Is it too soon to think about the weekend? Arts Council Marketing Director Jennifer Gelband offers her top five arts picks for this week, going into next. These come from our member organizations and are also featured in The Arts Council's weekly newsletter. To subscribe to that, click here.
Office Hour | Jan. 17-Feb.11 | Long Wharf Theatre Stage II | Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven
Office Hour, by Julia Cho and directed by Lisa Peterson, is the story of a college student who hides behind dark glasses, a baseball cap pulled low, and writings that disturb and provoke. Is he just venting or is he really troubled? Gina, his writing professor, is the only one willing to get close, to try to understand what the student is going through. But at what peril to herself?
Long Wharf Theatre and Sandy Hook Promise will partner to offer a series of conversations and programs surrounding the production.
More info: (203) 787-4282 or longwharf.org. Tickets start at $29. For Long Wharf's FREE ticket program, visit the New Haven Free Public Library and present them with a New Haven library card. They should be able to provide you with a two ticket "pass" for the performance. Passes are first-come, first-serve.
Amazing Grace | Jan. 19-21 | Shubert Theatre, New Haven
This sweeping musical – centering on the life of John Newton, the hymn’s 18th-century author – tells the inspiring story of how the beloved song came to be. This captivating tale of romance, rebellion and moral redemption traces Newton’s gradual awakening that led to his conversion from slave-trader to abolitionist-pastor.
Orchestra & mezzanine seats available for $55 with code: GRACE. More info: (203) 562-5666 or shubert.com
***
2018 Free Family Series: The Symphony Goes to the Zoo! Babar the Elephant.
Jan. 20, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m., Davis Street School & Jan. 21, 2 p.m., Shelton Intermediate School.
Enjoy a lively introduction to the orchestra through these free interactive concerts for kids. Experience music inspired by animals and children’s literature, and meet the brass, string, and piano instrument families.
NHSO pianist William Braun plays Francis Poulenc’s whimsical L’Histoire de Babar while Really Inventive Stuff’s vaudeville actor Michael Boudewyns returns to the NHSO stage to narrate the tale about the King of the Elephants. Ideal for kids ages 3-9, with interactive performances and an instrument petting zoo.
More info: newhavensymphony.org/events/category/family-series/
***
Winter Showcase Opening Reception, Jan. 21, 2-4 p.m., Ely Center of Contemporary Art.
Winter Showcase 2018, a medley of solo and thematic group shows by regional artists working across disciplines. The artwork will be on view Jan. 18-Feb. 22.
Artist talks and a panel discussion on Feb. 18, 1-4 p.m. Additional public programming will take place throughout the duration of the shows.
Showcase features renowned New Haven artist Katro Storm; New York-based film artist Lili Chin; an Anthropogenic World ll, exploring human interaction with the environment, features works by Meg Bloom, Robert Datum, Susan McCaslin, and Joseph Saccio; and Social Patterns, a satellite show at Whitney Center, features work by Faustin Adeniran, Matthew Best, Jacquelyn Gleisner, Hong Hong, and Roxanne Faber Savage.
Free and open to the public. More info: www.elycenter.org
Between Beauty and Decay, Artpace New Haven, Dec 2, 2017 - Feb 24, 2018
Artspace is pleased to present Between Beauty and Decay, a group show that examines humanity in the age of conflict. The artists in this show come from geopolitical backgrounds that deeply inform their work, identifying as American Indian, American, and Middle Eastern. Each use digital media, performance and installation to contemplate their contemporary landscapes, exploring land as a physical, emotional and psychological life-affirming and life-sustaining form. The show confronts with unflinching beauty and terror the realities of what happens when humanity is at odds with the “other” and the natural world.