Father's Day Open Cockpit; Folk Music In Manchester; Gaza In West Hartford

Air Museum Hosts Open Cockpit for Father's Day

Looking for something to do with Dad on Father's Day, June 19? The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks hosts an open cockpit event. Visitors are invited to climb into the cockpits of up to 12 vintage aircraft, a full-motion flight simulator, and two static flight simulators (Pass the Dramamine, please). Among the aircraft that are open to visiting "pilots" are the World War II Vought Corsair, the North American F-100 Super Sabre, a DC-3 airliner, and several helicopters. As an added, rare treat, visitors are invited to take a peek inside the passenger compartment of the Sikorsky VS-44 Flying Boat, which was built in 1941 for trans-Atlantic flight. It is the last surviving aircraft of its type, and its last owner was the actress Maureen O'Hara. The Open Cockpit day also includes hands-on activities for younger visitors.

Open Cockpit day runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sneakers or rubber-soled shoes are recommended. The New England Air Museum is at 36 Perimeter Road, Windsor Locks. For more information, visit www.neam.org or call 860-623-3305. 

Folk on Fridays at Cheney Hall

Folk music fans, Friday nights at Cheney Hall in Manchester are made for you. Starting June 17, the performance space is home to a series of Folk on Fridays open mic nights. Musicians are invited to sign up at 6:30 p.m. for a 10-minute slot. The music starts at 7 p.m. Other dates in the series are July 1, 15, and 29, and September 9.

Admission is free, but contributions are welcome. For more information, visit www.cheneyhall.org or call 860-647-9824. Cheney Hall is at 177 Hartford Road, Manchester.

Family in Captivity Screening at Mandell JCC

June 25, 2011 marks the fifth year that Gilad Shalit has been held captive in Gaza by Hamas. Tal Goren's new documentary, Family in Captivity, chronicles the events leading to Shalit's capture and the efforts of his family members to win his release. West Hartford's Mandell JCC presents the Hartford premiere of the film on June 21 with Goren and members of the Shalit family in attendance as guest speakers.

Screening time is 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10; $5 students. Proceeds benefit the Free Gilad effort. For tickets or more information, visit www.mandelljcc.org or call 860-231-6316. The screening will be held at the Herbert Gilman Theater at the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford.

Charlie Brown Musical at Playhouse

West Hartford's Playhouse on Park presents You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, based on the comic strip by Charles Schulz. Performances start June 15. The lighthearted musical is the 1999 revised version that won two Tony and three Drama Desk awards. Directed by Sean Harris with musical direction by Emmett Drake, the show features Charlie Brown (Playhouse veteran Steven Mooney), his beloved pooch Snoopy (West Hartford native Joseph Fierberg), Lucy, (Hartt School grad Lindsay Adkins), Linus (Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts faculty member Kevin Barlowski), and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

Performance dates are June 15 through 26. Tickets range from $15 to $32.50. Playhouse on Park is at 244 Park Road, West Hartford. For more information, visit www.playhouseonpark.org or call 860-523-5900 x10.

Mexican-Born Poet Featured at Hill-Stead's Sunken Garden

Ekiwah Adler-Belendez was born 23 years ago in Amatlan, Mexico. Afflicted with cerebral palsy, he is unable to walk. But in his poems, which he began publishing at age 12, he can do anything he wants. "I cannot walk by myself," he says, "yet in my poems I not only walk, but give myself license to have eight legs and experience movement." Adler-Belendez reads on June 22 as part of the Hill-Stead Museum's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. Joining him for the reading are five winners of a Connecticut Poetry Circuit-sponsored statewide poetry contest. Poets are: Joe Welch, a student at the University of Connecticut; Tim Pettus, an English major at the University of Hartford; Hannah Watkins, a general studies major at Middlesex Community College; Kate Lund, an English major at Yale University; and Luisa Caycedo-Kimura, an English major at Southern Connecticut State University. Music is provided by Sirius Coyote, which hails from Morelos, Mexico, where Adler-Belendez was born.  

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. performances begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is free. On-site parking is $10. Attendees are welcome to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and picnics. Food may also be purchased from the Truffles Bakery concession. In the event of rain, performances move indoors or under a tent. The Hill-Stead is at 35 Mountain Road, Farmington. For more information, visit www.hillstead.org or call 860-677-4787.

Simsbury Concert with Littlehouse

Want to have a good time for a good cause? Head to the Simsbury Performing Arts Center on June 17 where the country rock fusion band Littlehouse

performs a benefit gig. The event, dubbed Summer Solstice, is also sponsored by the Mitchell Auto Group and Simsbury Bank, both of Simsbury. Both lawn and table seating are available at the concert, which kicks off the summer's Iron Horse Concert Series at Simsbury Meadows. Catered meals are offered for purchase from Fitzgerald's Foods and Metro bis, both of Simsbury. The seven-member Littlehouse, made up of Connecticut musicians, has been featured in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and was one of four finalists selected out of 20 bands in a competition to open for Bon Jovi. Also featured in the concert is guest The Cupcakes.

Concert time is 6 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for lawn seating, $96 for a table of 8. Kids under 16 free. For tickets and table reservations, visit www.junesolstice.com.Live performances of Littlehouse can be sampled at www.LittleHouselive.com.

Rose Weekend at Elizabeth Park

Fifteen thousand roses are in bloom all over Hartford's Elizabeth Park, and in celebration, families are invited to visit for two days of walks, tours and activities. The June 18 and 19 Rose Weekend features arts and crafts, horticultural societies, and music under a tent on the Rose Garden Lawn. Other special events include a poetry reading at 1 p.m. on June 18, and the Annual Rose Show by the Connecticut Rose Society at Pond House Hall from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 19. Admission is free.

On June 22, Elizabeth Park hosts the first of its Summer Concert Series events with the six-member swing band Eight to the Bar scheduled to perform a free concert on the Rose Garden Lawn. (In the event of rain, the show moves indoors to the Pond House Hall.) Picnickers are welcome. Food is also available at the Pond House Cafe concession.

Elizabeth Park is at 1555 Asylum Ave., Hartford. For more information, visit www.elizabethpark.org.

Fraulein Maria at Hartford Stage

What do you get when you combine Rodgers and Hammerstein's timeless tunes from The Sound of Music with the choreography of Doug Elkins? You get whatThe New York Times calls "a mini-masterpiece, melding every kind of dance technique you can think of." The production is now at Hartford Stage in Hartford for a limited engagement that runs through June 26. Elkins merges modern and popular dance forms from hip-hop to vogue-ing, and choreographs deep, affectionate bows to dance legends including Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. The result is a reinterpretation of the 1965 musical classic suitable for all ages. Barbara Karger and Michael Preston direct.

Fraulein Maria runs through June 26 at Hartford Stage, 50 Church St., Hartford. For tickets and more information, visit www.hartfordstage.org.

Red Hot Jazz on the Mystic River

Acclaimed trombonist, composer, arranger and educator Wycliffe Gordon returns with his quintet to Mystic Seaport for a June 18 concert aboard the L.A. Dunton. Pack a picnic, purchase beverages from Spouter's Tavern, take a seat beside the river, and enjoy the sunset show. Gordon has traveled worldwide with Wynton Marsalis. he was a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz orchestra, and was featured on the Ken Burns' Jazz documentary. He has been hailed for "mixing powerful, intricate runs with sweet notes extended over clean melodies."

Doors open at 6 p.m. The concert runs from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $17 adults, $10 adult members; and $10 youths, or $7 youth members. Picnics are welcome, but alcoholic beverages are forbidden and may only be purchased on site. For more information, including VIP seating and a meet-and-greet buffet dinner with Gordon, visit www.mysticseaport.org. Mystic Seaport is at 75 Greemanville Ave., Mystic. Phone 860-572-5302.

Music and Arts at Old Sturbridge Village

Old Sturbridge Village hosts Music & Art Weekend on June 18 and 19. The two-day event includes music, dancing, and arts and crafts demonstrations throughout the historic 1830s village. Potters fire redware pottery in the museum's 24-foot-high brick kiln. Visitors can learn to play 1830s-style instruments including the jaw harp and tin whistle. Historians teach old-fashioned artistic techniques such as paper marbling and silhouetting. The Old Sturbridge Village Singers present their spring concert on June 18, and solo performers sing 19th century songs. Music on Sunday includes a fife and drum corps and flute music from the 1800s. 

For more information, visit www.osv.org or call 800-SEE-1830. Old Sturbridge Village is at 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, Mass. In recognition of Father's Day, Dads get free admission and a free gift (while supplies last) on June 19.