Get Out: Not So Glee; Antique Auto Show; and David Mamet's Latest

We thought sports trumped the arts only in high school, but it appears a Boston Bruins march to the Stanley Cup finals has prompted a swap of dates that has moved the “Glee” cast appearance at Mohegan Sun from June 7 to Monday, June 6. Fans of the popular Fox TV high school musical show are resourceful. We’re certain they can move their hair-washing plans or even an important audition to make the concert on June 6. If not, refunds are available at the original purchase site.

But it’s still irritating. Only Sue would approve of this kind of power play.

Swing with the New England Jazz Ensemble

First the New England Jazz Ensemble made a live recording – “It’s a Grand Night for Swinging!” – to celebrate its 20th anniversary, at the Polish National Home in Hartford. Now, on Sunday, June 5, they return to the same site to celebrate the CD’s debut with a live concert. Giacomo Gates is guest artist.

This group, formed by trumpeter Mike Jones and directed by pianist Walter Gwardyak, is the region’s best effort for showcasing the American jazz orchestra style, with much of the creative work coming from the members themselves.

Jazz enthusiasts, don’t delay. Tickets are $20, $10 for seniors and students, and free for children under 18. Doors open at 3:30 for a 4 p.m. downbeat. Drinks are available in the theater. Call 860-243-9964 or visit neje.org.

Don’t hesitate to lunch first at the Polish National Home, 60 Charter Oak Ave., for some quintessential eastern European fare. For reservations, call 860-247-1784.

Antique Auto Show at Air Museum 

Model T's, hot rods, muscle cars, show cars from the 1930s, '40s and more are on view as part of the Antique Auto Show to be held June 5 at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks. Co-sponsored by the Connecticut Council of Car Clubs, this is one of the state's larger antique auto shows of the year. 

Admission is included with the regular museum entrance fee. The New England Air Museum is at 36 Perimeter Road, Windsor Locks. For more information, visit www.neam.org or call 860-623-3305. 

Landscapes on Display in Tolland

The artworks of award-winning artist Jan Blencowe will be on display on Saturdays in June at the  on the town green. An opening reception will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 4, and the gallery will be open until 4 p.m. 

Blencowe, who calls visual art her first language, was trained in New York and New Jersey in painting, color and art history. She has been a four-time finalist in the Paint America Competition, was selected by the U.S. Department of State for participation in the Art in Embassies Program and currently has two paintings hanging in the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.

20th Century Fox recently purchased her painting, “Bauer Farm Barns,” to use in its upcoming movie, “We Bought a Zoo,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon. 

Blencowe follows the path of American landscape painters who sought to combine the beauty of nature with sublime spirituality.

The reception and the exhibit are free. Regular viewing is available Saturdays in June from noon to 4 p.m.

The Herbs are Having a Fest in Somers

Fresh herbs enjoy rain or shine, and so it’s fitting that the Herbfest of Connecticut 2011 will take place in either circumstance Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pleasantview Farms in Somers.

Demonstrations, herb walks, workshops and family activities will fill the day at the farm at 452 South Road. Keynote speaker Chris Marano, clinical herbalist, will speak about "Deep Medicine – Plants, Earth-Wisdom and Human Awareness."

A bake sale, lots of fresh plants and entertainment will be on hand. The event is sponsored by Connecticut Herb Association of Newington.

Admission is $10 (or $8 with a non-perishable food item and/or pet food, blankets, towels, paper towels and pet toys). People younger than 12 or older than 70 will be admitted for free. Pets are not allowed.  For information, call 860-763-5206 or 203-634-3686 or visit the Herbfest site.

Hill-Stead Sunken Garden Poetry Festival

Farmington's Hill-Stead Museum presents its 19th season of readings by world-class poets. The annual Sunken Garden Poetry Festival commences June 8 with award-winning North Carolina-native and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Tony Hoagland whose collections include Unincorporated Personas in the Late Honda Dynasty; What Narcissism Means to Me; Donkey Gospel; and Sweet Ruin. Also reading is West Hartford's Patricia Hale, 2011 Sunken Garden Prize first place winner, whose work has appeared in publications including Calyx, H.O.W. Journal, Sow's Ear, Dogwood, and Long River Run. Live music by Ol School, an 11-piece horn band that plays hits by Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Chicago, completes the evening's entertainment.

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Performances begin at 6:30 p.m. and continue through 8:30 p.m. in the Hill-Stead's Sunken Garden. Attendees are invited to bring food or purchase it on site. Admission is free. On-site parking is $10 per vehicle. Bring a blanket or folding chair for seating in and around the garden. In the event of rain, performances move indoors or are held outdoors under a tent. The Hill-Stead is at 35 Mountain Road, Farmington. For more information, visit www.hillstead.org or call 860-677-4787.

Kid's Entertainment at Playhouse

Have you ever met a kid who is afraid to try, certain that he or she will fail? Consider taking the tyke to I Think I Can, the positive-thinking production headlining this week at West Hartford's Playhouse on Park. Created by Bruce Bowden, Barry Miller and Kathryn Schutz Miller, I Think I Can features Becky Watkins, a child who is holding herself back until her house cat, Professor, takes her on a magical adventure full of possibilities. The 45-minute play is directed by Darlene Zoller. It is recommended for pre-school through 3rd grade. 

Performance dates are June 1 through 5. Tickets range from $13 to $15. Playhouse on Park is at 244 Park Road, West Hartford. For more information, visit www.playhouseonpark.org or call 860-523-5900 x10.

Quilt Program at Stanley-Whitman

Quilts from the 18th to early 20th centuries are the focus of Women's Voices: An Introduction to Antique Quilts, a one-day, hands-on workshop presented by Farmington's Stanley-Whitman House. Joann Zeisner, education coordinator and former American Quilt Society appraiser, leads the June 5 workshop, which covers the variety in quilt patterns fabric and construction; basics in dating, hand- and machine-stitching; and how to recognize a fake. Participants are invited to tour the Stanley-Whitman house following the workshop  to see a mid-18th-century whole piece quilt in the process of creation.

The workshop runs from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost is $12. Registration is required by June 3.  The Stanley-Whitman House is at 37 High St., Farmington. For more information, visit www.stanleywhitman.orgor call 860-677-9222.

Maestro Cumming's Grand Goodbye

If you were leaving your post as music director after nine years with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, wouldn't you want to pull out all the stops? Outgoing Hartford Symphony music director Edward Cumming does just that when he conducts his Grand Finale Concert on June 4 at Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Cumming's  adieu calls forth the combined forces of the Hartford Chorale, CONCORA, the Connecticut Children's Chorus, and soloists Jessica Winn and Stephen Tharp, as well as the Bushnell's original Hartford-made Austin Organ performing Berlioz's Te Deum and the American premiere of Stephen Montague's Requiem: The Trumpets Sounded Calling Them to the Other Side.  

Concert time is 8 p.m. From 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., audience members are invited to a pre-concert discussion with Maestro Cumming. Tickets prices range from $30 to $70. Student tickets are $10. For reservations or more information, contact HSO ticket services at 860-244-2999 or visitwww.hartfordsymphony.org. The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts is at 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. For tickets and more information, visitwww.bushnell.org or call the box office at 860-987-5900. 

A Concert Inspired by Connecticut Naturalism 

The beauty of Connecticut's natural resources is celebrated through a concert of contemporary masterworks featuring the Hartford Symphony Orchestra Earth Trio, cellist Jeffrey Krieger, flutist Greig Shearer, and pianist Gary Chapman. The concert event begins with an Artists Forum at Firebox Restaurant in Hartford with Krieger and composer Michael Gatonska. It is followed by a concert at the studio at Billings Forge Community Works. Program highlights include Le Merle Noir by Olivier Messian; Vox Balanae ("Voice of the Whale") by George Crumb;  and On Connecticut Naturalism by Gatonska, which originates from notes taken while hiking and bicycling through the state.

The event is free. Firebox Restaurant is at 539 Broad St., Hartford. Billings Forge is next door at the same address. Call 860-548-9877.

 Mamet's Race at TheaterWorks

Can't we all just get along? Not so easily if the new TheaterWorks production of David Mamet's Race is any clue. Mamet's drama finds three attorney's – one white and two black – called upon to defend a wealthy white executive against charges he raped a black woman. What gets put on trial are the principals' biases and assumptions about race relations in America. As Mamet puts it, "Race, like sex, is a subject in which it is near impossible to tell the truth." Tazewell Thompson, who staged TheaterWorks' productions of Broke-ology, God of Carnage, and A Steady Rain, directs.

Race runs from June 3 through July 10. TheaterWorks is at  233 Pearl St., Hartford. For tickets and more information, visit www.theaterworkshartford.org or call 860-527-7838.