As I Still See It...

Sold Out For Weeks, Legally Blonde Is A Winner

Another wonderful cast, crew and sets, Amity Theater Department does it again.

  Robert DeNiro gained a ton of weight for the lead role in Raging Bull, Demi Moore shaved her head for G. I. Jane, and local Amity student Alli Kramer spent many nights in a hair dressers chair having her medium brown hair lightened gradually until her entire head was the right shade of blonde to play the lead of Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde, the Musical." The play offers many opportunities for everyone to shine, from Elle's three BFF Sorority Sisters who pop up out of nowhere to lift her spirits or give her confidence, to memorable little guest roles by teachers, security guard George Geane, or Director Rob Kennedy's father-in-law Bob Drobish. Mark Iwanicki, who debuted at Amity in Chicago last year and was nominated for the Best Actor …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (6)

Center for The Performing Arts Dedicated at Amity

John Brady shows a comedic side at renaming ceremony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Au8Hgi4rCY During a brief ceremony at Amity High School on May 11 attendees were reminded of the many positive changes John J. Brady has brought to the school since taking on the job eight years ago. Among the most memorable is the fact that it was Brady who is credited for finding Robert and Andrea Kennedy of Bethany to run the Amity Theatre Department. Since they arrived, Amity has been put on the map as one of the best schools with performing arts in the state. Bethany First Selectman Derrylyn Gorski talked about the frustration she had as a parent when her children attended Amity at a time when sports was king and the arts (in any form) didn't seem to matter. Woodbridge First Selectman Ed Sheehey praised…

• Videos (1)

Dedication Of The Amity Auditorium Set For Friday

Everyone is welcome to attend the renaming ceremony at Amity High School

  An hour before the curtain rises on opening night of "Legally Blonde — The Musical" this Friday night, the Amity Auditorium will be dedicated as the new John J. Brady Center for the Performing Arts. Brady has been lauded as an advocate for the arts at Amity and was a guest speaker at the High School Musical Awards two years ago when John Jorge won the best actor honors. The brief ceremony will take place in the main hall by the Auditorium on Friday at 7 p.m. with Amity Board Education Chairman William Blake offering opening remarks, followed by First Selectmen Ed Sheehy and other selected speakers. All are welcome to attend.

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Lunch Break: Bethwood

Lunch Break: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

Catch a sneak peak at this summer's blockbuster film.

The Dark Knight Rises promises to be this summer's blockbuster movie and you can catch a sneak peak now! Warner Brother's trailer #3 for the latest film in the series is today's most popular YouTube video, racking up more than 3 million views and counting. Christian Bale returns as the star of The Dark Knight Rises, and he is joined by Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among others. The movie opens in theaters and Imax on July 20. The Internet Movie Database summarizes the plot this way: "Eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face's crimes, a new terrorist leader, Bane overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that brands him an enemy." What do you think of the trailer?

• Videos (1)

'50 Shades of Grey': Just How Smutty Is It?

Plenty, but it's also unintentionally humorous and so badly written it hurts (and not in a good way).

In keeping with the number theme in the title, here's what you need to know before buying "50 Shades of Grey." Number of times the protagonist, Anastasia Steele, says "Crap" or "Holy Crap": 86 Number of times Anastasia refers to her lover Christian Grey and his moves as "hot" or "freaking hot": 37 Number of times a specific part of the female anatomy is referred to as "down there": 6 If fine writing is like bittersweet truffles, this book is like a wad of Gummi Bears stuck to your back teeth. To use another food metaphor — and I'm not sure this author knows what a metaphor is — it's the literary equivalent of eating Sugar Smacks for dinner. Author E.L. James gives us the first-person perspective of a naive 21-year-old college graduate who …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

Anthony Karge

3:48 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Gentlemen, this really isn't the place to have this discussion. I'm closing down comments on this article.   more ›

Two Broadway Stars To Appear In Amity Play

Legally Blonde debuts on the Amity stage May 11.

  Amity goes blonde when "Legally Blonde The Musical" debuts at Amity High School May 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19 at 8 p.m.  Sorority star Elle Woods doesn’t take “no” for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. In its popular run on Broadway, "Legally Blonde The Musical" earned seven 2007 Tony Award nominations, ten 2007 Drama Desk Award Nominations, and a 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award.  The musical also ranked in the top ten list of the most requested Ticketmaster “Arts & Theatre Events.”  Alexandra "Alli" Kramer is the…

•  5 Comments
• Photos (2)

EdUardo

7:41 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012

Will they be signing autographs?   more ›

Titanic, 100 Years Later: Sinking's Centennial Spurs Film, TV Explosion

Whether you're captivated by the story of the Titanic or not, you can't avoid the avalanche of film and television offerings commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

When an anniversary as meaningful as a centennial comes around, you've got to expect a little fanfare and the inevitable TV special or two. But the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic has brought new meaning to the term "commemoration." There's been hundreds of ceremonies in towns throughout the Eastern Seaboard, if not the country. There's been numerous Titanic-themed exhibits opening, including one in our backyard designed by Dr. Robert Ballard at the Mystic Aquarium. But most conspicuously, the past few weeks have seen a flood of tributes, commemorations and investigations on cable television channels up and down the dial.  And, of course, the re-release of the James Cameron blockbuster "Titanic" in 3-D, which grossed …

• Photos (3)

Titanic, 100 Years Later: Survivor Suffered the Rest of His Life

William T. Sloper of New Britain found a seat on the first lifeboat launched after the Titanic began sinking but was falsely accused of impersonating a woman to get the seat. He spent the rest of his life defending his reputation.

Anyone who knows anything about the Titanic disaster believes that there was a certain protocol for those who boarded the scarce lifeboats onboard the ill-fated ship — or was there?  Actually, the “women or children only” rule was in effect only on the port side of the ship; “women or children first” was the rule on the starboard side. Furthermore, a 14-year-old girl in first class was considered a child; a 14-year-old girl in third class was considered an adult. These variations in protocol are important in understanding the sad case of William Thompson Sloper, a 28-year old stockbroker from New Britain who survived the sinking. Son of Andrew Jackson Sloper, a New Britain bank president, William had spent three months in Europe on both …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)

Titanic, 100 Years Later: Cultural, Culinary Items Went Down with the Ship

The cargo manifest on the ill-fated ship was as diverse and interesting as the passenger list was.

Despite the common belief that there were mostly British, Irish and American citizens aboard the RMS Titanic, the truth is that 29 different nationalities were onboard. The cargo manifest for the Titanic contained articles as diverse as the nationalities of the people onboard the ill-fated ship. Consider the following items that went to the bottom along with the ship: Three very rare books were also lost to the sea. Harry Elkins Widener, a 1907 Harvard graduate and an avid book collector, had purchased several rare books to bring home on the Titanic, including a very rare first edition of essays by Francis Bacon. Harry saw to it that his mother and her maid were safely placed in a lifeboat and then stepped back. Later, William Carter …

• Photos (2)

Titanic, 100 Years Later: Nearby Titanic Museum is a Hidden Treasure [VIDEO]

Don't be fooled by appearances: This museum contains some outstanding artifacts and is well worth visiting.

Edward Kamuda, founder of the Titanic Historical Society (THS) and curator of its Titanic Museum, remembers well how he first got hooked on the story of the Titanic. He was in junior high school in Indian Orchard, a part of Springfield, MA, in the early 1950s, and his teacher required the class to read an essay and write about it. Ed chose “A Great Ship Goes Down,” by Hanson Baldwin. It was about the sinking of the Titanic. The experience changed his life. Edward S. Kamuda started the Titanic Historical Society’s collection of survivors' artifacts in the early 1960s, and he and his wife, Karen, have been caring for it ever since. The collection is housed in the back room of his family’s jewelry shop at 208 Main St. in Indian Orchard. …

• Photos (10)
• Videos (1)