The Long Lots Elementary School project took a major step forward last night. The Board of Finance voted unanimously to approve a $103 million request for the new building.
The final step comes tonight (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium). The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) has 2 agenda items: to approve the same appropriation request, and to approve the actual application by the town “to construct a new elementary school, parking lot, athletic fields, playgrounds, and associated site and utility work.”
Artist’s rendering of the new Long Lots Elementary School.
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There’s a lot of news today from the Westport Country Playhouse.
Bruce Miller — archivist for the 94-year-old theater — offers these details on Tony Awards won on Sunday by Playhouse “alumni”:
- Natalie Venetia Belcon won Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for “Buena Vista Club.” She appeared in the 2007 Playhouse production of “Being Alive!”
- Sam Pinkleton earned Best Direction of a Play for “Oh, Mary!” He was in the 2010 WCP production of “She Loves Me.”
- Francis Jue won Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for “Yellow Face.” He was seen in this year’s Script in Hand reading of “Back Talk.”
Other Playhouse alums who worked on “Buena Vista Social Club” were set designer Arnolfo Maldonado (who designed the WCP’s “4000 Miles,” and wig designer J.Jared Janus (who, among many other plays, recently did “Theatre People.” (Hat tip: Dave Matlow)
The Westport Country Playhouse stage is not too far — geographically or artistically — from Broadway.
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In addition, the Playhouse will participate in “Connecticut Open House Day” on Saturday (June 14, 1 to 5 p.m.).
The free event includes self-guided backstage tours, kids’ activities, music and food trucks.
At 1, artistic director Mark Shanahan unveils the 2025-26 productions. Anyone renewing or purchasing a subscription will be entered to win 2 tickets to an upcoming show.
For more information on the Open House, click here.
One of the coolest parts of a Playhouse tour: the hundreds of head shots lining the walls, near the dressing rooms and green room. (Photo/Dan Woog)
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Meanwhile, the Playhouse has just added a new solo play.
“The Goldsmith” (July 11, 8 p.m., Lucille Lortel White Barn) stems from Broadway actress Sharone Sayegh’s true family’s journey.
It’s “a treasury of stories woven through the golden jewelry passed down through her family across countries, borders, and generations. Each piece of jewelry takes us further along her family’s journey from Iraq to Israel, and then to America, where Sharone grapples for love as a first generation Iraqi, Israeli, American Jew.”
All tickets are $20. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
Sharone Sayegh
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More entertainment!
On Monday, Westport’s Sophie B. Hawkins brought her new musical “Birds Of New York” to the Westport Library, for a special script reading.
It was a powerful performance, with Broadway veterans taking on the characters and belting out 18 songs — some pop, some ballads — all written by Sophie.
The packed house gave Sophie and the actors a standing ovation.
Veteran TV journalist Anne Craig chatted with Sophie about the musical: why she wrote it, and how much of the material mirrors her own life experience.
Click here or below, for the interview.
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The scene before Tuesday night’s rain squall, on Saugatuck Shores, is today’s colorful “Westport … Naturally” image:
(Photo/Nikki Gorman)
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And finally … we cannot sum up the life of Brian Wilson better than the New York Times‘ Ben Sisario does:
Brian Wilson, who as the leader and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys became rock’s poet laureate of surf-and-sun innocence but also an embodiment of damaged genius through his struggles with mental illness and drugs, has died. He was 82.
Like many “06880” readers of a certain age, I saw them in concert several times. One time, in Miami, they were young and fresh — and the opening act was a pre-“Piano Man” Billy Joel.
Decades later, at a Levitt Pavilion fundraiser, the “Boys of Summer” had morphed into a listless version of the “Grandfathers of Summer.” Brian Wilson had stopped performing long before.
But today, let’s remember his genius — and the music that made us all feel young and immortal.
Click here for a full obituary. And if you’ve got a Beach Boys memory, click “Comments” below.
(From the Playhouse to the Beach Boys, “06880” is where Westport meets the world. We rely on reader contributions. If you enjoy our work, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)