Free Matinees in Suffied; "Women's Work" in Windsor; "The Rescuers" in West Hartford

Women's Work at Windsor Art Center

Contemporary works by 11 women artists make up Women's Work, an exhibition opening May 14 at the Windsor Art Center. The artists, who hail from as far away as California and as near as a handful of Connecticut towns, work in various mediums. Some of their creations represent the work women have done throughout history while others are the product of female artists responding to life. Connecticut artists included in the show are:  Lorraine Agri of Soutbury; Anita Gangi Balkun of West Hartford; Chotsani Elaine Dean of Hartford; Joy Floyd of Bloomfield; Rachel Siporin of Glastonbury; Harriet Caldwell of Harwinton; and Valerie Culbertson of New Milford. Also represented in the show are Adele Schonbrun of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; Sandy Abrams of Long Beach, Calif.; Joyce Agri Colvario of Boston; and Debi Pendell of North Adams, Mass.

Women's Work runs through June 25. The opening reception is May 14 from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Windsor Art Center is free and open to the public. It is at 40 Mechanic St., Windsor. For more information, visit www.windsorartcenter.org or call 860-688-2528.

Three Free Matinees in Suffield 

It's a triple-header this week at the Kent Memorial Library in Suffield where three feature films are shown at free screenings. First up on May 13 is Black Swan, the Oscar-nominated psycho-drama in which Natalie Portman stars as an ambitious ballerina. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film is rated R. On May 17, it's 1951's Oscar-sweeping drama A Place in the Sun starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters. George Stevens directed the picture, which is based on Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy. Finally, on May 18, Elizabeth Taylor Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift team up in the film adaptation of Suddenly Last Summer, based on a short story by Tennessee Williams. The film is not rated.

All screenings begin at 2 p.m. No registration required. Food and drink are prohibited. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. For further information call the library at 860-668-3896. Kent Memorial Library is at 50 North Main St., Suffield. For more information, visit www.suffield-library.org or call 860-668-3896.

JCC Screens The Rescuers

Thirteen diplomats defied their governments orders to help save more than 200,000 European Jews during World War II. Their story is outlined – and their courage celebrated – in The Rescuers, a documentary produced by West Hartford businesswoman Joyce Mandell and Michael King, an Emmy-winning filmmaker originally from New London. West Hartford's Mandell Jewish Community Center hosts a screening of the film, which Variety calls "fascinating, [and] emotional," on May 12. 

The screening starts at 7 p.m. in the Herbert Gilman Theater. It is open to all. Tickets cost $36, with proceeds benefiting the Arts of It All cultural programs at the JCC. For tickets, email tickets@mandelljcc.org or call 860-231-6316. The Mandell JCC is at 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford.

Art League's Starry Night

Dinner served outdoors under a tent, wines and spirits, astrologers and tarot card readers, dancing, and a live auction featuring items including a week's stay for six on the Island of Virgin Gorda are all part of the West Hartford Art League's fundraiser Starry Night. West Hartford resident and TV personality Diane Smith hosts the May 13 event, which is held on the Art League's grounds on Buena Vista Road.

Tickets cost $90; $75, members. To reserve, call 860-231-8019. For more information, visit www.westhartfordart.org. The West Hartford Art League’s Saltbox Gallery is at 37 Buena Vista Road, West Hartford. 

Hartt and HSO Present a Few Favorite Things

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra Pops and the Hartt School join forces May 14 for a Richard Rodgers Revue. HSO music director Edward Cumming leads an original program of music devoted to the career of musical theater icon Richard Rodgers. Tunes from musicals including Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and Carousel are featured in what is Cumming's last Pops concert with the Hartford Symphony. "I am delighted that my final Pops! concert as music director [of the Hartford Symphony] will be with the fabulously gifted young men and women in the music theater program at The Hartt School," says Cumming. "And who -- if anyone -- can resist the music of that fabulous melodist, Richard Rodgers?  Prepare to be engaged, enchanted, and enthralled." The program was created by Cumming and Michael Morris, Hartt's director of music in the theater division.

Concert time is 8 p.m. at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Tickets range from $30 to $62. Student tickets cost $10. Some $20 tickets are available to patrons age 40 and under.  To purchase tickets or for more information, call 860-244-2999 or or visitwww.hartfordsymphony.org.

Masterworks Concert Features Music by Farmington's Stephen Gryc

The music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Benjamin Britten and Farmington's Stephen Michael Gryc are on the program when Hartford Symphony Orchestra music director Edward Cumming leads his players in one of three final Masterworks concerts. (Cumming is leaving the position at the end of this season.) The program begins with Britten's Four Sea Interludes – Dawn, Sunday Morning, Moonlight, and Storm, from the opera Peter Grimes. HSO concertmaster Leonid Sigal then performs a world premiere by Farmington resident Stephen Michael Gryc. Harmonia Mundi: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was inspired by “… the ancient idea of four primal elements that make up the world," says Gryc. "The first movement, Water, is moderately slow. The second, Earth, is moderately fast and leads without pause to the very fast third movement, Fire. The progressive acceleration of the first three movements gives way to the slow and ethereal fourth movement, Air.” Concluding the concert is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.

Performances are May 19 through 22 at the Bushnell center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Tickets range from $30 to $70. Some $20 tickets are available for patrons age 40 and under. Student tickets cost $10. To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact HSO ticket services at (860) 244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Rides Into Roaring Brook

Two-time Grammy Award winner and five-time Grammy-nominee Ramblin' Jack Elliott returns to the Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton for a May 14 performance. The show is his only 2011 Connecticut appearance. Elliott, who received the Presidential Medal of the Arts from President Clinton in 1998, was part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, Woodie Guthrie's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, and Pete Seegers's 90th Birthday Party at Madison Square Garden. Did we mention that Elliott likes to tell stories? The show also promises his cowboy songs, ballads and blues. 

Show time is 7:30 p.m.. Tickets cost $25 in advance; $30 at the door. Roaring Brook Nature Center is at 70 Gracey Road, Canton. Visit www.roaringbrookconcerts.org.

Boxing Musical at Goodspeed's Norma Terris

Cutman: A Boxing Musical is round one in a three-show season at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre in Chester. Cutman tells the story of Ari Hoffman (Cory Grant), a young Jewish boxer who dreams of being welter weight champion of the world. Trained by his father in the basement of a local synagogue, Ari turns pro and goes for the top. But when his shot at the title fight is scheduled on the eve of Yom Kippur, he must choose between achieving his lifelong dream and defying his faith. Cutman is set to a contemporary score by Drew Brody that mixes rock, pop, hip-hop and R&B. The book is by Jared Michael Coseglia, with a story by Coseglia and Cory Grant.

Performances run from May 12 through June 5. Tickets are available at the Goodspeed box office or by calling 860-873-8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org.  

August Wilson's Gem at Hartford Stage

 The year is 1904. A tormented young man comes to the home of a former slave and "soul cleanser" who sets him on a journey of discovery that leads to mythical places and detours for discoveries about guilt, duty, and redemption. The first installment of playwright August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, a 10-play chronicle of the 20th century, Gem of the Ocean runs from May 12 through June 5 at Hartford Stage in Hartford. Hana Sharif directs.

For tickets and more information, visit www.hartfordstage.org or call 860-527-5151. Hartford Stage is at 50 Church St., Hartford.