It was recently reported that the great actor with the magnificent mellow voice, Morgan Freeman was in an auto accident but is now recovering from his injuries. This gave me pause to think about the long career of this enduring actor. I’ve always loved his voice, in particular, because he was an antidote to crankiness in any child I babysat. Turn on PBS’s children’s show Electric Company and they would stop crying when the 6’ 2” actor came on screen. Yes, he was indeed in this show before he came to fame. A press release issued when Freeman joined the...
The spectacular Summer Olympics are about to begin in Beijing, China. As we cheer our talented athletes and ...
This weekend Broadway comes to Westport with the
Staples Players' production of Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Herbert Kretzmer's musical
Les Miserables based on the novel by Victor Hugo. This school edition which is in conjunction with Westport Continuing Education's Summer School will ...
For all of those aging rock and rollers, rock aficionados or trivia enthusiasts, Jeremy Simmonds has written an eclectic, fascinating book. The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches is a chronologic, descriptive guide to rock musicians who died from 1965 through 2006. Every type of music falling under the rubric of rock is included like grunge, heavy metal, punk, ...
Thanks to the generosity of local businesses, foundations, friends, and sponsors, the
Levitt Pavilion has been able to provide over fifty summer nights of free musical entertainment. The chance ...
I was saddened to learn this weekend of the death of the prolific, classical composer and teacher Norman Dello Joio. He holds a certain familiarity to this community since he moved to the Chestnut Hill area ...
Zachary Israel Nobile Kampler, a recent Staples High School graduate, has been making his mark in the classical music world with the 2003 launching of the EFSO, the Eastern Festival Symphony Orchestra. His ambition and goal is to educate and involve the community in the arts with innovative, unusual programming. To do so, he has created several subsidiary organizations including The Eastern Festival Opera, The Eastern Festival String Quartet; and an Apprentice Program. Additionally, he wants to make a difference and ...
I am blogging outside my usual territory to pay tribute to Estelle Getty. Given that the Golden Girls is one of my favorite shows of all time and given that most of my friends personally contacted ME to send their condolences when she died (my obsession is well-known), I felt a sense of duty to write about her.
The early summer saw a terrific group of much anticipated films brought to DVD. The next few weeks afford few blockbusters but do offer some interesting bright spots. Here’s a look at some films the Westport Library is anticipating receiving soon and their dates of release. Click on the movie’s name to place a hold. The library’s goal is to have the latest titles available for loan on the date of release. For the foreign film lover there is The Band’s Visit. An Egyptian orchestra arrives in Israel to play an important cultural event only to find themselves in the...
If you are a lover of the blues, you may want to partake of the fun-loving, hand-clapping and toe-tapping
festival celebrating the music of
W. C. Handy in Florence, Alabama. This annual festival which began over twenty years ago, not only ...
