New Haven magazine January 2011 by Second Wind Media Ltd

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

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When we were starting out, people didn’t think about money. Some of them did, but they became accountants or bankers. I didn’t go into acting to make money. I didn’t really think about it. Katz: When did you start your acting career? That’s a very good question. I think I made the decision after my freshman year in college. I was such a wayward disappointment to myself and I think to others. I didn’t have good study habits and it wasn’t a banner year for me. But what happened, in my feelings of being lost, I thought ‘I’m going to take an acting class when I go back’ [to school]. I didn’t

‘When you’re doing a job and you do a bad take, if you’re like me you’re suicidal — but you try not to act upon it.’ understand you could actually go to see a therapist, that this was a form of selfanalysis. So acting was your self-medication? I’ve never been good with drugs — I don’t do them — so I needed something.

The acting class was so nice; it wasn’t a competitive thing. It wasn’t 400 people in a lecture hall. A few of us would do little exercises at night. But you chose pre-med — you were ‘in type’ because that’s the sort of roles you get offered now. Yes, I ﬁnally fulﬁlled it; I get to play these guys. Plenty of people know what they want to do, [but] I never knew what I wanted to do. I remember watching Chad Everett on [the TV show] Medical Center [laughs]. I said, ‘I’m like him — I’ll be a doctor.’ You’ve played a doctor. Exactly. I think if I had tried to be an actor…But I did study [acting] a lot and I took it very seriously. I have some natural talents. I have a good ear. I did musicals. Do you remember your first audition? Were you very nervous? I’m always really nervous. For me the stakes are always life and death [laughs]. First thing I did in college, I got to play Snoopy in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Luckily I didn’t have to audition for that. It was a big success and it was really fun. Do you do any musicals, Sophia? Katz: I’ve only done a couple. They’re the way to go. What you mean only a couple? What have you done? Katz: The Wizard of Oz. I was in second grade and I was a lollipop. So how did you feel about it? Katz: I really liked it.

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“First thing I did in college, I got to play Snoopy in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.”

When I was in ﬁrst grade, we did Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. I was a tree. My mother had to make me a burlap sack. It itched. It was such a disappointment; I wanted to play Hansel. [Instead] Tommy Vanderbeek played Hansel. It devastated me [laughs]. That was it. It’s a tough biz, Stay out of show biz. Katz: Well, in acting you get a lot roles that are minor and you have to get used to it. You are so mature.

January / February 2011

Katz: How do you deal with not having the main role? There’s a famous phrase: ‘There are no small roles; only small actors.’ I don’t necessarily agree with that. I like the big role. You’ve been in so many plays, movies, television shows — you could be a wild card in anybody’s ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ game. I love Kevin Bacon. I’ve been very fortunate and have gotten to work with a lot of wonderful artists in television, ﬁlms and the theater. The theater is a beautiful place of connection. You feel the love of the audience. You really connect with the audience authentically. Katz: Which do you like better: theater or film? I’m very grateful I’ve been in all. I love being onstage — but [even more love] being in ﬁlms with some of the actors I‘ve gotten to work with, some of the greatest of our time. What made you decide to stay in New Haven? I came to drama school in 1987 and my daughter was born in ’89. She had some health issues. As soon as I got out of

Yale [my career] blossomed in a whole new direction. I was cast in Regarding Henry [released in 1991, directed by Mike Nichols), a good supporting, co-starring role. My wife is an attorney and she had work here. I thought if I had to be away in New York or L.A., if anything came up [with my daughter], New Haven was wonderful and small. I like it here for lots of reasons. It’s simple and I can commute into New York. Location is a problem when I’m filming in New York — when I was doing Law & Order, and now I’m in a show Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck, I play the mayor of New York. A lot of time when you film you have an early call. Getting into [New York] if you have a six o’clock call is difficult, so I have to stay overnight. If you were the real mayor of New York, what would you differently? I have my politics, but this isn’t a venue for it. I think Bloomberg is doing a really good job. Are you a Yankees or a Mets fan? So you really want to get me in trouble. I like the Yanks, although my dad was a Mets fan.

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You’ve worked with a lot of top Hollywood talent. How would you characterize actors at that level? A lot of great and famous people are just good people. They show up on time, they work really hard. The reason that they’ve lasted so long is that they show up on time and work really hard. I like L.A. It’s a great place to live, especially when you have a job. We lived there for a year when I did a series. My wife and daughter were there; it was fun. It’s a privilege to be an actor. The work itself is very rewarding. Is acting a joy for you, too? I’ve been very blessed, but there’s an enormous amount of unknown. It’s a lot like life. You don’t know when you’re going to have another job. When you’re doing a job and you do a bad take, if you’re like me you’re suicidal — but you try not to act upon it. It’s very intense. I like the intensity of it. It’s rewarding in many ways, but ‘joy’ isn’t the word I would use most of the time. I like the idea of really connecting with other people: ‘living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.’ Sometimes living truthfully under real circumstances is hard. In the imaginary world under the auspices of that character not only allows you to be authentic; it

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The greatest feeling in the world is if you were devastated, you want to be affected by these things. Sometimes the ‘mask’ of the character will free you to feel more than you might be able to otherwise. [To Katz]: Have you done any mask work? Katz: Yes. With the half-mask, you look in the mirror and all of a sudden another voice comes out of your mouth. It most roles you kind of look like you do here. Have they colored your hair or created a real mask, so to speak, in any character?

Sophia Katz: ECA Student helping out with One to One questions

demands it. I like the puzzle of solving the character. Are there times when acting that you are called upon to express emotions that you don’t really want to feel, but as an actor you have to create it. How do you do handle those emotions?

In the movie Recount, a 2008 HBO movie about the 2000 presidential election, I played [Al Gore lawyer] Mitchell Berger. I had to look like he did because I was playing a historical ﬁgure. No, there isn’t that much creativity and they have to imagine you differently. It’s like, ‘Get me the guy with the brown hair,’ unless they really want you. You seem perfect for commercials — you project authority. I’ve done a lot, but not recently. Commercials are the patron of the arts, particularly on the East Coast where there is less ﬁlm and television roles. [Actors]

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pay their SAG [Screen Actors Guild] dues with commercials. Katz: Have you ever done a commercial for a product you didn’t believe in? How did that make you feel? I have never done one of those. I did a Volkswagen commercial. I did a very famous MasterCard commercial. I said [to myself], ‘You’re a dad, it’s your job’ [to make money]. One for VISA — it was a deserted island and it said, ‘Don’t bring your American Express card; they only take VISA. I did one of those. Does your job get in the way of being a dad? I’m terrible at taking vacations. My wife and daughter have taken vacations without me. It’s very hard for me to make plans. I’m something of a workaholic. In researching your roles on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), there are more than 50 film and television selections. That’s a lot to get organized. I have a commercial agent, and a legitimate agent. Sometimes casting people will offer me work, but that doesn’t go directly to me.

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One role we saw was in a short 14-minute film. Were you concerned to do that kind of indy short? Happy Face, where I get my throat slashed. It was a good young director, Franklin Laviola, very nice guy, it was shot that on Long Island. There are certain things I don’t want to do for whatever reason, but I thought the writing was good. They did a terrific job, they had a good DP [director of photography] on it. I did a wonderful movie called Lie [2001, directed by Michael Cuesta]. It really was rough. Brian Cox plays a pedophile in it. I played Paul Dano’s father, it was his first movie I think. I didn’t know the director at the time, for that I was worried, I thought the writing was incredible and but when I heard Brian Cox was attached, it made it easier for me to be involved. Do you have an issue acting in films with third-rail subject matter like pedophilia, just like a lawyer might have reservations about defending someone accused of a particularly heinous crime? You’re talking about fiction. More significant to me is, ‘Is it good writing?’ Strong writing, I don’t take a stance on that. In Running Scared [2006, directed by Wayne Kramer] I played a pedophile

— a grotesque character, a nightmarish, horrible, horrible pedophile. I try to ﬁnd what I can like about the character or what I empathize with, and see what’s vulnerable about it. I feel that’s what the camera sees. If you’re alive the camera really likes you, if you’re uptight or you’re not really in the moment, the camera can take a picture of you and you’re not even there. I learned ﬁlm acting at Yale, even though they taught me stage acting. One of the things I learned [from Gister], he taught about ‘playing in action.’ I shouldn’t focus on myself but the other person. In some ways I did the opposite, I got to the point of understanding the ‘other person’ initially was my character.

with a lot of great actors, but Meryl Streep [with whom Altman worked in 2009’s It’s Complicated] thinks it and it happens, every take. She’s just there, its unbelievable. She’s like Zen and the Art of Archery, the Zen master who keeps hitting the bullseye. [You ask yourself], ‘How do they do it?’ I get occasional bullseyes, but I also sometimes miss the whole barn. You just hope you don’t miss it so often that you don’t get cast again. Do you have to live with a lot of disappointment?

My ﬁrst thing was ask him what does he want — like a dead soul that needs to come to life.

Yes, but I do believe in the goodness of the business. I think it is a great business. Not to use the cliché, but the cream rises to the top. The most cynical people, you talk about the Hollywood elite. But deep down they really love art — they’re knocked out by real art.

Is there a role that is calling to you now?

Katz: What do you want?

There are roles that I want to play and hope I get a shot at. Occasionally, like in the [2003] movie Matchstick Men, I played Nicholas Cage’s psychiatrist with Ridley Scott, a great director. It was a great role, working with a great actor — it’s a dream. But then you have to show up, and when the camera’s rolling you got to be there. It’s very stressful. I’ve worked

What do I want? Peace and goodwill. Outside of that, I struggle with that. A really good role? Being me is a really good role. Katz: The best yet? So far. And I’m just starting to learn about it.

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In real life, romance sometimes happens by accident

By Melissa Nicefaro

or some, this time of year brings a new life to a marriage or other romantic relationship. New Year’s resolutions have us vowing to spend more time with the ones we love. And who can ignore all the mushy sentiments of Valentine’s Day? But for others, every day is Valentine’s Day — bliss is a year-round thing. Richard and Debby Paz of Bethany have an old-fashioned high-school sweetheart tale. They met over some work on a car in 1976. Rick says it was love at ﬁrst sight. Really.

“Debby’s cousin and I had just finished working on a car, fixing it up, and her cousin wanted to run it over to his uncle’s house to show him,” Rick Paz recounts. “While we were there, Debby came down to look in the garage. I saw her peek in the window and I was smitten immediately.” “I had my hair in a towel, so I ran away, back upstairs,” is how Debby Paz remembers it. “I watched him leave from upstairs and he turned around and peeked up the stairs.” Rick got Debby’s phone number and since it was 1976 and she was just a young teenager, she had to ask her father’s permission to go out with him. Her father said it was fine as long as it was a double date. That double-date has turned into a 33-yearmarriage with nine children ranging in age from 17 to 32. “Our children are everything to us,” Debby says. But it hasn’t gotten in the way of their marriage. They may not have had a 14

January / February 2011

Working on a project at their church brought Charles Knight and Anne-Marie Brungard together. For Charles, it was love at first sight.

lot of alone time together, but it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality that has kept their marriage strong. Rick leaves Debby a note every morning before he leaves for work. “Even if we’ve had an argument, there’s a note that I wake up to every morning,” she says. “I want her to know I love her,” explains Rick. “I want her to know every day how I feel about her.” He writes about special times they’ve share and special times they’re looking forward to. Over the span of three years, their children will have given them two grandchildren (they have two teenage grandchildren, too) and four marriages. Mutual respect is at the root of their relationship and they’re admittedly proud to see they’ve passed it on to their children.

Heartbroken and confronted with learning how to live alone, Lorrie hoped her heart would tell her when it was time to move on.

Even though it hadn’t been very long since Don had passed away, Lorrie knew it might take her years to ﬁnd someone compatible enough to date. She wasn’t looking for marriage, she recalls, just some companionship.

“I’ve seen every one of our boys open the car door for their girlfriend or their wife, which I think is wonderful,” Debby says. “They’ve emulated their father. “People tell us what a nice story we have and how nice we are with each other,” she adds. “It’s just us and we don’t think too much of it. I adore him. He’s a gentleman in every way and I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“I made the decision to go on eHarmony and I thought it would take me years to meet somebody. Death is a horrible thing and I miss Don every day, but we have to go on with life. If we don’t, we miss everything that’s here waiting for us.”

“It is about respect,” Rick explains. “She respects me, who I am, and I respect her. Whenever something happens, whether it’s something I created, she created or just happened to us, I never feel an accusation. We look at how we’re going to get through it. We talk things through and get through it together.

Waiting for Lorrie was Andy Robbins. They met on eHarmony had quite a few conversations via e-mail before they even talked on the telephone for the ﬁrst time. They talked on the phone at least four times, getting to know each other, before their ﬁrst meeting at Rainbow Gardens in Milford. What Lorrie didn’t tell Andy was that she works at Rainbow Gardens and she was in her comfort zone.

When Lorrie Malone lost her husband to congestive heart failure almost six years ago, she didn’t see another marriage in her future. She was 21 when she met and fell in love with Don and they wed when she was 24. She’d been with Don for over 20 years when he died, and she and their pre-teen daughter Meghan didn’t know how they would confront life without him.

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It did. “I was with Don for so long, I hadn’t had a date in a very long time. I didn’t know how to do this,” Lorrie explains. About eight months after her husband passed away, she thought she’d take a shot at eHarmony, just to see what the world of dating might hold in store for her.

“I thought that life is for the living and [Don] would want me to go on,” Malone explains. “I had to push forward. If I didn’t, I would’ve gotten lost in that grief and sorrow and I didn’t want that for Meghan or myself.

“One of the reasons our relationship works so well is that Debby is one of the least selﬁsh people I’ve met. It’s the way her mother is, and her grandmother and probably her great grandmother were,” says Rick. Now that they have a chance to spend some time together as a couple, they love to go to the Pocono Mountains and on weekends, it doesn’t much matter what they’re doing, as long as they’re together.

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“After we were sitting there, she started to hint that she knew a lot of people there,” Robbins recalls. “Everybody in the entire joint was smiling at us, so I was really on the spot. I think I handled it well, if I don’t say so myself.” He did handle it well, and to her own surprise, Lorrie liked him. “We met there and hit it off,” she says. “That was in August, he went on vacation and we didn’t have our ‘official’ first date until the middle of September. We e-mailed sporadically and I found I missed him. I knew from when I first met him that I really did like him.” Their first “official” date was a Sunday day trip to Litchfield that included lunch and browsing shops. The first year of dating went slowly, since Andy was still living on Long Island and Lorrie in

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After Lorrie Malone lost her husband almost six years ago, she thought she’s never remarry. Until she met Andy Robbins.

Milford. About 16 months ago, the couple bought a house together in Milford. Andy wasn’t sure what to expect from his eHarmony experience, since Lorrie was the ﬁrst person he met online. “Before we’d met, she and her friend called me to ask some goofy questions,” he recalls. “‘Do I wear a belt with jeans? Do I wear white socks with sandals? I thought it was funny — she had me on the hook.”

Lorrie and Andy found that love is different the second time around, when there are children and former spouses involved. “When I ﬁrst told Meghan we were going to move, she had a tough time,” her mother recalls. “She wanted to stay in her comfort zone in the house that she lived in with her father. She liked Andy, but it was difﬁcult on her.” She adds that Meghan and Andy have since developed a warm relationship.

The fact that Lorrie was a recent widow did not make him reluctant to engage a “I’m not her father and I’ll never try to relationship with her. “I had just been take his place,” says Andy. “What I am is divorced, I had to move and my marriage a man who will be there for her when she was over, too. Her husband died and needs me.” she lost a person and her marriage,” he says. Andy also suffered a loss. His older This fall, he proposed to Lorrie. brother had died of heart disease just a “I knew then that I was going to fall in couple of years before. “I didn’t feel I love with him after that ﬁrst date, but I could put myself in Lorrie’s shoes, but I wasn’t thinking marriage yet,” Lorrie says. understood how it could hammer a family. Now she’s indeed thinking marriage, but It’s not a parallel, but there’s something to they’re taking it slowly, simply allowing it. I decided I didn’t want to crawl under their relationship to fall into place. the bed.” “Our engagement is going to evolve the same way our relationship did,” says Andy.

January / February 2011

“We’ll know what we want to do when the time is right. I never thought I’d get married again. The divorce was a betrayal and I didn’t think I could trust anything again after that.” That was before he fell in love with Lorrie.

Anne-Marie Brungard Knight had given up on love. “The whole dating thing was not going well at all for me, and I was actually at the point of resigning myself to being single and ﬁnding a way to be happy being single,” she says. Working on a project at Church on the Rock in New Haven together about ﬁve years ago, Anne-Marie and Charles Knight realized they shared a vision of hoping to do something ease the plight of the homeless. “We were talking along those lines and working together on a construction project

at the church and that’s where we fell in love,” she recalls. It wasn’t as easy as all that, though, recalls Charles. “The ﬁrst time I saw Anne-Marie, before I spoke to her, I said, ‘That’s my wife,’” Knight explains. “It was as if God was revealing something to me.” He didn’t let on that he was interested right away. A woman working on a project at the church with a lot of men, Anne-Marie mentioned to Charles that the unwanted attention from some of the men made her uncomfortable.

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“They were running some kind of rap [on her], but we came together on an intellectual level with good conversation. We had a great time together and both had a passion for the same things,” Charles says. But he wouldn’t let on that he was falling for Anne-Marie. “I wanted to. I wanted to badly. I had a huge crush on her,” he says. She noticed, but she was done with dating. It was during a Sunday service that she ﬁnally let herself go. “It was as though the heavens opened,” Anne-Marie describes. “I was up front praying about what was going to happen with my life and the music was playing and there was a line in the music that said, ‘Just say yes,’ and it sounded like angels singing. I was crying and I turned around and he was standing directly behind me, also in tears, and that’s when I knew I had to say yes and stop ﬁghting and avoiding it.”

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The patient and respectful man was rewarded. “We were working together and AnneMarie asked if I wanted to stop and grab something to eat. We sat there for three hours, talking. It felt like 15 minutes had passed,” Charles says. “I felt giddy. It was like middle school and high school when your hands get sweaty and you get nervous.” The couple has been married for over three years now. “I love his honesty and openness, his willingness to talk to me, and even more so, it’s his willingness to listen that is the best part,” Anne-Marie says. “Some things are just worth the wait.”

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ntil I read Robert M. Thorson’s great books on New England’s stone walls — Stone By Stone, and its successor, Exploring Stone Walls — I had no idea others feasted on my own personal obsession: the ribbons of rock silently racing through our countryside. Thorson cites a 1939 estimate by one Oliver Bowles that there were 240,000 miles of walls crisscrossing the New England landscape — longer than the entire coastline of the United States. Those walls are an integral part of a landscape Michael Pollan describes in Second Nature, his classic tribute to the relationship between humanity and land, as “a patchwork of abandoned farms swiftly being overtaken by second-growth forest.” Those landengorging forests obscure these relentless lines of human toil until, magically, leaves fall, green turns to grey in late autumn and stark lines reassert their hard-edged presence.

This revelatory impact gains a dramatic edge when the ﬁrst snow turns mottled stone slides into rending cuts in the temporary white blanket’s smothering softness. It was also news to me that there is an active group of “stone wall tourists” who seek out these now-useless barriers and combine the disciplines of history, geology, topography and hiking to retrace the archeology of a bygone agricultural era. Deep River naturalist and author of the book Living on an Acre: A Practical Guide to the Self-Reliant Life, Christine Woodside acknowledges that “Something about signs of mankind in the woods always gets me.”

Winter reveals New England’s signature stone walls By

Duo Dickinson

Sometimes I nearly crash my car when I catch a glancing view of these revealed remnants. They represent to me at once the most noble and lamentable aspects of the human spirit. Whether they are (as Thorsen classifies them) “rectangular stack,” “inward-slanted, battered” or “triangular-form fieldstone fences,” stone walls were not merely products of farmers defining their fields; these walls are ultimately the product of a landscape defining the lives of those who live on and within it. Crashing into a New World some three centuries ago, newly arrived European settlers and successive generations had to eat. Survival meant subsistence farming and that meant taming the land to the greatest extent possible — which was not very great. They farmed where they sat and that meant

making the most of a landscape that had been created by two huge ancient realities: the buckling of rolling hills and mountains, and then the crushing rock bulldozers of glaciers that chipped every ridge, peak and promontory off of those mountains. Those rock-dozing glaciers rolled millions upon millions of rocks across thousands of miles of landscape, crushing them deep into the ground as they went along, ﬁnally dropping off their lightest till to create Long Island. So 300 or 400 years ago European settlers encountered hillsides replete with rocks that needed to be removed (along with old-growth trees, of course) to create something that approximated farmland. The only option was for these desperate but dogged land-tamers was to remove the rocks, leave the soil and assemble the rocks into boundary lines either between properties or between sections of larger farms. The Beverly, Mass. group PrimaryResearch.Org recently completed a study of New England stone walls. In it, Corey Schweizer notes: “If a stone wall was deemed sound, then the owner was not liable for damage done to his crops by other farmer’s animals.” If the settler was fortunate, there might be an ox or two available to lend muscle to the effort, but mostly human backs were broken in an endless struggle to undo thousands of years of natural forces. And even when the job was completed, the property owner was left with a thin layer of arable soil and a climate deﬁned by a short growing season and deadly winters.

YYY In the 19th century new settlements to the west revealed that there was an expansive country that had once been under an enormous inland sea (called the prairie) where 20 or 30 inches of rock-free, beautiful, arable soil was available just by busting up the sod that covered it. But many New England farmers refused to budge, and crops were often replaced by pastures and livestock, but ultimately even that proved to be scarcely tenable and eventually the vast majority of farms that once denuded the forest land of New England gave up the ghost. People either moved to cities to work in Continued on 42

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October 2010

No need to pimp this ride, one of just 17 Teslas in the entire state.

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Getting behind the wheel of the coolest automotive plaything, ever

f you happened to be in the Omni-New Haven Hotel garage on January 8, you might have noticed a sleek, dark grey sports car tethered to an electrical outlet.

The Tesla Roadster was in town for road testing by potential buyers who signed up on the company’s website, according to Michael Sexton, the Tesla senior regional sales adviser for Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. 20

January / February 2011

A reporter also got to take the car for a spin, after Sexton spent the day on the road with nine “serious” candidates, including seven Connecticut residents and a Shelter Island ferry-boat captain who took two ferries and a train to get to the Elm City for the occasion. A genial man who sold BMWs to diplomats before signing up with Tesla two years ago, Sexton, had driven the

Tesla 2.5, the latest model of this two-seat zero-emissions vehicle, in from New York the previous day, during a snowstorm. The two-door convertible is powered by a battery pack with 6,831 lithium ion cells, which can store 56 kilowatt-hours of electricity. When fully charged using a regular 110-volt outlet (four to eight hours) or 220-volt outlet (3.5 to 6.5 hours), the two-seater can travel as far as 245 miles,

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according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rating. Between rides, Sexton hooked it up to the outlet. At six foot-ﬁve, Sexton towers over the 44.35 inch tall Roadster, which has a lightweight carbon ﬁber body and weighs 2,723 pounds, including the 1,000-pound battery pack behind the driver’s cockpit. Adjacent to the battery pack is box full of electronics comprising what Sexton termed “the brains of the car.”

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The high-performance Tesla has a few low-tech features. There is no power steering and you must adjust the rear view mirrors by hand. Turn the key in the ignition and the only sound you hear is a chime. Another way you know it’s running is by the digital displays lighting up on the dashboard. These displays allow you to monitor the ideal mileage range for the vehicle, how many kilowatt hours you’re using, tire pressure and temperature, how efﬁciently you’re driving the car and “how much it costs, per penny, to charge, among many other things,” says Sexton. Push a button on a control panel with options for park, drive, reverse and neutral, and you’re on your way. The car is exquisitely responsive. Press the accelerator pedal and it surges, which feels thrilling, especially on a snowy night when a yellow warning light indicates the air temperature is below freezing and the roads may be slippery. Acceleration also produces a high-pitched whine similar to an emergency vehicle siren.

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The Tesla at the Omni sells for roughly $161,000 and had a variety of options such as snow tires and an “infotainment package” including Bluetooth, HD radio, a rear camera, a satellite radio and a sevenspeaker sound system with subwoofer, which Sexton explains is a big selling point.

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The regular Roadster goes from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds; the Sport model Sexton brought to New Haven does the same in 3.7 seconds.

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“Most of my pilot drivers say it sounds like a turbine,” Sexton explains. Lighten up on the accelerator and the regenerative braking system kicks in, instantly slowing the car and recharging the battery pack.

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As the Roadster traversed some windy and hilly roads in New Haven and Woodbridge, the connection between car and driver was intimate— and visceral. Most ﬁrst-time drivers are impressed with “the ease of driving and the quickness of the car,” Sexton says. “The biggest comment is ‘I’ve never experienced anything like this.’” On January 10, Tesla Motors announced sales of the Roadster had topped 1,500 and the vehicles had traveled 8.5 million miles in the aggregate, saving 415,000 gallons of gasoline and more than 22,000 barrels of oil. Owners include George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and David Letterman who, Sexton says, “drives his Roadster to work every day.” During 2010, the company delivered Tesla Roadsters to owners in 30 countries.

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As of January 10, there were 17 Tesla owners in Connecticut, according to company spokesperson Camille Ricketts. At the Omni, Sexton introduced me one of them, Thomas Harbinson, president of IDA International Inc., a Derby company that designs and installs metal panel systems for building facades. The panels are fabricated at his factory, which is powered by solar panels that produce more than 100 percent of the facility’s electricity needs. Harbinson admits he likes to drive fast and has had to attend court-ordered trafﬁc school, twice, for speeding. He owns several other sports cars. Harbinson powers up his Tesla Roadster at his factory, where he recently installed a weatherproof outlet where any electric cars owner can charge their vehicle for free. A fellow Tesla owner recently stopped by on his way from Cape Cod to New Jersey after Harbinson wrote about the outlet on an owners-only area of the Tesla website. Sexton also used the outlet while traveling to the Omni, where Harbinson met him for dinner. Sexton explained that Tesla Motors has no direct connection to Nikola Tesla, the Croatian who developed alternating-current technology for electricity, among many other inventions. Co-founded in 2003 by PayPal cofounder Elon Musk, who now is Tesla’s chairman, product architect and CEO, the company went public last June, a month after Tesla and Toyota announced a partnership to build electric vehicles. The Japanese automaker plans to invest $50 million in the company. Panasonic invested $30 million in Tesla in November, and is

working with the company to develop new battery packs. After making its debut in 2008 and undergoing several upgrades, the Tesla Roadster will be phased out in 2012, Sexton says, to make way for the Model S, a four-door electric sedan intended to “appeal to the masses.”

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Earlier this month Tesla announced that deliveries of the Model S would commence in the second quarter of 2012 and the car would cost between $50,000 and $60,000. Sexton said the purpose of the road tests was to move prospective buyers “closer to sales,” and two of the nine candidates who tried the Roadster at the Omni are “pretty much ready to do it.” They way he could tell was “by the questions they asked, like ‘What cars are readily available?’ and ‘Can I talk to an owner?’” The “vast percentage of Tesla owners are male ages 35 to 55,” Sexton says, but he’s also heard anecdotally that “Many of their wives have kind of commandeered the car.” He also is selling more Teslas to “professional” women, such as one who wanted to invest in the company because of its environmentally friendly technology and fell in love with the car.

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With a lot of love — and a lot of time — a Madison family reclaims a once-‘unshowable’ antique

By Duo Dickinson

Photos: Anthony decarlo

January / February 2011

ATH O M E

hen Gio and Pam Meier came to realize that their relationship was going to be more than dating, they got pretty serious about ﬁnding a place to live. Their initial twoyear search proved fruitless.

“We didn’t even think about living in Madison because we thought it was just too expensive,” recalls Pam Meier. “We were looking for an antique ﬁxerupper” — meaning a real wreck — “but we couldn’t even afford one of those, it seemed.”

During yet another phone call with the real estate agent that was ending badly, a light bulb went off in their agent’s mind: There was one antique house on four acres in Madison that was so compromised by neglect that is was “unshowable.” The previous occupants were New York City expatriates who had ﬂed the late 1980s real estate bust and had no money for upkeep after they moved in. The house went into foreclosure in 1992. But one family’s disaster is another’s opportunity, and Pam and Gio were able to pick up a completely depressed but well located

property for what they could afford — precious little cash for a couple that had yet to in fact actually get married. Not only was the house in utter disrepair, it was barely serviceable even as a tent for a young couple aiming to start a new life together. The property had history: It was a 1,000-square-foot Cape built in 1739 of heavy timbers. Although some rot had been repaired around the house’s perimeter, the bottom of virtually every post was serving as a hearty meal for hungry wood-munching bacteria. Its ground ﬂoor hovered over damp soil, further encouraging mold and rot.

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The built-in benches for family dining (right center) nestle in the open informal living area that surrounds the kitchen and its maple island designed to accommodate an impromptu nosh.

An imposing maple tree that stood obdurately where the Meiers planned to expand their home was cut down (mostly) from the top, but then integrated into the open living area where it serves to divide the wide array of activities of busy family members. The careful sculpting of the trunk allows for full support at the center of the timber frame, and turns the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history into structural art.

January / February 2011

The once-cute home had been completely stripped of virtually everything of value by its previous owners. “Even electrical switches and outlets had been removed and the whirlpool tub’s motor had been removed and presumably sold — God knows why,” says Gio, who himself is an electrical engineer. When the couple moved in, the house had no doors — they had been mysteriously removed and set outside. The site itself was overgrown to the extent that one could see the surface of the land on perhaps one quarter of its four acres. But for the Meiers this represented a real step up from where they lived in New Haven, where the early ‘90s recession had fueled a crime wave that made the couple desperate to ﬁnd a place to start a family safe from drive-by shootings and break-ins. “We realized that because we had our own businesses, we could live anywhere as long as it was close to New Haven where most of our clients were,” says Pam Meier, a graphic designer and environmental educator.

In the ﬁrst decade of their young marriage, the Meiers set out to accomplish two things: start a family and tame their landscape. They did both with exquisite success. Pam gave birth to three beautiful daughters: twins Katharine and Eva, followed by

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The renovated living room of the 1,000-square-foot 1739 heavy timber Cape that served as home for the first decade of the Meiers’ occupancy. Its expressive structure served to inspire the addition that tripled the overall size of the home.

Danica. Over time they also got rid of all the Cape’s rot, and dirt subfloors. But five people living in a two-bedroom house has a brief window of viability. A seminal event happened that transformed the future of this property, and its occupants. Gio Meier attended a timber frame seminar at the famed Yestermorrow School in Warren, Vt. — perhaps the premier design-build school in America. In that one-week session, Gio gained the knowledge but also the courage to think that their antique could in fact triple in size and yet maintain its dignity. Newly emboldened, the Meiers looked to find a timber frame company that would actually listen to Gio’s design ideas and work with them to get a timber frame out of the ground. After some searching they found Vermont Frames, of Hinesburg, Vt. Gio Meier worked with the firm to create a plan for a 25- by 40-foot “barn” directly modeled on the barn already on the property and set the new structure to a rebuilt single-story “ell” off the back of the Cape, creating a two-part harmony — new to one side of the low entry, ancient to the other. If done on a “retail” basis, this would be a pricey proposition unless you had a fearless family. Not only could they

January / February 2011

live for a decade in extremely tight and originally dysfunctional surroundings while slaving away to tame the landscape (and raise goats and chickens as well as three babies), but the Meiers also found the time to design, contract or build every element of this major renovation. Over a three-year construction period, Gio and Pam contracted out excavation, concrete and the occasional electrical and plumbing assistance and of course, the timber frame.

That single act is the metaphor for the entire project. Pam and Gio Meier literally built everything that is seen in these photographs with the exception of cabinetry and a few other elements.

Vermont Frame supplied all the pieces, but the Meiers organized a old-fashioned barnraising event where friends and family put it all together. Another subcontractor clad that frame in what are called Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) that are spiked to the frame and provide an extremely tight insulating shell that shrouds the large pieces of Douglas ﬁr construction.

1) It can be done to a high standard (vs. shoddy)

When these panels were laminated around the frame, the Meiers realized that their traditional design of carefully located single windows was crazy given the fact that they had spent the last decade opening up their property. As they peered out through one of those isolated windows, the chainsaw was quickly brought out and that window became a window wall facing out over a ﬁeld that they had literally unearthed while clearing the land.

This extreme personal devotion fulﬁlled one of the great aphorisms that almost anyone who works in a project-based environment knows: There are three positive evaluations of anything that gets created:

2) It can be done quickly (vs. slowly) 3) It can be affordable (vs. costly). Good, fast and cheap. But no matter how hard you try, you can achieve only two of those positive qualities on any given project. It can be fast and good and therefore it will not be cheap. It can be fast and cheap and therefore it will not be good. Or, like the Meiers and millions of intrepid house creators, even in the worst of recessions, a project can be good and cheap but it will not be fast — it will take time to be designed, built and ﬁnished. Taking on so much over such a long time, the Meiers saved a great deal of money, but they also had the time to control the ﬁnal product. This meant that when they had to cut down a tree to build their

2,000-square-foot extension, they had the time to realize they could save the trunk and use it as the centerpiece column for their living area.

Another byproduct of the hands-on, trading-time-for-money approach can be frustration and burnout as deferred gratification gets old the longer it is deferred. “In year three, I told Gio that if I didn’t have a kitchen, I’d literally go out of my mind,” recalls Pam — and thus a kitchen was created. But fully four years elapsed after completion for the built-in dining area to be created. The built home is a very simple diad. The existing antique with its low ceilings and relative darkness is the perfect location for nighttime gatherings to watch movies, Pam’s office, a bathroom and the entry/ mud room. The attic became a project room for the girls. So the renovated antique effectively “took care of business” for the messier activities of family life — leaving the new completely open first floor of the “barn” for all social activities. Kitchen and informal dining is set to the

south, a new open stair intervenes and the larger family table directly address the terrace that Gio and Pam built overlooking the westerly three acres of their property. To the north is a large open living area. Above all this are three bedrooms and a bath (one of the bedrooms shared by the twin girls). And (finally) Gio and Pam have a discrete (and discreet) space for themselves. The new interior is fully wood with beautiful huge timbers with beams that carefully lead into columns distinctly to avoid the diagonal knee braces that Gio hates (and were serendipitously absent in the original Cape’s timber frame). The second floor’s solid maple flooring (which in a timber frame is also the first floor’s ceiling) was maple cut at a local saw mill, Zuwalick & Sons. The stair and balcony railings were filled in with salvaged wood from Wood, Steel & Glass of Madison. Expressed nailing patterns on the plank walls adds a level of detail that is refreshing and expressive openings in hallway walls above eye-level let light and air share the large lofted open space that a timber frame provides.

The outdoor environment is equally rich, if just a little raw. The existing barn and out building house chickens and goats that provide milk and eggs for the family. The unrelenting work ethic of Gio Meier is seen in beautifully restored snaking fieldstone walls. And Pam’s passion for gardening can be seen in tightly formed gardens. As the Meier girls grow into young women, the construction has slowed and there are a few projects that will get done when there’s time (shed dormers need to have the final siding put on them; the occasional naked pipe needs to be trimmed out), but progress is unrelenting and inevitable. “Once we got into the house and it was finished, the extreme push to get everything done all at once relaxed,” says Gio. But the energy of the Meier family remains palpable. There’s a lesson in this house for anyone willing to see it — that while money makes most things possible, it is simply not as important as the passion that allow couples to have the courage to build its ultimate, physical expression — a place to come home to.

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Puppets

Rule

New exhibition documents history of the century-old, one-of-a-kind Stony Creek Puppets

The Puppets of Stony Creek, a photographic and educational exhibition, through January 31 at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library, 146 Thimble Island Rd., Branford. Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.Sat., 1-4 Sun. Free. puppetsofstonycreek. com.

By Margaret McNellis

hen JoAnn Moran moved to the Stony Creek section of Branford, she became interested in the Puppet House Theater in part due to its proximity to her new home. She began to photograph the puppets. As her familiarity with the puppets and their history blossomed, so did her desire to “inspire the community and the puppeteers to revive their performance.”

Stony Creek puppet depicting the female Christian warrior Bradamante from the Italian romantic poem Orlando (‘Mad 2011 January furioso / February Orlando’).

Moran met Joseph Cifferelli one day when she brought some of her work to Cifferelli’s New Haven studio to be framed for a show at the Stony Creek library. Their discussion of the puppets spoke to Cifferelli’s interest in medieval history (as the puppets perform plays based on European poems such as Turoldus’ “La Chanson de Roland”). Cifferelli’s background in art education plays an integral role in presenting educational material about the puppets in the exhibition. The puppets were created in Sicily at the turn of the 20th century by Sebastiano

A muralist and photographer, Moran is well-known throughout the area for her community-wide art exhibits. Her painted murals and community projects have been exhibited nationally and internationally, anywhere from Illinois to Connecticut to the United Kingdom. She specializes in abstract work and facilitating public art projects. Moran also produces portraits as well as archival artwork (such as the photographs featured in the Puppets of Stony Creek exhibition).

This figure, created a century ago in Sicily by Sebastiano Zappala, depicts a young Charlemagne.

Zappala. For more than 50 years they were used in performances in Catania, Sicily. In 1961, the remaining puppets (the original collection numbered more than 300 ﬁgures) were purchased by Grace Weil. Weil’s interest in marionette puppets led her to begin collecting them from all over the world. In 1960, she purchased the Puppet House Theater (then named the International Puppet Museum), which ﬁrst opened in 1903 as a silent movie theater. In 1920 it became the Stony Creek Theater, and a stage was erected. The Stony Creek Theater is connected with several famous actors, directors and writers, including Orson Welles and William Gillette (of Gillette Castle fame). During World War II the theater was impressed into the war effort as a parachute factory. Following the war, the factory produced women’s garments. In

1959 the factory closed down, making way for Weil’s puppet theater. During a trip to Sicily, Weil became friends with Cavaliere Macri after attending his theater, where performances featured Zappala’s puppets. After she acquired the puppets, she brought Macri’s son Salvatore to the United States to train her own son, Jim Weil, in the art and skill required to perform with the puppets. After Grace Weil passed away in 1963, Jim Weil took over the puppet house in partnership with Salvatore Macri. The theater was renamed the Macri-Weil Sicilian Puppet Theater and remained so until 1999, when Macri retired. Thereafter the puppet performances assumed the title “The Sicilian Puppets of Sebastiano Zappala.”

Joseph Cifferelli’s interest in the Medieval era (and the artwork its greatest practitioners produced) germinated long before he and Moran put together the current exhibit. His background is in art and art education, and he has been a staple of the New Haven art community. In the mid-1970s Cifferelli Studios (then located on Daggett Street in New Haven) developed art programs for local schools that swelled to a staff of more than 150 teachers serving ten community schools. Cifferelli’s current studio, in the former Marlin Firearms complex on Willow Street in New Haven, opened in 1981. There he produces photographs, sculpture and paintings. Cifferelli says he “enjoys helping new and veteran artists get their exhibits from the easel to the wall” by applying his framing expertise. This emphasis on the importance of presentation as part of the process of completing artwork is integrated into the Puppets of Stony Creek exhibition. Cifferelli says he would like to take the exhibit to local school libraries so that this educational resource can be shared with young people throughout the area. The exhibition is purposely familyoriented. Children may have photographs taken in costume alongside the puppets while they enjoy the reception. Cifferelli is also drafting an educational text that will be available in conjunction with the exhibition.

The Stony Creek puppets weigh between 70 and 100 pounds each, and are controlled new haven

PHOTOGRAPHS: Chad Lyons

by two rods and one rope line from a platform six feet above the stage. Because of the ﬁgures’ size, Moran says, “The puppeteers require a great deal of dexterity and strength.” In addition, each puppeteer may have to play several roles during any given show, from a king to a peasant. Moran says she hopes that in addition to educating exhibit visitors on the history of these works of art, the photography will help to “keep it in the minds of the people” as well.

Christian Marclay’s Telephones (1995, video). Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York and White Cube.

Phoning It In

they are always on their phones.”

She combined this observation with her understanding of the 1960s conceptual art An everyday object becomes movement, and soon found herself working a window on the world of on the exhibition It’s For conceptual art You, which harnesses the It’s for You: Conceptual Art & the Telephone, familiarity and ubiquity of the telephone as a way February 24-March 25 in Burt Chernow to introduce audiences to Gallery, Housatonic Community College, 900 a variety of conceptual Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport. Open 8:30 a.m.-5 art practices, which p.m. weekdays (until 7 p.m. Thurs.), 9 a.m.-3 can include a mixture p.m. Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. Free. 203-332-5052, of art theory and social critique. By Eliza Hallabeck Works on view date from s Housatonic Museum of Art’s the 1960s to work by Curator Terri Smith describes contemporary artists. (An her inspiration for the upcoming opening reception for It’s exhibit, It’s For You, recently, it is easy to For You will take place from picture college students with cheeks half 5-8 p.m. March 4 in the illuminated by a faint blue glow or ﬁngers ’Nickname Game,’ by Luka Geronimas (2008) from the exhibition gallery.). It’s for You at the Housatonic Museum of Art. clacking away on a keypad while walking Artists represented in down a busy hallway between classes the exhibition include T. The exhibit will be on view in the at Housatonic Community College in Foley, Lukas Geronimas, Jeremy LeClair, Chernow Gallery as well as other areas of Bridgeport. Christian Marclay, Yoko Ono, Rachel the downtown Bridgeport campus. Works Smith says her college has a diverse Perry Welty, Robert Peters, Pietro Pellini include sound pieces, videos and objects student body, but “The one thing and Hannah Wilke. that embody the functions, technologies everyone seems to have in common is and physicality of the telephone.

January / February 2011

“It’s fun to include other disciplines that may not be considered ‘ﬁne art,’” explains Smith. Artist T. Foley contributes her ringtone creation project to the exhibition. Foley says she has been working on the project since 2009, primarily in Pittsburgh. In the past, she has also brought her concept of creating original ringtones then distributing them through her website (locallytoned.org) to Valencia, Spain and Berlin, Germany.

phone over the course of four years, the artist explains. “This work came about after I received a spate of wrong-number calls left on my answering machine,” Welty says. “I couldn’t bear to erase these messages — humorous, poignant, unnerving or mundane — each had an urgency I wanted to address. Issues of privacy, identity, expectations and assumptions fueled my interest.”

Locally Toned, explains Foley, is a notfor-profit venture that helps people create their own sounds. The art is in the phone call, as one description for the project reads, as Locally Toned participants send and receive phone calls. Foley says the goal of the project is to give technological empowerment to exhibition viewers through the “substitution of a system of shared creativity for one of commerce — the distribution of music industry ringtones.” Foley says she is interested in finding out what Bridgeport “sounds like,” and to find out will host a ringtone recording session at the museum. Audio content must be copyright free (i.e., original compositions or sounds that exist in the natural world). Tone duration must be 30 seconds or less. Participants at this session will be photographed for possible inclusion in project exhibitions and archives. Select tones will be made available to the public by March at locallytoned.org. New York artist Rachel Perry Welty says her interests lie in language and the formation of meaning — “how we consume, sort, process and sift information, and in the small moments of the everyday.” Her video work will be part of It’s For You, including lip-synching to different recorded messages that were left on her

B u ild in g a Foundation

German artist Pietro Pellini says his contribution to It’s For You will be an installation that is a personal homage to his friend and teacher, Al Hansen. The work uses recorded voice messages from Hansen over a period of years until his ﬁnal message to Pellini in 1995, shortly before Hansen passed away, Pellini explains. The friendship between Pellini and Hansen grew over the years, the artist says, and over time “became something very strong and special.” Pellini’s installation employs an orange telephone, “a typical German model from the 1970s and 1980s,” he says, which is operated by a computer. Smith says she is expecting the exhibit to be a lively environment for both students and members of the public. Another highlight, says Smith, will be if Yoko Ono calls the college where a phone will be set up for her exhibit. In the event the phone rings, Ono will speak to whoever happens to pick up. It’s For You, Smith explains, affords students and visitors alike the opportunity to interact with artwork. The exhibition endeavors to connect concerns found in contemporary art with the objects, communication habits and changing technologies of today. Visitors to the exhibit will be encouraged to comment on the work through telephone interfaces such as Twitter.

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ART GALLERY TALKS/TOURS The Interplay Between Childishness & Maturity in Art. Hour-long guideled gallery “conversation” exploring a variety of artists, themes and genres from around the world. 3 p.m. January 16, February 13 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu. Understanding Humans Through Animals in Art. Gallery tour by Yale undergrad Rachel Corbin, a senior majoring in environmental studies. 4:30-5:30 p.m. January 23, 3-4 p.m. February 27 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu. The Heart of Artness: The Submerged Meanings That Make Art Worth Viewing. Hour-long guide-led gallery “conversation” exploring a variety of artists, themes and genres from around the world. 3 p.m. January 30, February 13 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu. Stories and Art. On the second Sunday of each month, tales of distant times and faraway lands inspire children of all ages to view art in new ways. Yale students and YUAG staff relate folktales and myths from across the globe to works of art in the gallery’s collection. All ages are welcome, and drawing materials will be provided for older children. 1 p.m. February 13 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

EXHIBITIONS Opening The Cooley Gallery describes Judy Friday — Free Form as a breakthrough exhibition of radical fresh work by one of Lyme’s most established and respected artists. Over two decades Friday has built a singular career across multiple media. In her fourth Cooley show, the artist turns her talent toward abstract works including both sculpture from found materials that are woven and oil paintings that also incorporate weaving. January 15-February 26 at Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. 860-4348807, cooleygallery.com. Double Vision is an exhibition of new work by Wesleyan art professor Jeffrey Schiff that exposes how unconscious projections from America’s colonial origins shape perceptions of its current reality. In 1786, one year before the constitutional convention, members of the American Philosophical Society, which included such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Priestly, published personal observations and accounts of the natural world that

January / February 2011

unwittingly reveal the era’s unresolved struggle between rationality and superstition, democratic ideals and cultural traditions of elitism and slavery — struggles we have inherited as we negotiate (sometimes violently) conflicting views of scientific enterprise, globalism, religious and ethnic identity and the Information Age. Schiff has distilled their anecdotes into concrete sculptures, photographs and video intended to invigorate viewers’ views on history and contemporary culture. Curated by Andrea Hill. January 21-February 27 (artist’s reception 5-7 p.m. 1/25) at Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. (until 8 p.m. Fri.). Free. 860-685-3355, wesleyan.edu/cfa. Visions of Cathay. These exquisite paintings catch China as Europeans idealized it in the late 19th century: elegant home life, Qing imperial troops performing martial arts in their colorful uniforms, acrobats and gem-like paintings of fish, animals and birds. The delicacy and brilliance of the paintings is stunning, like a perfect dream of a far-off Cathay. January 26-March 4 (gallery talk by curator Patrick Dowdey noon 1/26) at Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, 343 Washington Terr., Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. Free. 860685-2330, wesleyan.edu/mansfield. The Firehouse Art Gallery presents Interiors, an exhibition of works by area artists that (on their surface, at least) represent the interior of a building, room or other space, although they may as well relate to their creators’ mental or spiritual (inner) being, or any other depiction befitting the definition of “interior.” Juried by painter, sculptor and Gilded Lily Gallery owner/resident artist Rosemary Celon-Gordon. February 3-March 3 at Firehouse Art Gallery, 81 Naugatuck Ave., Milford. Open noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Free. 203-306-0016, milfordarts.org. “into the light of things”: Rebecca Salter Works, 1981-2010. The British Art Center premieres an exhibition of some 150 works by British abstract artist Rebecca Salter (b. 1955), who spent several years studying and working in Japan. Exhibition includes paintings, drawings, prints, sketchbooks, sculptures and documentary material by Salter, as well

’February 2, 2010, 5:00 a.m.’ (oil on board, 11” X 11”) by Judy Friday at Old Lyme’s Cooley Gallery.

as working drawings and photographs related to her 2008 redesign of the main entrance area of St. George’s Hospital in London. This is the first solo museum exhibition for the artist, whose work heretofore has been showcased extensively in international group shows and at commercial galleries. Curated by Gillian Forrester, the YCBA’s curator of prints and drawings. February 3-May 1 at the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Mon., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Free. 203432-2800, ycba.yale.edu. Caprice and Corruption: 18th-Century Prints. Play, fantasy and corruption were the counterweights to the enlightenment of 18th-century Europe. This exhibition starts in Venice with the rise of the capriccio or “caprice,” exemplified by the enigmatic etchings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. In Rome, Giovanni Battista Piranesi created dramatic architectural fantasies. Jean Honoré Fragonard and other French artists evoked aristocratic frivolity. Meanwhile, in England, William Hogarth created one of the most memorable tales of corruption, “The Harlot’s Progress,” 1732. Exhibition concludes with Francisco Goya’s radical reworking of the caprice into “Los Caprichos,” his biting satires of Spanish society. Includes more than 50 old master prints from the Davison Art Center collection. February 4-March 3 (opening reception 5-7 p.m. 2/3) at Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. (until 8 p.m. Fri.). Free. 860685-3355, wesleyan.edu/cfa. The Shoreline Arts Alliance hosts its 30th annual juried exhibition Images, featuring outstanding work by Connecticut photographers. February 5-March 5 (artists’ reception and awards 2:30-4:30 p.m. 2/13) at the Guilford At Center, 411 Church St., Guilford. Open noon-6 p.m. weekdays, until 5 p.m. Sat. 203-453-5947, guilfordartcenter.org. A collaboration among a team of students from Yale and the University of Maryland/College Park, Embodied: Black Identities in American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery features works that address, question and complicate the paradigms that have mapped meanings onto AfricanAmerican bodies throughout history. The 54 works selected for the exhibition, representing YUAG’s commitment during the past decade to growing this area of the collection, include paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, prints, drawings and photographs. February 18June 25 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (until 8 p.m. Thurs.), 1-6 p.m., Sun. Free. 203-432-0600, artgallery. yale.edu. The British Art Center is the only North American venue for a landmark retrospective of the great Regency painter, Thomas Lawrence (17691830). Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance will showcase outstanding works by the most important British portrait painter of

his generation. It will also explore the development of Lawrence’s career as one of the most celebrated and influential artists in Europe in the early 19th century. Organized jointly with the National Portrait Gallery, London, the exhibition will feature more than 50 stunning portraits from collections around the world, including the Royal Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Palace of Versailles and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as works from a number of private collections, many of which have never been seen by the public. February 24-June 5 at the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Mon., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Free. 203432-2800, ycba.yale.edu.

Continuing Betwixt & Between is a group exhibition of contemporary short videos that inject the ordinary domestic landscape with existential content and psychological slippages. Informed by the visual and conceptual strategies of the Surrealists, and echoing their simple, direct methods for constructing dream-like experiences, the artists represented in Betwixt & Between create works that reveal the authority, alienation, and desire embedded in everyday objects and occurrences. Participating artists include Terry Fox , Nadia Hironaka, Alex Hubbard, Takeshi Murata, Jeff Ostergren, Delphine Reist, Hiraki Sawa, Carrie Schneider and Tom Thayer. Through January 22 at Artspace, 50 Orange St., New Haven. Open noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Thurs., noon-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Free. 203-772-2709, artspacenh.org. FISH (Faith, Institution, Society & History): The Art of Emmanuel Garibay. The 2010–11 artist in residence at Yale’s Overseas Ministries Study Center, Garibay is a Philippine painter known as much for his expressionist figurative style as for the content of many of his works, which often express a keen social and political consciousness. Garibay has said, “It is the richness of the poor that I am drawn to and which I am a part of, that I want to impart.” He often paints ordinary people in scenes of political, religious and social complexity,

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (2009, acrylic on PVC) from Embodied: Black Identities in American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery.

where controversial issues of justice and truth are presented vigorously and colorfully. “Art is all about an idea that you want to share, a way of seeing the world that you want people to appreciate in their world,” says the artist. Through January 28 in the Great Hall at Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 409 Prospect St., New Haven. Open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays. Free. 203-432-5062, omsc.org/art. The Arts Council of Greater New Haven and Haskins Laboratories present Mind Sets, which explores the potential for collaboration between artists and scientists. Curated by Cat Balco and Debbie Hesse, exhibition features works by Fritz Horstman, Zachary Keating, Lucy Kim, Eva Lee, Martha Lewis and others. Through January 29 at Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St. (9th Fl.), New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri. Free. 203-772-2788, newhavenarts.org. City Gallery hosts its annual New Members/New Work exhibition, featuring collages by Roberta Friedman and paintings of Kathy Kane. Through January 30 at City Gallery, 994 State St., New Haven. Open noon-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. or by appt. Free. 203782-2489, city-gallery.org. With Needle & Brush: Schoolgirl Embroidery from the Connecticut River Valley. The Connecticut River Valley was an important center for the teaching and production of embroidered pictures by young women in private academies during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The first in-depth exhibition of its kind, With Needle and Brush contributes to the understanding of the traditions of needlework and provides insight into the nature of women’s schooling before the advent of widespread public education. Through January 30 at the Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Mon., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $14 ($13 seniors, $12 students, free under 13). 860-4345542, flogris.org. Christmas in Asia, the sixth annual Christmas crèche exhibition, includes more 100 crèches (also known as Nativities) from 22 Asian countries. The crèches come from the Holy Land in the Middle East, across Asia, to Japan in the Far East. Also included are original Holy Family paintings and prints from Japan, China and Korea. The exhibition’s crèches and paintings are on loan from seven collections, including the

Maryknoll Priests and Nuns of China. Through February 13 at Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free. 203-8650400, kofcmuseum.org. Elizabeth Enders: Recent Paintings and Watercolors. Exhibition features recent oils and watercolors by the artist, most completed in the last 24 months. Works include Enders’ botanical drawings as well as recent seascapes done in Nova Scotia. Through February 19 at Diane Birdsall Gallery, 16 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. weekends. 860-434-3209, dianebirdsallgallery.com.

’Ocean Blue Memory’ (2009, oil on canvas, 60” X 60”) by Elizabeth Enders, on view at Old Lyme’s Diane Birdsall Gallery. Majestic Mosaics. The Knights of Columbus’ Incarnation Dome — a 3,800-square-foot mosaic at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. — depicts the Incarnation, or manifestation, of Jesus through the rendering of four New Testament scenes: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Wedding Feast at Cana and the Transfiguration. The pendentives (or corners) depict Old Testament Prophets who wrote of the manifestation of the Messiah. The principal artist was Leandro Velasco. More than 2.4 million tiles (tesserae) in more than 1,000 colors were assembled by Travisanutto Mosaics SRL of Spilimbergo, Italy. Thousands of sections of completed mosaics were installed like a giant jigsaw puzzle by a team of six artisans. This exhibition includes photographs, design elements, mosaic tiles, artisans’ tools and a full-scale model, in mosaic, of the head of Christ represented in the finished dome. Continuing at Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free. 203-865-0400, kofcmuseum.org.

ONSTAGE Cabaret Winter Cabaret, featuring songs from Funny Lady and 42nd Street as well as Next to Normal, Spamalot and The Producers, will be performed by Choate students and guest faculty artists. 7:30 p.m. January 27-29 at Paul Mellon Arts Center, 333 Christian St., Wallingford. $12 ($10 seniors, students). 203697-2398, choate.edu/boxoffice. Songs of ghosts and dreams permeate Erebus and Terror, the story of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 search for the Northwest Passage. Aboard both the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were 134 crewmen, almost 3,000 books, 8,000 tins, ten oxen, two steam engines, more than 2,000 pounds of tea and one Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Songs and stories performed by an ensemble of Yale School of Drama artists. 8 p.m. January 13, 8 & 11 p.m. January 14-15 at Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. $15 ($10 students). 203-432-1566, yalecabaret.org. A solo show, Christina Anderson’s Hollow Roots follows a young black woman’s journey to find a post-racial utopia. Set in an urban metropolis some time in the distant future, she is pitted against the current. 8 p.m. January 20, 8 & 11 p.m. January 21-22 at Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. $15 ($10 students). 203-432-1566, yalecabaret.org. Hong Kong Dinosaur: A Real Aussie Love Story features the history of love, hate, tea and dinosaurs. First came dinosaurs. Then tea in the East, followed by tea in the West. Before that, a war. Before the war. a Chinese girl meets an Australian boy in the Hong Kong Public Library. Written by Amelia Roper (first-year Yale School of Drama student and award-winning Australian playwright) and directed by Kate Attwell. 8 p.m. February 3, 8 & 11 p.m. February 4-5 at Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. $15 ($10 students). 203-4321566, yalecabaret.org. Combining multimedia and live performance, Out of the Blue, written by Kee-Yoon Nahm, explores what happens when opposites collide, exploring how the world is affected by the resulting explosion. Directed by Elliot B. Quick. 8 p.m. February 10, 8 & 11 p.m. February 11-12 at Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. $15 ($10 students). 203-432-1566, yalecabaret. org. Conceived, created and performed by a trio of Yale School of Drama actresses, PleasureD presents theatrical experiences that explore joy, intimacy and expectation, seeking to examine what it means to be human. 8 p.m. February 17, 8 & 11 p.m. February 18-19 at Yale Cabaret, 217 Park St., New Haven. $15 ($10 students). 203-432-1566, yalecabaret.org.

Opening Written by Simon Gray and directed by Michael Rudman, The Old Masters explores the value of art and money outside of Florence, Italy under Mussolini’s Fascist

regime. A famous art historian and art dealer face off in this performance starring Law & Order’s Sam Waterston. January 19-February 13 at Long Wharf Theater, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. $72-$42. 203-787-4282, longwharf.org. August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson returns to the Yale Repertory Theatre where it premiered in 1987. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama, The Piano Lesson explores the fate of an heirloom piano and its effect on a brother and sister who each have different ideas for how best to use the instrument. Liesl Tommy directs. January 28-February 19 at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St., New Haven. $70-$35. 203-432-1234, yalerep.org. Set during the late 17th century against the backdrop of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible explores playwright Arthur Miller’s own persecution during the 1950s at the hands of Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. 7:30 p.m. February 17-19 at Paul Mellon Arts Center, 333 Christian St., Wallingford. $12 ($10 seniors, students). 203-697-2398, choate.edu/boxoffice. A Seven Angels Stage II community production of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. February 17-March 4 at Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Rd., Waterbury. $31.25. 203-757-4676, sevenangelstheatre.org. Girls Night: The Musical is a touching and hilarious tell-it-like-it-is look at the lives of a group of female friends. Follow five friends as they relive their past, celebrate their present and look to the future on a wild and hilarious karaoke night out, performing hits like “Lady Marmalade,” “It’s Raining Men,” “Man, I Feel Like a Woman,” “I Will Survive,” “We Are Family” and more. 8 p.m. February 19 at the Palace Theatre, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $130-$47.50. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct. org. Propelled by a live 12-piece orchestra, The Rat Pack Is Back recreates one of the “Summit at the Sands” nights in Las Vegas. Starring music originally sung by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop, each performance features humor and vocal recreations. 8 p.m. February 19, 2 p.m. February 20 at the Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $72- $15-$72 plus a $3 restoration fee. 203-562-5666, 800-228-6622, shubert.com. The Antigone Project Revisited, produced by the Quinnipiac University Theater for Community and directed by Crystal Brian. 8 p.m. February 24-26, 2 p.m. February 27 at Clarice L. Buckman Theater, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mt. Carmel Ave., Hamden. 203582-3500, quinnipiac.edu/x672.xml.

Continuing Latest in Dan Goggins’ Nunsense series is Nunset Boulevard, in which the Little Sisters of Hoboken are invited to sing at the famed Hollywood Bowl — or so they think. This Seven Angels Stage II community production is a Connecticut premiere. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. through February 6 at Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Rd., Waterbury. $31.25. 203-7574676, sevenangelstheatre.org.

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, a n i h C m o r F h Love Wit OF O F NOTES

Cover C over art for the e ori origin i al al Ch C nes Chi ese CD rele release l ase a of As Ask the th h Sk Sky ky and d th the Ea Earth th. The Th he e bla l ck ck--an and nd n d-wh white ite ch chara acters cte t rs rep pres resent ent e nt the th he Chin Chin hinese ese ti t tle le of of th the e ch cho horal al sui s te, an nd the h six r d circl red circl ci c es wit ith hw whit hite hit e Chinese hinese hin se ch hara aracte ar cter cte t rs rs tra transl nslate ate to th he Chinesse p phra hrase se ‘Ch hina in ’ss S Sen ent-d -dow ow wn w n Yo outh uth Choral Suitte.’ e’

A musical and lyrical remembrance of a time best left forgotten The T he he Cu C ltu tu ural ra all a Re Rev evolu olluti ol tiio tion tio on rrob ro obb o be bed ed ed Su Su Wei W ei (s (sse een her een ere re in a re in eccce ece ent nt cco onv ve ver erssa ation at ion in n Ya Yale e’’s e’s ’s Hen H en end dri ri rie Hall allll)) al off h o his is is y yo outh utth — but ut provid provided ed a wellspr ellspring ing of ins iin nspir n p at ati t on o for o hiss art. arrt. t

u Wei was just 15 years old in 1970 when he was “sent down” to a collective farm for “re-education.” His crime? Daring to be the son of a father who was himself sent to the camps after being falsely accused of being a spy for Chiang Kai-shek’s exiled Kuomintang nationalist party — the Communists’ mortal enemy. The younger Su spend ten years being “re-educated.” “I never got to go to high school,” he says, “because I had what they called a ‘black background’ family.”

Today the self-educated Su is a senior lecturer in Chinese literature at Yale, and author of the libretto for Ask the Sky and the Earth: A Cantata for the Sent-down Youth, which debuted in 2008. The world premiere of the wind band version of Dongling Huo’s (Tony Fok’s) commemoration of the 40th anniversary of China’s “sent-down youth” movement

January / February 2011

By MICHAEL C. BINGHAM

of the Cultural Revolution will take place February 11 at Woolsey Hall by the Yale Concert Band under the tutelage of music director Thomas C. Duffy. The performance will be reprised February 26 at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Both Su and YCB Director Duffy take care to emphasize that The Earth & the Sky is a commemoration — not celebration — of the 40th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution. “There is some argument over whether it should even be commemorated since it is such a nefarious part of Chinese history,” Duffy explains. “But it is history nevertheless.” “Nefarious” may not do it justice. Mao Zedong launched the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” to purge Chinese society of any vestigial capitalist thought. Some 20 million Chinese of middleand high-school age were sent to the countryside to participate in the “up to

the mountains and down to the villages” movement, sacriﬁcing formal educations and what for most young Westerners is a time of carefree personal discovery for years of backbreaking agricultural labor. Su and other “farmer mates” (as they called one another) were sent to Hainan Island in the South China Sea, where they planted rubber trees in the only Chinese province whose climate is conducive to the cultivation of rubber, an important strategic material. Su worked the soil 12 hours a day, every day, for three years — but then was excused from backbreaking toil after a Communist Party ofﬁcial discovered that the self-taught 18-year-old possessed prodigious talent as a writer and set him to work publicizing the accomplishments of the village “team.” So Su took the opportunity “because I was very tired” from working the soil — “For three years working in the village I almost

was going to die, I think,” he recounts. But one’s personal feelings and appetites at he became a wordsmith fully aware that the expense of the collective good was a “Writing was dangerous” to the regime bourgeois conceit that had no place in the and that penning something that attracted “new” China of Mao. disapproval could land him and his family The emotional dimension of Su’s in prison — or worse. libretto — characterized by Duffy as Ask the Sky and the Earth is a eight-part “artistic Social Realism” — is heartfelt, cantata for instrumentalists (nominally albeit pretty tame by the standards full orchestra; the YCB performances of Americans coarsened by bread-andis transcribed by Duffy for wind band circuses spectacles such as Jersey Shore without strings), soloists and Chinese and Internet smut. In the tender fourth choir. The music itself lies comfortably movement, “River full of moon,” a young within the Western art music idiom couple (depicted by soprano and tenor (“post-Romantic,” as Duffy places it) and soloists) ﬂirt earnestly but innocently perfectly accessible to ears accustomed while tapping rubber trees in the wee to Beethoven and Brahms. What is most hours of the morning. surprising about it is its tone: surprisingly In the next movement, “A letter home,” bright, even fervent in places — a a young girl teaches workers in the conundrum given its grim subject matter. local night school, then after “I lock the Although the years of the Cultural Revolution (as well as the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989, of which Su was a participant) are now ofﬁcially “forgotten” in China — the equivalent of the nightmare of 1933 to 1945 for Germans — Su’s libretto was able to be published and performed in his native land because it sidesteps the politics of the era in favor of the personal dimension. This is an irony, as young people of Su’s generation were instructed that indulging

schoolhouse door behind me,” she pens a letter to the mother she has not seen in years (translated from Su’s original by Austin Woerner): Mom, wherever you are, so far away, Your girl misses you. I want to fly, to fly away and meet you But I cannot find my wings. As befits the title of the work at large, the never-ending challenge to tame intractable

nature is an everyday reality for these young people, most of whom were “sent down” from cities. Witness movement No. 3, the chorus “Push back the wild’: Push back the jungle! Hey-ho hey-ho — Crack open the rocks! Hey-ho hey-ho — Ravage the weeds! Hey-ho hey-ho — For tomorrow we hope to see Rubber trees growing in emerald waves. In case the listener doesn’t get the idea, this verse is followed by a chorus, “Song of the Bulldozers.” In the concluding eighth movement, “This soil, these hills,” the tenor soloist and chorus offer up — of all things — thanks — to the land, their elders, their friends. And perhaps that is why Su Wei, having been robbed of his youth and much of his family life, can 40 years later smile genuinely telling his story and proclaim that he still loves his homeland. The Yale Concert Band’s premiere of Ask the Sky & the Earth will take place at 7:30 p.m. February 11 at Woolsey Hall, 400 College St., New Haven. (Also on the program is Chen Yi’s Dragon Rhyme.) Admission is free. To learn more phone 203-432-4158 or visit music. yale.edu.

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MUSIC

CRITIC’S PICK ‘Titan’ Meets Trinidad One of the foremost music-school ensembles in the United States, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale performs under

Classical

the baton of conductor Shinik Hahm. Concert will open with Andy Akiho’s new Concerto for Steel Pans, which received its

Yale College New Music presents Art Song III, new art songs written for mezzo soprano Jennifer Beattie and Adam Marks, piano. Music by Andy Alden, Taja Cheek, Baldwin Giang, Ananya Hemvijitraphan, Jonathan MacMillan, Nathan Prillaman, Jourdan Urbach, Alex Vourtsanis, Michael Klingbeil and Kathryn Alexander, the latter two of whom are co-directing this performance. 5:15 p.m. January 26 at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-2977,

S Soprano Janna Baty w will join the orchestra tto perform excerpts ffrom Alban Berg’s o opera Wozzeck. The o opera, based on Georg B Büchner’s play Woyzeck, w was a succès de scandale at iits premiere in 1925 and q quickly took off across E Europe. Baty, a member

beinecke.library@yale.edu. Wendy Sharp and Friends. A performance of chamber music by Yale School of Music faculty artist Wendy Sharp, violin, with Marka Gustavsson, viola, Mimi Hwang, cello, and pianist Melvin Chen. Featured work: BRAHMS Piano Quartet in A major, Op. 26. 4 p.m. January 30 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale.edu. Akahoshi & Parisot. As part of the Yale School of Music’s Faculty Artist Series, Ole Akahoshi, cello, and Elizabeth Parisot, piano, perform. Clarinetist

premiere December 9 in Sprague Hall. Akiho, a trained percussionist as well as composer who has studied steel pan culture iin Trinidad, will be the ssoloist in the piece.

Soprano Janna Baty joins the Yale Philharmonia for excerpts from Berg’s opera Wozzeck January 21 at Woolsey.

David Shifrin will join for BRAHMS Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114. 8 p.m. January 31 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale.edu. Pianist Peter Frankl continues his 75th birthday celebration with a recital of music by Beethoven and

Bartok. BARTOK Allegro barbaro; Three Burlesques; Three Rondos. BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 13 in E-flat Major (Quasi una Fantasia), Op. 27, No. 1; Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor (Quasi una Fantasia), Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”); Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111. 8 p.m. February 2 at Sprague Hall, 470 College

of the School of Music faculty, has been praised by the Boston Herald for her “voice brimming with richness and confidence.” The concert will culminate in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major, known as “The Titan” not for its size (though a performance requires some 100 musicians and lasts about one hour) but because Mahler originally based the work on Jean Paul’s novel of the same name. 8 p.m. January 21 at Woolsey Hall, 400 College St., New Haven. Free. 203432-4158, music.yale.edu.

St., New Haven. $22-$12 ($6 students). 203-432-4158, music.yale.edu. As part of Yale’s Faculty Artist Series, tenor James Taylor performs in recital. In a February 2008 NHM profile Taylor’s voice was described as “so facile and effortless that it makes lesser singers want to do him grave harm.” 8

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January / February 2011

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p.m. February 4 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-4324158, music.yale.edu. As part of Trinity Church’s Wendell H. Piehler Memorial Organ Series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the church magnificent AeolianSkinner pipe organ, Brett Terry of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music performs in recital. 5 p.m. February 5 at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven. 203776-2616, trinitynewhaven.org. A celebration of early music is The Queen Resplendent: A Musical Portrait of Elizabeth. A special concert commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Elizabethan Club at Yale. Featuring the Quaver Viol Consort: Marie Dalby, Brady Lanier, Loren Ludwig and Tobi Szuts, viole da gamba. 5:15 p.m. February 7 at Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, 15 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven. Free. 203-432-0825, yale. edu/musicalinstruments. One of the world’s foremost instrumental ensembles is the Tokyo String Quartet. MOZART Quartet in B-flat Major, K. 458 (Hunt); SZYMANOWSKI Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 37; MENDELSSOHN Quintet in B-flat Major, Op. 87 (with Ettore Causa, viola). 8 p.m. February 8 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. $35-$25 ($15 students). 203-4324158, music.yale.edu. Yale Opera stages a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, or the Libertine Punished, conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli and directed by Sam Helfrich. With set design by Andrew Holland, costume design by Kaye Voyce, and lighting design by William Warfel. Performed in Italian with English translations. 8 p.m. February 11-12, 2 p.m. February 13 at the Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $41-$19. 800-228-6622, shubert.com. Resilient People, Inspiring Stories. The New Haven Chorale is joined by trebles from the Trinity Boys and Girls Choirs (directed by R. Walden Moore) and student instrumentalists from the Neighborhood Music School in a presentation of powerful music of people engaged in overcoming great hardships — moving African-American spirituals, Hungarian songs by Kodaly and others, and Benjamin Britten’s haunting Rejoice in the Lamb, a setting of verse by 18th-century English poet Christopher Smart, who wrote the text while confined to St. Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics. 4:30 p.m. February 13 at Woolsey Hall, 400 College St., New Haven. $35-$20 ($15 senior, students free). 203-776-7664, newhavenchorale.org. With the passion, style and musical sophistication of the best chamber music and string quartet traditions, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet has successfully made its case as one of the world’s leading guitar ensembles since its founding in 1986. Its dizzying repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque to Spanish, Latin American and Romantic, to highly imaginative contemporary repertoire.

Works by Piazzola, Debussy, Purcell and original arrangements of several pieces by the great Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. 8 p.m. February 18 at Crowell Concert Hall, Wesleyan University, Middletown. $23 ($18 seniors). 860-6853355, wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Carrington leads a performance of music by Mondonville, Fauré, Berlioz and Poulenc. With Robert Mealy, violin. 3 p.m. February 27 at Woolsey Hall, Woolsey Hall, 400 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale. edu.

The undergraduate Yale Symphony Orchestra performs under the baton of guest conductor Robert Kapilow (Yale ’75), and guest violinist Wendy Sharp of the Yale School of Music faculty. BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61; TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 in E minor. 8 p.m. February 19 at Woolsey Hall, 400 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale. edu.

Popular

As part of the Horowitz Piano Series, Emanuel Ax returns to Yale for an all-Schubert program. Works include the Impromptus, Op. 142; Sonata in A Major, Op. 120, D. 664; and Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960. 8 p.m. February 23 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. $28-$18 ($10 students). 203-4324158, music.yale.edu. Under the direction of Shinik Hahm, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale offer two performances of 20th-century music for chamber orchestra and soloists under the collective title Concertante. BLOCH Concerto Grosso No. 1 for string orchestra with piano obbligato; RICHARD STRAUSS: DuettConcertino for clarinet and bassoon with string orchestra; FRANK MARTIN: Second Ballade, for flute, string orchestra, piano, and percussion (U.S. premiere); GINASTERA: Variaciones concertantes. Soloists include Ransom

Fresh from Charlottesville, Va. Come the deep-rooted harmonies and honest melodies of the Honey Dewdrops. The folk duo of Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish were winners of the 2008 Prairie Home Companion talent show (listen to them at thehoneydewdrops. com). 6:30-7:30 p.m. January 19 at New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm St., New Haven. Free. 203-946-8835, honeydewdrops.eventbrite.com. The national tour of Beatlemania Now comes to town for one show at the Birthplace of the Nation’s Greatest Hits. Multimedia tribute show recreates more than 30 of the Fab Four’s classic songs from the Ed Sullivan days to 1970’s Let It Be. 8 p.m. January 28 at Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $58-$15. 800-228-6622, shubert. com. Composer, saxophonist and all-around jazz legend Charles Lloyd comes to Wesleyan with his new quartet featuring Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland. 8 p.m. January 28 at Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Ave., Middletown. $23 ($18 seniors, $6 students). 860-6853355, wesleyan.edu/cfa. It’s for a good cause, for sure, this all-day Woofstock, subtitled Bikers Against Animal Cruelty. Whatever — it’s a boatload of bands: With a Twist, This Time Down, Gate House Blues, Bring the Knife, Trower tribute band Twice Removed and Solar Angels, a tribute to Judas Priest. Noon January 29 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $10. 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com. It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, but suffice it to say it involves beer, models, art and more beer. 4-7:30 p.m. January 30 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $8. 203-789-8281, cafénine.com.

In concert February 18 at Wesleyan, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet features (lr) Joseph Hagedorn, Jeff Lambert, Ben Gateño and Steven Newbroug.

The always-challenging Tet Offensive — basically a classical string quartet slumming on the pop-music periphery, from the Bee Gees to Nirvana — take the Nine by (maybe) storm. 9 p.m. February 3 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $5. 203-789-8281, cafénine. com. As part of his “No Better Than This” tour, legendary roots rocker John Mellencamp comes to the Brass City for a show segmented into three acts: acoustic, blues/country/rockabilly roots, and the performer with his full rock band. 7 p.m. February 4 at the Palace Theatre, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $130-$47.50. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org. Film and television actress and teen pop sensation (2010’s Sparks Fly) Miranda Cosgrove rocks Wallingford. 7:30 p.m. February 4 at the Oakdale Theatre, 95 S. Turnpike Rd., Wallingford. $41.50. 203-265-1501, livenation.com. HP presents L.A. rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars supported by MiddleClass Rut. 7:30 p.m. February 5 at the Oakdale Theatre, 95 S. Turnpike Rd., Wallingford. $41.50-$35.25. 203-265-1501, livenation.com. Possibly the name alone would recommend Hick’ry Hawkins & the Panty Sniffers, who traffic in beersoaked hillbilly/punk straight out of your nearest trailer park. If that’s not enough, how about the fact that the Knoxville (Tenn.) Sentinel called the band’s namesake lead singer “the David Lee Roth of country music.” Filthy Still opens. 9 p.m. February 4 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $8. 203-789-8281, cafénine.com. Fresh from his long-running gig as leader of the Tonight Show band with host Jay Leno comes Kevin Eubanks, the accomplished jazz guitarist out on a solo tour. 8 p.m. February 12 at Lyman Center, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent St., New Haven. $32 ($28 SCSU faculty/staff, $16 SCSU students). 203-392-6154, southernct.edu/ lymancenter. The undisputed godfather of thunderfunk, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic make what has become an annual pilgrimage to York Street. 9:30 p.m. February 17 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $30 ($28.50 advance). 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.

Wilson, flute; David Shifrin, clarinet; Frank Morelli, bassoon; and Jian Liu, piano. 8 p.m. February 25-26 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. $Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale.edu. Under the auspices of the Yale Institute for Sacred Music, the Yale Glee Club, Yale Camerata, Schola Cantorum, Yale Baroque Ensemble and Yale Symphony join forces for an evening of Musique Française. Guest conductor Simon

The Yale Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Thomas C. Duffy, performs its winter concert — an evening of eclectic jazz. 7:30 p.m. February 1 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale. edu.

Winners of Prairie Home Companion’s 2008 talent show, the Honey Dewdrops perform January 19 at the New Haven Fee Public Library.

American Idol idol Clay Aiken hits the road on his “Tried & True Tour,” which shares the name of his latest release of the singer’s favorite songs from the 1950s and ‘60s. 7:30 p.m. February 20 at the Palace Theatre, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $48-$38. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

new haven

New Haven I January/February 2011

The down-and-dirty on the upand-coming

Home is where the barn is

ANTHONY DECARLO

24 AT HOME

PHOTOGRAPH

05 INTEL

30 PUPPETS RULE 08 ONE2ONE New Haven actor Bruce Altman is a man of many masks

14 LOVE STORIES Real-life romances for the season of love

18 ROCK FESTIVAL Appreciating New England’s signature stone walls

20 THE NEED FOR SPEED Our Karen Singer test-drives the red-hot Tesla (actually, it was grey)

The amazing story of the Stony Creek puppets

32 PHONING IT IN Housatonic Museum exhibition something to call home about

36 FROM CHINA, WITH LOVE New music remembers something best left forgotten

43 WORD OF MOUTH Upscale Indian at Swagat, plus a ‘Burgers & Brews’ trail

46 DISCOVERED The pleasures of a trail less traveled

24 New Haven

| Vol. 4, No. 1 | January/February 2011

Publisher Mitchell Young, Editor Michael C. Bingham, Design Consultant Terry Wells, Contributing Writers Brooks Appelbaum, Susan Cornell, Duo Dickinson, Karen Singer, Margaret A. Little, Caitlin Marquis, Margaret McNellis, Melissa Nicefaro, Joanna Pettas, Jack Dickey, Makayla Silva, Cindy Simoneau, Chelsea Jacob Tyler, Photographers Steve Blazo, Anthony DeCarlo, Susan Falzone Senior Publisher’s Representatives Mary W. Beard, Roberta Harris, Ronni Rabin

January / February 2011

New Haven is published 8 times annually by Second Wind Media Ltd., which also publishes Business New Haven, with offices at 85 Willow St., New Haven, CT 06511. 203-7813480 (voice), 203-781-3482 (fax). Subscriptions $24.95/ year, $39.95/two years. Send name, address & zip code with payment. Second Wind Media Ltd. d/b/a New Haven shall not be held liable for failure to publish an advertisement or for typographical errors or errors in publication. For more information e-mail NewHaven@Conntact.com.

OUR COVER Cover Design and Typography by Terry Wells.

CALENDAR

BELLES LETTRES Psyche and Muse: Creative Entanglements with the Science of the Soul explores the influence of cultural, clinical and scientific dialogues about human psychology on 20th-century writers, artists and thinkers. The books, manuscripts and visual works in this exhibition represent aesthetic and philosophic lineages from the late 19th century to the post-war era; the exhibited materials reveal ways in which the study of psychology and core concepts of psychoanalysis were both intertwined with and opposed to artistic production throughout the 20th century. Works from the Beinecke Library’s 20th-century collections including the Modern European Books and Manuscripts Collection, the Yale Collection of American Literature, and the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters. Figures represented in the exhibition include Lou AndreasSalomé, James Baldwin, Max Ernst, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Moss Hart, Carl Jung and Eugene O’Neill. January 28-June 13 at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St., New Haven. Free. Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat. 203-432-2977, beineckelibrary@ yale.edu. The Mystery Book Club meets the first Wednesday to discuss a pre-selected book. Books are available for check out prior to the meeting. 3-4 p.m. January 5, February 2 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-483-6653, blackstone.lioninc.org/booktalk.htm. New members are welcomed to the Blackstone Library Second Tuesday Book Club. The group meets on the second Tuesday to discuss a preselected book. Books available for loan in advance of discussion. 6:45-8 p.m. January 11, February 8 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-488-1441, ext. 318, blackstone.lioninc. org/booktalk.htm. Christine Woodside leads Writing in Motion. Winter landscapes in New England have inspired some of the finest written works in the world. Learn the tactics of writing after sojourns into nature, and join the ranks of authors like Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesdays January 18-February 8 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Greene St., Middletown. $40 ($32 members). 860-685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org. Release your inner poet. Time Out for Poetry meets third Thursdays and welcomes those who wish to share an original short poem, recite a stanza or simply to listen. Ogden Nash, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss and even the Burma Shave signs live

January / February 2011

again. 12:30-2 p.m. January 20, February 17 at Scranton Library, 801 Boston Post Rd., Madison. Free. 203-245-7365. February is the month to enter the third annual New Haven Free Public Library Poetry Contest. This year’s theme is “New Haven + Promises,” and poets are encouraged to interpret the theme in fresh and original ways. Cash prizes! Entry deadline March 1. Particulars at 2011poetry.eventbrite.com.

BENEFITS The 20th annual St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation Gala is a black-tie soirée that last year raised more than $300,000 for the Waterbury hospital’s surgical services. With a Roaring ‘20s theme, event features dinner, entertainment and legendary live and silent auctions filled with prizes that range from luxuriously elegant to smart and practical. 5:30 p.m.-midnight February 5 at Aqua Turf, Plantsville. $200. 203-709-6390, foundation@stmh.org.

CINEMA An Evening of Classic Silent Films. For one rare evening, Trinity Church will become a time capsule, transporting visitors back to the movie palaces of the Roaring ‘20s when silent films as brought to life by live organ music were extremely popular forms of public entertainment. John Schwandt, associate professor of organ and director of the American Organ Institute at the University of Oklahoma, will use his amazing skills as an improvisor to accompany two hilariously funny films that children of all ages will love: Teddy at the Throttle (1917) starring Gloria Swanson, and The General (1926) starring Buster Keaton and widely regarded as the most popular silent film ever. 7 p.m. February 11 at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven. $10 (children $5). Free popcorn, refreshments and child care available. trinitynewhaven.org. The Extra Man (2010, USA, 108 min.) A lonely writer quits his job at a Princeton prep school and sets his sights on New York, where he forges an unlikely bond with an eccentric playwright who now earns his living as an escort for wealthy Manhattan widows. With Kevin Kline, Katie Homes. 1-3 p.m. February 22 at Blackstone Memorial Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-488-1441, blackstonelibrary.org.

COMEDY Have you ever met a real talking dog? Get ready because when comedian and ventriloquist Todd Oliver & Friends take the stage you’ll meet three of them. Oliver’s clean (suitable for all ages), original comedy has been a hit at theaters, casinos and events nationwide. He has appeared on Leno, Letterman, Ferguson the Today Show and more. 3 p.m. February 13 at Lyman Center, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent St., New Haven. $15 ($10 children, $8 SCSU students/ staff ). 203-392-6154, southernct.edu/ lymancenter.

The Tracy Morgan Black & Blue Comedy Tour comes to the Brass City. A stand-up comic who has headlined across the country, Morgan was first introduced to TV audiences in his role as “Hustleman” on the comedy series Martin. He went on to join Saturday Night Live in 1996 where he appeared for seven seasons and created such memorable characters as “Astronaut Jones” and “Brian Fellows.” He currently co-stars on NBC’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning 30 Rock. 8 p.m. February 18 at Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $46.50-$26.50. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

the monument features a large sculpture with a Star of David base. Six curved bars wrapped in barbed wire symbolize Nazi concentration

CULINARY Consiglio’s Cooking Class Club. Chef Maureen Nuzzo explains and demonstrates how to prepare mouthwatering southern Italian dishes that have been passed down from generation to generation. January’s menu features baked clams Casino, arugula salad, lobster ravioli with shrimp and old-fashioned ice-box cake. For February it’s tomato fennel soup with gremolata, panzanella salad, rigatoni Bolognese and strawberry Napoleon. Are you hungry yet? 6:30 p.m. January 6, 20, 27 and February 3, 17, 24 at Consiglio’s Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven. $65. Reservations. 203865-4489, consiglios.com.

DANCE Learn Belly Dancing from Gia Khalsa for fun, freedom, power and joy. Work the torso and find your center through rhythmic shimmies, veil work and female empowerment. All ages, body types and skill levels welcome. 7:30-8:30 p.m. Thursdays January 20-February 10 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Greene St., Middletown. $40 ($32 members). 860685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org. As part of its Breaking Ground dance series, Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts presents Vincent Mantsoe, known for his singular and virtuosic movement vocabulary that fuses South African traditional and ritual dance with contemporary street dance forms from around the world. He will present a new work exploring the journey and spirit of South Africa’s Khoi-San people as they have been forced to retreat from open land. This Paris-based company of five dancers, with a soundscape of poetry by Rumi and Iranian music played on traditional Persian instruments, will present a mesmerizing work that is at once trance-like, visceral and uplifting. 8 p.m. February 5, 3 p.m. February 6 at Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, Middletown. $21-$8. 860-685-3355, boxoffice@wesleyan.edu.

EXHIBITIONS The new exhibition Memory and Legacy tells the story of the New Haven Holocaust Memorial. Located at the corner of Whalley Avenue and West Park Avenue and dedicated in 1977, it was the country’s first Holocaust Memorial built on public land. Built solely through private donations by survivors, their neighbors and friends,

In a February 6 performance at Wesleyan, Vincent Mantsoe and his Paris-based company fuse South African traditional and ritual dance with contemporary street dance forms from around the world. camps, and small evergreens in the monument’s base honor the six million Jewish Holocaust victims. Designed by architect Augustus J. Franzoni, the memorial stands in the center of a grassy plaza. The exterior wall features 18 granite plaques bearing the names of European killing centers that touched the lives of local Holocaust survivors. A box containing dirt and ashes from the Auschwitz concentration camp was interred in the center of the site during groundbreaking ceremonies. Open 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. weekdays January 24-February 25 at Arnold Bernhard Library, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mt. Carmel Ave., Hamden. Free. 203-582-8652.

EXPOSITIONS Think spring! The Connecticut Marine Trades Association presents the 42nd annual Hartford Boat Show. The most up-to-date collection of boats. From personal watercraft to center consoles, fishing and luxury cruisers. Also, marine accessories, fishing gear and tackle and fun places to visit. Noon to 9 p.m. January 28; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. January 29; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. January 30 at Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. $12 (under 12 free). 860-249-6000. The 14th annual Northeast Fishing & Hunting Expo showcases the latest products for outdoor enthusiasts. Meet fly-fishing experts and test your skills on the Fishing Simulator to win a rod and reel. Hunters can try out the laser shooting range. For kids, an air shooting range and bass casting competition. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. February 18-19; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. February 20 at Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. $10 ($2 children 6-12, under 6 free). 860-844-8461, fishinghuntingexpo.com.

FAMILY EVENTS

and/or CO2 inflators) to repair flats. 10 a.m. Sundays at Lulu’s European Café, 49 Cottage St., New Haven. Free. 203773-9288, paulproulx@sbcglobal.net, elmcitycycling.org.

Each Tuesday the Yale Astronomy Department hosts a Planetarium Show. Weather permitting there is also public viewing of planets, nebulae, star clusters and whatever happens to be interesting in the sky. Viewable celestial objects change seasonally. 7 & 8 p.m. Tuesdays at Leitner Family Observatory, 355 Prospect St., New Haven. Free. cobb@astro.yale.edu, astro.yale.edu. Creating Readers Saturdays at 2 Program. A fun, interactive program that engages young readers by bringing books to life using theater, dance and music. Each family that attends receives a copy of that week’s book to take home. 2 p.m. Saturdays at Connecticut Children’s Museum, 22 Wall St., New Haven. $5. 203-562-5437, childrensbuilding.org. School may be out, but the annual celebration of dinosaurs is in! Dinosaur Days at the Yale Peabody Museum. Hands-on activities for the whole family at the famous fossil dig and touch table. Watch museum experts prepare dino bones for display or see a Roxi Foxi puppet show (11 a.m. weekdays) and visit the Leitner Planetarium just two blocks away for free planetarium shows (3 & 4 p.m.). 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. February 21-25 at Yale Peabody Museum, 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven. $9 ($8 seniors, $5 children, under 3 free). 203432-5050, peabody.yale.edu. Spend four days at the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Winter Vacation Camp. Beachcombing, games, crafts and live creatures! Learn about how animals get ready for winter, look for treasures along the shoreline, identify animals by their tracks and conduct water experiments. Bring lunch and wear clothing for all weather conditions. 9 a.m.-noon February 22-25 at CAS Nature Center at Milford Point, 1 Milford Point Rd., Milford. $35/day, $120/4 days CAS members, $45/$160 non-members. 203-878-7440, ctaudubon.org.

HORTICULTURE It will be hard not to think spring at the 30th annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show. Colorful, fragrant show covers almost three acres with the theme “Capture the Magic.” Highlights include more than two dozen gardens filling 45,000 square feet, created by professional landscape designers and nonprofit organizations, and include naturalistic, low-maintenance and organic gardens. Also, seminars by experienced horticulturists and experts including Roger Swain (“The Man in the Red Suspenders”), former host of PBS’ The Victory Garden and HGTV’s People, Places & Plants. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. February 24-26, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. February 27 at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. $14. 860844-8461, ctflowershow.com.

LECTURES Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and former national correspondent for the New York Times, will discuss her new book, The

Tuesday Night Canal Rides. Mediumpaced rides up the Farmington Canal into New Haven. May split into two groups based on riders’ speed but no one will be left behind to ride alone. Lights are essential. 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Café Romeo, 534 Orange St., New Haven. Free. william.v.kurtz@gmail. com. Get in the swing for spring at the 30th annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show February 24-27 at the Connecticut Convention Center. Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, during which six million African-Americans (including the author’s parents) abandoned the South between 1915 and 1970. Wilkerson won the 1994 for feature writing when she was Chicago bureau chief for the Times, the first black woman to win a Pulitzer in journalism and the first African-American to win for individual reporting. 7 p.m. January 26 in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mt. Carmel Ave., Hamden. Free. 203-582-8652.

MIND, BODY & SOUL Led by Nelie Doak, Yoga promotes a deep sense of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Classes are designed to help cultivate breath and body awareness, improve flexibility, strengthen and tone muscles, detoxify the body and soothe the spirit. All levels welcome. Bring a yoga mat. 5-6:30 p.m. Fridays at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. $10. 203-4881441, ext. 313, yogidoakie@earthlink. net or events@blackstone.lioninc.org, blackstone.lioninc.org. Tai Chi for Health with instructor Ellie Toy. Tai Chi is a unique amalgam of meditation and motion that helps its practitioners increase energy as they improve circulation, balance, flexibility and strength. Suitable for anyone,

even participants with arthritis or limited movement. Noon-1 p.m. Fridays January 21-February 11 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Greene St., Middletown. $40 ($32 members). 860-685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org. Full Moon Gong Relaxation. Deep sound healing with Kundalini yoga and meditative gong vibrations promise to bring you awareness and balance, physically and spiritually. 5-7 p.m. January 23, February 20 at Your Community Yoga Center, 39 Putnam Ave., Hamden. $20. 203-287-2277, yourcommunityyoga.com.

NATURAL HISTORY Black Holes: Space Warps & Time Twists. This Peabody exhibition explores some of the most mysterious and powerful objects in the universe: black holes. These regions in space, sometimes only a few kilometers across, have gravity so powerful that matter drawn into them is lost forever. Einstein predicted black holes, but doubted whether they could exist in nature. Today evidence suggests they are quite common. There is even a “supermassive black hole” at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Through May 1 at Yale Peabody Museum, 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, noon-5 p.m. Sun. $9 ($8 seniors, $5 children). 203-432-5050, peabody.yale.edu.

SPORTS/RECREATION Cycling Elm City Cycling organizes Lulu’s Ride, weekly two- to four-hour rides for all levels (17-19 mph average). Cyclists leave at 10 a.m. from Lulu’s European Café as a single group; no one is dropped. 10 a.m. Sundays at Lulu’s European Café, 49 Cottage St., New Haven. Free. 203-773-9288, elmcitycycling.org.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson discusses her new book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration January 26 at Quinnipiac.

The Little Lulu (LL) is an alternative to the long-standing Sunday morning training ride. The route is usually 20-30 miles in length and the ride is no-drop, meaning that the group waits at hilltops and turns so that no rider is left behind. The LL is an opportunity for cyclists to get accustomed to riding in groups. Riders should come prepared with materials (tubes, tools, pumps

Elm City Cycling monthly meeting occurs on the second Monday. ECC is a non-profit organization of cycling advocates who meet to discuss biking issues in New Haven. Dedicated to making New Haven friendlier and more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. 7 p.m. January 10, February 14 at City Hall Meeting Rm. 2, 165 Church St., New Haven. Free. elmcitycycling.org.

Road Races/Triathlons Join the Milford Road Runners (motto: “10K Every Day…Almost”) for their annual Winter Wonderland Five-Miler, a USTAF-certified and –sanctioned event. 9:30 a.m. January 30 at Platt Regional Technical School, 600 Orange Ave., Milford. $16 advance, $20 day of race. runbob48@aol.com. Slip on your running shoes for a good cause and start your Super Bowl Sunday off with Honest Tea’s Run for Refugees. A challenging certified 5K run and walk course through East Rock Park. Benefits Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS), which assists refugees from the U.S. resettlement program who may have had to flee their homes to avoid torture, persecution or death. T-shirts, computerized timing and post-race party. 10 a.m. February 6 at Wilbur Cross High School, 181 Mitchell Dr., New Haven. $20-$14. 203-481-5933, jbsports. com. If you’re training for April’s Boston Marathon, then the Colchester Half-Marathon could not be more felicitously placed on the calendar. Course is a challenging, hilly out-andback 13.1-mile (obviously) loop. 10 a.m. February 26 at Bacon Academy, 611 Norwich Ave., Colchester. $12 advance, $15 day of race. r-kon@sbcglobal.net, thelastmileracing.com. Please send CALENDAR information to CALENDAR@conntact.com no later than six weeks preceding calendar month of event. Please include date, time, location, event description, cost and contact information. Photographs must be at least 300 dpi resolution and are published at discretion of NEW HAVEN magazine.

new haven

STONEWALLS Continued from 19 factories or “real” farms out West, leaving those mute rock walls where they stood. What remains today is the image of relatively young forests completely engulﬁng those stone walls. The inexorable explosion of natural growth is utterly ignorant of the millions of hours of backbreaking human labor needed to remove the stones, create walls, and farm the land. The poignancy is undeniable. A herculean effort has proven to be futile, and the bottomless reservoir of life-force that is our natural world swallowed what humankind had only temporarily tamed.

YYY A 2007 USA Today article noted that the appeal of stone walls was so magnetic that the stones themselves were being purloined, wall by wall, and remounted in McMansion facades and new gated community walls. This pilfering, the paper reported, had caused a new preservation movement to spontaneously erupt — led by Robert Thorson himself. As Thorson noted in that article: “Areas have their signature land forms, and in

New England it’s the stone wall. They shout out, ‘I’m here — I’m here and nowhere else.”’ What does that reality have to do with anything other than being a graphic example of the ultimate futility of human striving? Beyond their historic reality, this man-and-nature tableau is ripe for metaphoric interpretation. Metaphors are dangerous — forcing a connection between a state of being and a physical reality has more obvious downsides than upside potential. “Dumb as a post” works quite well for me, but I’ve never understood why any part of a witch’s anatomy would be cold given their hellbent status. I ﬁnd these walls to be a powerful silent metaphor for parenthood in its full cycle. In preparation to creating a nest we clear the raw forest of our childless lives of the many things that can’t be there when we completely reorient the way we live to having children. We cultivate a fertile place where our children can grow and remove all obstacles to that growth. Parents do everything they can to protect their spawn from life’s hazards — drugs, bad behavior, poor grades, strange haircuts, tattoos. But in creating a safe place

to grow and providing by walling off the dangers of a cruel world for our children, we have only temporarily held back the inevitable transition those nurturing acts facilitated. Our “crop” — our offspring — are bound by the walls that we have created only until their own life-force — their inexorable need to be who they are — overwhelms those walls and their careful cultivation. If we are good parents, our best efforts at control are supposed to fail. We never harvest their bounty — they simply outgrow our boundaries. So as my children return from college for the holidays as (mostly) grown men, I realize that all the preparations that my wife and I undertook — the building of walls to keep them safe — are ultimately and inevitably overcome by the fact that the greater world takes over, our children become adults, and our ability to cultivate, fertilize, weed and deﬁne the edges upon which our children grow naturally ceases to exist. I’m not so sure what that ﬁnally means, but as with many other things these days, these abandoned walls amid raging trees makes me a little weepy.

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NEW EATS: Himalayan Restaurant

he restaurant world is in constant motion: Chefs move on, owners cash out and many more just close their doors. So it’s gratifying in a particularly trying time to see an owner revamp in a positive direction and bring something new to New Haven’s dining scene.

Shekhar Shrestha has overhauled the menu and concept at his Temple Street eatery several times, from eclectic to pan-Asian. Reopened this winter as Himalayan Restaurant, the eatery is focusing on Nepali, Indian and Tibetan cuisine and offering something different and well executed to downtown diners. Himalayan has the same décor as its previous incarnations: A front row of booths set off by long silky drapes and

SUSAN FAZONE

Shekhar Shrestha has overhauled the menu and concept at his Temple Street eatery, now known as Himalayan Restaurant.

hanging light ﬁxtures. Prompt, friendly service adds to its appeal as a post-movie or pre-nightlife stop. A steaming cup of Himalayan coffee is a good way warm up after a chilly downtown stroll — be sure to add a bit of sugar to bring out the spices. The brew was a bit light-bodied on a recent evening but enlivened by a crumble of cardamom at the bottom of the cup. Dive into the exotic with appetizers like Kathmandu momo or kothe, both dumpling variations from the Roof of the World. The vegetable kothe featured a eggroll-like mix of veggies encased in a bready crust similar to that of an empanada. Dipped in a bright cilantro sauce, they were appealing and satisfying.

A main dish of fried noodles with lamb was also a refreshing deviation from the familiar, with tasty chunks of meat, tomatoes and peppers enlivened by a spicy sauce that was a lighter and brighter version of a curry. An actual curry with okra was a ﬂavorful but a bit oily, better when sopped up with musky basmati rice. Himalayan naan bread with raisins provided a sweet counterpoint to the spices. Desserts are variations on Indian classics like rice pudding and fried milk balls in syrup. Himalayan’s menu promises more surprises and makes it a welcome addition to the downtown smorgasbord. Himalayan Restaurant, 25 Temple St., New Haven (203-553-7675).

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Chef/owner John Nanetti has been adding more dishes from his native South India to the menu in the past year.

ndian food in New Haven has gone upscale in recent years with the eateries of Prasad Chirnomula, who has brought his entrepreneurial ﬂair to bear at his two Thali restaurants in the Elm City. Coromandel, in Orange, an outpost of another mini-chain of high-end South Asian food, dazzles with its take on the ﬁery specialties of Goa and Kerala.

But for those seeking simpler — and more affordable — pleasures of the Subcontinent, longtime West Haven favorite Swagat is the place to go. Chef/owner John Nanetti has been adding more dishes from his native South India to the menu in the past year and kept his prices low. It’s a great night out and one of the best bargains in the area. Nanetti opened Swagat in a faded commercial strip off the Post Road in 2002 and has won raves from publications like the New York Times

with his take on classics from across South Asia. New to his repertoire are dishes like chili chicken and Gongoora lamb, which features an unusual sour green reminiscent of spinach. “It has a fantastic taste,” says Nanetti, who promises more treats from lesser-known regions of India as his menu evolves. A signature dish of the South, masala dosa, is the perfect start to a meal at Swagat, with Nanetti’s version rivaling anything downtown with its blend of crisp crepe and an ample serving of spicy potato filling. A coconut chutney boasts a full, nutty flavor that harmonizes with chunks of cashew in the filling for a satisfying and savory treat. Eggplant curry also impresses with its bright flavors and appealing texture, thanks to chunks of fresh tomato. Okra also kept its toothsome bite in a subtle sauce

pungent with garlic and chilies. Buttery paratha bread fresh from the oven came in handy to mop up the last of the sauces, along with forkfuls of aromatic basmati rice. Sip one of the rich lassi yogurt drinks on offer with your meal to balance out the heat. We fi nished with rasmalai, a dessert featuring spongy orbs of cheese in sweet milk flavored with cardamom and rosewater. Simple yet exotic, and the perfect end to a winning meal. If you can’t face the Post Road traffic to get to Swagat’s bricks-andmortar location, be sure to sample Nanetti’s cuisine at his popular cart parked in front of Yale-New Haven Hospital during weekday lunchtimes. The high quality and low prices can’t be beat. Swagat, 215 Orange Ave., West Haven (203-931-0108).

EDITOR’S PICK: Burgers and Brews Trail

’m sure it’s perfectly scenic, but the Connecticut Wine Trail has yet to make it onto my to-do list. With only handful of vineyards anywhere near New Haven, it’s a bit far-ﬂung to ﬁt into a typical weekend itinerary. The new Connecticut “Burgers and Brews Trail,” however, is a bit more New Haven-centered and budget-friendly.

The brainchild of the Central Regional Tourism District, the trail unites the Nutmeg State’s devotion to the patty and the pint glass in a colorful and informative brochure. You can find the publication at the district’s website (centerofct.com) or pick one up at a participating business. The tourism agency defines its area as a swath of the state from Granby south to Milford, with the guide’s main focus on Hartford and New Haven. It would be great company on a day trip to our neighboring cities to the north or as inspiration to try regional specialties in the towns in between. Let’s not get into the controversy around Louis Lunch’s claims to inventing the hamburger, much less the merits of a steamed verses grilled burger. Historians and food scientists can evaluate those claims. What can be celebrated by all is the diversity of the region’s bun-centric offerings, from the beloved steamed patties of Ted’s in Meriden to Louis’ “no-ketchup” classics. On the brew side, if the colorful brochure brings more visitors to the atmospheric City Steam brewpub in Hartford or our own Bar on Crown Street, it will be doing God’s work. Of course a few notables are left out, such as New Haven’s own New England Brewing, probably because tasting opportunities are limited at the brewery. Exciting new pubs like Mikro in Hamden and Cask Republic in New Haven opened too recently to make the cut and Willimantic Brewing Co. should be on any beer-lover’s bucket list, regardless of geography. On the burger side, a few too many chains like Five Guys and Sonic are featured prominently: Do they really need our tax dollars to advertise? But as a handy guide to the eats and drinks that make our region special, the Burgers and Brews Trail fits the bill. Anyone up for a salmon burger and wheat beer at downtown’s Prime 16? Burgers and Brews Trail Guide, available at centerofct.com.

Image from Burgers and Brews Trail Guide, available at centerofct.com.

new haven

Choosing the Trail Less Traveled

Chatfield Trail zigzags through woods, past dramatic rock formations, hemlock and pine forests and through Indian caves.

By SUSAN E. CORNELL

hatﬁeld Hollow State Park in Killingworth is well-known for hiking, picnicking, ﬁshing and swimming. Countless pooches and their humans from all over Connecticut and beyond spend anywhere from a couple of hours to the entire day at the recreation area — searching out Indian caves, gathering for a family reunion cookout, or just walking with the dog and family.

I’ve been hiking Chatfield’s trails for over two decades, but it wasn’t until my teenage trekking companion asked about the trail across the street from park that we found that we had been unknowingly passing by the best trail of all — the one not on the map — all of these years. I asked the ranger in the booth at the park entrance about the trail with the sign that reads “Chatfield Trail,” thinking that this is obviously the place to go. There was no information on the trail to be found, so we just decided to seize the day and see where the path led. Part of the beauty of Chatfield Trail is clearly just natural beauty. It zigzags through woods, past dramatic rock 46

January / February 2011

formations, hemlock and pine forests, through Indian caves (literally, through caves), and the views include Long Island Sound — pretty remarkable considering Killingworth is one town away from Connecticut’s shoreline. The other part of the beauty is the absence of other hikers and canines. If you need to get away by yourself and ponder the meaning of life, you will pretty much be guaranteed to ﬁnd yourself alone with Mother Nature. I last hiked on a sunny Sunday afternoon in mid-January, four days after the blizzard. The trail was worn only by snowshoes and deer tracks. I saw no one. In the fall and summer, however, I do occasionally encounter a runner or hiker — which can be rather reassuring if you’re in the woods map-free. Fortunately, the trail is well marked. After discovering what I consider to be one of the best hiking trails in the world, I decided to check online for a map. I could not ﬁnd a good one, but did learn that the trail can be found in The Connecticut Walk Book East, available through the

Connecticut Forest & Park Association, as well as on Amazon.com, REI.com, etc. You may see a couple of cars parked at one of the entrances to the trail, which is on the other side of the street and just south of the state park, but it’s certainly not considered a parking lot. (At peak foliage time, there may be as many as eight in a small dirt “lot,” but likely few or none the rest of the year.) Alternately, one can park at the entrance to Chatﬁeld Hollow and cross the street where there is a small wooden sign indicating the trail entrance. The walk in the woods can be a short 2.5mile loop or a much longer trek past the Deer Lake Scout Reservation. Chatﬁeld Trail runs between Rt. 80 and River Road in Killingworth, so you can spend an hour or a day in woodland paradise. Sometimes curiosity rather than a piece of paper leads us to the best destinations. Directions: From Rt. 9, take Exit 9. Follow Rt. 81 south to Rt. 80 west and watch for park entrance signs. From I-95, take Exit 63. Follow Rt. 81 north to Rt. 80 west.

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NEW HAVEN MAGNET FAIR Wednesday, January 13, 2010 6-8pm New Haven Athletics Center, 480 Sherman Pkwy (next to Hillhouse), (203) 946-7415 Providing prospective students and their families the opportunity to meet with representatives from all the New Haven Schools below.

OPEN HOUSE DATES 2011

Individual schools open their doors to prospective students and their parents for tours and Q&A.

PRE-K & ELEMENTARY BARNARD ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (PreK-8) 170 Derby Ave., (203) 691-3500 Monday, Jan. 24, 6pm, SNOW: Jan. 31 Thursday, Jan. 27, 6pm, SNOW: Feb. 3 School Tours by appointment. Call Evonne Duzant at 691-3514.

L.W. BEECHER MUSEUM SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES (PreK-8) 100 Jewel St., (203) 691-3800 Wed., Jan. 19, 6-7:30pm, SNOW: Jan. 26 Thurs., Jan. 20, 10-11:30, SNOW: Jan. 27 Shadowing (Grades 5-8): Jan. 25, Feb.1, 8, 15 by appointment. Call Erin Michaud at 691-3829.

KING /ROBINSON INT’L BACCALAUREATE (PreK-8) 150 Fournier St., (203) 691-2700 Thursday, Jan. 13, 10:30, SNOW: Jan. 20 Thursday, Feb. 3, 5pm, SNOW: Feb. 10 Shadowing (all grades): Feb. 10 or 17, 10:30am by appointment. Call Ms. Brittingham at 691-2738 or Ms. Merritt at 691-2745.

HIGH SCHOOLS COOPERATIVE ARTS & HUMANITIES 177 College St., (203) 691-2400 Monday, Jan. 31, 6pm Thursday, Feb. 3, 8:30am Shadowing available by appointment. Call Roxanda Medina at 691-2420.

JOHN S. MARTINEZ MAGNET (K-8)

HIGH SCHOOL IN THE COMMUNITY

100 James St., (203) 691-2000 Wed., Jan. 19, 8:30-4:30pm, SNOW: Jan. 20 Wed., Jan. 26, 3-5:30pm, SNOW: Feb. 2

175 Water St., (203) 946-7022 Wed., Jan. 19, 6-8pm, SNOW: Jan. 26 Saturday, Feb. 5, 12-2pm, SNOW: Feb. 6 Shadowing available by appointment. Call Paulette Jackson at ext. 2106.

MAURO-SHERIDAN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS MAGNET (PreK-8)

HILL REGIONAL CAREER HIGH SCHOOL

199-200 Wilmot Rd., (203) 946-8640 Thursday, Feb. 3, 6-8pm Monday, Feb. 7, 6-8pm

191 Fountain St., (203) 691-2848 Thursday, Jan. 20, 10am-12pm Thursday, Jan. 27, 6-8pm SNOW: Thursday, Feb. 3, 6-8pm Shadowing (Grades 2-8): Feb. 8-11 by appointment. Call Joyce Listro at 691-2848.

HARRY A. CONTE/WEST HILLS (K-8)

MICROSOCIETY (PreK4-8)

HYDE LEADERSHIP

511 Chapel St., (203) 946-8613 Monday, Jan. 10, 10:30-11:30am Wednesday, Jan. 12, 5-6pm

311 Valley St., (203) 946-8828 Wednesday, Jan. 19, 10-2pm & 5-7pm Wednesday, Jan. 26, 10-2pm Wednesday, Feb. 2,10-2pm & 5-7pm Wednesday, Feb. 9, 10-2pm Thursday, Feb. 10, 10-2pm SNOW: Jan. 27 & Feb. 11, 10am-2pm Shadowing (all grades): Jan. 26, Feb. 9, 10 by appointment. Call Cynthia Willetts.

306 Circular Ave., (Hamden), (203) 946-8121 Monday, Jan. 10, 5-7pm Friday, Feb. 11, 9-11am Shadowing available by appointment. Call Ms. Shannon Nkrumah 946-7556.

BRENNAN-ROGERS: THE ART OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA (K-8)

JOHN C. DANIELS SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION (PreK-8) 569 Congress Ave., (203) 691-3604 Thursday, Jan. 20, 6pm Wednesday, Feb. 2, 6pm SNOW: Wednesday, Feb. 9, 6pm Please call Kim Fullton to arrange a personal tour during the school day.

DAVIS STREET ARTS & ACADEMICS (PreK-8) 130 Orchard St. (temporary), (203) 946-8660 Sunday, Jan. 23, 12pm, SNOW: Jan. 30 Tuesday, Jan. 25, 10:30am, SNOW: Jan. 27 Shadowing (Grades 3-8) by appointment. Call Marianne Apuzzo.

140 Legion Ave., (203) 946-5845 Tuesday, Jan. 18, 4-6pm, SNOW: Jan. 20 Saturday, Jan. 29, 11-1pm, SNOW: Feb. 5 Shadowing: Jan. 12, 19, Feb. 2, 9, 16, Mar. 16, 23, 30 by appointment. Call Ms. Shawn Blowes.

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ROSS WOODWARD CLASSICAL STUDIES (PreK-8) 185 Barnes Ave., (203) 691-3113 Sat., Jan. 15, 10-12pm, SNOW: Jan. 16 Wed., Jan. 19, 6pm, SNOW: Jan. 20 Wed., Jan. 26, 10-12pm, SNOW: Jan. 27 Shadowing (Grades 3-4): Feb. 1, 10-12, (Grades 5-6): Feb. 3, 10:30-12:30, (Grades 7-8): Feb. 8, 10:30-12:30 by appointment. Call Ashley Stockton at 691-3113.

NEW HAVEN ACADEMY 444 Orange St., (203) 946-8995 Saturday, January 22, 10am-12pm Sunday, January 30, 12-2pm Saturday, February 12, 10am-12pm Shadowing available Mon., Tues. & Wed. by appointment.

EAST ROCK COMMUNITY MAGNET (K-8) 130 Leeder Hill Dr., (Hamden), (203) 946-8867 Tuesday, Feb. 1, 10-11am & 6-7pm SNOW: Tue., Feb. 8, 10-11am & 6-7pm

EDGEWOOD MAGNET (K-8) 737 Edgewood Ave., (203) 946-8611 Thursday, Jan. 13, 10:15am Wednesday, Feb. 2, 6:30pm Wednesday, Feb. 9, 10:15am SNOW: Feb. 10, 10:15am

BENJAMIN JEPSON MULTI-AGE (PreK-8) 15 Lexington Ave., (203) 691-2900 Wednesday, Jan. 12, 5:30-7pm Thursday, Jan. 20, 10-11:30am Tuesday, Jan. 25, 10-11:30am Shadowing (Grades 6-8) by appointment. Call Fidelma Keogh at 691-2928.

115 Water St., (203) 497-7700 Tuesday, Jan. 11, 4-6pm, SNOW: Jan. 13 Saturday, Jan. 22 11-1pm, SNOW: Jan. 29 Shadowing available Tues. & Thurs. by appointment. Call Ann Brillante.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

RIVERSIDE EDUCATION ACADEMY 560 Ella T. Grasso Blvd., (203) 946-7181 Thursday, Jan. n. 20, 3-6pm Thursday, Feb. eb. 10, 4-6pm

ENGINEERING & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL (6-9) 804 State St., (203) 946-6610 Wednesday, Jan. 19, 6:30-7:30pm Thursday, Feb. 17, 6:30-7:30pm Shadowing granted upon request. Call Anna for assistance.

BETSY ROSS ARTS MAGNET (5-8) 150 Kimberly Ave., (203) 946-8974 Wednesday, Jan. 19, 10am Thursday, Feb. 3, 5pm

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IN TE L for marijuana possession. In 2007 then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a “medical marijuana” bill. New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney (D11) is a leading advocate for decriminalization, but support even among Democrats may not be there. Last go-round Stamford State Rep. Gerald Fox III (D-146) opposed decriminalization.

Malloy Gets a Buzz Going HARTFORD — Perhaps with the snow covering your window, you missed what the Connecticut Post reported: that Connecticut’s new governor, Dannel Malloy, may be leaning toward decriminalizing marijuana and allowing its sale for “medical” purposes.

Support from Republicans is unlikely. One, Wilton State Sen. Antonietta (Toni) Boucher (R-26), told the Post, “It’s a dangerous direction and I will be opposing it vigorously.”

Idiot App Not Yet in Stores

The Post reported that a Malloy study group concluded that “State policy toward illegal drugs is expensive, ineffective and destructive of neighborhoods and families.” Malloy’s own son Ben Malloy, then 21, was arrested on charges of attempted armed robbery after an incident involving a marijuana deal in Darien. He was sentenced to probation, in November 2007 he was arrested

Will the Last One To Leave…

Jacqueline Kennedy wore them with grace and elegance that made her a shining icon the world over. ﬁlthyrichofnewhaven.com • 203-793-7520

January / February 2011

NEW LONDON — Twenty-yearold Jerome Taylor tried to rob the Northern India Restaurant using his iPhone as a potential weapon. Apparently Taylor didn’t reckon that the kitchen staff had real knives, and they easily thwarted the robbery. The New London Day reported that after hearing Taylor’s tale of woe, the staff declined to press charges. Not so the police, which charged him with attempted robbery.

HARTFORD — Being a small retailer in downtown Hartford

Valentine’s Day

doesn’t appear to be getting any easier. Two long-term Hartford retailers may be closing up shop: the 111-year-old O.F. Stengelin Cutlery and the 40-yearold Tobacco Shop at 55 Asylum Street where, according to the Hartford Courant, “customers are free to pull up a chair and light up a cigar.” Both stores are facing significant rent increases. Their building is run by Grunberg Management, which cites the loss of tenant Bank of America and a need to invest in the property as the driver of a rent increase.

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Shearing the Love NEW HAVEN — Rimagé Salon & Spa at 1210 Chapel Street will open its doors from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 13, to support the work of Liberty Community Services in its efforts to end homelessness “one person at a time, one open door at a time.” Rimagé Artistic Director Lenny Yanavich and his team of stylists will style and cut your hair so that you will have a new ‘do just in time for Valentine’s Day — for only $25. Come and enjoy music, door prizes, raffles, food and beverages, all to benefit Liberty Community Services. For more information, contact Liberty Community Services at 203-4951769 or e-mail Ellen.Gabrielle@ libertycs.org.

Anthem Ponies Up NORTH HAVEN â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut employees and its foundation donated $610,253 to philanthropic and civic organizations throughout Connecticut in 2010. Employees themselves donated $209,000 and the pledged funds received a 50-percent match from the parent companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foundation, increasing their total contribution to $314,845.

From Milford to Marbial MILFORD â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Members of St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R.C. Church are providing a clean water system to their sister parish, St. Theresaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, in the rural Haitian mountain town of Marbial. Members of the Milford parish navigated months of fundraising, planning and red tape, but with the help of an anonymous donor delivered 150

water filtration and purification systems to serve as many as 1,000 people. According to the Catholic Transcript, St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is working with Gift of Water (giftofwater.org), a nonprofit organization that provides water purification and filtration systems to communities in Third World countries.

Tough Love NEW HAVEN â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The message of New Haven resident, mother and Yale Law School professor Amy Chuaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is causing a stir across the country and even

round the world (the Wall Street Journal headlined an excerpt from the book â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why Chinese Mothers Are Superiorâ&#x20AC;?). Western reaction is mostly negative but the memoir about Chuaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own parenting style has writers from Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guardian to the New York Times tearing into the heart of Chuaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tightly disciplined parenting â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no sleepovers, no TV, no grade less than an A â&#x20AC;&#x201D; perhaps itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s better said that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think she has one. Chau, 46, who writes on the free market and global insecurity, may be applying those lessons to her personal life, when she returns a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday card to her for not being very well done. Chua told the Guardian that even her closest friends are aghast at her revelations, but her older daughter says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;People donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realize how much fun we had.â&#x20AC;?

Young Film Makers Take Note Westport: The Westport Youth Film Festival (WYFF) bills itself as the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading film festival for high school film makers. Entries are invited for the 2011 festival, to be held on Saturday, May 14 in Fairfield. Films produced in Connecticut will all be entered into a Connecticut category as well. The filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director(s) must be high school age or younger at the completion of filming, and international directors are sought as well. The early deadline for submissions is Feb. 20 and a $15 entry fee is required for each film. For more information search film festival at www.westportnow.com

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new haven

New Haven stage and screen actor Altman navigates the gulf between art and reality

Photos: Steve Blazo

January / February 2011

Altman may not be the mayor of New York City — but he plays one on TV [CBS’ new Blue Bloods].

Actor Bruce Altman, 55 has been a New Haven resident for 23 years. Soon after graduating from the Yale School of Drama, he received his first film role in the critically acclaimed Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford. Today Altman plays the mayor of New York in the popular new CBS television series Blue Bloods starring Tom Selleck. Primarily consisting of character roles, Altman’s career has spanned more than 28 films, dozens of TV dramas including The Sopranos, Law & Order and Touched by an Angel. Sophia Katz, a ninth-grader at ACES ECA [Education Center for the Arts] in New Haven sat in and participated in this ONE2ONE interview by publisher Mitchell Young.

YYY You were already 34 when you graduated from the Yale School of Drama School in 1990. Wasn’t that a little late to start an acting career? I didn’t start then. I started acting when I was in college at SUNY [State University of New York]/Albany. I was a pre-med major, then an English major. I met my wife my senior year, got a master’s degree in education so I could teach high school and support myself as I to tried [to build a career] as an actor. I moved to New York in 1979, I was there for eight years. I taught high school as a sub and also a full-time tenured innercity public high school teacher. I felt I needed to support myself, but I never would have made it as a waiter. I’m too disorganized. [All the while] I did a lot of plays I auditioned and I studied a great deal.

When you left New York to go to Yale, you were taking a personal risk? When I got into the Yale School of Drama — which was an unbelievable thing for me — my mother called my wife to discourage me from going: ‘He’s going to give up a good teaching career.’ Among all the characters you’ve played, I haven’t seen teacher. I auditioned for a great role as a teacher, but I play a lot of white-collar guys — more the principal than the teacher. Is that because of your looks? I’d like to say they cast against type. I play a lot of bad guys. I don’t know how we get typed, but we all get typed to a certain extent. In a lot of roles you affect a cool demeanor. Do you have a cool personality? My wife says I’m so uncool that I’m cool. I don’t know, I don’t cast myself. How do you really analyze yourself? You can’t. I think self analysis is always a distortion. Most of us don’t understand what actors actually do. Can you give a quickie definition?

Aspects of it; I was good with the kids, I really liked the kids. But I’m not a highly organized, and that aspect — lesson plans, grading papers — I wasn’t as good at that. I was a great sub, I could come in and perform, BUT the full-time thing stressed me out.

Let me give you a deﬁnition that Bill Esper taught me. Of the many wonderful teachers I had, he was one of them. He was a student of [legendary actor and acting coach] Sanford Meisner, and Meisner said, ‘Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.’ For me it has to do with analyzing the circumstances, the person. I studied with another great guy at Yale, [former drama school dean] Earle Gister, a wonderful, wonderful teacher. He talked about different aspects of acting, but the two main ones were asking the questions, ‘Who am I, and what do I want?’ As you do a play you can constantly ask the question, [but] it’s not like you ever solve it. I’ve understood a character like two years later, when I’ll be walking the dog and [say to myself], ‘Now I understand that.’

Where did you grow up?

How hard is it to make a living at acting?

I was born in the Bronx but I grew up in New City in Rockland County [N.Y.]. I’m a suburban kid.

I never thought about that. We live in this recession now, but before that there was an enormous amount of money.

Were you a good teacher?

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