Tiffany Window at Lyman Allyn Museum

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London has announced its acquisition of a magnificent stained-glass window created by the renowned Tiffany Studios in New York. The window titled Come Unto Me was installed in the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in New London in 1924. It was dedicated to the memory of Anna Chaplin Rumrill, a member of that congregation. The window completely made of Favrile Glass and signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany measures 72 inches by 76 inches.

Come Unto Me depicts a beatific Jesus standing with outstretched arms in the foreground of a lustrous landscape of mountains, a lake, and cypress trees.  Earlier this month the Board of All Sould Church agreed to sell the window to the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, thereby insuring that it will continue to be able to be viewed by the public.  D. Samuel Quigley, Director of the Lyman Allyn notes, "The acquisition of this glorious work of art by one of America's most treasured designer/artists is a major event in our institution's history and one that will make a dramatic impact on our collection." He goes on to say, "We are honored to be working with the All Souls Congregation to keep this treasure here in New London, ensuring that it remains available for all in our community to enjoy for generations to come."

By stepping forward to purchase the window, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum has committed to providing gallery space and special care for the window. Come Unto Me will be an extremely important new addition to the Museum's collection, complementing the dozens of small vessels and wares by Tiffany that are already housed in the Lyman Allyn.  The Museum plans to install the Tiffany window in a special gallery celebrating the art of Louis Comfort Tiffany and his connection to New London. "We look forward to creating a beautiful gallery which will present the compelling story of Tiffany's artistry and his place in New London's history. Envision a darkened gallery with the brilliant rear-illuminated stained glass window as its centerpiece.  With other works and text panels for context, the learning possibilities are nearly boundless," said Quigley.

By a fortuitous set of circumstances, there is a long history of the Tiffany family in the City of New London, and an accompanying large concentration of Tiffany stained-glass windows.  Annie Olivia Tiffany Mitchell, sister of Louis Comfort Tiffany, married Alfred Mitchell and made their summer home overlooking the Thames River in New London.  Their estate is now the site of Mitchell College.  Mitchell and Tiffany became acquainted with members of the local community, and many commissions for stained-glass windows consequently came their way.  Louis Comfort Tiffany designed five large windows for St. James Episcopal Church and other impressive windows for the Palmer Mausoleum in Cedar Grove Cemetery, the Pequot Chapel, and the Lighthouse Inn.

Lyman Allyn's acquisition of Louis Comfort Tiffany's Come Unto Me keeps this cherished treasure in New London, and furthers the Museum's commitment to serve as a cultural, educational and community resource for the people of Southeastern Connecticut. The Tiffany window will stand as a unique source of inspiration and learning about the decorative arts for the Museum's visitors and will strengthen their sense of history, aesthetics, and civic pride by forever connecting Tiffany's artistic legacy with the story of New London.

Lyman Allyn Art Museum is a distinguished art museum located in New London, CT. Founded in 1932 by Harriet Upson Allyn in memory of her father, Lyman Allyn, the museum serves the people of and visitors to Southeastern CT and general admission is always free to New London residents. Housed in a handsome Neo-Classical building designed by Charles A. Platt, the permanent collection includes over 10,000 objects from ancient times to the present: artworks from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, with particularly strong collections of American paintings, decorative arts, and Victorian toys and doll houses.

The museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, CT-Exit 83 off I-95.  Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm and Sundays 1 to 5pm.  It is closed Mondays and major holidays.

Life, Laughter & Love

Does just hearing the words, "Say, goodnight, Gracie" conjure up nostalgic feelings and make you smile? For those  old enought to remember the Burns and Allen Show we will never foget this closing line at the end of each show.

George Burns (January 20, 1896 - March 9, 1996), born Nathan Birnbaum, was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television.  His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century.  At the age of 79,  Burns' career was resurrected as an amiable, beloved and unusually active old comedian in the 1975 film The Sunshine Boys, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  He continued to work until shortly before his death in 1996 at the age of 100.
On Wednesday, October 29 Ivoryton Playhouse favorite, Bruce Connelly, returns to the Playhouse stage in the hit Broadway show, Say Goodnight Gracie.  This stunning tour de force invites you to spend an hilarious, heart-warming evening in the uplifting company of the world's favorite and funniest centenarian, George Burns.  Say Goodnight Gracie was Broadway's third longest running solo performance show and was nominated for a 2003 Tony Award for Best Play and won the 2003-2004 National Broadway Theatre Award for Best Play.

In Say Goodnight Gracie, George Burns looks back upon his impoverished, plucky youth on the lower East Side of New York, his disastrous but tenacious career in Vaudeville, the momentous day when he met the fabulously talented young Irish girl named Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen.  They had instant chemistry, with his flawless timing to her dizzy delivery.  The play tells about his wooing her, their marriage and their rise to the pinnacles of vaudeville, movies, radio and television.  Gracie's demise forced George to start from square one in life and in his career, eventually achieving an equal level of success as a solo raconteur and Academy Award-winning actor, portraying everything from a Sunshine Boy to Oh, God.

Bruce Connelly appeared last at the Ivoryton Playhouse as Jim in the summer production All Shook Up.  Other notable roles include Barney Cashman in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Max Bialystock in The Producers, Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Finian in Finian's Rainbow.  Since 1993, Bruce has played Barkley, Jim Henson's Muppet dog on Sesame STreet for which he has been honored fifteen times by the National Academy of Television and Radio at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
 
Say Goodnight Gracie, written by multiple Tony Award-winning playwright Rupert Holmes,  is a tender, funny, life-affirming love story...a personal guided tour through an American century in the company of George Burns, a man who laughingly lived and loved each day for all it had to offer, until he finally went "gently in that good night" to forever reunite with his beloved Gracie.
Say Goodnight Gracie runs October 29 through November 16, 2014.  Performances are Wendesday through Sundays (matinee performances on Wednesdays and Sundays).Tickets can be purchase by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.

Ballet Spooktacular!

Eastern Connecticut Ballet presents Ballet Spooktacular!
& Elsa, Live and in Person at Ballet Spooktacular

Eastern Connecticut Ballet has revealed yet another surprise for its "Ballet Spooktacular." A popular Snow Queen, known to all as simply "Elsa", has heard about the regal extravaganza and has proclaimed her desire to join the festivities. She has graciously agreed to pose for photographs after the performance with all of our costumed guests. Don’t miss out on this fun-filled family event, which also includes the premiere of three new Halloween ballets, trick or treating throughout the theater, and a costume parade on stage.
Treat children of all ages to family-friendly Halloween fun with Eastern CT Ballet's "Ballet Spooktacular." Special effects and bewitching costumes set the stage for spirited performances of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Dancing Bones", and "Halloween Waltz". Children are invited to wear their costumes to parade on stage, trick-or-treat throughout the decorated theater and pose for spellbinding photos with the dancers. Combining classical ballet and the “spirit” of Halloween, this special program will be held at the Katharine Hepburn Arts Cultural Center in Old Saybrook on October 18th and 19th. Shows will be held at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 pm. on both Saturday and Sunday. Family-friendly tickets are $16 for adults, and $10 for children (ages 12 and under). Tickets are available from The Kate box office at 860-510-0453.

Morris Pleasure with Special Guest Roberta Flack

Guilford's A Better Chance program is celebrating 40 years dedicated to helping close the opportunity gap for talented minority women. This special event will bring international music star Morris "Mo" Pleasure to perform with Connecticut's own Rohn Lawrence (guitar) and David Lovolsi (bass) and a special performance by Roberta Flack on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30pm at Guilford High School. The talented Guilford High School Jazz Ensemble will open the concert. Tickets are $25 for open seating. VIP tickets are $125. Event sponsorship opportunities which include tickets are available for $1,000, $500, or $250. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.guilfordabc.com. For sponsorships contact Jim Schaffer at jim@charity-spring.org or 203-912-2802. Purchase your tickets today. This event is going to be a sell-out!

Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, GRAMMY Award winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz. She was the first American singer and musician to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year two consecutive times - in 1973 for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and in 1974 for Killing Me Softly with His Song. She remains the only solo artist to have ever accomplished this.

Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry's by jazz musician Les McCann, she was promptly signed to Atlantic With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin' Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Ms. Flack has built a musical legacy. In 1999, she aptly received a Star on Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame.

Roberta is currently involved with a very exciting studio venture — an interpretive album of Beatles' classics.

She regularly plays to appreciative audiences around the world, and had the pleasure of appearing recently with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. In February 2009, Ms. Flack performed with critically acclaimed orchestras in Australia, including the Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian, West Australian and Sydney Symphonies.

Very active as a humanitarian and mentor, Ms. Flack founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.

Known affectionately as "Mo", Morris Pleasure is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer. He began playing acoustic piano at the age of four and by his early teens already mastered several instruments including bass, trumpet, guitar, drums and violin.

Mo began his professional music career playing bass with Ray Charles. He then began working as a session musician, backing some of the most accomplished talents in Jazz ,R&B and pop including George Duke, Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Christina Aguilera, Jonathan Butler, Rachelle Ferrell, Brian Culbertson, Michael McDonald, Oleta Adams, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Marcus Miller, Mary J. Blige, and Frankie Beverly and Maze, to name a few.

From 1989 through 1992, Mo was both keyboardist and musical director with saxophonist Najee, pianist Alex Bugnon, and vocalists Philip Bailey, Patti Austin and Jon Lucien. In 1993, he became a member of the legendary group Earth, Wind & Fire, and ascended to become the band’s musical director from 1994-2001. Mo was featured playing keyboards, trumpet and guitar with Janet Jackson’s 2001 All For You tour and played keyboards and trumpet with Boney James’ 2004 Pure tour. As a principal member of the group Devoted Spirits he was featured playing keyboards for Jimi Hendrix’s 60th Birthday Celebration and the 2004 Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix tour.

Mo was a keyboardist in Michael Jackson’s final touring band that was scheduled to perform in the late superstar’s historic 2009, comeback tour at London’s O2 Arena. Most recently he has toured with David Foster, Average White Band and Peter Cetera.
Rohn Lawrence has been widely acclaimed for his work with New Haven Funk bands such as Good News and The Lift, including saxophonist Marion Meadows. Lawrence continues to work with Meadows, George Duke, Diane Reeves, Jonathan Butler, Alex Bugñon, Freddie Jackson, Najee and many others.

David Livolsi, also from Connecticut, is an accomplished bass player whose diversity led him to work with many world renowned artists such as John Scofield, Bill Evans, Jazz Is Dead, T Lavitz & Rod Morgenstein (from The Dixie Dregs), Jerry Goodman, Chuck Loeb, Sam Rivers, John Tropea, and David Spinozza.

Guilford High School's Jazz Ensemble is a Level 1 class that meets daily. Students in grades 9 - 12 are selected through an audition process. The Ensemble performs music from the libraryries of such great bands as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Gordon Goodwin, and Bob Mintzer. A four-time finalist at the Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center, the GHS Jazz Ensemble also competes at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival.

Guilford's A Better Chance has for forty years been dedicated to helping to close the opportunity gap for talented minority women.  Guilford ABC prepares its scholars to succeed academically and to take a leadership role in their future endeavors.  Founded in 1963, A Better Chance is a national program that refers academically talented inner-city students to elite private and public schools.  In 1974, Guilford became on of ABC's earliest public school programs.  Its six female students reside in a house staffed with a resident director and tutor who live in attached residences.  The Guilford community in many ways serves as an extended family.