The Weekend and Coming Up

Written by Sally Sanders
Thursday, 31 May 2012 00:00

Ice Cream Social, by Virginia Taylor: Homemade cake and ice cream will be served at the New Canaan Historical Society’s traditional Ice Cream Social on Sunday from 1 to 4 on the historical society campus at 13 Oenoke Ridge; information, nchistory.org or 203-966-1776.

Darien art show

The Darien Art Center’s 2012 Show, judged by renowned photographer Sandi Haber Fifeld of Westport, will open Friday evening with a reception and awards from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Weatherstone Studio behind Darien Town Hall, 2 Renshaw Road.

The show and sale, a venue for artists of all ages, will be open for viewing Saturday, June 2, through Saturday, June 9, noon to 5. For more information, call 203-655-8683 or visit arts.darien.org.

Toe-tapping show

The musical 42nd Street will open Friday, June 1, at Curtain Call’s Kweskin Theatre in the Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford. The show, which includes five Ridgefield High School students and is choreographed by another Ridgefielder, Shannon-Courtney Egan, will run weekends through June 30. The five Ridgefield performers are Jordan Costa, Christina D’Aiuto, Elizabeth D’Aiuto, Noah Feinberg and Jacob Litt.

Performers will be Friday and Saturday nights at 8 and Sunday afternoons at 2; there are two Thursday evening performances, June 21 and 28, at 8. Tickets are $28 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $14 for students and children (all Thursday tickets are $18). Tickets may be purchased at 203-461-6358 or visit curtaincallinc.com.

Nuts

The Ridgefield Theater Barn will present Nuts, a play by Tom Topor, directed by Sherry Asch and produced by Paulette Layton, June 1-23 on Friday and Saturday at 8, with Sunday matinees at 5 on June 10 and 17. Among the local performers are Julie Bell Petrak of South Salem, N.Y., Siobhan McKinley of Ridgefield and Phil Schaefer of Weston.

Based on a true incident in the 1970s, the play is set in a courtroom in New York’s Bellevue Hospital, with a high-priced call girl charged with killing a violent “john.”

Tickets are $24 for adults and $20 for students and seniors, with cabaret-style seating. Doors open an hour before curtain and the audience is invited to bring food and drink before the performance and at intermission. For reservations, visit ridgefieldtheaterbarn.org or call 203-431-9850.

Giant tag sale

The United Church of Rowayton will have its 21st annual Giant Tag Sale on Saturday, June 2, from 9 to 3, rain or shine at 210 Rowayton Avenue. Goods will be displayed in the Meeting House and two outdoor tents, with some brand-new items of value and everything from artwoork to bicycles to jewelry to gently worn designer clothing and accessories.

Admission to the sale is free, except for early birds: admission at 8:30 will be $10. For more information, call 203-866-1415.

Summer Fun Fest

Fairfield Grace United Methodist Church will have its annual Summer Fun Fest on Saturday, June 2, from 9 to 6 at 1089 Fairfield Woods Road, Fairfield. There will be rides and games for children, vendors (some local organizations), a silent auction, entertainment for all ages, a tag sale and a grill tent serving food all day. There is no admission charge. For more information, call 203-374-6528 or visit fairfieldgrace.org.

Youth Film Festival

The Westport Youth Film Festival will run from 10 to 10 on Saturday, June 2, at Bridgeport’s Bijou Theatre, wher more than 75 films will be screened during the day. The 2012 submissions, more than 200, came from Fairfield County as well as across the country and Canada, England, Denmark and Israel. The historic Bijou Theatre, recently renovated, at 275 Fairfield Avenue in downtown Bridgeport, is near shops and restaurants.

Most films to be screened are appropriate for all ages, but the third film block (12:55-2:35) is for mature audiences. In addition to screenings there will be many other events taking place with a block of the theater including workshops and panel discussions. A “WYFF Pop-Up Shop” will be at 303 Fairfield Avenue and the Bijou Square will host live bands all day. The programming will end after the 8:15 p.m. awards ceremony.

Festival passes are being sold online at $10 for students and $25 for adults (westportartscenter.org); there’s an additional $5 charge at the door. For complete schedule and information, visit the website.

Weston history

The Weston Historical Society plans “A Country Afternoon” on Saturday, June 2, from 1 to 5 on the grounds of the Coley Homestead, 104 Weston Road. There will be a free concert by the Westport Community Band, which will play music by Sousa, Broadway show tunes, patriotic music and popular music from 2 to 3. The audience is invited to bring picnics.

An antique quilt show will be on display in the Barn Museum, Coley House and the Exhibit Hall of the Archive Building ($8 admission). There will also be a Heritage Plant Sale, with old fashioned shrubs and perennials, most from neighborhood gardens.

For more information, call 203-226-1804.

‘Seconds’ sale

The Clay Art Center will have its annual fund-raising Seconds Sale on Saturday, June 2, from 10 to 4. Ceramic artists from the tri-state area have donated their irregular, overstocked or outdated pies to the sle, including bowls, cups, mugs, handmake tiles, serving pieces, teapots, sculpture and more. Family-friendly food and activities will be available throughout the day; summer camp registration may also be done Saturday. 

The sale day coincides with the opening of Takings, an interactive clay and mixed media installation by New York clay artist Gail Heidel. There will be a reception from 3 to 5 p.m.; the exhibit runs through July 6.

The Clay Art Center is at 40 Beech Street in Port Chester, N.Y.; for more information, visit clayartcenter.org or call 914-937-2047.

Dance Across China

Young dancers from Ridgefield’s Tang Yun Dance School will perform folk dances, classical dances of the imperial courts, traditional dances from Tibet and more on Saturday, June 2, at 11 a.m. at the Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge. The performance will benefit the Playhouse’s Arts for Everyone program; tickets are $15 and may be reserved by calling 203-438-5795.

Martial music

The Norwalk Community Chorale will celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with a free concert on Saturday, June 2, at 7:30, at Norwalk Concert Hall, 125 East Avenue. The chorale will perform American Tapestry: Our History in Song; the 11th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Company A, a Civil War re-enactment group, will present the colors.

Admission is free; no tickets are required. For more information, call 203-226-4398 or visit norwalkcommunitychorale.org.

Celtic music

The Teetotallers (fiddler Martin Hayes, flute, whistle and bodhrán player Kevin Crawford, and singer, guitarist, bouzouki and mandola player John Doyle) will perform a concert Saturday, June 2. The 8 p.m. concert, presented by the Shamrock Traditional Music Society, will take place at the Stratford Theater, 2422 Main Street. For ticket availability, visit shamrockirishmusic.org.

Hidden gardens

The Westport Historical Society will have its 21st annual Hidden Garden Tour on Sunday, June 3, from 10 to 4; included on the tour is Adams Academy, a one-room schoolhouse where refreshments will be served. The Garden Marketplace will be open from 9 to 5 on Veteran’s Green, where crafts and garden-related items will be for sale. 

A Toast the Tour after-party is also planned at an antique post-and-beam barn from 4:30 to 7:30. Tickets are $45 in advance, $50 on tour day; the after-party is also $50. For reservations, call 203-222-1424 or visit westporthistory.org. Tickets will be held at the Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place.

4-H Horse Show

The 2012 4-H Spring Benefit Horse Show will take place Sunday, June 3, at the UConn Cooperative Extension System grounds, 67 Stony Hill Road, Bethel. It’s an open schooling show with all classes at $12. Refreshments will be available on the grounds and there will be a vendor fair and silent auction. For more information, visit fairfieldcounty4h.org or call 203-207-8440.

Ice Cream Social

The New Canaan Historical Society will have its 23rd annual Ice Cream Social on Sunday, June 3, from 1 to 4 on the grounds at 13 Oenoke Ridge. All the historic museums will be open and there will be antique and classic cars on the great lawn. Special demonstrations and games and crafts for children will be part of the afternoon, which features Baskin Robbins ice cream served with homemade cakes.

The off-campus Little Red Schoolhouse on Carter Street will be open from 1:30 to 3:30, with docents who attended it on hand to talk about their experiences.

For more information, visit nchistory.org or call 203-966-1776.

Silvermine music

The Silvermine Artists Series will present Musical Taste II featuring pianists Tina Chong and Alex Peh on Sunday, June 3, at 4 at the Silvermine School of Music, 36 Comstock Hill Avenue, Norwalk. The program, created by director Karen Shaw, combines the music, language and culinary treats of a country. Sunday’s will highlight French and American composers, with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as the finale. Other works include selections by Debussy, Ravel and Barber. Seating is limited; for information, call 203-847-8106.

And coming up...

Fairfield University’s summer Learning for a Lifetime program will take place June 4-8, with participants taking three courses taught by university faculty. This year’s topics are “The Art of the Short Story,” “The History of American Song,” and “Philosophy and biology of Evolutionary Theory.” For more information, visit fairfield.edu/lifelonglearning or call 203-254-4110.

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From Duels to Data is the topic of a talk that Dr. Brendan Foley of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will deliver to the New Canaan Historical Society on Monday, June 4, at 8. He’ll talk about the years before and after the Civil War when the U.S. Navy created modern engineering. The meeting is open to all; the historical society is at 13 Oenoke Ridge and more information is available at nchistory.org.

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, was added to the Aldrich sculpture garden recently.) Following a tour of his work, guests will have an opportunity to hear the artist’s work durig lunch. For more information, call Tracy Moore at 203-438-4519, x27, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Grandiflora, Glamour in the Garden, the 2012 Greenwich Garden tour presented by the Garden Education Center of Greenwich, will take place June 7 from 10 4, rain or shine; a patron cocktail party is planned on Wednesday, June 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 at a Phillip Watson private garden. For more information and tickets, visit gecgreenwich.org or call 203-869-9242.

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Garden Rooms by Design, a designer showcase at the Bartlett homestead on the grounds of the Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens in Stamford, will open with a reception on thursday, June 7, from 5:30 to 8:30. The showhouse will be open daily, 10 to 4, June 8-15. For more information on the showcase and the arboretum’s Garden Tour on June 10-11, visit bartlettarboretum.org or call 203-322-6971.

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Fellow members of the Explorers Club Jim Fowler (Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom) and Daryl Hawk (international documentary photographer) will appear at the Wilton Library on Thursday, June 7, at 7. Mr. Hawk, a Wilton resident, will interview Mr. Fowler about his adventures and his efforts to protect wildlife habitat. The library is at 137 Old Ridgefield Road; to register for the program, call 203-762-3950 or visit wiltonlibrary.org.