Obituary -- Clara Takacs Gyorgyey

Clara Takacs Gyorgyey, 75, a member of the Connecticut Critic Circle, died suddenly Monday at Gaylord Hospital, Wallingford. She was a writer, critic, translator and teacher and was a contributor to the selection for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Born in Budapest, Hungary on May 23, 1933, she was the daughter of the late Laszlo and Sarolta Takacs. She lived in Orange with her husband of 50 years, Ferenc (Frank) Gyorgyey, but maintained an apartment in Budapest. She attended (Budapest University) ELTE, and Yale University where she majored in English and History of Drama 1957-59.

In 1956, she participated in the Hungarian Revolution, and then escaped to the West. She was a master teacher at Yale’s MAT program from 1959 to 1989 while teaching English at Hillhouse High School and later at North Haven High School. From 1990 on, she was Associate Director for the Medical Humanities at Yale; a contributor to “Critique” Magazine, “World Literature Today” and numerous other publications, both in English and Hungarian. She has served as president of the Exiled PEN American Branch since 1976.

Her literary works include the translation of “Catsplay”, and numerous other Hungarian plays. She authored “With Arrogant Humility”, “Ferenc Molnar” and “Szerelmetes Szurkapiszka”. Besides her husband, she is survived by two daughters, Katalin and Mari.

Friends are invited to attend a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial in Holy Infant Church, 460 Racebrook Road, Orange Monday, Jan. 18th at 10 am. She will be buried in Budapest. The reception at Yale will be held at a later date

Choose Your Own Program at HSO Valentine's Day Concerts

Edward Cumming Leads Romantic Concerts

Featuring Sibelius, Mozart & Vaughan Williams

Led by Music Director Edward Cumming, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will give audiences the opportunity to experience one of two different Mozart concerti at its Valentine Concerts on Thursday, Feb. 11, Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13 at 8 pm and Sunday, Feb. 14 at 3 pm in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell.

Joined by pianist Andrius Zlabys, the HSO will perform Mozart’s 24th Piano Concerto on Thursday and Saturday and Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto on Friday and Sunday, allowing the public to pick the program they want to hear based on which day they attend.

Acting as bookends to the Mozart concerti will be two moving symphonies, each composed by one of the great masters of orchestral composition. Opening the romantic line-up will be Jean Sibelius’ unique Seventh Symphony in one movement. No need to worry about clapping in the wrong place; Sibelius breaks the protocol of a multi-movement symphony in this flowing piece of European Romanticism. The program will end with a grand performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ inspiring Fifth Symphony. Based on the classic English allegory of The Pilgrim’s Progress, this uplifting work was premiered in the midst of World War II. Its heartwarming melodies still speak to the hearts of modern audiences.

These concerts will feature Lithuanian pianist Andrius Zlabys in performances of one of two Mozart concerti, depending on the day.

"The audience will be in the unique position of choosing one of two different piano concertos to hear -- a spirited, early work that is Mozart's first great work in the genre, or a late work, with a tinge of darkness that pervades throughout. Of course, one could also come different nights, and hear both!" Cumming said.
Born and raised in Vilnius, Lithuania, Andrius Zlabys made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2001. A prizewinner at the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition, he performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Zlabys was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award and in 2000 was a winner of Astral National Auditions in Philadelphia.

Most recently Zlabys made his debut with Rotterdam Philharmonic, performed a debut recital at Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC, and played an evening of premieres in Philadelphia consisting of chamber music written by Philadelphia composers Yevgeniy Sharlat and Luis Prado, and dedicated to Zlabys.
Ticket Prices are $32.50 - $72.50; $12.50 with a student ID. Tickets are available in person Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm at Hartford Symphony Orchestra Ticket Services, 99 Pratt St., Suite 500 in Hartford, by calling (860) 244-2999, or online at www.hartfordsymphony.org.

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra participates in the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s Let*s GO Arts! program that offers 2-for-1 tickets to arts and entertainment events, and discounts at restaurants and clubs. Let*s GO Arts! members can receive 2-for-1 full price tickets to HSO Masterworks and POPS! concerts.

These concerts are presented in part by the Alexander Campbell McNally Memorial Fund. The Masterworks Series is presented by MetLife Foundation with additional support from The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, and additional concert support from the Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Inc. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra receives major support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Sponsors listed as of December 23, 2009.

Marking its 66th season in 2009-2010, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra is Connecticut’s premier musical organization. The Hartford Symphony is the second largest orchestra in New England and is widely recognized as one of America’s leading regional orchestras. Dedicated to the performance of live symphonic music and the presentation of quality education and community programs, each season the Hartford Symphony plays to audiences numbering approximately 125,000 and reaches thousands statewide through its broadcast concerts on WNPR Connecticut Public Radio. Supported by more than 4,500 subscribers and 2,000 donors, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s extensive array of Musical Pathways educational activities serves more than 64,000 individuals in Hartford and surrounding communities annually. For more information about the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, please visit www.HartfordSymphony.Org.

EDITORS: To request an interview, photos, or press access to these events, please contact Katie Bonner at (860) 246-8742 ext. 317 or at kbonner@hartfordsymphony.org. Please update calendar listings to reflect performance schedule and admission information above.

IMAGES attached the HSO with Music Director Edward Cumming (credit: Steve Laschever); pianist Andrius Zlabys.

'House That Mark Built' Exhibit to Open at Mark Twain House

“The House That Mark Built,” The Mark Twain House & Museum’s new exhibition opening to the public Jan. 20 at 9:30 am, offers a look at Mark Twain’s home’s bricks, mortars and gadgetry – and even provides a place for kids to try their hand at some building of their own.

The exhibition helps launch the museum’s Mark Twain Centennial Celebration, which includes more than two dozen events, lectures, exhibits, and general festivities marking a year of anniversaries: the 125th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the centenary of Mark Twain’s death; and the 175th anniversary of his birth.

“The House That Mark Built” was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter, an architect known mainly for his churches. The exhibition provides an overview of Potter’s career as an architect, and shows that while the Clemenses' house did fit into the conventional architecture of the day, the “curious house that Mark built” was not altogether an oddity.

Newspaper and magazine articles from the 1870s and 1880s on display show varied reactions to this newest Nook Farm home. The Hartford Daily Times wrote: "The novelty displayed in the architecture of the building, the oddity of its internal arrangement and the fame of its owner will all conspire to make it a house of note for a long time to come." Letters written by some of the Clemenses’ friends and family also show diverse reactions to the home.

Visitors will get a chance to see some of the original building materials used by the builders, including the elaborate exterior wood carvings, slate from the roof, and samples of the brick.

The exhibition, open through March 22, will also explore technological innovations. Samuel L. Clemens had a passion for modern technology, and the house’s systems reflected this. Central heating, telephones, a burglar alarm, the latest bathroom technology, and the systems for calling servants to the various rooms of the house are examples of this. Many of these gadgets also found their way into Clemens’s writings, samples of which will be on display.

The Mark Twain House & Museum is also interested in modern technologies, but in this case in using them to restore and preserve the house that Mark built. New HVAC systems, ultra-violet protectant films, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and other products aid in the preservation of this historic house. The exhibit will highlight some of these new technologies, and how they help to safeguard the house for future generations of visitors.

There will also be a space to engage children. Using the seven-foot-long LEGO® Mark Twain House on display in the gallery as inspiration, children will be able to build their own structure out of Duplo blocks. They will also learn about architectural terms and shapes using word searches, coloring pages, magnetic building sets, and more. Finally, children and adults alike will enjoy taking part in an architectural scavenger hunt using the historic Mark Twain House & Carriage House.

The exhibition is included in museum admission, and viewable during regular opening hours.
The Exhibition Sponsor for “The House That Mark Built” is United Technologies Corporation. The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation is the sponsor of the museum’s 2010 Exhibitions. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., is the museum’s Centennial Sponsor.

The Mark Twain House & Museum has restored the author’s Hartford, Connecticut, home, where the author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote his most important works during the years that he lived there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

In addition to providing tours of Twain’s restored home, a National Historic Landmark, the institution offers activities and educational programs that illuminate Twain’s literary legacy and provide information about his life and times. The house and museum at 351 Farmington Ave. are open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 am.-5:30 pm, and Sunday, noon to 5:30 pm. For more information, call 860-247-0998 or visit www.MarkTwainHouse.org. Programs at the Mark Twain House & Museum are supported by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Mark Twain Unlearns Racism at St. Joseph's

Actor Cal Pritner will perform his original one-person, one-act play, Mark Twain: Unlearning Racism, at St. Joseph College’s Hofmann Auditorium in West Hartford on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 pm.

Pritner embodies the spirit and struggles of Mark Twain in the play. Taking on a tough subject, even for 21st century audiences, Pritner delves into Twain's racial attitudes and how they changed over the course of his life.

“Sam Clemens, our Mark Twain, was born in 1835 into a slave-owning family, and by today’s standards he was a racist until well into adulthood,” Pritner says. “But he married into an abolitionist family and made huge changes in his racial attitudes. Unfortunately, as St. Joseph College Professor Kerry Driscoll’s research demonstrates, he remained prejudiced against American Indians.”

The event has been organized by Dr. Driscoll, a nationally regarded Mark Twain scholar who has long been associated with The Mark Twain House & Museum. Chair of St. Joseph College’s English Department, she frequently leads teacher workshops and serves as an advisor for events and exhibitions at the museum. Her work on Twain’s attitudes toward Native Americans has received frequent praise in scholarly gatherings and in the media.

Pritner was the founding artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and chaired the department that produced the founders of Chicago’s Tony Award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He is known for his one-person shows on the controversial defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, and the Protestant Reformation religious leader, Martin Luther. He had a recurring role as a prosecuting attorney on "Chicago Story," was a detective on HBO’s "The Speck Murders" and most recently appeared on film as the governor of Missouri in Robert Altman’s Kansas City.

Though admission is free, seating is limited and audience members must be ticket holders. For tickets, please call the St. Joseph College box office at 860-231-5555.

Interactive CSI Investigates at the Palace

The world’s number one television franchise hits the stage when Mad Science presents CSI: LIVE! comes to the Palace Theater in Waterbury for two performances on Jan. 28, at 9:30 and 11:30 am.

Part of the Palace’s ShopRite Education Series, CSI: LIVE! is an interactive stage show that takes audiences on a journey through the fascinating world of crime scene investigations. When a crime is committed at the Las Vegas premiere of the Max Spade Magic Show, the CSI team springs into action. Sydney Mathis and David Hart play the roles of CSI investigators on the case, assisted by supervisor Gil Grissom through a live video connection from the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

Audience members will jump on stage and become part of the action, becoming witnesses, suspects and CSI recruits. Together they will use their superior logic and forensic know-how to uncover hidden details, investigate the evidence and test their theories. Whether it’s analyzing mysterious gasses, launching projectiles into a target, or firing a laser beam across the stage, the CSI recruits will have to be on their toes to help solve the crime before it’s too late.

Recommended for grades 4-8, CSI: LIVE! highlights curricular integrations in the subjects of physical science, technology, life science and science history.

Tickets for CSI: LIVE! are $10 each, $8 for groups of 10 or more, and on sale now at the Palace Theater Box Office, 100 E. Main St. in Waterbury. Administrators and teachers interested in booking a field trip can call the Group Sales Hotline at 203-346-2002. Individual tickets can be purchased by phone at 203-346-2000, or online at palacetheaterct.org.

Hairspray Tickets Get Cut

Tickets for tonight's 7:30 performance of Hairspray at the Palace Theater in Waterbury are half price.

The special deal started at 10 am this morning (does not apply to previously purchased tickets).

Call the box office at 203-346-2000.

Feature: In the Heights at the Bushnell

Elise Santora, left, and Arielle Jacobs

Washington Heights Meets Hartford
By Lauren Yarger
Washington Heights and some rhythms and beats not typical for a Broadway musical come to Hartford tonight as the tour of the Tony-award-winning musical In the Heights takes the stage at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, not far from where Lin-Manual Miranda conceived the work when he was a sophomore at Wesleyan University.

The story is familiar: the hopes and dreams of members of a community amidst their struggles to fit in and find a place to call home, but this story is set to the salsa, merengue and hip-hop sounds that flow in the Latino upper Manhattan neighborhood where Miranda grew up. His score and the book by Quiara Alegría Hudes give the members of the first major Latino Broadway tour a sense of pride and belonging, said Elise Santora, who plays Abuela Claudia, the character who is the heart of the show.

“We’re all grateful to be in it,” she said.

Santora joined the tour directly from the Broadway company where she played Abuela and Daniela. (The show continues to play on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.)
Santora has enjoyed making Abuela “her own” in the tour, which has been playing to standing ovations and enthusiastic responses, especially from younger audience members.

Younger kids are telling her they were “dragged” to the show, Santora said, but ended up thinking it is “cool.” Even those who might be surprised by the different style of music soon find themselves engrossed because the music is so intertwined with the story, which is universal, she said.

Santora and other Spanish speaking members of the cast have been part of special marketing campaigns along the tour route to reach out to Latinos. Here in Hartford, in an effort to help promote and spread the word about the show to the Latino community, the Bushnell has been working with Mega Education (a media-based scholastic incentive system designed to reward student efforts and achievement), Identidad Latina, La Voz Hispana, Telemundo and Univision, according to Amanda Savio Guay, communications manager.

The show also has some other Connecticut roots besides its inception at Wesleyan. In 2005, it was presented at the National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in Waterford, two years before an Off-Broadway incarnation that ran for 200 performances.

After its move to Broadway in 2008, the show won four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures has announced plans to adapt In The Heights as a feature film. Miranda and Meryl Poster, who executive produced the film Chicago, will produce. Hudes will pen the screenplay.

In The Heights, directed by Thomas Kail, plays at The Bushnell Jan. 5-10. The show features Tony-nominated scenic design (Anna Louizos), costumes (Paul Tazewell), lighting (Howell Binkley), and sound (Acme Sound Partners). For a preview clip, visit http://www.bushnell.org/.

Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets are $15-$72 and are on sale now by visiting http://www.bushnell.org/, calling (860) 987-5900, or at The Bushnell Box Office at 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Tickets for groups of 20 or more are available by calling (860) 987-5959.

Goodspeed Holds Auditions for Local Actors

Goodspeed Musicals is holding local Equity auditions for its 2010 season, on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, Jan. 31, from noon to 5 pm in East Haddam, CT.

Goodspeed is seeking adult male and female actors for all productions. In addition, girls ages 10-14 and boys ages 8-10 are needed for Annie Get Your Gun. Non-union performers will be seen as appointments permit.

All auditions are by appointment only. Appointments may be made starting Jan. 11. Please call Company Management at (860) 873-8664, ext. 387, Monday through Friday, 10am to 5 pm.

Candidates must be available for four weeks of rehearsal and a 4 to 14-week performance run. Interested performers should bring a resume, photo and sheet music and be prepared to sing two short numbers: an up-tempo song and a ballad. Music must be legible and in the proper key (No lead sheets please). An accompanist will be provided. Performers of all ethnicities are strongly encouraged to audition.

Next Stage Program Auditions for Happy Prince

Long Wharf Theatre invites local Non-Equity actors ages 18 to 35 to audition for a devised adaptation of The Happy Prince, by Oscar Wilde, to be produced by the Next Stage Program, a program for early career theatre professionals, and directed by the theater's Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting.

Auditions will be held today from 3 to 5pm and from 6 to 8 pm. Auditions will be grouped into 30-minute slots. Prepared monologues are not necessary; auditioners should come prepared for a brief physical theatre workshop. Please bring a calendar of conflicts that may interfere with the rehearsal period. There is no compensation for these roles.

Each actor will play multiple roles and should be able to portray a range of ages and character types. Because this piece will be created collaboratively in the rehearsal room, actors should be comfortable working without a set script and experimenting with such techniques as guided improvisation, physical theatre, and puppetry to tell the story. Physical theatre/clowning experience and/or musical ability are a plus, but not necessary.

The Happy Prince is one of Oscar Wilde’s best-loved fairy tales. It tells the story of a selfless statue and the swallow who helps him ease the sufferings of others. Both the statue and the swallow give of themselves to improve the lives of the poor in this tale about charity, self-sacrifice, and hope, told with Wilde’s trademark grace and wit.

Callbacks will occur but have not yet been scheduled. Rehearsals will take place during late February through the month of March, with four total performances on Wednesday, March 31, and Saturday, April 3; performance times will be announced.

All actors should bring a current resume and headshot. While walk-ins will be accommodated, appointments are strongly recommended and may be made by contacting Jamie Steffen at 203-787-4284 (x300) or jamie.steffen@longwharf.org. If you are not available for the dates above, please contact Jamie Steffen to inquire about alternative arrangements.

Alzheimer's is Focus of Long Wharf Forum

Alzheimer’s Disease and its possible treatments will be the focus of a Global Health & the Arts forum at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven Friday, Jan. 29.

This second annual event will feature a series of panel discussions on Alzheimer’s disease research, culminating in a performance of Lil’s 90th, a poignant and funny late-life love story that intertwines issues related to aging within its narrative.

The forum will begin at 1:30 pm with registration and a coffee bar. At 2 pm guests will be invited to the Mainstage for a program of speakers and panel discussions. From 5:30 to 7 pm dinner and dessert will be served. The performance, on stage II, will begin at 7.

Lil's 90th is set around the milestone birthday of Lil as she and her family put the finishing touches on the much-anticipated party at which she’ll make her singing debut. There’s a speech to be written, a band to rehearse and, of course, an outfit to choose, but when Lil’s husband Charlie’s secret gets out, the birthday surprise that he hoped would make her day may instead tear their lives apart.

David Scheer, president of Scheer & Company, Inc., and a vice-chair of Long Wharf Theatre’s Board of Trustees is organizing the event in conjunction with Dr. Stephen Strittmatter, neurology professor at Yale University.

After the performance there will be an audience talkback moderated by Michael Fuchs, one of the producers of the AIDS documentary “And The Band Played On…” and the former Chairman of HBO. “The human impacts of this disease are devastating, thus, communicating the human issue in an artistic venue can help people understand the gravity of the problem and inspire people to tackle solutions for therapy,” Scheer said. AIDS was last year's forum topic.

Tickets to the event are $150 and include the conference, dinner and the performance. For more information call Eileen Wiseman, director of development, at 772-8237 or visit www.longwharf.org.