Dan's Papers - July 13, 2007 - Take Five 2007 with Jan Silver

Very busy week coming up - Bard Music Festival of the Hamptons opens, rock opera Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring premieres, award-winning singer/composer Randy Newman and then Portuguese fado star Mariza perform in Westhampton Beach this weekend, and Prince kicks off the Hamptons Social@Ross School benefit series (must buy the series for $15,000). Comedian Caroline Rhea is at Bay Street Theatre's Comedy Club on Monday. Stony Brook's Southampton campus has its first "Sustainable Pleasures" concert Saturday evening, and its stellar Writers Conference (Frank McCourt, Roger Rosenblatt and others) begins next Wednesday.

This weekend and next, it's benefits, benefits, benefits including a lobster bake at the Shinnecock Nation Culture Center & Museum (details at end of this column). There are also several distinguished authors speaking at local venues and a few outstanding independent films on local screens, so read on for details.

THEATER and COMEDY
Sag Harbor's Bay Street Theatre presents the world premiere of the rock opera Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring, playing Tuesday through Sunday evenings until August 5. Randy Weiner and Diana Paulus, creators of the successful Off Broadway condensed version of Shakespeare titled The Donkey Show, are trying it again with famous opera arias - writing a new story, taking well-known melodies and adding new lyrics to rock beats ($65-75). Next Tues. night the cast stays to talk with the audience. On Monday night, the actress/comedienne/tv host Caroline Rhea, known for her witty and spontaneous humor, grace's the Bay Street stage ($50). Tickets to all Bay Street shows are sold at the box office (631-725-9500) or online at www.baystreet.org.

David Houston's new one-act musical Fred and Adele Astaire: The Last Dance comes to Southampton's Rogers Memorial Library next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. It imagines the struggle between the popular siblings - as they sing and dance to the music of Romberg, Kern and Gershwin - when she leaves the act to marry. There is no admission charge but reservations are requested (631-283-0774 ext.523) and voluntary donations are appreciated.

MUSIC
The Bard Music Festival of the Hamptons (formerly the Music Festival of the Hamptons) opens Friday at East Hampton Studios, Wainscott, with a gala concert honoring composer/conductor/concert pianist and Hamptons resident Lukas Foss on his 85th birthday. The opening program features the music of the early Romantic composers performed by the American Symphony Orchestra led by Leon Botstein with violin soloist Arnaud Sussmann. There is a pre-concert talk by Maestro Botstein at 7 p.m. and the music starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the opening concert are $75 or $150 with a 5:30 p.m. cocktail party followed by the talk and concert. Season passes are $750 and $950, and include opening and closing galas plus tickets to all concerts. The Bard College Conservatory Chamber Players present a free concert Saturday at 11 a.m., and Saturday evening the Daedalus Quartet and guests perform Mozart, Berg and Beethoven at the Old Whalers Church, Sag Harbor. The Guttman Family Concert is 11 a.m. Sunday at Woelffer Estate Vineyards, Sagaponack, and the Daedalus Quartet performs again in Sag Harbor on Sunday. Monday, pianist Suzanne Dinnerstein plays Bach's Goldberg Variations at Woelffer Estate, and concert pianist Melvin Chen plays modern composers Smetana, Novak and others at Southampton Cultural Center next Thursday. Tickets start at $35 and some programs have free admission for AARP members. The entire two-week schedule plus ticket information is online at www.bardmusicfestival-hamptons.com or call 1-800-644-4418.

Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Festival presents Oscar/Grammy/Emmy Award-winning singer/composer Randy Newman on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ($70-100). His movie scores are familiar, and he also composes in a variety of styles with lyrics featuring his wicked sense of humor. On Sunday, 8:30 p.m., the attractive and soulful Portuguese fado (haunting blues) singer Mariza is at PAC ($50-80). For tickets, call the box office at (631) 288-1500 or go online to www.whbpac.org

The Perlman Music Program has its works-in-progress concerts this Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at the Shelter Island campus (call 631-749-0740 for the programs; no admission charge). The rock/funk/surf music group The CreamSicles plays a free family concert (courtesy of Group for the East End) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Meschutt Beach Park, Hampton Bays (raindate July 21). Stony Brook Southampton opens its "Sustainable Pleasures" series with tenor Anthony Dean Griffey on Saturday in the Avram Theater, 7:30 p.m. ($35 adults, $25 alumni, $10 students; call 631-632-8000 or online www.stonybrook.edu/pleasures). The Long Island Tuba Quartet, who play classical, jazz, rock and ragtime, give a free concert at the Montauk Library on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Classical pianist Ruth Alpert Spencer performs Chopin and Brahms selections at the Montauk Library on Sunday, 3:30 p.m. (gratis). Pianofest continues its weekly recitals Monday, 5 p.m., at the Avram Theater, Stony Brook Southampton ($10 at the door, students free).

Recommended performers at local clubs and restaurants: Amagansett - at the Stephen Talkhouse (631-267-3117) on Fri., The Radiators then disco rock Booga Sugar, Sat.--Booga Sugar, Sun.--The New York Dolls, Mon.--soul/r&b The Subdudes, Tues.--hip hop/rap Arrested Development, Wed.--southern country rock Drive-by Truckers, Thurs.--new southern rocker Stoll Vaughn, country star Marty Stuart, then British rapper Slick Rick. Jazz club Estia Cantina, Amagansett (631-267-6320) - next Tues. & Wed. jazz pianist Chuk Fowler. East Hampton - jazz Fri. at Almondito, Coco Restaurant (Maidstone Arms) pop and jazz standards with Jane Hastay and Peter Martin Weiss (Fri.) and country/pop/blues with Jim Turner (Sat.); Prime 103 has Annie Morgan Band on Fri.; Turtle Crossing has Mama Lee & Friends on Fri.; Fiddler's Cove has Jim Turner on Sun., East Hampton Point has reggae Sun, improv comedy at The Lodge on Tues. Sagaponack - Twilight Thursdays (5-7:30 p.m.) at Wolffer Estate Vineyard with live music. Bridgehampton - World Pie jazz brunch Sat. with Sari Kessler Trio, jazz brunch Sun. with Stefanie Cardinali Group, Pierre's Restaurant--light jazz with Dennis Raffelock on Sun. and Jody Carlson next Tues. Water Mill - acoustic guitarist Steve Fredericks on Thurs. at Muse. Southampton - Latin rhythms with Ludmilla on Thurs. at Le Chef, reggae Fri. at Wildthyme, open mike Thurs. at Tugboat's North Sea House. Hampton Bays - live music Fri. at Buckley's Inn Between. Westhampton Beach - acoustic musicians Fri.& Sat, in Annona's lounge, acoustic guitarist Steve Fredericks (Fri.) and Mambo Loco Cuban jazz band (Sun.) at The Patio, jazz with Swingset Quartet at Westhampton Steakhouse; East Quogue - Paul Mahos Band on Fri. & Sun., Annie Morgan Band on Wed.

SPEAKERS
(no charge unless noted)
Poet/journalist/author Simon Van Booy speaks about his latest story collection The Secret Lives of People in Love at Southampton's Rogers Memorial Library today at noon. The Bridgehampton library's Fridays at Five' guest is best-selling novelist Susan Isaacs who will talk about her latest, Past Perfect ($15; rainsite Bridgehampton School). Novelist Carrie Karasvov will read from her new satire The Infidelity Pact on Friday, 8 p.m., at BookHampton, East Hampton. On Saturday at BookHampton, Southampton, Linda LaPlante will read from her new novel Red Dahlia. At BookHampton, East Hampton, on Saturday at 8 p.m., former Time and Wall Street Journal editor Norman Pearlstine will discuss his new book Off the Record.

At Canio's Books, Sag Harbor, author Phyllis Raphael will read from her new memoir Off the King's Road: Lost and Found in London. Congressman Gregory Meeks will speak about "Achieving Peace and Prosperity in a Globalized World" on Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach. Amagansett's Marine Museum "Poetry Marathon" series on Sunday, 4 p.m., has Carole Stone and Alex Russo reading from their work. The Quogue Library's featured speaker on Sunday, 5 p.m., is ABC-TV's chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz talking about her book The Long Road Home: A Story of Family and War ($15). Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Eric Kandel will speak about "In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of the Mind" next Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach.

Stony Brook Southampton opens its two-week summer Writers Conference next Wednesday. The distinguished faculty includes poet Billy Collins, novelists Melissa Bank, Matt Klam, Joyce Carol Oates, and Meg Wolitzer, memoirist Frank Mc Court, playwrights Christopher Durang and Marsha Norman, and essayist Roger Rosenblatt. The regular weeknight readings are sold out but tickets to a staged reading of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's new musical Heathcliff on July 23, and a gala reading with most of the faculty on July 27 are available by calling (631) 632-5032.

FILMS
(no admission charge unless noted)
Sag Harbor's John Jermain Library screens the independent documentary Madeintheusa tonight 6:30 p.m. Southampton's Rogers Memorial Library shows John Curran's beautiful film based on Somerset Maugham's romantic The Painted Veil (USA, 2006), set in 1920s China, on Monday at 7 p.m. (call 631-283-0774 ext.523 to reserve seats; voluntary donation). The Hampton Synagogue's film series Monday feature at the Hampton Arts Cinema is 51 Birch Street (USA, 2006), 7:30 p.m., director Doug Birch's story of his German-born parents' marriage. Westhampton Beach PAC's feature next Tues.-Thurs. is The TV Set (2006) with David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver.

BENEFITS
HC & G Idea House, a new 9200-square-foot home built on Warner LeRoy's former Amagansett estate, debuts at a cocktail party tonight to benefit Guild Hall (the John Drew Theater renovation is costing much more than expected!), 7 p.m. Call (631) 324-0806 ext. 13 for tickets ($150). The house then opens to the public Sat. through August 5 (www.HCandG.com/Ideahouse).

"A Moveable Feast," a summer series of cocktails and dinners at private homes with well-known entertainers, is a benefit for Guild Hall, East Hampton, beginning this Friday, 8 p.m., with Broadway actress/singer Melissa Errico and her husband, tennis great Patrick McEnroe (cocktails only $100, dinner $400; call Loretta DePinto at 631-324-0806 or go to www.guildhall.org for reservations, additional dates and featured guests).

CMEE (Children's Museum of the East End) has a dinner dance and auction hosted by advertising guru/TV personality Donny Deutsch tonight, 6:30 p.m., at Channing Daughters Winery, Bridgehampton (from $750, call 631-537-8250).

Box Art Auction for East End Hospice, original cigar box designs by famous artists, is a cocktail party & auction, Saturday, 4:30 p.m., at the lower campus of the Ross School, Bridgehampton (631-288-7080).

"Reach for the Stars" is a dinner dance with Starr Boggs' catering, Ric Mango Band's music and an auction for the Family Counseling Service, on the Great Lawn, Westhampton Beach, Saturday from 7 p.m. ($200, 631-288-1954 ext. 249).

The Shinnecock Nation Culture Center and Museum has its annual Lobster Bake on Saturday, 11 a.m to 5 p.m. at the Museum grounds ($25) in Southampton. On Sunday, traditional Indian foods (frybread, samp, blueberry dessert etc.) will be served.

The Parrish Art Museum's elegant "Mid-summer Party" honors retiring director Trudy Kramer at a dinner dance under an air-conditioned tent on the Museum grounds, Saturday, 7 p.m. ($1,000; "After 10" drinks/dance/dessert party $150; call 631-283-2118 ext. 33).