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Arts & Entertainment

Wanted, Dead or Alive: Bon Jovi Tix

Bon Jovi Does Greatest Hits at Mohegan, 'Bird at the Buzzer' Author Speaks in Tolland, Film About Nazi Art Thievery in Storrs

At the steep $135-$210 price for the cheap seats, all but the worst procrastinators will have their tickets to see Grammy-lauded Bon Jovi Friday night, March 4, at Mohegan Sun Arena. There are only single seats left, and those are at the $210 level.

The release of the band’s Greatest Hits collections in November is feeding the tour, which takes fans through past monster hits – “Livin’ On A Prayer,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” etc. – and into the four new tracks – “What Do You Got?” “The More Things Change,” “No Apologies” and “This Is Love, This Is Life.” You can decide which end of the continuum puts the most joy in Jovi.

The group is credited with selling more than 120 million albums, and performing more than 2,600 concerts before 34 million fans in 50 countries. So, maybe you can’t be No. 34 million and one, but take heart. Bon Jovi will be back. Tickets for a May 7 appearance at Mohegan Sun are on sale in all ranges: $500, $350, $210 and $135 (plus the inevitable handling and facility fees of $21). You’ve got two months to save up, starting…now!

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The show starts at 8 p.m. Friday, March 4. For information, call 888-777-7922 or visit: http://www.mohegansun.com/entertainment/?page=2&.

The Game That Stands the Test of Time

t’s hard to say what is the most halcyon period of UConn women’s basketball. We’d have to go to a bar and argue long into the night. But sportswriter Jeff Goldberg, formerly of The Hartford Courant, covered the team during its sharpest ascendancy and has captured a unique game in his new book, Bird at the Buzzer. The game was the March 2001 Big East tournament championship contest between UConn and Notre Dame, and the book includes interviews with players Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and coaches Geno Auriemma and the Irish’s Muffet McGraw. Goldberg will read from the book, speak about his inspiration, take questions and sign copies at Tolland Public Library on Wednesday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m.

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“I knew from the moment I walked out of Gampel that night that we had just witnessed the greatest women's game ever played,” Goldberg says of the title game starring UConn goddess and point guard Sue Bird. “There's never been a game with that much talent, that much back story, that much drama and that kind of ending, all wrapped into one night. Ten years later, it still retains that distinction.” Given UConn’s ability to lay up drama season after season, that’s saying something.

Yes, this is the book you have been hearing about on CPTV pledge breaks during the UConn women’s games. They used it as a draw for donors, but it was officially released March 1. Bring $29.95 to the library if you want to purchase a copy and get Goldberg’s signature. Registration is required. You cand do that by calling the library at 860-871-3620 or via email at bbutler@tolland.org.

Crime Against Art

When the Third Reich machinery was busy destroying a culture, brick by brick, body by body, it was human enough to be greedy for art. The film, “The Rape of Europa,” showing Friday, March 4, in the Benton Museum film series, tells “the epic story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures” during World War II. As the Nazis looted western culture for a dozen years, art professionals and ordinary people heroically fought back to protect and recover millions of stolen artworks. The story focuses on artist Gustav Klimt’s famed “Gold Portrait,” stolen from Viennese Jews in 1938 and to this day the most expensive painting ever sold. Now, more than 60 years later, other major works are still being restored to rightful owners from this tragic period. See the film’s trailer at http://www.rapeofeuropa.com/theTrailer.aspx.

The free film will be shown at 12:15 p.m. Friday, March 4, in the CUE Building, Room 134, where the series has been moved for this spring. A discussion will follow the showing.

Heard About ‘Rumors’ in Manchester?

Have you ever been invited to an anniversary dinner only to find the hostess missing and the host shot in the head? It’s a comedy, honest, and one of the Neil Simon variety. You can see “Rumors” now through March 13 at Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall.

Set in a posh suburban residence, the farce serves up hilarity as the dinner guests piece together what has happened and who knew what when. Always a conundrum.

Show tickets range from $24 to $17 and can be purchased online at www.cheneyhall.org or through the theater box office at 860-647-9824. Cheney Hall, the state’s oldest operating theater, is located at 177 Hartford Road, Manchester, in the Cheney Historic District.

Vernon Seniors to Beat the Rush of St. Pat’s Parties

Revelers of a certain age can sign up for a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on Tuesday, March 8, at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville with the Vernon Senior Center. A $68 fee covers transportation via motor coach, family-style lunch at the restaurant, lively Irish musical entertainment, complimentary glass of wine or beer, dancing, a raffle for door prizes and even a jig or two.

“They get tons of food,” Ellen Ballos, assistant director at the senior center, says. The day will be simple with limited walking and plenty of good cheer, she says. Register by 1 p.m. Friday, March 4, by calling the senior center at 860-870-3680 or email pclaydon@vernon-ct.gov or eballos@vernon-ct.gov.

Next month, the center is planning an April 20 trip to Goodspeed Opera House to see “My One and Only” at a 2 p.m. matinee after lunch at The Ivory Restaurant & Pub in Deep River. Cost for transportation, lunch and orchestra section seating is $106 per person. Contact the senior center by April 8 to register.

Art in the Spring Cures What Ails You

More than 60 works of art by 25 area artists are part of the Spring Art Gallery Show at Rockville General Hospital now through May. The show, which opened this week, will offer commission-free, direct sales through the artists. This venture was organized by the Rockville Downtown Association, ECHN, the Rockville General Hospital Auxiliary, Vernon Arts Commission and the Vernon Community Arts Center. For information, call 860-875-7439 or visit http://www.rdact.com/.

Calling All Amateur A Cappella Groups

Also from the Rockville Downtown Association, non-professional a cappella groups can apply now to compete in the 7th Annual “A Cappella Slam” to be held in the Vernon Senior Center Performance Hall on April 16. For entry form and information, visit http://www.rdact.com/.

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