The sun will come out at night in Elizabeth Park this weekend.
Anne Cubberly’s glowing 16-feet-tall Solstice Puppet, a beatific sunburst with a Mona Lisa smile, is the shining star and avatar of Night Fall, Hartford’s annual autumnal celebration featuring music, dance, spoken-word performance and life lessons, all tied together by Cubberly’s charming giant puppets of all varieties of woodland creatures.
Night Fall will be presented Saturday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
The theme of the show this year is “Difference.” The story will tell of how humans and animals deal with encountering others who are different than they are.
“The way we deal with difference in a lot of ways is invisible. We see something different from us and we can’t acknowledge it,” Cubberly said. “We try to make it look like us because you’re more comfortable if you act like me, speak like me, dress like me.”
LB Muñoz, who co-founded Night Fall with Cubberly and Steve Mitchell, said the theme stems from the feeling of being on the outside. “We’re exploring what it’s like to not fit in,” she said.
But this being Night Fall, the exploration will be fun and sprightly, the story danced by birds, badgers, lizards, bugs, squirrels and other animals, including a return of Night Fall’s monkeys. “The monkeys are extremely popular,” Cubberly said. “They kind of make no sense, but who cares?”
More than 70 artists are involved in the production, which will be emceed by Pedro Bermudez and Chion Wolf. Original music, new this year, will be composed by Jeff Jahnke and Bryant Emerson, as well as Keila Myles. The lead character will be performed by Hartford dancer Arien Wilkerson. The choreographer is Rosanna Karabetsos and the co-director is Casey Garambo.
The grounds in Elizabeth Park will open at 2 p.m. Nine food trucks and other vendors are expected. nightfallhartford.org.
Other Activities
Those seeking fun and entertainment can spend the whole morning, afternoon and evening in Hartford on Saturday. Night Fall sits in the middle of a day of fun activities in the city: athletic events, art events, a ghost hunt, a concert by a legendary singer, something for every taste. That’s not even counting “Relativity” with Richard Dreyfuss at TheatreWorks, which is sold out that day.
Starting at 8 a.m., the Eversource Hartford Marathon will start and end near the state capitol building and wind its way throughout the city. hartfordmarathon.com.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main St., will hold its Second Saturdays free event for families. This month’s theme is “Space Adventure, and it includes hands-on activities, storytelling, music and admission to the galleries. That day at 2 p.m., the museum will screen a documentary about photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. thewadsworth.org.
The Bushnell Park Carousel will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each ride is $1. bushnellpark.org.
“Commedia Mania” will be performed at Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The commedia dell’arte troupe will do its own spin on Twain classics. Admission is $10, $5 for kids. marktwainhouse.org.
At 4:05 p.m., the UConn hockey team will play Alabama-Huntsville at XL Center. xlcenter.com.
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours will be led at Twain House, starting every hour on the hour from 6 to 10 p.m. Visitors will hear creepy stories about hauntings at the historic home and learn about Mark Twain’s interested in spiritism. Admission is $22, $15 for kids. marktwainhouse.org.
At 8 p.m. at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford Symphony Orchestra will perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 and Scheherazade, Op. 35, as well as Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra. Admission ranges from $36 to $59. bushnell.org.
Graham Nash will perform at Infinity Music Hall & Bistro, 32 Front St., at 8 p.m. Admission ranges from $70 to $100. infinityhall.com.
