Connecticut Arts Connections

A Ghost of a Christmas Carol. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Hartford Stage will host the annual Community Night benefit performance of A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas at 7:30 pm Wednesday, Dec, 4. The performance will be attended by 500 children from 24 local organizations including Local organizations attending Hartford Stage’s Community Night include the Boys and Girls Club of Hartford, Bristol Boys and Girls Club, Chrysalis Center, Dwight/Bellizzi Asian Studies Academy, Farmington Valley Transitional Academy, Footlights Center for the Performing Arts, Friendship Service Center of New Britain, Grace Academy, Global Communications Academy, Guilford Youth and Family Services, Handz-On, Hartford Camp Courant, Hispanic Health Council, Kinsella Magnet School, Lincoln Middle School, Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp., National Conference for Community and Justice, Nutmeg Big Brothers and Big Sisters, O.P.M.A.D., SAND Elementary, School Age Care, South Park Inn and Homeless Shelter, True Colors Inc. and YWCA Strive.

Casting is announced for the heart-felt, romantic comedy “Crossing Delancey,” a Script in Hand playreading at Westport Country Playhouse, on Monday, December 9, 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. The play is written by Susan Sandler and directed by Anne Keefe. Actors in the comedic story are Ari Brand (Westport Country Playhouse’s “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Broadway’s “The Neil Simon Plays,” Off-Broadway’s “My Name Is Asher Lev”) as Sam; Kieran Campion (Westport Country Playhouse’s “Journey’s End,” “David Copperfield,” and several Script in Hand playreadings, Broadway’s “Our Town,” “The American Plan”) as Tyler; Lynn Cohen (Broadway’s “Ivanov,” “Orpheus Descending”; films “Catching Fire: The Hunger Games 2,” Steven Spielberg’s “Munich,” “Sex and the City” - TV and both movies) as Bubbie; Dana Steingold (Westport Country Playhouse’s “Into the Woods” as Little Red Ridinghood, and two Script in Hand playreadings, Broadway/National Tours of “The25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as Isabel; Cheryl Stern (Westport Country Playhouse’s “ Into the Woods,” Script in Hand playreading of “Beau Jest,” Broadway’s 2010 Tony Award-winning “La Cage aux Folles”) as Hannah; and Ronald Cohen (New York’s “Artist Descending a Staircase,” “Henry IV Part One,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Twelfth Night”)reading stage directions.

The Hartford Gay Men’s Chorus will open its second season with Join Hands and Celebrate! - a joyful mix of choral and contemporary holiday music, including a world premiere composition for “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Composer Evan Lurie and the revival of a 1930’s cantata, “The Music of Bethlehem.”Also featuring the Chorus’ new seven member a cappella group, On That Note!, the concerts will be at 8 on Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Unitarian Society of Hartford Church at 50 Bloomfield Ave. Tickets are $23 and can be purchased at www.hartfordstage.org or by calling 860-527-5151.

Madeline and The Bad Hat
Date: Sunday, Dec. 8
Time: 1 pm
Price: $16 Adults/$10 Children
Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook.
877-503-1286; www.thekate.org
ArtsPower's original musical, based upon the much-loved book, captures the blithe yet touching spirit of Ludwig Bemelmans's Madeline series. It traces the adventures of a young Parisian girl who, despite starting off on the wrong foot with a mischievous new neighbor , eventually learns that first impressions aren't everything.

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony will be performed Thursday, Dec. 5 at 8 pm in Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts University of Connecticut. The UConn Symphony Orchestra and a combined choir 180 singers strong will join forces with professional soloists. Tickets are available at www.jorgensen.uconn.edu or by calling 860-486-4226.General Admission tickets are $10, free for students and children.
 

Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts has received an unsolicited national grant award of $400,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.