Summer shows
It’s beginning to be time to think about summer theater: Musicals at Richter in Danbury will be auditioning for its three mainstage shows this weekend, starting this evening, April 2. The shows are Once Upon A Mattress (June 12-27), Hairspray (July 3-18), and Annie Get Your Gun (July 24-Aug. 8).
Open auditions for high school (14 and up), college and adult performers will take place at the Richter Arts Center, 100 Aunt Hack Road, Danbury, Thursday evening, 7-9 p.m., Friday, 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, 1:30-5 p.m. Doors open a half hour before the audition begins. There will be separate auditions for young performers ages 6-13 on Saturday from 10 to 1.
For more information about auditions and the Summer Youth Musical Theater Workshops (tuition charged), visit musicalsatrichter.org.
The Good Lie
Ger Duany, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and a graduate of the University of Bridgeport, will be at a benefit film screening of The Good Lie on Thursday, April 2, at the Bijou Theater, 275 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport. Proceeds will benefit the Humanity Helping Sudan Project (humanityhelpingsudanproject.org).
Tickets are $20, which include a reception at 6, the film at 7, and a Q&A with Duany. For more information, call 203-576-4151 or email lchristi@bridgeport.edu.
Eggstravaganza
The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Center at Fairfield, 2325 Burr Street, will host an Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza on Saturday, April 4, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. The family activities will include the egg hunt (aimed at children 8 and younger), spring crafts, and a visit with a “very special rabbit.”
The morning hunt will include a continental breakfast while the afternoon hunt will include juice, cookies and healthy snacks. Both go on rain or shine. Pre-registration by April 2; call 203-259-6305 x109. Cost is $15 per child and $5 for each adult.
Vernal pools
The Woodcock Nature Center at 54 Deer Run Road in Wilton is looking for some citizen scientists to take part in a vernal pool research study on Saturday, April 4, from 6:15 to dark. The program is open to people 14 years and older and it’s free, although donations are welcome.
There will be a short training meeting at 6:15 before the work begins. Pre-registration is required by the day before; visit woodcocknaturecenter.org or call 203-762-7280.
Jazz in Milford
The Charles Neville Jazz Quartet will perform at the Milford Arts Center at 40 Railroad Avenue South on Saturday, April 4, at 8. Saxophonist Charles Neville will be joined by his son Khalif Neville on piano and electric violin sensation Sarah Hubbard. Opening will be Juke Joint Jazz.
Tickets are $35; for availability, call 203-882-0969 or visit milfordarts.org. Seating is general admission and doors open at 7 with wine, beer, soft drinks and snacks on sale.
And coming up...
The Greenwich Antiques Society will present Historic Houses in the Hudson River Valley: Colonial and Federal Era Architecture and Daily Life, a lecture by Kathleen Eagen Johnson, on Monday, April 6, at 1:15 at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. Johnson is former curator and director of collections for Historic Hudson Valley. Admission to the lecture is $20; for reservations and information, email greenwich.antiques.soc@gmail.com or call 203-322-2967.
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What You Need to Know about Doing Business in China — Now is the subject for a panel discussion on Tuesday, April 7, at the University of Bridgeport. Starting at 6 in the duPont Tower Room in the Arnold Bernhard Center, 84 Iranistan Avenue, Bridgeport, the discussion is part of the Robert Sammis Lecture Series. There will be a wine and cheese reception at 5:30. Admission is free; to RSVP, email mjfoster@bridgeport.edu.
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Ridgefield historian and author Jack Sanders will talk at the Keeler Tavern Museum next week about the long-lasting impact the town’s “summer people” had on its development, from the Gilded Age through the Roaring Twenties and beyond. The program will begin at 7 on Tuesday, April 7, in the museum’s Garden House, 132 Main Street, Ridgefield. Admission is free; for more information, call 203-438-5485 or visit keelertavernmuseum.org.
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Pianist George Winston will be making a stop at Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne on Tuesday, April 7, at 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $55 and doors open at 7; audience members are asked to bring canned goods for his tour food drive. He will donate 100% of proceeds from merchandise sales to a local food bank. For reservations and more information, visit fairfieldtheatre.org or call 203-259-1036.
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Wednesday, April 8, is the deadline to sign up for the April 10 Connecticut Audubon’s Evening Peeper Prowl at the Center at Fairfield, 2325 Burr Street. The Friday evening stroll will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m., looking for spring peeper frogs as well as spotted salamanders and frogs, and possibly the woodcock, a bird that is increasingly rare. Boots, flashlights and warm attire are recommended; cost is $8 and children must be accompanied by an adult. To register, call 203-259-6305 x109.
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Tropical Luxuriance: The Mansion’s Conservatory, 1868 to 1880, will open April 8 at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue, Norwalk. The refurbished conservatory has been brought to life with an installation of silk plants provided by Danna DiElsi of the Silk Touch, along with pots and furnishings of the era. General admission to the mansion is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for those 8-18.
Opening April 9 is a new exhibition, Full Bloom: The Artist’s view on Gilded Age Botanicals, in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Mathews Park. There will be a free opening reception on Thursday, April 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit lockwoodmathewsmuseum.com or call 203-838-9799.
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Tickets are now on sale for 2015 tours of The Glass House National Historic Site in New Canaan; there is a new in-depth tour as well as one designed for children. For information, visit theglasshouse.org.