It’s mid-November (what, already?) and the holiday season is starting to heat up with light displays, festivals, and craft events galore along with other good stuff like Broadway shows and owl prowls.
It’s also Transgender Awareness Week. See below for all this weekend’s picks.
Margaret Cho At The Ridgefield Playhouse
80 East Ridge, Ridgefield
Friday, November 15, 8:00 p.m.
Margaret Cho could be called the “Queen of all Media,” having conquered the worlds of film, television, books, music and theatre. She has five Grammy Award nominations and one Emmy nod.
In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics, calling her “the sort of funny, sex-positive feminist and LGBT activist younger comics continue to look up to.” Equally as important are the causes she’s passionate about, including her charitable work with gay rights and anti-bullying campaigns. In every segment of her life, Margaret is honest, forthright, passionate, uproarious and always entertaining.
For more information and tickets visit: https://ridgefieldplayhouse.org/event/margaret-cho/.
Fantasy of Lights
Lighthouse Point Park, 2 Lighthouse Rd., New Haven
Friday, November 15 – December 31
Sun-Thurs, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Fri and Sat, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Fantasy of Lights is a local holiday tradition for thousands of families. Now, in its twenty-fifth year, the dazzling nighttime event not only gets visitors in the holiday spirit, but it also supports the Goodwill mission of enhancing employment, educational, social, and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities and other challenges.
The route is more than a mile long and features dozens of LED displays.
For more information: https://www.goodwillsne.org/fantasy-of-lights/
Fall Owl Prowl
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy, 55 Duck Pond Rd., Litchfield
Friday, November 15, 7:00 p.m.
Take a walk on the dark side and join the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy for an evening of learning about Connecticut’s nocturnal animals, before embarking on a night hike with the LRWC’s Director of Aviculture, Andrew Ocampo, in search of Screech Owls, Barred Owls, and perhaps even a Great-Horned Owl.
Also meet LRWC’s resident owls, Poppy & Camo, before finishing up with hot beverages, marshmallows, and a bonfire.
Tickets are limited and must be purchased by Thursday, November 14.
For more information: http://www.lrwc.net/.
Hello Dolly!
The Bushnell Center For Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford
Now through Sunday, November 17, Various Times
Winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, “Hello, Dolly!” goes on the road after breaking box office records week after week, and receiving unanimous raves on Broadway.
Now touring America, “Hello, Dolly!” pays tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion, hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history. Rolling Stone calls it “a must-see event. A musical comedy dream. If you’re lucky enough to score a ticket, you’ll be seeing something historic.”
For more information and tickets: https://bushnell.org/HelloDolly.
High Hopes Annual Holiday Market
High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, 36 Town Woods Rd., Old Lyme
Saturday, November 16, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Get a jump start on your holiday shopping while helping benefit more than 1600 children, teens, and adults with physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities at the annual High Hopes Holiday Market.
The event features more than 60 vendors including: Wild Carrot Cordage, Verdilune, Excessorize, Two B’s, Clare M Designs, JamsHome, Autumn & Violet, Milo+Molly, Treefort Naturals, Whole Harmony, Handmade in Madison, LMM Jewelry, The Crunchy Diva, Timbercraft, Sea Uniquely, Howards Breads, Sankow Farm Cheese, Burgis Brook Alpacas, Quilibet, Queenvana, Lori Warner Gallery, Swoon Boutique, Nutrena.
There will also be an array of popular Connecticut food trucks including The Whey Station’s gourmet grilled cheese, the Fantastic Fryborg, Meriano’s Cannoli, a taste of the south from Taco Pacifico, Munchies Food Truck, The Rolling Tomato wood-fired oven pizzas, piping hot coffee from the Omar Coffee Company, Supreme Hot Dogs, and pumpkin-crab bisque from Flanders Fish.
Admission is free with a donation of a non-perishable food item.
For more information: https://highhopestr.org/holiday-market-2019/.
An Evening with Kelli O’Hara and Matthew Morrison
Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, 2132 Hillside Rd., Storrs
Saturday, November 16, Doors open at 7 p.m. with cabaret fare, dessert and cash bar.
A cabaret of all cabarets, the evening will reunite The Light in the Piazza co-stars, Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Morrison and Emmy and Grammy nominee and Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara. They will join the NH Symphony Orchestra for an evening of songs from the Great White Way. O’Hara, currently starring in the Broadway revival of Kiss Me Kate, captured a Tony for her role as Anna Leonowens in the 2015 revival of The King and I. Morrison is well known for his roles on Glee and The Good Wife, as well as Broadway’s Hairspray and Finding Neverland.
For more information and tickets: https://jorgensen.uconn.edu.
Transgender Awareness Week Events
Online Safety & Your Identity
New Haven Pride Center, 84 Orange St., New Haven
Saturday, November 16, 1:00 p.m.
Chris Garaffa (they/he), Technology Director for Trans Lifeline, hosts a special conversation about online safety and measures that you can take to protect yourself. Everyone faces threats online: hackers, data breaches, viruses and ransomware, corporate and government surveillance and more. LGBTQ+ people in particular, face unique threats. This workshop will review basic steps that everyone can take to protect themselves online and special considerations that LGBTQ people need to think about.
The program is free. RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/802904116806314/.
Trunch
New Haven Pride Center, 84 Orange St., New Haven
Sunday, November 17, 12:00 p.m.
Trunch is a monthly transgender social hosted at the New Haven Pride Center. Break bread, share stories, and socialize with members of the transgender, intersex and nonbinary communities. Meet new folks, socialize, and get connected to community resources. Potluck items welcome! This program is co-hosted and funded by Trans@Yale and Party for Socialism and Liberation (Connecticut Chapter).
The program is free. RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/256220588604597/.
Trans Day of Remembrance Action
New Haven Flagpole, 165 Church St., New Haven
Wednesday, November 20, 5:00 p.m.
Join the New Haven Pride Center in commemorating the Trans Day of Remembrance with a vigil and speak out. The Action will be hosted by transgender advocates and members of the Connecticut Party Socialism and Liberation with speakers representing members of the transgender, nonbinary, and genderqueer community. Handheld signs encouraged.
The program is free. RSVP om Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/423431361903729/
Trans-cending Art
The Great Room Gallery, New Haven Pride Center, 84 Orange St., New Haven
Now – November 30, Gallery hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
In “Trans-cending Art,” the New Haven Pride Center challenges the artistic community to recognize the importance of transgender voices in the landscape of artistic expression. The exclusion of transgender artists and voices in art directly reflects on the visibility of transgender people in everyday life.
Featuring exclusively the works of Connecticut Transgender visual artists, “Trans-cending Art” is here to remind you that Trans folk exist.
For more information: http://www.newhavenpridecenter.org/programming/exhibitions/trans-cending-art/.
Photo Credit: You Exist. By KC Councilor
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