As a Bedford Middle School 8th grader, Adam Kaplan played Curly in “Oklahoma!”
A snowstorm postponed the show a month.
In that time, puberty hit. His voice changed. He sang in a different key than he’d rehearsed just a few weeks earlier.
That’s one of the perils of middle school theater.
Here’s one of the joys: Kaplan found a passion for performing. He became a Staples Players star. After graduating in 2008, he headed to Broadway. Kaplan played the lead role of Jack Kelly in “Newsies,” and was in the ensemble. He starred in “A Bronx Tale,” the national tour of “Kinky Boots,” and “Show Boat” with the New York Philharmonic.
Adam Kaplan (carrying a castmate on his back) strikes the same pose as on the Nederlander Theater door.
It all started with middle school theater. Westport’s 2 programs are outstanding, and change many lives besides Kaplan’s.
But it does not come cheap.
Sets, lights, sound, directors, licensing fees — they all add up.
So on February 2 (7 p.m.)., Coleytown Company presents “Carrying The Banner: A Broadway Concert.
The evening — in support of the troupe’s March production of “Newsies” — features 4 original cast members from that show, with a live professional band.
One of those performers is Adam Kaplan.
“Middle school is brutal,” the actor remembers. “Hormones are raging. Kids are kids. Everyone is trying to figure themselves out. The arts are a safe space to do that.”
As arts funding is slashed across the country, Kaplan is proud that Westport continues to provide a “safe haven for kids who maybe don’t feel welcome in other areas,” at both the middle and high school levels.
At Staples, he “lived, breathed, ate and slept” the Players program. He made friends, hung out there, acted in shows like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Diary of Anne Frank” — and helped build the website and develop the online ticket portal.
After Staples, Adam Kaplan made his mark on Broadway.
Now he looks forward to paying it all forward.
Kaplan went to Bedford, not Coleytown. His directors were Kevin Slater and Karen McCormick, not CMS’ Ben Frimmer.
But Kaplan has worked often with the Coleytown Company director. And, hey — middle school is middle school.
“Westport supported me and my friends,” he says. “The fact that I can come back to Westport, with castmates who were part of the original Broadway show, speaks to how much we care.”
Those cast members are familiar with Kaplan’s home town. During the Broadway run, he’d bring them here after the Wednesday night performance. They’d spend Thursday and part of Friday with Kaplan and his parents, then head back to New York.
After a “Newsies” performance, but still working.
Kaplan will not go right back to the city after the “Carrying the Banner” show. The next day, he’ll do a workshop with the Coleytown Company’s “Newsies” cast.
It won’t be his first. He’s done similar “Newsies” workshops with schools across the country (and a US Army base in Italy). The chance to do one in his hometown is extra special.
“I remember when (Players director) David Roth brought in artists to work with us,” Kaplan says. “It was one of the coolest things in the world. Doing it here is like coming full circle.”
Next month’s fundraiser is produced by Frimmer. He’s working with Broadway music director Mat Eisenstein (“Newsies,” “Frozen”) on this show. It features songs from “Newsies,” and other hits.
Some Westporters spent today digging out from yesterday’s 14-inch snowfall.
Some spent it walking outside, admiring the scenery.
Main Street, near Willowbrook Cemetery (Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)
Some spent it sledding.
(Photo/Jonathan Alloy)
Some spent it plowing the streets …
(Photo/Jonathan Alloy)
… or clearing hydrants.
Don’t make the Fire Department do all the work. If there’s a hydrant near you: Shovel it out! The home you save may be your own. (Photo/Dorothy Robertshaw)
Some went shopping …
Whole Foods Plaza (Photo/JD Dworkow)
… but many others did not.
Playhouse Square, 3 p.m. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Here are a couple more of the many photos we received today:
1st Selectman Kevin Christie says: “Safety is our top priority. We are asking residents to stay home if they are able, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep roads clear so our public safety and public works teams can do their jobs. Please avoid parking on streets if possible, and take a moment to check in on any neighbors who may need assistance.”
Public safety operations, including Police, Fire, and Public Works, will continue under established storm and emergency response protocols.
Residents should sign up for emergency alerts by texting 06880 to 888777, to receive Westport notifications via Nixle.
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Also closed: the Westport Library.
All programs planned for today will be rescheduled.
The Westport Weston Family YMCA plans a noon opening today.
The view from the YMCA is beautiful on days like today. But you won’t be able to see it until noon. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Speaking of snow: There must be some back stories to these photos, both taken by Harris Falk:
But whatever they are, he didn’t say.
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As Westport’s sister city of Lyman remains under siege, and Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on into a 4th year, Ukraine Aid International continues to help.
The non-profit — created by Westporters Brian and Marshall Mayer, and credited with delivering tons of food, vehicles, supplies, communications equipment, clothing and more, to the most war-torn regions of the nation, while developing partnerships between towns in Ukraine and the US — is hosting a March 5 fundraiser at the Westport Country Playhouse.
The entertainment at “Keys for Resilience” is spot-on: 2 superb Ukrainian artists whose work speaks to resilience, identity and hope.
Pianist, composer and educator Ruslan Ramazanov was forced to rebuild his life and career in the US, following Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Since arriving here, his music has taken on an added layer of meaning, reflecting his personal journey of adaptation and rediscovery through art. He works at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
He’s joined by Ukrainian-American soprano Teryn Kuzma. A versatile performer passionate about both contemporary works and rarely heard Eastern European opera and art song, she plays
In addition to her acclaimed vocal career, she is an accomplished performer on the bandura, Ukraine’s 55-string harp-zither instrument.
“Keys for Resilience” weaves classical and traditional music with stories from Connecticut’s sister cities in Ukraine.
All proceeds will support sister cities in Ukraine — including Westport’s own, Lyman — and the sister-state relationship between Connecticut and Donetsk. Click here for tickets, and more information.
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Staples High School’s musicians, actors and athletes get plenty of props.
Today, we applaud the equally accomplished “We the People” team.
For 12 years, students in Suzanne Kammerman’s Advanced Placement Politics & Government class have participated in the state event. Often, they qualify there for national competition.
On Saturday, they did again.
The all-junior team placed 2nd in the state competition, at Hartford’s historic Old State House. That earns them a trip to the national event, this spring in Washington.
“We the People” has both a classroom and extracurricular component. Students prepare and present oral arguments on specific sections of the Constitution in simulated congressional hearings. Then comes an intense questi9n-and-answer session, with a panel of judges.
It is not for the faint of heart. The students grapple with difficult constitutional questions. The judges demand clear, compelling answers.
Several seniors — veterans of last year’s best-ever 8th place national finish — helped coach the squad: Lila Boroujerdi, Olivia Cohn, Gunnar Eklund, Jay Hari, Miles Kahn, Souleye Kebe and Jake Shufro.
Congrats to all. Now go rock DC!
PS: It was a full day for the competitors. Many raced back to Westport from Hartford, to get ready for the County Assembly formal dance that night.
Staples’ “We the People” team in Hartford on Saturday. They were in the same room where the Connecticut House of Representatives convened in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Sweet Remains — Westporter Greg Naughton’s band, perennial Levitt Pavilion favorites (and international stars, with over 65 million Spotify streams) — wowed a large Westport Country Playhouse crowd Saturday night.
There was a hometown feel too, as Greg’s wife Kelli O’Hara, daughter Charlotte and father Jim Naughton joined the folk-pop, 3-part harmony group onstage.
The Sweet Remains’ Rich Price. (Photo/Jerry Kuyper)
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“06880” is where Westport meets the world.
And Westport meets the World Cup.
Rebecca Lowe will have a memorable year. The former Westport resident will be one of Fox Sports’ primary hosts for the soccer spectacle that comes to the US, Canada and Mexico this spring.
She’ll be on loan from NBC Sports, where next month she’ll host daytime coverage of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Oh, yeah: She’ll also cover the Kentucky Derby.
When Lowe began hosting NBC Sports’ Premier League soccer coverage — from its studios in Stamford — she and her husband, former English player and coach Paul Buckle, lived on Main Street.
At NBC she works with Robbie Mustoe, who also lives in Westport. A former NBC colleague, Kyle Martino, lives here too.
World Cup story #2: The other day, Joe Pierce — a long-time area resident, former Staples High School assistant soccer coach, and producer of a film about legendary English star Sir Stanley Matthews — was at Dandelion, the new Delamar Westport restaurant. He writes:
“My friend Hicham, the corporate restaurant director for the Delamar group, was eager to show me around. It’s a stunning space: refined, intentional, full of life.
“But as can happen when 2 football obsessives meet, the talk of interior design lasted exactly 30 seconds.
“We settled onto bar stools, and the conversation shifted to our shared obsession: The Beautiful Game.
“Hicham is a devoted Arsenal supporter. But when he speaks of his beloved Morocco, you feel a different kind of energy.
“He’s a witness to a national metamorphosis. Morocco didn’t become the darlings of the last World Cup by luck; it was a masterclass in strategic infrastructure. They’ve funneled millions into the Mohammed VI Academy, scouting the global diaspora and building a “Golden Generation” that won the U-20 World Cup in October.
“As a Scottish expat living in Connecticut, I couldn’t help but see the parallels to the grit and discipline of the 1970s squads I grew up with. But on June 19, when our nations meet at in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Hicham and I will be on opposite sides of the park.
“He’ll be in the red and green of a rising power. I’ll be in the blue of a Tartan Army. seeking redemption for 1998.
“That is what football is all about. It turns a casual drink in Westport into a geopolitical debate. It takes the “home soil” we walk on every day, and connects it to the “away soul” we never truly left behind.
“If you find yourself at the Dandelion on a Saturday night, stop by and have a chat with Hicham about football. Feel the passion like I did.”
Joe Pierce
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With all the whiteness today, a bit of color really stands out.
Jamie Walsh captured this scene, for today’s very appropriate “Westport … Naturally” feature.
And finally … on this date in 1863, Massachusetts Governor John Albion Andrews received permission from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to raise a militia of men of African descent.
Recruitment for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry was helped by Frederick Douglass, whose 2 sons were among the first to enlist.
The writer of this song about the unit is unknown. Richie Havens delivered a stirring version.
(Tired of shoveling? Take a break! Let your fingers do the work: Just click here, and support “06880” — your equally hard-working hyper-local blog — with a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Ever since Edward T. Bedford bought a farm in 1910, and his son Frederick raised award-winning Guernsey milk cows there, “Nyala” — named after antelopes he saw in Africa — has been one of Westport’s most cherished sites.
There was concern in the late 1960s, when Stauffer Chemical Company bought the 53-acre property between Greens Farms Road and the Sherwood Island Connector.
They planned a large office park on the site — the first of its kind in Westport. After long negotiations with the town and the Greens Farms Association, an agreement was reached.
Stauffer’s worldwide headquarters — just a few yards from I-95 Exit 18 — would be unobtrusive. The rolling hills and meadows — including an iconic well — would remain largely undisturbed.
Nyala Farms office complex. I-95 is at the right; the Sherwood Island Connector is at the bottom.
Similar fears arose nearly 20 years later, when Stauffer — facing financial difficulties over pollution issues, and an audit by the government — sold Nyala Farms to Bridgewater Associates. for $130 million.
It was one of 2 Westport properties owned by the world’s largest hedge fund. The other was Glendinning Place, off Weston Road.
Much to neighbors’ relief at both sites, Bridgewater has been a largely responsible steward of both sites.
Nyala Farms, last week. (Photo/JD Dworkow)
The Glendinning land was sold to David Waldman in 2023, for $10.6 million, and Bridgewater moved out. Last month, the family office of Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio and his wife Barbara bought it back, for $20.4 million. No announcement has been made as to its future, but 15 units of housing proposed by Waldman will not be built.
Last week, a few miles south, neighbors of Nyala Farms were surprised to receive notices about a meeting to be held in the Bridgewater office park 4 days later. The letter said Bridgewater would “share some exciting updates about the future of the Nyala campus and, importantly, to hear your perspective.”
At that session, one attendee tells “06880,” they and others — listening in person and online — were told that the hedge fund is considering selling the property.
Five buildings (brown), set amid hills and meadows.
The potential buyer is Hartford HealthCare. The network — with 500 locations in 185 towns, including 3 on Post Road East and Post Road West, plus St. Vincent’s Behavioral Health on Long Lots Road (the former Hall-Brooke) — would consolidate those locations at Nyala Farms, meeting attendees say.
Bridgewater currently uses 3 of the 5 buildings there. The remaining 2 would continue to be rented to other tenants. The total area is 372,000 square feet.
One neighbor tells “06880” that while Bridgewater has “largely” kept to its agreement regarding care and upkeep of the open space — as evidenced by the abundance of wildlife on the property — there are concerns about additional traffic Hartford HealthCare might bring.
Nyala Farms well, with an office building far in the background. (Photo/Mary Beth Murray)
According to someone familiar with the situation, there has been no sale. For many years, Bridgewater has evaluated a range of long-term options for Nyala Farms.
This includes a sale in which the firm would remain, but as a tenant — not an owner.
The hedge fund continues to assess a wide range of options.
Over time, Bridgewater has expanded its footprint globally. With offices now in New York, Singapore and Shanghai, it looks to increase proximity to clients, expanding its talent pool, and better serving its employee base.
Buildings (right), and the original Nyala Farms structure (left).
The person familiar with the situation says that Bridgewater and Hartford HeatlhCare have met with town officials, as well as neighbors, to discuss HHC’s preliminary vision if they were to purchase the property.
The discussions included Bridgewater as a tenant — with preservation of the external footprint, and the natural integrity of the grounds.
The only change proposed by Hartford Healthcare would be to use one of the 5 buildings for medical use, during normal business hours.
Other parties have also expressed interest in the property. Discussions will continue, with no timeline urgency.
In the meantime, Bridgewater continues to be Westport’s second highest taxpayer.
60 Nyala Farms LLC — the company that officially owns the complex — had an assessed value of $83,331,700 on the 2024 Grand List. That trailed only Connecticut Light & Power ($144,150,180). In third place: Bedford Square Associates LLC, at $51,520,000. (Hat tip: Andrew Colabella)
(“06880” covers Westport businesses, real estate, the environment and local history. Sometimes they all intersect. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Back in the day, my generation learned about snow days by listening to the radio.
Westport’s WMMM and Bridgeport’s WICC would go through the list.
It was alphabetical — and agonizing.
Ansonia Public Schools. Bridgeport public schools. Darien public schools. Even Our Lady of Fatima, wherever that was.
Who cared? What about Westport?!
Sometimes they’d be closed. Sometimes they wouldn’t. It was a crapshoot.
Then came a more high-tech method: emails and voicemails.
Still, it was a crapshoot. Longtime superintendent of schools Elliot Landon made it a point of pride to keep Westport schools open.
“Today is Monday, January 26. The Westport Public Schools will be open!” he cackled.
It didn’t matter that schools from here to Buffalo were closed. Suck it up!
Former superintendent of schools Elliot Landon. He is probably smiling because he just announced that schools would be open.
But this is 2026. Social media is everywhere. High school students make full-length documentaries; 8-year-olds create Instagram reels.
So, to announce tomorrow’s snow day — which there was little doubt about, from Friday’s predictions on — Westport Public Schools officials got creative.
Assistant superintendent John Bayers headed to Long Lots Elementary School. He consulted with Leo the Lion — the mascot. They punted.
The decision was left to Long Lots’ staff: teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, and the school resource officer.
In the excitement of today’s “snowpocalypse” — aka “a pretty good snowfall” — I forgot to post this week’s Photo Challenge.
It’s the first screw-up since I started the Sunday feature, more than 10 years ago. My bad.
Last week’s showed dozens of bottles, behind what looked like a restaurant bar. (Click here to see.)
It’s a testament to Westport’s diverse dining scene that readers guessed 6 different spots.
But Seth Braunstein’s shot showed the one at the Bridge at Saugatuck.
Pam Kopack, Peggy O’Halloran, Elaine Marino, Dave Eason, Rachel Sara Halperin and Polly Sykes all knew the right answer.
On today’s snowy, stay-inside day: I’ll drink to that!
And I’ll also — belatedly — post this week’s challenge. Complete with (of course) snow.
If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Diane Lowman)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Of course, some folks ventured outside. Here’s what they found:
9 am.: Post Road East. (Photo/Colin Livingston)
9 a.m.: Fire headquarters (Photo/Colin Livingston)
Off Whitney Street. (Photo/Richard Fogel)
Off Wilton Road: Not a snowman — but it could be! (Photo/Chuck Greenlee)
I-95 southbound, between Exits 18 and 17: the view from an ambulance. Thankfully, photographer Jonathan Alloy says, “people are staying off the roads.”
Another view of I-95. Photographer Susan Garment reminds drivers to have both headlights and taillights on during snow and rain. Running lights are only on the front.
Dart, on Guyer Road (Photo/Bill Downey)
Railroad bridge: Maple Lane, near Greens Farms train station. (Photo/Seth Schachter)
Burying Hill Beach (Photo/Seth Schachter)
Robin and Griffin at Burying Hill Beach (Photo/Nico Eisenberger)
Frozen Compo Beach … (Photo/Tammy Barry)
… with a bit of recreation there … (Photo/Tammy Barry)
… while bundled up against the cold. (Photo/Tammy Barry)
Sherwood Island State Park: Don’t believe everything you read. (Photo/Bruce Geller)
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