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Arts & Entertainment

'Angel Reapers': A Whole Lot of Shaking at Jorgensen

Theater Piece Uses Dance, Song to Tell Story of Shakers, Violinist Gil Shaham Solos with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Flashlight Corn Maze in South Windsor, 'Color Purple' for Free in Ellington, Fine Crafts and Foliage in Woodstock

Ann Lee was the co-founder of the Shakers, an 18th century spiritual society that embraced many passions but shunned sex. One settlement flourished in nearby Enfield. Lee's story, in the hands of playwright Alfred Uhry (“Driving Miss Daisy”) and Pilobolus co-founder Martha Clarke – he uniquely a Pulitzer, Tony and Oscar winner and she a MacArthur Genius – is a provocative song-and-dance theater piece called “Angel Reapers,” playing Jorgensen early in its debut tour on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

The Shakers, or “Shaking Quakers,” were known for ecstatic dance but also for simple melodies, a graceful and utilitarian style of furniture and feats of engineering. And Lee, who fled persecution in England to seed Shaker settlements in America, was a rare mystic and outspoken advocate for the equality of the sexes, a woman in search of a perfect world. And yet the celibate society met with failure, as its numbers unsurprisingly dwindled.

“Angel Reapers,” fresh from its premiere at Dartmouth College and coming to Jorgensen before it goes to Boston and New York, grapples with the contradictions of the Shaker lifestyle, its religious zeal versus its sexual taboos.

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The performance contains full nudity and is recommended for those aged 15 or older.

A pre-performance panel discussion, moderated by Hartford Courant columnist Susan Campbell, author of Dating Jesus and the blog “Still Small Voice,” will include co-creators Martha Clarke and Alfred Uhry plus Jane F. Crosthwaite, Shaker expert and professor of religion at Mount Holyoke College. Hors d'oeuvres will be available at the free discussion in Jorgensen's Gallery, starting at 5:30 p.m. RSVP by calling 860-486-4228.

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Shaker artifacts and photographs on loan from the Enfield Historical Society will be on display at Jorgensen, Oct. 17-20. New England Foundation for the Arts is sponsoring “Angel Reapers,” while the media sponsor is New England Public Radio.

Tickets to the production are $30, $27 and $25, with some discounts. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226, or visit the Jorgensen Web site.

Premier Violinist to Play with Orpheus

Grammy-decorated violin virtuoso Gil Shaham will solo for the player-led Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with a program that includes the Brahms Violin Concerto and a new work by Cynthia Wong, a Project 440 winner, on Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.

Orpheus, which has built a tradition of touring with the world's best soloists and rising stars, calls Shaham “an old friend.” The New York Times calls him “a player of deeply intense sincerity…. One of today’s pre-eminent violinists.” Known for his perfect technique and generous playing but mostly for his warmth, he is a match made in heaven for the Brahms.

Orpheus, a Grammy-winning group that proves democracy can yield prime artistic results, has toured the world from Brunei to Vienna and performs an annual series at Carnegie Hall. Its performances there have been broadcast nationwide to 1.6 million listeners a week.

This season, as it approaches its 40th anniversary in 2012, Orpheus will debut pieces by four winners of Project 440, including Wong's “Memoriam,” dedicated to her late father. Wong will join Orpheus clarinetist Alan Kay in a pre-concert talk Friday at 6:45 p.m.

The program also includes the “Beautiful Melusine” Overture by Mendelssohn and Haydn's “La Chasse” Symphony.

Orpheus has taken its model of collective leadership to public schools, Ivy League universities and organizations such as Morgan Stanley and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. It operates ongoing programs at University of Maryland, Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and the University of Connecticut. UConn faculty member Louis Hanzlik plays trumpet for Orpheus.

The chamber orchestra's namesake, Orpheus, was a musician prophet in Greek mythology known for charming even stones with his music. His death came at the hands of those unable to hear it.

Tickets to the production are $40, $37 and $33, with some discounts. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226, or visit the Jorgensen Web site.

Amazing Corn at Foster Family Farm

Corn mazes spread over 8 acres with 4 miles of trails await the intrepidly interactive among us at Foster Family Farm in South Windsor. But the good part is that on Fridays and Saturdays in October, you can make your way through them with flashlights until 9:30 p.m.

And this weekend, a Revolutionary War encampment, provided by Ye Old Lebanon Towne Militia, a living history group, will be on the farm grounds Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

October attractions include hayrides until 6 p.m., a mini maze for the younger kids, pick-your-own pumpkins, a farm play area and animals.

The Foster Farm is at 90 Foster St., South Windsor. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children 5-12, and free for those 4 and younger. The last tickets to the flashlight maze are sold at 9 p.m. Bring your own flashlight or buy one there. For information or a $2 off coupon on adult tickets, visit the farm Web site or call 860-648-9366.

The Color Purple' Screening in Ellington

“The Color Purple,” based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the struggle of an abused young black woman in the early 1900s and the power of friendship to deliver her from evil, is not just a great story. It's ample evidence that Whoopi Goldberg could move from her reputation as a splendid, socially conscious comic to that of a strong actress. Add to those well-done roles by Danny Glover, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey, and direction by Steven Spielberg, and you get something priceless.

You can see it for free Friday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m. at Hall Memorial Library in Ellington.

For information, call 860-870-3160.

Fine Arts and Foliage at Roseland Cottage

The Roseland Cottage Fine Arts and Crafts Festival welcomes its annual visitors this weekend, Oct. 15-16, to peruse the goods of 175 artisans and to take in first-floor tours of the historic cottage in Woodstock. The festival is one of the top juried shows of its kind in New England. Participants will see jewelry, woodworking, pottery, glass, toys, paintings, clothing, metalwork and other crafts while enjoying some live music and food. And a trip to the Quiet Corner in fall foliage season is never a waste of time.

The cottage is at 556 Route 169, Woodstock. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is free for Historic New England members and children under 12, $5 for all others. For information, visit the festival Web site or call 617-994-5100, ext 5514, or the cottage at 860-928-4074.

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