First Night Hartford 2017, the city’s annual downtown New Year’s Eve bash that lasts most of the day and night, suffered a financial setback this year when its annual $30,000 budget line from the city of Hartford was cut in a year of fiscal belt-tightening.
But the show will go on, slightly altered, even adding some new attractions to the traditional lineup.
One of the new features is “Professor Horn’s Punch and Judy Show,” a comic show starring hand-carved puppets and accompanied by an organ grinder. It will be at the Central Baptist Church, 457 Main St., at 3, 4 and 5 p.m.
Also new is Bated Breath Theatre Company’s presentation of “Freedom: In 3 Acts,” a 45-minute musical play that tells three stories from the history of African-American spirituals.
Mara Lieberman, the executive artistic director of Bated Breath, says the segments are about Marian Anderson, the singer who in 1939 was denied usage of a concert hall, who then gave a free public concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial attended by 75,000 people; about codes embedded in spirituals that helped people find their way onto the Underground Railroad; and about the 19th-century spiritual choir the Fiske Jubilee Singers.
Lieberman especially likes the Marian Anderson segment. “Martin Luther King Jr. was in the audience. I think he was 9,” Lieberman said. “She was a phenom, an ambassador to the U.N. But she was written out of history.”
Lieberman is excited about the music in the show, which includes the gospel standards “Steal Away,” “O Freedom,” “This Train,” “Deep River,” “Give Me Jesus,” “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” “Wade in the Water.”
The play, featuring five actors all playing multiple roles, was developed for the Amistad Center for Art & Culture in 2013 and has been performed around the state in various venues. This is its debut at First Night. It will be performed at 4:30 and 6:40 p.m. at Center Church, 675 Main St.
“These are little snapshots of history, trying to understand contemporary culture through these snapshots and linking them,” she said. “Theater is a very interesting way to access different parts of the brain and soul so people can get really engaged in a different way.”
Other highlights of First Night Hartford, which gets underway at 11 a.m. when the skating rink in Bushnell Park opens, are the two fireworks displays at 6 p.m. and midnight.
Nicole Glander, who organizes First Night, says Hartford’s budget woes almost put a damper on the event. But, with a few adjustments, she was able to drum up the funding through public and private sources to put on the festivities.
“We’re going to do things a bit differently to cut down on the use of city services, like the Grand Procession will go around Bushnell Park only. We don’t want to have to shut down any city streets, because that would involve using police,” Glander says. “We’re doing everything we can to work in the budget so we can get through this year, because who knows what can happen next year.”
Glander says some activities are free — such as the fireworks — but “we would appreciate it if people would buy the wristbands anyway” to help defray costs.
Wristbands, which can be purchased online through Dec. 27 and at most of the event venues and locations, cost $12, $3 youths age 3 to 15, children younger than 3 free. Wristbands give the bearer admission to all venues, but fortune-telling (at City Hall from 3 to 11 p.m.) costs an additional $1 a minute.
Other activities include the grand procession from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m. in Bushnell Park; tours of historic architectural sites; live music and
carousel rides; dance instruction from Arthur Murray studios; a science show about the seasons; horse-drawn wagon rides; craft activities, such as at the Wadsworth Atheneum from from 3 to 5 p.m.; exhibits; a $2 discount on admission to the Connecticut Science Center; storytelling; improv comedy; a kids’ train ride; and the ever-popular face painters at Center Church from 4 to 8 p.m.
The information booth is at 60 Gold St. Parking is $5 after noon at the MAT garage at 20 Church St., the Morgan Street Garage, the Pulaski Circle lot at corner of Linden and Hudson streets, and the Trumbull on the Park garage. Parking at One Financial Plaza — The Gold Building is $5 before 2 p.m. and $2 after 2 p.m., and metered parking is not enforced after noon. A free shuttle runs from 3 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. from the Connecticut Science Center, the Riverfront and the Connecticut Convention Center. More information: firstnighthartford.org.
You can find more New Year’s Eve celebrations here.
