The Push! finalists
The Push!, a pitch contest sponsored by YUPntwk, has chosen finalists in two categories. The contest challenged Hartford-area millennials to come up with ideas for a public event or a short-form video.
The finalists will present their pitches live on Nov. 4 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl St. in Hartford. Winners, to be chosen that night, each will receive $5,000 to make their pitch come true. Admission to the live pitch event is free and the public is welcome but only members of YUPntwk get to vote on the winners. To become a member, visit yupntwk.org.
The finalists in the digital content category are Jamil Ahmed, whose scripted web series is named “Po Folks”; Joshua Castillo, whose scripted comedy horror anthology is named “Slay, Queen!”; and Lashell Gibbs, for the interview docu-series “A Bazaar Road Trip.”
The finalists in the event category are Conscious Collective’s “Awaken Festival”; Timeless Trail’s “RejuvNation Presents: A Timeless Spring”; and Day Lyte’s “Minifest 3.”
YUPntwk, short for Young Urban Professionals Network, is a branch of Connecticut Public Media tasked with finding out how to engage millennials.
‘Twain’s Feast’ an audiobook
“Twain’s Feast,” an audiobook starring Nick Offerman based on the 2011 book by Andy Beahrs, will be released Nov. 2 on audible.com.
The eight-chapter book investigates eight of Mark Twain’s favorite foods, some of which are no longer commonly served such as raccoon, possum, transparent maple syrup and prairie chickens.
Part of the book was recorded at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, featuring audio from a dinner party attended by Offerman, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, comic actress Wanda Sykes, political science Professor Christina Greer and Beahrs. The food at that party was prepared by chef Tyler Anderson.
The audiobook is free for Audible members during November, and $8.95 for nonmembers.
Artist, activist documentary
Cinestudio will present a one-time-only screening of a documentary about a Sri Lankan hip-hop artist who also is an outspoken advocate for disenfranchised people all over the world.
“Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” is about Mathangi Arulpragasam, who goes by the stage name of M.I.A. She was born in West London to a couple that later moved back to India, her father becoming a Tamil independence activist and one of the founders of the Tamil Tigers revolutionary brigade. As she grew up and began a musical career, she released a series of best-selling, critically acclaimed albums while speaking out about the conditions of Tamils, Palestinians, African Americans and other oppressed ethnic groups.
“Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” will be shown Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. Admission is $10, $8 seniors and students, $7 Friends of Cinestudio. The theater is at 300 Summit St. at Trinity College in Hartford. cinestudio.org.
‘Where Art Meets Music’
“Where Art Meets Music: Reconstructing the Rhythms of Black Histories through Contemporary Art” will be presented at New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington St., on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.
Frank Mitchell, executive director of The Amistad Center for Art & Culture in Hartford, will discuss how the artistic efforts of MacArthur fellow Titus Kaphar – who had a solo exhibit at NBMAA in 2015 – link him to other black artists. Mitchell’s comments will be complemented by a jazz ensemble led by Nat Reeves.
The event is the first in a new series, “Where Art Meets Music,” which will continue on Dec. 9 with “Where Art Meets Music: Wilderness, Civilization, and the Hudson River School.” Admission is $15, $7 members, $5 students and includes a wine and cheese reception. nbmaa.org.
A surreal talk
“Wallace Stevens & Surrealism” is the lecture to be given on Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. at UConn-Hartford campus, The Hartford Times Building, Room 145. The event is presented by Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in conjunction with its exhibit “Monsters & Myths: Surrealism and War in the 1930s and 1940s.”
UConn Professor Glen Macleod will discuss the Hartford poet’s 1923 book, “Harmonium,” and its connection to the Dada art movement, and how Stevens’ poetry evolved in response to the surrealist art he saw at the Atheneum, including “The Man with the Blue Guitar,” inspired by a Picasso. Admission is free. thewadsworth.org.
‘Portrait of a Diva’
Yale actors and musicians will perform a dramatic reading and musical performance titled ”Portrait of a Diva: Susannah Arne Cibber, Eighteenth-Century Superstar” on Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St. in New Haven.
The production will focus on Cibber’s correspondence with playwright David Garrick, speeches from her acclaimed roles and musical selections she made famous, including an aria Handel wrote for her.
Judith Malafronte, Joseph Roach, and Gavin Whitehead will lead the production, which is co-sponsored by the university’s Elizabethan Club. Admission is free. britishart.yale.edu.
CultureMAX Awards
Northwest Connecticut Arts Council will honor seven cultural leaders, organizations, and businesses at the 5th Annual CultureMAX Awards Ceremony on Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Warner Theatre, 68 Main St. in Torrington. The awardees are:
Thomasina Levy of Litchfield, who was the state troubadour for 2005 and 2006; Leslie Elias of Cornwall, who has run Grumbling Gryphon’s Traveling Children’s Theatre for 38 years; Luke Pepper, a filmmaker and photographer of Torrington; Carol Ascher of Sharon, whose exhibit at Sharon Historical Society and book “A Chance For Land and Fresh Air” focused on the history of Russian Jewish immigrants; Ken Buckbee of Torrington, who restored and preserved the cemetery behind Torrington’s City Hall; the Washington Art Association; and Thomaston Savings Bank, a longtime supporter of local cultural organizations.
The council’s new executive director Rufus de Rham will make his first appearance at the event. Previously, de Rham was programming operations manager at Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. Tickets are $30. culturemax.org.
Icon Awards
The Icon Awards in the Arts, presented by Bruce Museum in Greenwich, will be awarded to five people at a ceremony on Nov. 29 at Belle Haven Club in Greenwich.
The awardees are artist sculptor-photographer Petah Coyne, art Professor Ken Silver, arts writer Herbert Lust and arts patrons Ann and RJ Vassilou. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and admission is $275 for “master” level and $675 for “magnate” level. brucemuseum.org.