By Bonnie Goldberg

Once upon a time, in 1996, Christopher Smith had some time to kill and was walking through the children’s section of the library in his hometown of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. As a police officer and Youth Outreach and Education Director, he was always on the lookout for stories to tell to children with teachable lessons. Taking a book at random off the shelf, one of literally thousands to choose from, he selected one about John Newton, a man born in the early 1700’s in England, a seaman, slave trader and later minister.

The book could have been about Curious George or Raggedy Andy. Instead the tale of John Newton, who gave the world the inspiring hymn Amazing Grace, changed Christopher Smith’s life in innumerable ways. So affected by this honest and compelling tale of one man who tried to unravel slavery in England, Smith set out on a journey he is still traveling sixteen years later.

(Photo: Chris Smith at the first reading of "Amazing Grace")

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Celeste Holm and Elizabeth Wilson: Two Living Legends of Theater Celebrated

Elizabeth Wilson and Celeste Holm. Photo by Davud Sepulveda

By Bonnie Goldberg

Celebrating two legendary actresses with hors d’oeuvres, champagne and birthday cake, a wonderful new movie that stars them both and surprise guests: what a delightful afternoon. The glittering and glamorous glow from Celeste Holm and Elizabeth Wilson, who turned 95 and 91 respectively, made the event memorable on Sunday, May 6.

Lyric Hall in the Westville section of New Haven, Connecticut, that began life in 1913 as a vaudeville and silent film house, was decked out in festive finery for the occasion. Joel Vig served as a charming master of ceremonies, with congratulatory letters being read from fans from afar, Broadway tunes crooned by Ms. Holm’s husband Frank Basile, a montage of mementoes from each illustrious show business career prepared by Bernie Kaufman and the unveiling of two oil paintings by Joel Spector.

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Blogs of Interest

Blogs about Connecticut theater, and movie reviews.

bonniegoldberg.blogspot.com

cttheater.blogspot.com

susangranger.com -- movie reviews

CT Arts Connection

WMNR Fine Arts Radio (Roslaind Friedman's Review)

www.courant.com/curtain (Frank Rizzo reviews)

www.reflectionsinthelight (Lauren Yarger reviews)

Playin' Around With Food

By Irene Backalenick

“Play With Your Food,” the brainchild of Carol Schweid (Artistic Director) and Nancy Diamond (Executive Producer) is an unmitigated success, an idea whose time has come. They have chosen a witty -- and appropriate -- title for this remarkable project, which combines luncheons, play-readings, and talk-backs -- all equally appealing. Ninety minutes out of one’s life, but what a ninety minutes!

This ever-expanding project has proved that the two women had an unerring sense of time and place. It all began ten years ago for the Schweid/Diamond team. At that time both were young mothers, members of a PTA Cultural Arts committee in Westport. Finding that both had a desire to develop a unique theatre program, they came up with the “Play With Your Food” concept and moved ahead.

Diamond and Schweid have proved to be a natural, with each contributing her particular strengths -- Schweid’s directing skills and Diamond’s management skills, with probably a good deal of overlapping into each area. Today, “Play With Your Food” spans Fairfield County, with performances which have been held, not only in Westport, but Fairfield, Greenwich, Newtown, Woodbridge.

We would like to receive comments from our readers about plays and musicals staged in Connecticut, reviews (do you agree or disagree?) and the website. Please forward your comments to:

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