Author Archives: Christopher Arnott
Theater Books from All Over: The Friedkin Connection
The Friedkin Connection—A Memoir By William Friedkin. (HarperCollins, 2013) The title of William Friedkin’s memoir alludes to the fact that he directed the action film classic The French Connection, with its revolutionary car-chase sequence. A tagline on the book’s cover mentions that more explicitly, and adds that he’s also the “legendary director” of The … Continue reading
Noel, Nora, Nottage and Things: Westport Country Playhouse announces its 2014 season
The Westport Country Playhouse has announced its 2014 season. Due to the theater’s unorthodox (in these parts anyhow) spring-to-fall scheduling scheme, the season won’t kick off until eight months from now. The anticipation is largely sweet. The season-opener, April 29 through May 17, has already been known for a while, since it’s a co-production with … Continue reading
A Decent Interval: The long overdue return of Charles Paris
I’ve had to endure so many summers without a new Charles Paris mystery that I savored this one for weeks. It’s been well over a decade since Simon Brett last published an adventure of this professional actor/ amateur sleuth. In the meantime, the Paris character has gained new cultural cachet through a series of BBC … Continue reading
NHTC Reads Drew Gray Plays Aug. 8 at Luck & Levity
New Haven Theater Company has just announced that they’re doing a playreading—two plays, actually, one full-length and one one-act—of new work by company member Drew Gray, 8 p.m. August 8 at Luck & Levity Brewshop, 118 Court Street. If that address sounds familiar, before the site was leased to the brewshop, NHTC staged several full … Continue reading
Casting Some Collateral Damage
Just got a call from David Pilot. I know him as a participant in the Get to the Point! storytelling/spoken word series I host at Café Nine. Newish to town, David’s directed for some small theaters in the area, including Theater 4. David Pilot is producing a script by one of my favorite local playwrights, … Continue reading
$4 Million, and a Couple of Misstatements, for the Shubert
I applaud the state of Connecticut’s decision to give four million bucks to New Haven’s Shubert for renovations and other stuff. State Rep. Pat Dillon requested the funds from the Bonding Commission, and was instrumental in making the case for the historic, nearly century-old Shubert. There have been plans to expand and renovate the theater … Continue reading
Arts & Ideas: The My Friend’s Story Review
My Friend’s Story Presented by the International Festival of Arts & Ideas “in collaboration with the Yale School of Music and the Yale Office of the Provost, with the support of the Yale School of Drama.” 8 p.m. June 19 & 20 at Yale’s Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel Street, New Haven. www.artidea.org Music by Martin … Continue reading
Arts & Ideas: The Quiet Volume Review
The Quiet Volume is not a calming experience. It infers things about reading habits, then turns those internal habits inside out by commenting on them and making the reader—you—hyperconscious of them. The performance piece, concocted by Ant Hampton & Tim Etchells (who are not present at the local performances, and do not need to be) … Continue reading