporter Rebecca Surran, and Fairfield University assistant professor of politics Aaron Weinstein. John Brandt will moderate.
Clockwise, from upper left: Jim Marpe, Jim Himes, Alisyn Camerota, Aaron Weinstein, Rebecca Surran.
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In just a few months since opening, The Clubhouse has become Westport’s go-to party event space.
On Wednesday, Staples High School soon-to-be graduates will take over the rooftop — usually reserved for 21 and older — for the first-ever send-off party there (or anywhere else in town).
The Clubhouse’s senior interns have planned the event (June 4, 7 to 9 p.m.). It includes light bites, a Staples-inspired (non-alcoholic) drink, music, cornhole and more.
Soon-to-be graduates are invited to wear their college logo gear. Tickets ($25) are available here. For financial assistance, email connect@theclubhousewestport.com.
Clubhouse interns and party planners (from left) Gavin Gravelle, Stella St. Andre and Jasmine Schiffman check out the space.
Speaking of seniors: On Thursday, Staples honored its high honors graduates.
The 20 students in the top 4% of the Class of 2025 were guests at a special dinner in the auditorium lobby. Each nominated one particularly influential teacher or staff member (of many), who spoke on their behalf.
Congratulations to Aidan Stubbs, William Borowsky, Andrew Rebello. Annam Anjolaoluwa Adachukwu Olasewere, Sam Rossoni, Jackson Tracey, Cole Siegner, Perrin Root, Mack Haymond, Will Boberski, Carolina Proctor, Alexis Krenzer, Mia Bomback, Matthew Guadarrama, Abe Lobsenz, Alessandra Gavriloiu, Megan Sargent, Kendra Cheng, Shreyas Gorre and Suhani Aggarwal!
Among the High Honors dinner attendees (from left): Will Boberski, Mack Haymond, Perrin Root, Jackson Tracey, Sam Rossoni, Aidan Stubbs, Andrew Rebello, Abe Lobsenz.
Speaking of Staples: The Board of Education hearing for Chris O’Dell — the Staples boys soccer freshman coach who is appealing the non-renewal of his contract — has been postponed.
Originally set for Monday (June 2), a new date has not yet been set. A transcript from the May 12 hearing, of head coach Russell Oost-Lievense’s appeal — necessary for O’Dell’s case — is not yet available.
Board of Education member Robert Harrington told “06880” that he is “concerned this is slipping into the summer.”
He also requested that 2 items be added to the June 5 BOE agenda. One is a discussion item to re-open the hearing on Oost-Lievense’s non-renewal.
“We were not peritted to hear from all the potential witnesses. Eight were opposed by the school administration. We were also not allowed to see all the emails that are potentially relevant to the case,” Harrington says.
The BOE member also asks the board to waive attorney privilege on a letter sent to him by administration lawyer Thomas Mooney, which he calls “a clear warning about my recent actions and comments.”
Congratulations to the 98 graduates in the Greens Farms Academy Class of 2025!
They were honored yesterday, in a moving ceremony.
The valedictorian was Westport resident Serra Nalbantoglu. The keynote speaker was Tony- and Grammy Award-winning actress/singer — and GFA paent – Renée Elise Goldsberry.
Greens Farms Academy head of school Bob Whelan processes toward the ceremony, with Renée Elise Goldsberry.
Ruth Cavayero got a great — and well-deserved — sendoff yesterday.
The retiring Town Hall employee was honored for 32+ years of service by town clerk Jeff Dunkerton, director of human resources Candice Holley, and current and past staff, elected officials, and family members.
She has served under 6 first selectpersons, most recently as deputy town clerk. In 2022 she was recognized for going “Above & Beyond” for her contributions to the Connecticut Town Clerks Association’s website committee, and redesigning the Westport town clerk’s website.
Dunkerton said, “the Westport town clerk’s office has long been a state leader in embracing new technology, and Ruth has played a major role in that legacy.
“She has been our go-to liaison between vendors and staff, always stepping up when technical issues arise.
“Always willing to learn new software to better serve the residents of Westport. Ruth has seen the office evolve from typewriters to computers, from manual ink stamps to digital stamps. What I value most is her constant drive to improve our daily work through smart, practical use of technology.
“Ruth’s career has not just been long — it’s been meaningful. Her legacy is woven into every land record book in our vault for the last 32 years.”
Ruth Cavayero (center), with Jeff Dunkerton and Candice Holley. (Hat tip and photo/Andrew Colabella)
The Westport Library Medical Series returns to the Westport Library on Tuesday (June 3, 7 p.m.). Oncologist Dr. Lisa Phuong and surgeon Dr. Jeanne Capasse will discuss recent progress in the diagnostics and therapeutics of breast cancer, and answer audience questions.
Longtime Westport internist Dr. Robert Altbaum moderates the session. The series is presented by Andrew Wilk.
Dr. Jeanne Capasse (top) and Dr. Lisa Phuong bottom).
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June brings 2 very intriguing Earthplace events.
The BioBlitz (June 8, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) is a community effort to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible.
You do not need to be an expert to volunteer. Specialists will lead guided walks through different habitats throughout the day.
The 3rd annual Moth Ball, meanwhile, promises more than just a cute name.
The welcome to summer event (June 21, 8 to 11 p.m.) celebrates nature at night. Attendees will detect bat calls, prowl for owls, and use lightsheeting to observe moths.
New this year: The film “Nocturnes” in the museum theater.
Every year, AWARE’s annual fundraiser brings together women who do wonderful work, their friends, and several great organizations.
The acronym stands for Assisting Women through Action, Resources and Education. Each year, members choose one worthy local nonprofit. They raise money — but do much more too.
All year long, they offer hands-on involvement. They dive deep into the organization’s work, get their hands dirty with volunteer work, and form deep friendships with leaders and participants.
This year’s beneficiary is Bridgeport’s Center for Family Justice. They do crucial work helping people who have experienced physical and mental abuse.
AWARE’s partnership this year included budgeting, yoga, nutrition and makeovers workshops for their clients, and events for their kids too.
It culminated with Thursday night’s “Justice in Bloom” fundraiser. In attendance were CFJ representatives, and those from other groups AWARE has partnered with in the past, like Female Soldiers, Forgotten Heroes and Her Time.
Members of AWARE, and representatives of groups they’ve helped, last night. (Photo/Dan Woog)
And finally … Loretta Swit died yesterday in Manhattan. She was 87.
The actress was best known — and won 2 Emmys — as Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan on “M*A*S*H,” which ran from 1972 to 1983.
I met her 2 years ago, at the unveiling of a Literary Landmark plaque honoring Westport Country Playhouse founder Lawrence Langner. I was surprised that she was surprised I recognized her name, but pleased that I thanked her for the many years I enjoyed that remarkable show. A full obituary is available here.
Posted onMay 31, 2025|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #268
If you missed last week’s Fine Arts Festival — no problem!
As always, kick off your Saturday with “06880”‘s online gallery.
And as always, we invite readers to submit art. No matter what style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we welcome your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
This feature is open to all. Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone can contribute.
Please email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
“Blooming” (Karen Weingarten)
“Quiet Spring” (Rowene Weems — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
“Bulldog” (Mary Treschitta — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Karen Schlansky — Available for purchase; click here)
“Smooch” (Ken Runkel — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Joan Micale — Available for purchase; click here)
“Spotty Rain” (Jerry Kuyper)
“Just Planted and Too Close Together” (Peter Barlow)
“Very Bad Boy!” (Mike Hibbard)
“The Kissing Chalice from a Palace” — ink and watercolor (Steve Stein)
“Tickled” (Lawrence Weisman)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
Werner Liepolt lives in the Bridge Street Historic District. Valerie Seiling Jacobs is a member of Save Westport Now.
Both have closely followed deliberations over the future of the 135-year-old Cribari Bridge. Long stalled — like traffic heading to it — the state Department of Transportation has recently shown new interest in a replacement. Werner and Valerie write:
We’ve all seen it: traffic backed up on Bridge Street across the Cribari Bridge, distracted drivers with out-of-state plates checking their smartphones, and the line of cars clogging Riverside Avenue and Greens Farms Road.
It was bad in 2015, when the Connecticut Department of Transportation first started talking about fixing the historic swing bridge. But it’s only gotten worse since COVID.
The stream of traffic coming from I-95 is remorseless, especially in the morning. Pity parents trying to shepherd their youngsters across the street to catch the school bus. or commuters trying to get to the railroad station. A drive to Compo Beach during the summer can put you on Bridge Street for half an hour.
Bridge Street traffic: 7:40 a.m., May 29, 2025. (Photo/Werner Liepolt)
You know all this. You live here. And that’s exactly why Jim Marpe, our former first selectman, refused to vote to release the money for a DOT study.
He recognized that DOT was likely to recommend building a new, state-of-the-art bridge, one that would be tall enough to accommodate 18-wheelers and thus invite even more I-95 spillover and Waze traffic.
But here’s the rub: our current first selectwoman seems oblivious to the problem. Last year she voted to release $4.1 million to the DOT to begin work on the project.
On May 15, DOT held its first meeting in Westport about the bridge since 2018.
William F. Cribari Bridge. (Photo/Ferdinand Jahnel)
Of all the neighbors, only registered “stakeholder” Werner Liepolt was invited to attend, although the public was not. In the invitation, the DOT noted that there had been “significant developments” concerning the project.
At the meeting, however, we learned the only “developments” appear to be that:
The DOT has been asked by Tooker to do a traffic study on the Saugatuck side of the bridge only, presumably to accommodate the proposed Hamlet development, which she supports; and
DOT is now officially recommending that we build a new, bigger bridge — one that will be weight-bearing and tall enough for 18-wheelers.
Needless to say, the stakeholders in the room were outraged. We reiterated what we had said in 2018: that a taller bridge will invite more traffic and trucks when I-95 backs up.
Matthew Mandell, a Representative Town Meeting member, wanted more information on how to obtain an exemption from current building specs, a request that Valerie Seiling Jacobs of Save Westport Now echoed.
She also asked if DOT had considered the impact of increased traffic on air quality — especially given Westport’s ongoing ozone issues. (They had not.)
Maggie Dallal and other young mothers described how difficult it is to cross Bridge Street to get their kids to the bus stop.
School bus crawls along Bridge Street: 7:47 a.m., May 29, 2025. (Photo/Werner Liepolt)
John Suggs, of the Westport Preservation Alliance, reminded DOT that the bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and that Bridge Street is an official “Scenic” route, 2 designations that entitle us to special dispensation.
And Paul Lebowitz, chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission, reminded everyone that the traffic and truck problem had been discussed at the 2018 DOT meeting.
A potential solution had been floated then: building a bridge that would look like the current bridge (e.g, it would have ornamental trusses), but would not be tall enough to accommodate 18-wheelers.
What happened to that idea? Lebowitz wanted to know.
The DOT seemed flummoxed by the crowd’s reaction, perhaps because none of them had been at the 2018 meeting (all those folks have since moved on).
Still, they insisted that a new bridge would not invite more truck or other traffic. In fact, they claimed that a new bridge would actually speed up traffic and reduce idling time, apparently ignoring the fact that everyone would still need to get through the intersection at Riverside and Bridge Street.
Moreover, they seemed to think that trucks would not choose this route even if I-95 backs up.
The Riverside Avenue side of the Cribari Bridge.
Are their memories so short that they do not recall how the fiery crash on I-95 in 2024 prompted hundreds of trucks to cut through Westport? Everyone in the area remembers how our police department had to stop truck traffic due to 18-wheelers jumping the sidewalks.
It’s true that the DOT reps at the front of the auditorium “duly noted” many of the concerns we raised, implying that they would look into those matters. At the very end of the meeting however, in a complete ambush, the chief DOT engineer for the project — who had apparently been in the audience all along but had not previously identified himself — took the microphone and made it clear that DOT intends to build a new bridge that will accommodate all truck traffic — thereby making a mockery of his junior colleague’s “duly noted” promises.
At this past Thursday’s Traffic and Pedestrian Safety meeting, we stood together with residents of the area and insisted that the Westport Traffic Authority demand comprehensive surveys and plans for traffic abatement and resident safety from DOT before any decision is made about the Cribari Bridge.
We must stand together as a community, and tell our first selectwoman and DOT that anything less is unacceptable.
We deserve to have a voice in what happens in our community.
(If you agree, please email contactsavewestportnow@gmail.com to add your name to the roster of residents who will save the town from this hasty, dangerous, foolish plan.)
(The Opinion pages of “06880” are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)
The young men and women — nearly all college- and high school-aged — are well-trained, enthusiastic, and toned.
They follow a long tradition of guards. Here’s an interesting shot of their (all-male) predecessors, perhaps a century ago.
We’re sure they were well-trained and enthusiastic. They look pretty toned, too.
Plus, they won some kind of trophy. Good work, guys!
(Photo courtesy of Christopher Maroc)
(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!)
The Staples High School senior received the school’s highest honor — the Staples Key — at Wednesday’s awards ceremony.
Alexis — a Learning Center and middle school tutor; LinkCrew member for freshmen; member of the National, Science, Math and Chinese Honor Socieites; organizer of the Staples Tuition Grants Fun Run; ski team captain and soccer player — also took first place in the state STEM fair for her cancer research.
Alexis will study chemistry and math at Northwestern University.
The other 2 finalists for the Staples Key were Abe Lobsenz and Sam Rossoni.
Over 90 awards were given out. Among the other big ones:
Lily Rimm won the James Bacharach Award Service to the Community Award. It’s been presented for over 35 years by the Westport Youth Commission, in honoro of the founder and president of the Youth Adult Council, and a founder of what is now Homes with Hope.
Principal’s Awards for Outstanding Service went to William Boberski, Nina Bowens, Luca Caniato, Mia Ferrigno, Derek Hafiz, Christina Kavanah, Kensley Laguerre, Annam Olasawere, Molly Oliver, Andrew Rebello, Madeleine Saounatsos, Zelie Saounatsos, Danielle Schwartz and Jackson Tracey.
Staples Awards for Character were given to Kody Goldman and Kylie Kirkham (Class of 2025), Taylor Serotta and Eva Slossberg (Class of ’26), Nicolas Reyna and Vanii Punia (Class of ’27), and Kai Massicott and Azita Vazhayil (Class of ’28).
Alexis Krenzer
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More awards!
On Thursday, the Westport Police Benevolent Association Scholarship Foundation handed grants of $2,500 each to 17 students.
The Scholarship Foundation was founded and principally funded by Dr. Joan Poster and her late husband, Dennis Poster.
From left: Joseph Sabin, Reese Aliberti, Jaden Aliberti, Meghan Velky, Sgt. Sharon Russo, Sara Sabin, Samantha Sabin, Gabrielle Hayes, Lily Rimm. Not pictured: Zachary Benson, Grace Biagiotti, Olivia Biagiotti, Jacqueline Kelley, April Nowinski, Edward Nowinski, Brandon Smith, Connor Woods, Ava Wooldridge. (Photo: Harry Rimm)
The dream of Staples Players actors is to be on Broadway.
Jamie Mann is.
Just a few days after graduating from the University of Michigan, the 2021 Staples High School alum has a featured role — and some very funny moments — in the new hit “Stranger Things.”
The other day, 26 current Players (and aspiring Great White Way stars) headed to New York. Jamie, they and directors David Roth and Kerry Long had dinner before the show.
After the curtain, Jamie posed for photos and autographs.
Jamie Mann (front row, 2nd from left) with Staples Players. (Photo/Kerry Long)
The dedades-old tradition returns next weekend. Dates are Thursday and Friday, June 12 and 13 (6 to 10 p.m.); Saturday, June 14 (1 to 10 p.m.), and Sunday, June 15 (1 to 5 p.m.). The site is (of course) the Westport Woman’s Club (44 Imperial Avenue)
As always, there are carnival rides, games, food trucks and baked goods, raffles — you name it. Sand art is back too.
The “Take a Chance” tent makes a comeback, with prizes donated by local merchants and restaurants. Winners do not have to be present at the drawings.
A pay-one-price, unlimited ride wristband option is available.
Proceeds help benefit a variety of local charities, provide scholarships to Staples students, and support the Woman’s Club’s 50-year-old food closet.
This year, the organization awarded $124,200 in grants and scholarships.
Yankee Doodle comes to town!
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“Egrets” — the new 7 1/2-foot stainless steel sculpture by Redding artist Babette Bloch — will be dedicated tomorrow (May 31, 4 p.m., Canal Park, Canal Street at Kings Highway North).
It’s the latest in a series of local outdoor art, courtesy of the Westport Arts Advisory Committee and our Parks & Recreation Department.
Westport poet laureate Donna Disch will speak, and refreshments will be served.
A Parks & Rec employee lays grass, so “Egrets” is in its element.
Former Westporter Rev. Dr. Peter Haile died May 16. He was 100.
He moved into The Saugatuck on Bridge Street when he was 80 to be closer to his daughter, Rebecca Swanson. He created, wrote and published a very popular newsletter for residents, “The Saugatalk.”
He was born at a school run by the London Missionary Society for the education of Black South Africans, where his father was principal for 40 years. The school, which refused to compromise its mission, was closed by the apartheid government in 1962. It reopened in 1995.
At 10, Peter was sent to live with an aunt in London, until the Blitz forced him, and many other children, to evacuate. At his new school he excelled in academics and competed in rugby, field hockey and cross country.
He spent 3 years in the Royal Navy. Discharged in South Africa, he was reunited with his parents for the first time in 12 years.
Peter earned his teaching certificate at Oxford, where he ran cross country with Roger Bannister. On a mission year in the US he met and married Jane Hollingsworth. They moved to Boston, where Peter ministered to college students.
In 1961 he began a 29-year stint at the Stony Brook School on Long Island, as an English teacher, chaplain and assistant headmaster. After retiring, he spent 10 years as assistant pastor at the Three Village Church in Setauket, New York.
Peter was was predeceased by his wife. He is survived by his son John (Susan), daughter Rebecca Swanson (David); grandchildren CMDR David Haile (Michelle), Andrew Haile (René), Sarah Haile, Dr. David Swanson III (Katharine), and Peter Swanson (Marissa);,and great-grandchildren Nora, James, Christopher, Brandon, Alethea and Naomi.
And finally … Rick Derringer, who hit Number 1 as a 17-year-old guitarist with “Hang On Sloopy,” had a smash several years later as a solo artist with “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” then became a producer with artists ranging from Peter Frampton, Barbra Streisand and Kiss to Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper and Weird Al Yankovic — died Monday in Florida. He was 77.
(Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town. But you’re in Westport — or you’ve got some connection to it. If you enjoy this “06880” community, please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member Andrew Colabella attended last night’s Traffic & Safety Task Force meeting.
Members provided an update to residents. The group meets twice a year publicly, but are always available to address concerns and asnwer questions. Andrew reports:
Since their inception in April 2022, the Traffic & Safety Task Force has been very active. Among their achievements:
Grants
Safe Streets for All: The Safety Action Plan is complete, and the implementation grant application is in preparation.
STEAP Grant: The Greens Farms Elementary School sidewalks contract has been awarded, and construction is complete.
LOTCIP Projects (Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program):
Main Street – Compo Road North sidewalks: Construction is complete.
Compo Road South sidewalks (from Post Road East to Bridge Street): Final design plans are being reviewed by the state Department of Transportation. Construction is expected this fall or next spring.
Easton Road sidewalks (from Weston Road to Coleytown Road).
BIG Project: The Compo Road North sidewalk project is underway. Other potential incidental projects include a demonstration project that closes Taylor Place to vehicles, creating a pedestrian-only area. This has been approved as a LOTCIP project for funding. Preliminary talks are underway with various departments, including CDOT.
Town Projects
Cross Highway Traffic Improvements:
Phase 1: Signage has been installed. There have been many positive comments from the public.
Phase 2: Construction of the sidewalk from Wakeman Farm Lane to Bayberry Lane is 95% complete.
Phase 3: Construction of the sidewalk from North Avenue to Wakeman Farm Lane is scheduled for this year.
Phase 4: Construction of the Cross Highway culver over Deadman Brook is scheduled for the summer of 2026.
New signage at Cross Highway and Bayberry Lane includes flashing lights.
Compo Road South at Longshore, near Compo Parkway: Construction of the crosswalk and rapid flashing beacon is almost complete.
Imperial Avenue at Baker Avenue: Retrofit of the crosswalk and rapid flashing beacon is underway. CTDOT is finalizing the design. Construction is scheduled for this year.
Riverside Avenue improvements in Saugatuck Center: Funding has been approved for mid-block crosswalks and traffic signals. The design is in progress.
School Zones across town: Signage has recently been installed in school zones.
Stop sign on Edge Hill Lane: This stop sign is being addressed.
Stop sign to replace yield sign on Salem Lane at Salem Road: This is also being addressed, with MPH and curve to be included.
Approval for mid-block crosswalk and rapid flashing beacon on Easton Road at Wisteria Lane: The design is in progress. The project is working with property owners.
Riverside Avenue at Railroad Place: A new stop sign is being installed to replace the yield sign.
Morningside Drive South at Hillandale Road: Hillandale has become a 4-way stop.
New chevrons installed on Old Hill Road and Kings Highway North.
Signage improvements are underway on Roseville Road at Whitney St. to increase visibility.
CCGP Projects (Community Connectivity Grant Program):
Hillspoint Road (Compo Hill Avenue to Hales Road): Construction is 99% complete. Shared Lane Marking Route: A grant application has been submitted.
CT DOT Projects (Ongoing and on schedule)
Post Road East improvements (Crescent Road to Roseville Road, and Stop & Shop through Bulkley Avenue North and South).
Potts — who in nearly 70 years in Westport has impacted nearly every artistic and historical organization here — is about to debut “Talk of the Town.”
The project — a collaboration with fellow Westporter Andrew Bentley — has been more than 10 years in the making.
It will be worth it. The staged reading of their original musical, “Talk of the Town” (Westport Country Playhouse, June 8) tells the true tale of the 2 love stories that launched the legendary magazine.
Playwrights Eve Potts and Andrew Bentley.
Hundreds of books have been written about the New Yorker, Potts says. But very little have delved into that love aspect of the original story.
And certainly not in a musical.
The fact that Potts had never written a musical, in all her 96 years?
No problem!
Westport has a long history with the magazine. Local artists have illustrated dozens of covers.
In 2014 she curated a Westport Historical Society show, featuring some of that art. Each work was accompanied by a photo of the same location, now.
A “New Yorker” cover, and the same scene now.
Bentley had just moved back to town. A graphic designer and writer, he wrote her out of the blue. Do you want to do a book? he asked.
They collaborated on “The New Yorker in Westport.” A collection of those covers — with background material — it has raised over $100,000 for local charities.
The cover of Eve Potts and Andrew Bentley’s book shows a classic Compo Beach scene, from 1973.
Soon, they were ready for their next act: a show about the magazine’s founding, with an emphasis on the “love stories” behind it.
As the idea took shape, Potts and Bentley — who also had never written a musical — enlisted Jeffrey Stock. He created all the songs, which gave structure and spirit to the story.
Irving Berlin figures prominently in the launch of the New Yorker. So does Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant. Potts calls her “a beautiful, intelligent, powerful woman — a proto-feminist.”
A dancer and singer who had gone to business school, she famously kept her maiden name — a rarity at the time.
The fervent Roaring Twenties, when New York — with its jazz, speakeasies and unbridled optimism — was ready for a sophisticated magazine plays a major role in the new musical too.
Before and while writing a play about those early years, Potts read “every scrap” she could.
There was a lot. Founder Harold Ross typed most of his thoughts, then added hand-written comments. Potts pored through his archives, at the New York Public Library.
The Playhouse staged reading will be the first time — after a decade of work — that “Talk of the Town” is seen in public. (There have been a couple of table reads at Bentley’s home.)
Potts and Bentley have enjoyed working with the WCP team, to bring it to life. “They’re so supportive and helpful,” she says. “It’s been very educational to see what goes on behind the scenes.”
Potts — who is “more is excited than I thought I’d ever be” — gives big props to her co-writer.
“Andrew is on top of everything,” she says. “He’s incredible with details. He does a lot of the scut work.”
Potts and Bentley are unsure of the next steps. Can it become a musical staged by high schools? Will a producer stage it on Broadway?
But one thing is almost certain: 96-year-old Eve Potts is the oldest new playwright in America.
What better way to celebrate the 100th birthday of the New Yorker?
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