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Bits and Pieces: 08.08.19

Tue, 08/06/2019 - 11:44

Aviva Players Return to Montauk

“Songs for All Seasons,” the 14th annual Aviva Players summer concert, will take place at the Montauk Library on Wednesday evening at 7. The guest artists are Mira J. Spektor, a composer and the founder and artistic director of the chamber ensemble, Shana Farr, a soprano, Brian Hunter, an Irish tenor, and Barbara Ames, a pianist and music director.

Ms. Spektor’s compositional repertoire includes chamber operas, musicals, film scores, art songs, and cabaret, and her songs have been recorded in Europe and Israel, in addition to this country. The free concert will include Irish ballads, the music of Cole Porter, Meredith Wilson, and Noel Coward, and songs by Ms. Spektor and other contemporary songwriters.

Burwell to Speak at Ross School 

Carter Burwell, an Academy Award-nominated composer, will give a talk for the Nexus Lecture Series at the Ross School in East Hampton, a series devoted to the ideas and work of leading artists and thinkers, on Saturday at 7 p.m.

A musician as well as a composer, Mr. Burwell has written not only for film but also for dance and theater. His many film credits include “Blood Simple,” “Raising Arizona,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Fargo,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Before Night Falls,” “Burn After Reading,” and “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Tickets are $75. A question-and-answer session and reception will follow the talk.

Family Musical in Southampton

“The Big One-Oh,” a family-friendly musical, is next up in the Southampton Arts Center’s Theater and Opera Mondays series on Monday evening at 7. Based on a middle-grade novel by Dean Pitchford, the story is about a boy planning his 10th birthday party for his imaginary friends.

An Oscar and Golden Globe-winning songwriter, Mr. Pitchford’s credits include music for the soundtracks of “Fame” and “Footloose” as well as dozens of television programs. “The Big One-Oh” has music by Doug Besterman, libretto by Timothy Allen McDonald, and lyrics by Mr. Pitchford. Tickets are $20, $15 for members and children 12 and under.

A free silent disco outdoor dance party, which makes use of a channel you tune your headphones to, will take place on the center’s grounds on Saturday at 8 p.m. In the event of rain, it will happen in the center’s theater.

Toys and Games

“Toy Story: 20th-Century Toys and Games” will open at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum with a reception tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. and continue through Sept. 5.

Organized by Richard Doctorow, the museum’s curator and collections manager, the show will include toys, dolls, and board games from the museum’s large collection of late-19th and early-20th-century objects. Works by contemporary artists that explore the themes of childhood, play, and toys will also be on view.

‘Mermaid’ Open Call

Center Stage at the Southampton Cultural Center will hold open auditions for all roles in a production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” on Sunday at noon and Monday at 6 p.m. Auditions will begin promptly at those times, and late arrivals will be seen at the discretion of Bethany Dellapolla, the director.

Those auditioning have been asked to prepare a 16-to-32-measure cut of a Disney song or Broadway standard and take clothing and shoes suitable for a dance audition. Most rehearsals, which will begin on Friday, Aug. 16, will take place on weekday evenings, with weekend rehearsals as needed. The production will run from Oct. 11 through Oct. 27. More information is available from [email protected].

Watermill Open House

On Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m., the Watermill Center will open its grounds for the public to experience site-specific installations and performances interspersed among the 10-acre property’s outdoor sculpture and artifacts. The artists from more than 30 countries participating in the center’s International Summer Program will also be on hand for informal conversations about their work. The event is free, and reservations are not required.


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