Author Archives: Christopher Arnott
Edges and Ideats
New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas tried in vain for years to create an Edinburgh-esque “fringe” festival to surround it. Turns out you can’t just manufacture these things. But two fests which were in a sense inspired by A&I have endured. One is the Audubon Arts on the Edge festival, as old as … Continue reading
Avail yourself of our calendar page
I’ve just updated the New Haven Theater Jerk Calendar section, right through August, with links and everything. Details on the more expansive events—O’Neill conferences, Arts & Ideas, etc.—will be covered in the blog posts. But if you think more info would be useful on the calendar page, let me know. You’re the boss.
Where’d the Header Photo Come From?
This is me with Roddy McDowall. As if you need to be told, I’m the dumpy guy on the right. McDowall was effortlessly dapper and charming, despite having just caught a scoundrel onstage in the national tour of Dial M for Murder which played New Haven’s Shubert in 1994. McDowall played Inspector Hubbard in the … Continue reading
Get Oppressed: A chat with Katy Rubin, facilitator of this Weekend’s Theater of the Oppressed/Forum Theater workshop
KATY RUBIN SHOWN WORKING ON LET ME IN! DEJAME ENTRAR!, A BI-LINGUAL SHOW BASED ON IMMIGRATION AND RACISM ISSUES PRESENTED BY THE PEOPLE’S THEATRE PROJECT IN NEW YORK EARLIER THIS YEAR. THIS WEEKEND KATY IS LEADING A THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED WORKSHOP IN NEW HAVEN. “Anyone doing Theatre of the Oppressed in New York can … Continue reading
Pop Culture: How They Got Those Balloons to Burst in Italian-American Reconciliation at the Long Wharf
JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY’S ITALIAN-AMERICAN RECONCILIATION AT THE LONG WHARF, DIRECTED BY ERIC TING, IN THE AFTERMATH OF A BALLOON BLOODBATH WHICH POPPED SEVERAL OF THE VULNERABLE ORNAMENTS. THE ACTORS BLOCKING THE VIEW OF SOME BALLOONS ON THE FLOOR ARE MICHAEL CRANE AND UNREPENTANT BALLOON TERRORIST LISA BIRNBAUM. PHOTO BY T. CHARLES ERICKSON. The Long Wharf … Continue reading
West Side DeRosa: Glad Handing the National Tour of Arthur Laurents’ West Side Story Revival
STEVEN DEROSA CENTER STAGE IN THE NATIONAL TOUR OF WEST SIDE STORY—FOR ABOUT ONE MINUTE, UNTIL ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. THE NATIONAL TOUR OF THE ARTHUR LAURENTS-DIRECTED REVIVAL IS AT THE BUSHNELL IN HARTFORD THROUGH SUNDAY MAY 29. I’ve been a Stephen DeRosa fan for over 15 years, and rejoice whenever I see his name … Continue reading
The My One and Only review
TONY YAZBEK AND ALDE LEWIS JR. TAP THE TITLE TUNE IN MY ONE AND ONLY AT THE GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE. PHOTO BY DIANE SOBOLEWSKI. My One and Only Through June 25 at the Goodspeed Opera House. Music & lyrics by George & Ira Gershwin. Book by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer. Original staging … Continue reading
The International Festival of Apps & IPhones
Had fun last night fooling around with the brand new app fashioned for New Haven’s impending 2011 International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Like the fest itself, it’s classy and community-oriented at the same time. The app (available as a free download for both iPhone and Droid) offers frequent friendly postings counting down the days … Continue reading
Farren at Her Height: Painted by Thomas Lawrence at the Yale Center for British Art
Today is national Museum Day. For theater fans, allow me to strongly recommend a stroll around the Thomas Lawrence exhibit on the second floor of the Yale Center for British Art. The show is extravagantly labeled Regency Power and Brilliance, but the hype is warranted because Lawrence was the coolest celebrity portrait artist of his … Continue reading
Five Rock Records Which Share Titles With 20th Century Plays
1. Madhouse on Castle Street, Chopper. While, to my knowledge, no specific song on the album builds upon these references, the Connecticut-based power pop band Chopper’s 1995 album Madhouse on Castle Street not only uses the name of a play as the album’s title but has a photograph of a playwright’s home on its back … Continue reading