And the Days Dwindle Down!
Fall has always been my favorite season, and not just because I love wearing sweaters. The crispness of the air, the color of the leaves, kids going back to school—even the light is different. Autumn also brings a special energy to the arts community—the Jazz Festival, Sea Witch, the start of the theatre season, the Film Festival, local choral groups starting rehearsals for winter concerts...a myriad of annual events and a lot of new ones. So much to do, and so much you just shouldn’t miss. Grab your calendar/day planner/iPhone, or whatever and start making plans now! All locations are Rehoboth Beach, unless otherwise noted.
THEATRE
Clear Space Theatre Company (20 Baltimore Avenue; 302-227-2270; ClearSpaceTheatre.org) Sussex County’s only year-round professional troupe performs Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town—October 28-November 7—with an all-star cast. Tickets: $5-$25. Senior/student/group discounts available. Clear Space hosts a bus trip to NYC Saturday, November 13 to see the fantastic new musical version of Elf on Broadway. Their holiday musical Scrooge opens December 2. Call the box office or make reservations online.
Delaware Comedy Theatre (delawarecomedytheatre.com)
Milton Theatre (110 Union Street in Milton; 302-684-3400; miltontheatre.org) continues their ongoing campaign to Save the Milton Theatre. They have a “Band Jam” on Tuesday, October 19 (7-11 p.m.) featuring Rock & Roll, Blues and Hip Hop and a “Jazz Jam” on Thursday, October 21 (7-11 p.m.) for lovers of jazz, blues, fusion or Latin music. Local musicians have been solicited to donate their services, so you never know what great talent you may see. Tickets: $5. Cash Bar and concessions available.
Possum Point Players (441 Old Laurel Road in Georgetown; 302-856-4560; possumpointplayers.org) announces their holiday show: A Christmas Story based on the film of the same name. December 3-12. Tickets: $19 (students /seniors); $20 (general admission). See if Ralphie gets his Red Ryder BB gun.
Rehoboth Beach Theatre of the Arts (20 Rehoboth Avenue) hosts the 2010 Annual Cause 4 Paws Oktoberfest to benefit the Safe Haven No Kill Animal Sanctuary; Friday, October 22 (6-9 p.m.) Silent auction, free martini bar and food from the area’s finest restaurants. Tickets: Bin 66 (both locations), CAMP Rehoboth, Just Looking Upscale Resale, Sign-A-Rama, Safe Haven Sanctuary (www.safehavende.org) Tickets: $30 (in advance); $35 (at door).
MUSIC and FILM
Coastal Concerts (in residence at Bethel UMC Hall; Fourth and Market Streets in Lewes; 888-212-6458; coastalconcerts.org; P.O. Box 685; Lewes, DE. 19958) presents the critically-acclaimed baroque/renaissance trio Chatham Baroque playing period instruments. Saturday, November 18 (8 p.m.) Free for ages 10-18, and their accompanying adult. Tickets: $25 at the door or online.
Rehoboth Beach Film Society (107 Truitt Avenue, 302-645-9095; rehobothfilm.com) Upstairs At Midway Screenings: 9500 Liberty Friday, October 22 (7 p.m.). Tickets:$2 (members), $4 (non-members). Saturday, October 23, the Film Society and CAMP Rehoboth present the quarterly LGBT mini-festival Another Take. Explore the first-ever mainstream gay film The Boys in the Band (3 p.m.) and the documentary Making of the Boys (8 p.m.). Tickets: $7 for both events (call the Film Society). Friday, October 29: The Stone House followed by discussion with the director. Tickets: $5. Don’t forget the 13th Annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival: November 10-14. Enter the Rehoboth Beach 36-Hour Film Challenge November 5-7. You get a theme and 36 hours to shoot your film and submit it. Prizes awarded. See website for details
Southern Delaware Choral Society (PO Box 444; Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971; southerndelawarechoralsociety.org) announces their winter concert An English Christmas, Saturday, December 11 (7 p.m. at Cape Henlopen High School) and Sunday, December 12 (3 p.m. Del Tech ). Tickets: 302-226-5231, on their website or at Browseabout Books.
ART GALLERIES and MUSEUMS
Galleries marked with an asterisk (*) are members of The Rehoboth Gallery Collective, MOSAIC (mosaicrehoboth.com). Join participating galleries for their next Second Saturdays: Destination Art Walk, November 13.
*AerieArt Gallery (45½ Lake Avenue and 70 Rehoboth Avenue in First St. Station; 302-227-5376/302-227-5376; presents Gallery Collection, an exhibition of original paintings by artists from the 19th Century to the present at the Lake Avenue gallery. The First Street Station gallery has a special selection of attractively priced quality artwork.
The Galleries at 20 Baltimore (20 Rehoboth Avenue; 302-258-4203/302-245-3615) Paintiques offers Sherry Biele’s unique and artfully-painted vintage furniture and accessories as well as glass art by Connie Ballato; Silver jewelry by Sue Bartley and handbags by Linanz. Wiberg Art Gallery (wibergart@aol.com) features renowned marine artist, Jack Wiberg, and his original oils of sailing vessels and ships. Also featured are works by local artists Aina Nergaard-Nammack, John Major, Sherry Surratt, Connie Boland and Rose Doster.
*Gallery 50 (50-A Wilmington Avenue; 302-227-2050; 50contemporaryart.com) premieres their Fall Film Series (focusing on biographical films of American artists) with a screening of Marion Cajori’s 2007 film Chuck Close, Saturday, October 16 (6:30 p.m.) Admission: free. New Works on Paper—a series of mixed-media works on paper re-mounted on board by Mexican artist Javier Brewster Brockmann— through November 4.
*Heidi Lowe Gallery (328 Rehoboth Avenue; 302-227-9203; heidilowegallery@gmail.com) presents Spectrum: A Broad Range of Varied but Related Ideas and Objects that Explore Color—a group show co-curated by Megan Romero and Ashley Willemain—brings together a select group of artists who use color as a central aspect of their work. Through November 9. Internationally-recognized artists Amy Tavern, Melissa Tolar, Timothy McMahon, and Sally Collins present works including intricate brooches and rings that frame beautiful fabrics.
*Juleez (20 Baltimore Avenue; 302-227-3792; juleez.com) features the unique and vibrant works of Julie Borden including hand painted cellos, violins and miniature pianos and new original sculptures created by Mary Ann Borden.
Packard Reath Gallery (Located in The Hotel Rodney, 142 Second Street; Lewes; 302-644-7513; packardreathgallery.com) Specializing in Fine Art Photography
*Panache Gallery (129-B Rehoboth Avenue; 302-227-9229; panachegalleryde.com)
Peninsula Gallery (520 E. Savannah Rd in Lewes; 302-645-0551; peninsula-gallery.com)
*Philip Morton Gallery (47 Baltimore Avenue; 302-727-0905; philipmortongallery.com) presents new works by Dane Tilghman through October.
Rehoboth Art League (12 Dodds Lane in Henlopen Acres; 302-227-8408; rehobothartleague.org) features fifteen artists selected through Delaware By Hand as representative of masters status plus fifteen additional artists invited by the masters in the Corkran and Tubbs Galleries—through November 28. Opening December 4 Members’ Holiday Flair with original artwork from the League’s members to deck the halls this holiday season.
Rehoboth Beach Museum (302-227-7310; M-F 10-4/Weekends 11-3; Rehoboth Avenue at the Canal) presents Captain John and Sarah Avery: A 17th Century Family on Delaware’s Frontier. Utilizing artifacts discovered at the site as a point of reference, the exhibit explores the shifting economic and cultural traditions of the English and Dutch colonists, and their interaction with local American Indian communities, illuminating the joys and hardships of daily life in Sussex County in the late 1600s and early 1700s. The Clear Space Theatre Company presents four actors portraying the Avery Family in an interactive guided tour October 23 and 24; 1-5 p.m.
*Thunderbird Gallery (200 Rehoboth Avenue; 302-227-1900; thunderbirdshop.com)
*Ward Ellinger Gallery (in the CAMP Rehoboth Courtyard, 39 Baltimore Avenue; 302-227-2710; wardellinger.com) presents Transitions—new works by Maria Napoli—through October 24.
You can contact Doug at doug@ClearSpaceTheatre.org.