Classics abound. Our Town. The Importance of Being Earnest. 1960s architecture. Eight to the Bar. Star Wars. Classical concerts from Yale students and Music Haven students. But there are glimpses of the provocative present and future this week as well, with CWOS’ Alternative Space weekend, a joint reading by two major poets and the post-prog fusion band Papadosio.
Monday, Oct. 6
A Sustained Effort
Celebrate Sustainability is a week of events organized by the Yale Office of Sustainability. Today’s events include a “Monday Morning Yoga” class on Yale’s Cross Campus at 8 p.m.; a “Self-Guided Sustainability Walking Tour” at 9 a.m. starting at 149 Elm St.; the “Seeing Nature: Art & Photography” exhibit at the Environmental Science Center (21 Sachem St.); the Yale School of Art’s “The End of the World (As We Know It)” exhibit at Green Hall Gallery (1156 Chapel St.); an 11:30 a.m. sale of reusable food containers near the food trucks outside Ingalls Rink (73 Sachem St.); a noon tour of the Sterling Power Plant; and a day-long “National Alternative Fuel Day Odyssey” conference starting at 9 a.m. on Yale’s West Campus in Orange. The rest of the week brings a bird walk, a tree planting, a Wednesday cooking demo with Mark Bittman, an “Energy Night Survey,” a film screening, lectures, farm workdays and more. The complete schedule is here.
Frank Discussion
The book discussion series at New Haven Free Public Library’s Mitchell branch in Westville (37 Harrison St.) has the general title “Philip Roth’s America.” Tonight, the specific book being talked about is Ghost Writer. The first of the writer’s Zuckerman novels, published in 1979, Ghost Writer muses on the lasting impact of Anne Frank. 6:30 p.m. Registration required: (203) 946‑8117.
Tuesday, Oct. 7
Musical Portraits
For weeks now, on the walls of Claire’s Corner Copia (1000 Chapel St.), there’ve been photos of kids who’ve taken part of the Music Haven nonprofit classical music program. Today at 6 p.m. some of Music Haven’s current students will perform live at the restaurant. The concert’s called Quartet Quodlibets. The photos, taken by Kathleen Cei, will stay up until the end of this month.
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Gone Wilder
The current Long Wharf Theatre season is that august institution’s 50th. It’s marking that milestone with a production of Our Town, the classic American play whose author, Thornton Wilder, was also a New Haven institution. The play, directed by Long Wharf artistic director Gordon Edelstein, has been rethought to reflect a contemporary diversity. It’s an Our Town for our town, and our times. Tonight through Nov. 2 at 222 Sargent Dr. (203) 787‑4282).
Thursday, Oct. 9
The co-founders of the African-American poetry group Cave Canem, Cornelius Eady and Toi Derricotte, read and talk 4 p.m. at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (121 Wall St.) as part of the Yale Collection of American Literature Reading Series. Both Eady and Derricotte are widely published and have earned fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations. (203) 432‑2977. Free.
In Earnest
Oscar Wilde premiered his comic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895. The Yale Dramat—the third oldest college theater organization in the country — began in 1900. Today’s Dramat gives Wilde a whirl tonight through Saturday at the Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel St.). Performances are at 8 p.m., with an added 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Miranda Rizzolo directs.
Eight to the Restaurant
Eight to the Bar has been keeping the beat steady for just shy of four decades, including dozens of shows for the old New Haven Jazz Festival on the Green. The retro-hip band, which veers deliriously from swing jazz to old-school R&B to roots rock, hasn’t gone anywhere; what’s lacking in New Haven are the sort of venues the band is most suited to. Eight to the Bar feels it’s found a kindred spirit at the Asian restaurant Lucky Chao (27 Temple St.), which is styled on jazz night clubs of yore. Leader Cynthia Lyon and her five bandmates play Lucky Chao tonight from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., a gig they hope will turn into a regular monthly event. For the kick-off, they’re bringing in special guests and reaching out to their New Haven fan base. Reservations recommended. $10 cover. (203) 535-0742.
Friday, Oct. 10
Cloth and Paint
Art dealer and curator Fred Giampietro, who has two gallery spaces in town, is known for his deft pairings of disparate artists. Tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the intimate Fred.Giampietro gallery at 91 Orange St. in the Ninth Square, there’s an opening reception for Cross Currents, a display of textile-based art by Laurie Gunderson and abstract paintings by Karen Dow. Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (203) 777‑7707.
Elsa, Dorian, and Others
Yale Concert Band began its season a couple of weeks ago with a centennial tribute to the Yale Bowl. Tonight the band eschews the marches and fight songs for a lush concert of “Overtures and Icons,” namely Gershwin (“Cuban Overture”), Holst (“Second Suite in F,” which incorporates the traditional melody “Greensleeves”), Berlioz (“Apotheosis” from Grand Symphonie for Band), Wagner (“Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral,” partly played on Woolsey’s Newberry Organ), Shostakovich (“Folk Dances”) and De Cabezon (“Prelude in Dorian Mode”). 7:30 p.m. in Woolsey Hall (500 College St.). (203) 432‑4111.
Burning Candles
Josh Lattanzi cut his musical teeth as a bassist in Connecticut jam bands of the 1990s before becoming an integral part of the Boston and New York indie rock scenes. Among the acts he’s been a part of: Senor Happy, Poundcake, Ben Kweller, Juliana Hatfield, Bill Janowitz, Albert Hammond Jr. and Lemonheads. Lattanzi’s own band The Candles, who have opened for Norah Jones in a 2500-seat theater in Germany, are at Cafe Nine (250 State St.) tonight. Invisibleman opens the 9 p.m. show. $10, $8 in advance.
Saturday, Oct. 11
Building Community
Docomomo is an international non-profit organization which raises awareness about great examples of modern architecture. New Haven is renowned for such buildings, so the New Haven Preservation Trust is holding its annual Docomomo Tour Day today. It’s a downtown walking tour titled “New Haven’s 1960s Vision for the Future.” You’ll see (but not venture inside) the Knights of Columbus HQ, Temple Street Garage, the site of the razed Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the old Community Services Building (now the home of the Knights of Columbus museum). The tour is free. Meet 10 a.m. at the corner of Church and George streets, across from Gateway Community College. “Registration is appreciated”: (203) 562‑5919 or [email protected].
Open Studios Opens
City Wide Open Studios starts in earnest today, leading off its three-week visual arts community extravaganza with its signature “Alternative Space” exhibition. In a rare instance of using the same site for two years in a row, hundreds of artists will once again pile into the Goffe Street Armory (290 Goffe St.) for two days of displays of artwork in a dizzying variety of media, plus live performances and more. Noon to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow.
Star Words
Much of the Star Wars legacy has been literary, with hundreds of original novels, magazines and even a daily comic strip based on the film series since it debuted in the 1970s. The New Haven Free Public Library’s annual Star Wars Reads Day celebration is only three years old, and has lots of ground (and space) to cover. Jump in now; the books will only proliferate with the release of Disney’s Star Wars: Episode VII next year. The NHFPL’s party, 2 p.m. in the children’s section of the main 133 Elm St. library, promises “games, crafts and giveaways,” and invites you to come in costume.
Fiesta!
The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s 12th Annual Fiesta Latina! offers live music, dancing, games, crafts, face painting, a fossil dig, talks on everything from birding to Macchu Picchu to biodiversity, and other family activities. Performances by the African Arawak Connection, Alisa’s House of Salsa, the Mariachi Academy of Connecticut, Carlos y su Momento Musical and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Yale. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the museum waiving its usual admission fees.
Sunday, Oct. 12
‘Dosio Do
The eclectic electronic/jazz/prog-rock band quintet Papadosio brings its Imaginal Cells Tour to Toad’s Place tonight. Jimkata opens. 9 p.m. 300 York St. (203) 624-TOAD.
