In 1999 Larry Silver was in China, a guest of that country’s Foreign Affairs office.
The photographer — and Westport resident — was invited to Yangzhou, to shoot images similar to the style he had become internationally famous for.
(Photo copyright Larry Silver)
On Thursday (January 9, 6 to 8 p.m.), it will be featured at the opening reception for MoCA CT’s “On Fire: Energy, Climate, Infrastructure” exhibition.
The show — with over 50 artworks in a variety of media — explores how artists from the 1930s to today have envisioned and responded to the interrelationship of energy, infrastructure, and the environment.
The fourth annual exhibition by the Westport Public Art Collections at MoCA allows the community to experience works of art, usually on display in school and municipal buildings, in a museum setting. Click here for more information.
A memorial service for Carole Schweid — the actor, playwright, author, and a Westport icon as co-founder and artistic director of the “Play With Your Food” lunchtime play-reading program, who died last month — is set for Sunday, January 19 (12 noon, TCS The Community Synagogue of Westport).
Carole’s many friends, fans and admirers are all welcome.
Carole Schweid
================================================
The Westport Farmers’ Market returns to its regular post-holiday, regular Thursday winter schedule this week (January 9, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center).
Over 30 vendors will fill the greenhouses. The WFM winter market also includes the “Get Growing” program, and educational programming.
New to Westport? Been here a while — or even longer?
Neighbors and Newcomers of Westport has something for you.
Actually, many things.
New Year Coffee:(Wednesday, January 8, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Mrs. London’s Bakery): Fresh brew and lively conversation.
Sound Bath Experience: (January 16, 10 to 10:45 a.m., Hummingbird Healing Center): A soothing 45-minute experience, with harmonious vibrations guiding you to tranquility and renewal.
Game Night: January 17, 6:30 p.m., private home, $10): Pizza, games, BYOB and appetizer to share; laughter, connection and friendly rivalries.
Book Club: (January 23): Join with other book groups in an evening discussion of the Westport Library’s WestportREADS selection, “In the Distance.” For details, email Peggy O’Halloran: pohal@aol.com.
For more information about Neighbors and Newcomers of Westport, including how to become a member, click here.
Looking for a fun and different Valentine’s Day celebration, a few days early?
How about a drag show, with Boston’s own, Patty Bourrée?
Westport Pride is hosting the February 8 event (7 p.m., MoCA CT; 18+ only). It features songs, comedy and cocktails. All genders and orientations welcome!
Click here for tickets ($40), and more information.
=================================================
I would have bet anything that the driver of this ridiculous-looking Cybertruck — parked in a handicap spot at the Westport Weston Family YMCA yesterday — did not have a handicap sticker.
Not surprisingly, I would have won that bet.
=================================================
Grammy nominated pianist James Weidman headlines this week’s first-of-the-year Jazz at the Post (Thursday, January 9; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner service at 7).
He’ll be joined by bassist Harvie S, drummer Steve Johns and saxophonist Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall.
Click here for tickets ($20 music cover; $15 for veterans and students).
And finally … in honor of one of Westport’s underrated, unsung but undeniably excellent civic organizations (Neighbors & Newcomers of Westport; story above):
(Whether you’re new to our neighborhood, lived here all your life — or any time frame in between — you’re part of our online “06880” community. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
Carole Schweid — an actor, playwright, author, and a Westport icon as co-founder and artistic director of “Play With Your Food,” the local lunchtime play-reading program — died earlier today at her Westport home.
Carole was also a member of the original cast of “A Chorus Line.”
After graduating from the Juilliard School, she began her Broadway career as an original cast member of “Minnie’s Boys,” the Marx Brothers musical starring Shelley Winters.
On television she was a member of “Fitz & Bones,” the Smothers Brothers’ series.
Carole Schweid
In addition to working regularly as a dancer, singer and actor, Carole wrote 2 plays: the off-Broadway “On The Bench,” and “Agnes.” The latter — a one-woman show about choreographer Agnes de Mille — was performed at the Smithsonian Institution theater.
The success of Carole’s Play With Your Food led her to write “Staged Reading Magic: A Play Producer’s Quick Guide for Turning a Free Staged Reading into a Hot Theater Ticket.”
Carole is survived by sons Max Lance and Daniel Lance; grandchildren Bailey and Leo Lance; her brother Robert Schweid, and her former husband, Steven Lance.
A memorial service will be scheduled for Westport in January.
=================================================
This past July, “06880” honored the final “Play With Your Food” shows with this tribute:
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.’
“06880” has reported several times on early voting — used for the first time in Connecticut this fall for a presidential election. (Click here, then scroll down for details.)
Here’s info on absentee ballots:
Connecticut law allows you to receive an absentee ballot if you cannot appear at your assigned polling place on Election Day because of active service in the military, absence from the town in which you are eligible to vote, sickness, religious tenets that forbid secular activity on the day of the election, duties as an election official at a polling place other than your own during all of the hours of voting, or physical disability. To receive your absentee ballot, please complete, sign, and submit an application online.
Please provide your name, date of birth, and town as it appears in the voter record in order to look up and verify your voter information.
Click here to complete an absentee ballot request.
The second Westport Safety Action Plan public meeting is tomorrow (Thursday, October 17, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium).
Officials will present results of the recent public survey, and offer safety analysis and information on project selection.
Click here to learn more about the Westport Safety Action Plan.
=================================================
Westport has begun the process to replace the maintenance building in Longshore.
That’s the shed that, ever since the town bought the 188-acre property in 1960, has occupied prime real estate, between the Inn and tennis court/pool parking lots.
The new site may be where the brush dump is now located.
There was a performance yesterday of the staged reading, script-in-hand series (plus delicious lunch) that has entertained and delighted audiences at local venues for 20 years.
There have been 350 performances, with 200 professional actors and 135 playwrights.
Additional shows are today (Wednesday) at the Pequot Library in Southport, and tomorrow (Thursday) at Greenwich Arts Council.
“All good things must come to an end,” Carole Schweid, artistic director for the series’ organizer, JIB Productions, told “06880” in July.
She has had health issues, and executive producer Diana Muller is retiring.
Many local actors turned out to say farewell yesterday. The cast included several long-time favorites, including Weston’s James Naughton.
First Selectwoman Jen Tooker awarded Schweid honorary recognition for the 2-decade run of one-act plays.
“They have been theatrical jewels for Westport theater fans,” says Marcia Falk.
She’s volunteered with the crew for 7 years. “I loved being part of such an exceptional Westport tradition,” Marcia says.
Brava, Carole and Diana. Thank you for 20 years of inspiring, thought-provoking, and much-needed entertainment!
Of course, audiences at the final Westport “Play With Your Food” performance celebrated with cake. (Photo/Marcia Falk)
================================================
Michael Chait is a Westport photographer, known for his fresh looks at familiar local images.
Now those photos will be on sale, at a pre-holiday discount of 30%.
The event is Sunday, November 10 (2 to 5 p.m.) at his studio — which, fittingly, is in one of Westport’s most historic buildings.
It’s on the second floor of 11 Riverside Avenue. The building — long owned by the Gault family — is where, in the 1800s, merchant ships tied up.
The 2011 Staples High School and 2015 Middlebury College graduate performed at his first music festival (Black Bear Americana Fest); began hosting a Bob Dylan series at Cafe Wha?; opened for prominent artists like Marcellus Hall, Will Dailey and Ira Wolf, and got his first radio airplay.
Now he’s released his first new music in 6 years.
“Invulnerable” — his album of original songs — is available now. It straddles 2 stylistic worlds: the discursive balladeering of archetypal folk, and the more impressionistic lyricism of post-Dylan folk.
Dustin — who performed at last summer’s Soundview Stroll at Compo Beach — is booking concerts for the coming months.
We look forward to his “bringing it all back home.” In the meantime, you can listen to “Invulnerable” below. (Be sure to click the three-stripe icon in the upper right.)
Staples High School’s October Students of the Month are seniors Brianna Caporale and Henry Lobsenz, juniors Sarah Kalb and Grady McHugh, sophomores Jace Darby and Maya Stafford, and freshmen Derin Leon and Moni Mazaheri.
Those students “help make Staples a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike,” says principal Stafford Thomas.
“They are the ‘glue’ of the Staples community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together.”
Nominations come from teachers, who select “all-around good citizens.”
October Students of the Month (from left): Grady McHugh, Henry Lobsenz, Derin Leon, Jace Darby, Sarah Kalb, Maya Stafford, Brianna Caporale. Missing: Moni Mazaheri.
================================================
More Staples news: Kate Bulkeley, Olivia Cohn and Olivia Saw will represent the schools next months, at the 11th Normandy International Youth Leadership Summit in Le Havre, France.
Delegates are high performing students interested in world affairs. At the event, the Westporters and other teens from 18 countries around the globe will develop action plans to address an issue affecting their community and the world — then implement them.
From left: Kate Bulkeley, Olivia Saw, Olivia Cohn.
Affordable housing — one of Westport’s hottest topics — was the subject of yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club luncheon talk.
David Newberg — chair of the Westport Housing Authority since 2004 — discussed the past, present and future of local affordable housing.
The WSA owns, manages and develops affordable housing in town. Their 221 units house 450 people, most of whom are from Westport. The WHA has spent $65 million dollars over the years restoring and developing these units.
Newberg said that the major obstacle to building more units to meet demand is the scarcity of buildable land. The major reason that land is so hard to come by, he noted, is that people generally do not want affordable housing in their neighborhoods. It can take years to get land allocated for this purpose.
David Newberg, at the Westport Rotary Club. (Photo/Ellin Curley)
“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)
As Election Day looms, lawns and traffic islands will be filled with political signs. And the Westport Police Department will field complaints about the removal of them.
The WPD says: “Residents and visitors are advised against taking it upon themselves to remove signs that do not belong to them, from either public or private property.
“The enforcement of the town’s rules is the responsibility of the town of Westport, not that of private citizens. The removal of signs from public or private property by someone not authorized to do so by the town, or by the owner of the sign, may constitute theft. Entering onto private property to remove signs may also constitute trespassing. Both of these acts can ultimately result in an arrest.
“Town property includes traffic islands and road rights of way. It is not advisable to place signs on State of Connecticut property (including rights of way and islands along Routes 1, 136, 57, 33, and the Sherwood Island Connector, or on the exit or entrance ramps of I-95 or the Merritt Parkway) as the state may remove them.
“In addition, signs may not be placed on school property without permission of the superintendent’s office, nor may they be put inside Compo Beach or Longshore, Town Hall, or on trees or utility poles. Signs my not interfere with traffic visibility.
“Signs on private property cannot extend beyond the property line or into the town right-of-way. They should be removed within 2 days after the election.”
Political signs, 2012.
=================================================
Emmy Squared’s arrival was eagerly anticipated by Westporters who know — and love — its New York locations.
The new restaurant in the old Bedford Square Amis space has not disappointed.
Its square Detroit-style pizza, mammoth burgers and decadent brownie dessert draw big crowds and great raves.
Emmy Squared prides itself on friendliness and customer service. Here’s how they walk the talk: I was there last night. When it came time to bring out the meal, there were apologies instead.
My friend’s pizza had not come out right. The server did not want us to have a less-than-perfect experience. They were making a new one.
The attention to quality — and honesty — was refreshing.
And the wait was worth it. Emmy Squared is a winner.
The Westport Weston Chamber of Horrors –er. Commerce — has conjured up a new event to die for. A Halloween Concert and Costume Ball, featuring Bella’s Bartok, is set for Saturday, October 28 (8 p.m., Westport Library).
The event is an adult alternative to the Children’s Halloween Window Painting Contest, held earlier the same day (also run by the Chamber).
Costumes are encouraged. Prizes will awarded for best outfits, in several categories.
Specialty cocktails, beer and wine will allow patrons to pick their own poison.
Bella’s Bartok is an inspired choice for entertainment. Their raucous theatrical performances edge toward the macabre. Their high energy mix of funk, pop and folk will have even the deadest attendees dancing.
Tickets are $35. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
Declining audiences is not just a Westport Country Playhouse woe.
It’s a national issue.
Several days ago, the New York Times examined the trend. Yesterday, they published letters in response.
Among them: Carole Schweid’s.
The organizer of the “Play With Your Food” series — which never went out of style — wrote:
As I like to say: “If Joe Papp can do ‘Shakespeare in the Park,’ we can do Chekhov in the parking lot.” Performances like these are one of the ways my nonprofit arts organization brought our audiences back at the end of the pandemic.
As producers of Connecticut’s popular lunchtime play-reading series, “Play With Your Food,” we’ve learned a lot about survival from our five-star Westport Library, which has evolved from an excellent library into a vibrant center for the community. Like it or not, books are not enough, and I fear that it is much the same for theater.
We have been developing programs: talkbacks, theater lovers’ book groups, reading lists, a book group where we read plays out loud together, and, my current stock in trade, staged readings, to name a few low-cost, engaging, community-building activities.
We try to remind our audiences of the joy and the unique fun that can be had being part of our community. I think of it as an investment in our future.
Carole Schweid/Westport, Conn. The writer was in the original Broadway cast of “A Chorus Line” and is the author of “Staged Reading Magic.”
Carole Schweid
================================================
Speaking of the Playhouse: If you missed “Justin Paul & Friends” Saturday night there, what a shame.
The evening was both joyful (high energy, huge talent, memorable music) and important (it was a fundraiser).
Justin — the 2002 Staples High School graduate/Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-winning songwriter (“Dear Evan Hansen,” “La La Land,” “The Greatest Showman) — brought his “A” game. He not only rocked the piano and vocals, and not only enlisted a ton of great friends (Kelli O’Hara, James and Greg Naughton, Jacob Heimer, Staples Players …), but he described — again and again — the lasting influence that both Westport and Staples had on his development as a musician and a person.
If you were not there, this photo will have to suffice. If you were, you’ll appreciate once again Justin’s connection with the sold-out audience
Speaking of pianists: Ragtime rang out yesterday, at Green’s Farms Congregational Church.
The Y’s Women hosted Orin Grossman, professor emeritus of visual and performing arts at Fairfield University. His “From Ragtime to Stride: American Music Comes of Age” spanned many ages, from Scott Joplin to novelty piano and George Gershwin.
Grossman noted that when jazz was first introduced in the 1920s, it was looked upon as disparagingly as when Elvis burst on the scene 3 decades later.
Dr. Orin Grossman, at Green’s Farms Church. (Photo/Molly Alger)
Speaking still of pianists: Ethan Iverson makes his first-ever Jazz at the Post appearance Thursday (Sept. 14, 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399; cover charge $15).
Iverson — also a composer and writer — was a founding member of The Bad Plus.
Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall met Iverson in 1998 at a Brooklyn recording session. They recorded together … and the rest is jazz history.
Iverson and saxophonist Wall will be joined by bassist Yuriy Galkin and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza.
Dinner service begins at 7 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended: JazzatthePost@gmail.com
Westport plastic surgeon Flora Levin and her daughter Miri — a 10th grader at Hopkins School — recently returned from Guatemala. For the second year in a row, they volunteered with the International Esperanza Project to provide medical and surgical services, as well as building stoves and installing water filters 2 hours outside of Guatemala City.
Supplies are limited, in the poverty-stricken area. Levin brought sutures, lighting and anesthetic from her Connecticut office.
On the last day she did 8 lachrymal surgeries, but had only enough post-operative medication for 5. She went to a pharmacy and bought eye drops for $7 — an unaffordable cost for her patients.
Though Miri missed the first week of school, her mother says, “it was definitely worth the experience, and I am glad Hopkins appreciates that. The kids are amazing, always willing to help, first ones to get there, last ones to leave with the group. This is no summer camp, but there is an amazing sense of purpose and teamwork for a common cause.”
Click here for more information on the International Esperanza Project, including ways to help.
Dr. Flora Levin (left) and a Mexican colleague operate, in Guatemala. Miri Levin (rear) assists.
And finally … in honor of “ragtime professor” Dr. Orin Grossman, and his Y’s Women appearance (story above):
(If you enjoy our daily Roundup, please round up some loose cash, and toss it our way. “06880” relies on support from readers like you. Please click here — and thank you)
But the distance does not matter to the Westport Downtown Association. The non-profit is collecting donations for Maui United Way, to help support relief efforts from one of the worst wildfires in American history.
Click here to contribute, and for more information.
To show our appreciation for donors, the WDA will randomly select 4 people to receive a pair of tickets to the annual Westoberfest New England Craft Beer and Family Fun event (Saturday, October 14).
In other Maui news, 2 former Westporters have told “06880” that their homes on the island were not affected by the blazes. Both, however, note the immense suffering by their neighbors.
Next Monday (August 21, 7 p.m., Westport Library), the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston host a public meeting on that subject.
They’ve enlisted 2 experts: Broadway actors/local residents/WCP friends James Naughton and Carole Schweid.
They’ll discuss the background of live theater, its current condition, and what lies ahead.
It’s a double feature. Guests will also see a 16-minute fictional drama film, “Not the Same Clarence.” The film features Jim and his son Greg Naughton depicting the realities of caring for a parent with dementia, and its impact on their lives.
And finally … John Gosling, the Kinks’ keyboardist and vocalist from 1970-78, died last week. He was 75.
He joined the band after auditioning on the song “Lola.” Not a shabby start, at all. Click here for his obituary.
(We are lucky to live in a town like Westport. And “06880” is lucky to have readers who support our work. Please click here for a link to contribute. Thank you!)
Carole Schweid is a longtime Westporter, former Broadway performer, author of “Staged Reading Magic,” artistic director of the popular lunchtime play-reading series Play With Your Food, and a fireworks fan.
However, she writes:
I always loved the closely packed beaches on the 4th of July. I enjoyed the food, the crowds, didn’t even mind the traffic. It was a community celebration, and it felt like everybody showed up.
I look forward to doing it again — but not this year.
We all know that this is not the time to gather large crowds anywhere. And certainly not groups packed together on a beach … after dark … trying to stay warm.
Pre-fireworks scene at Compo Beach, pre-pandemic.
I can’t think of any good reason why we would want to create such unnecessary risk, even with so many people vaccinated (the state of Connecticut is doing a great job). Even if you limit the number of cars, it’s a mob scene. There wouldn’t even be a way to supervise the basic things we’ve learned about protecting ourselves, like masking and social distancing — especially after dark.
It’s becoming easier to forget that there is still a pandemic going on. We have to pay attention to how we behave. As far as I can see, there are so many good reasons not to have this event. I can’t think of any good reasons in favor of it.
One could also argue that it may not be appropriate – this year, at this time – for our town to be spending our money on fireworks when so many Fairfield County families need food.
We are a generous community.. I’m thinking our time and our money could be better spent.
In the mile-a-minute, can’t-stop-for-a-second world that is Westport today, Play With Your Food stands out.
For nearly 20 years, a lunchtime program — the deliciously named Play With Your Food — has combined a gourmet lunch, professional readings of intriguing plays, and stimulating post-performance discussion.
It’s fun, low-key, under the radar.
But when the season kicks off this year, a very big Broadway name will share the bill.
Stephen Schwartz — the multi-Grammy, Oscar and Tony winning composer (“Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Godspell”) — will entertain at “A Moveable Feast of Theater 2.0.” The benefit supports the not-for-profit Play With Your Food.
Stephen Schwartz
In addition to Schwartz’s cabaret performance (for sponsor ticket holders only), 4 one-act plays will take place throughout a private Westport home. There’s also food from AMG Catering, and cocktails from Tito’s Vodka.
Schwartz does not do these things lightly. But he’s a longtime friend of Play With Your Food artistic director Carole Schweid. They met early in their carers, when she appeared in the national tour of “Pippin.”
Stacie Lewis
Later, Schweid realized that Westport-based actress Stacie Lewis — a Play With Your Food fan favorite — had starred as Glinda in the Chicago production of “Wicked.”
Lewis is part of the “Moveable Feast” cast too. She’ll be joined by 9 other Play With Your Food actors, who will perform those comic short plays in “site-specific surroundings” throughout the house.
The full Play With Your Food season opens January 7, and runs through April. Live lunchtime performances are planned for Toquet Hall, Fairfield Theatre Company, the Greenwich Arts Council and Rye Arts Center.
Lunches — catered by local restaurants — are followed by 1-act scripted plays performed by professional actors. Many are recognizable from TV, film or theater. The talkback includes the cast and director — sometimes even the playwright.
It’s a great series. Scoring Stephen Schwartz for the gala fundraiser is just icing on the cake.
(“A Moveable Feast 2.0” is set for Sunday, October 20. The location will be revealed to ticket holders only. The sponsor ticket cabaret with Stephen Schwartz begins at 3 p.m.; the main theater event starts at 4. For tickets and more information, click here or call 203-293-8729.)
Posted onOctober 27, 2017|Comments Off on TEA Talk Sunday Explores Art, Social Change
Everyone knows about TED Talks.
But here in Westport, we’ve got TEA Talks.
The Westport Arts Advisory Committee’s annual TEA — that’s Thinkers Educators Artists — event is set for this Sunday (October 29, 2 p.m., Town Hall).
The topic is timely and relevant: Art and Social Change.
Three 20-minute conversations among Westport arts professionals will explore how artists working in theater, art, writing and music can move popular thought, or sway public opinion.
In a nod to today’s fraught times, they’ll ask (and hopefully answer): “Does it take difficult times or momentous events for artists to create work that is a form of political and social currency?”
In the late 1960s, Naiad Einsel’s “Save Cockenoe Now” posters were a local symbol of the intersection of art and social change.
Carole Schweid (actor/director, Play With Your Food) and Michael Barker (managing director, Westport Country Playhouse) will address theater’s historical role addressing social issues.
Miggs Burroughs (artist/graphic designer/no further introduction needed) and Mark Yurkiw (artist/entrerpreneur) will discuss the influence of visual art on social change.
Haris Durrani (Photo/Miggs Burroughs)
And John Dodig (former Staples principal) will chat with 2011 graduate Haris Durrani about the young writer’s fiction novella, “Technologies of the Self,” about the life of a young American Muslim after 9/11.
Durrani will also be presented with the Horizon Award, given annually by the Arts Advisory Committee to a Westport artist under the age of 32 who shows extraordinary accomplishment and potential.
Rounding out the afternoon are professional performances of songs expressing socially conscious messages, from yesterday (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific”) and today (Pasek and Westport’s Justin Paul’s “Dear Evan Hansen.”)
A reception follows the intriguing TEA talks, at the Westport Historical Society across from Town Hall.
Comments Off on TEA Talk Sunday Explores Art, Social Change
For 10 years now, Westporters have played with their food.
Nancy Diamond and Carole Schweid couldn’t be happier.
The women are co-founders of a decade-long lunchtime program — the deliciously named Play With Your Food — that combines a gourmet lunch, professional readings of intriguing plays, and a stimulating post-performance discussion.
After a quick but entertaining and challenging 90 minutes, it’s back to work for everyone.
As with most off-the-wall or why-didn’t-I-think-of-that ideas, “Play With Your Food” developed casually. Nancy and Carole were young mothers serving together on the PTA Cultural Arts Committee. They discovered a shared desire to do something theater-related that would bring people together during the winter.
And they both loved food.
Carole Schweid and Nancy Diamond, Play With Your Food founders.
They knew Westport is a community that supports the arts, has good restaurants — and a pool of professional actors who love challenges.
The challenge was finding one-act plays equal to their vision.
To find good material, Nancy and Carole read a lot. They travel to one-act festivals around the country. They prowl book fairs and libraries. Now — with Play With Your Food a firm fixture on the local arts scene — people send suggestions to them.
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.
The appeal of Play With Your Food, Nancy says, is broad: “lunch, a social connection with others, and intellectual or emotional stimulation.”
Plus, Carole adds, “You don’t have to travel. This is all home-grown.”
Carole chooses 3 plays — 10 to 20 minutes each — for every program. (The series runs from January through April.) They may be short, she says, but “not light or fluffy.”
A typical scene from a Play With Your Food event.
In the beginning, most plays were “middle of the road,” Carole says. Now, “some are a little more challenging to the audience.” And the post-play discussions have become a bit deeper and more insightful.
Over 10 years, there must have been some flops. Right?
The women laugh. “Truly, no,” Nancy says. “Some plays are not as strong as others, but no one has ever walked out saying they wished they’d gone to the diner.”
Ah, dining. The restaurants that cater — a different one each month — are as varied as the plays themselves: Bobby Q’s. Blue Lemon. Da Pietro. Matsu Sushi.
Play With Your Food food.
“We like surprising audiences with little jewels of plays,” Nancy says. “And there are culinary surprises too. The food is very good — this is not tuna fish and potato chips.”
Next month, Play With Your Food celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a gala celebration. “Two for the Road” is set for Saturday, January 28 at Dragone Classic Motorcar Company. There will be catering from more than 20 great restaurants, followed by a “rousing show” created by Carole.
Professional actors will perform scenes from “My Fair Lady,” “42nd Street,” “Mack & Mabel” and Play With Your Food comedy favorites.
The event will celebrate a decade of success — and provide financial support for the series to continue.
“We can’t believe it’s been 10 years!” Nancy marvels. “Carole and I had young kids when we started. Now they’re all out of the house.”
So, back then, who came up with the spectacularly clever name “Play With Your Food”?
Nancy and Carole can’t quite remember.
But they do know this: “When something’s right, it’s right. We want to help people smile with our food and plays. And the name does, too.”
(For ticket information on the January 28 celebration, click here or call 203-293-8831. Play With Your Food’s 10th season begins at noon on January 10, 11 and 12 at Toquet Hall.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
