William Bradford Sowik, Staples Grad, Air Force Veteran, Died
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of William Bradford Sowik on July 13, 2022. He passed away peacefully after a 5 year battle with cancer.
He will be deeply missed by his wife of almost 50 years, Sherri, his sons, Jason (Samantha) and Jeremy (Olivia) and grandchildren Kingston and Noah; sister Sharene Chiaia (Louie), and his cousins Frank and Ellen, nieces and nephews and many extended family members.
Born and raised in CT, Bill spent many summers out at Cockenoe Island, graduated from Staples High School and graduated from UConn with a degree in Environmental Sciences. He was a veteran of the U. S. Air Force. He jogged for many years and enjoyed playing golf and had the highlight of hitting a hole in one in 2012. He worked for many years for the State of CT monitoring air quality as a field technician at the DEEP.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson Street, Willimantic, CT on Saturday, August 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We will always be grateful to the staff of Dr. Joseph McLaughlin at the John DeQuattro Cancer Center and Bill's hospice team as well as family and many friends who were there for us.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made online to the Prostate Cancer Foundation (www.pcf.org). If mailing, the address is 1250 Fourth Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Please reference Bill's name "in memory" in either the online or sent donation. Inform them of your name and address so they can notify the family of your donation. Also, donations can be made to Visiting Nurse & Health Services of Connecticut to enable donations of medical supplies for people who need them at www.echn.org. Please write checks out to VNHSC Hospice and send to VNHSC Hospice, 8 Keynote Drive, Vernon, CT 06066. For complete obituary and online condolences, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com.
Levitt Pavilion Hosts Two-Day Music Festival On Friday And Saturday Opening Doors At 3:00 PM
The two-day festival headlined by the fan favorite band Twiddle opened on Friday afternoon at 3:00 and by 4:30 or so the grounds were filled. Including headliners Twiddle the event features 5 bands including Levitt favorite Mihali and the Nth Power who performed on Friday, and Eggy and Dwight & Nicole who will join Twiddle on Saturday. Twiddle, whose fan base is reminiscent of the Grateful Dead and Phish came out in force, sporting a variety of Twiddle garb.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
If there was one word to describe the festival it would have to be Joy which was evident everywhere in the enthusiastic crowd and very apparent among Twiddle's followers who could be seen singing along with many of their favorite hit tracks. The crowd danced for hours seeming to have and endless supply of energy.
Their was a truly eclectic mix in the audience, from less than a year old to over 70 years old. Flower children, both young and old with artwork everywhere, from the full sleeves and other tattoo art to the clothes worn by the creative and stylish crowd.
Twiddle, known for jaw-dropping live performances, the group has repeatedly sold out some of the most legendary venues in the world, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Capitol Theatre. Plus, they’ve ignited festivals such as Bonnaroo and Electric Forest in addition to launching and headlining their own annual extravaganza Tumble Down Festival. Along the way, they have built a powerful catalog highlighted by the 2017 double-disc epic Plump (Chapters 1 & 2). Thus far, they’ve also gathered over 100 million streams and counting. Throughout 2021, Twiddle wrote and recorded Every Last Leaf. For the first time, they teamed up with producer Clint Bierman behind-the-board, recording in Sugar Shack, Mihali’s home studio, and Clint’s own spot.
The musicianship, featuring frontman Mihali Savoulidis who delivered mesmerizing guitar shreds and top-tier drum work by Adrian Tramontano who provided the crowd with a high energy solos captivated the crowd. Their exceptional stage show was enhanced by spectacular LED screens behind the band and their second set, once the sun went down featured a beautiful, creative laser light show.
Outside the concert area were food trucks and merchandise vendors who did a brisk business and inside, libations including cocktails, craft beers, and Tito's Vodka kept the audience's thirst well satisfied. Twiddle will once again perform two sets on Saturday at 7:00 PM and doors open at 3:00 for opening acts Eggy and Dwight & Nicole.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Morning Weather Report
Today
Sunny, with a high near 87. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 64. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tomorrow
Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Tomorrow Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. Light south wind.
High Tides
12:42 AM / 1:09 Pm
Low Tides
7:07 AM / 7:18 PM
Westport Property Transfers: July 11th - July 15th; Highest Sale on Riverside Avenue at $6.3 Million
Westport Town Clerk’s Office:
Total Conveyance Tax: $67,512.28
Total Sales: $27,004,908.04
Highest Transfer Price: 263-265 & 260-264 Riverside Avenue: $6,350,000
Lowest Transfer Price: 8 Twin Circle Drive: $1,600,000
Transfers:
263-265 & 260-264 Riverside Avenue: $6,350,000
8 Bermuda Road: $5,775,000
30 Fairfield Avenue: $3,659,049.04
44 Compo Mill Cove: $3,200,000
2 Oak Ridge Park: $2,555,859
42 Compo Mill Cove: $2,090,000
17 Rockyfield Drive: $1,775,000
8 Twin Circle Drive: $1,600,000
Westport COVID-19 Cases Up 11; State Positivity Rate, Hospitalizations Up
The State Department of Public Health reported 11 more COVID-19 cases in Westport over the past day. The State positivity rate was up to 12.17% while hospitalizations were up to 329 patients.
Westport total positive or probable cases: 5,558 cases.
Westport total COVID-19 Deaths: 38 deaths
State Daily Test Positivity: 12.17% [up from 11.79%]
State COVID-19 Hospitalizations: 329 patients [up from 328]
Morning Weather Report
Today
Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. West wind 5 to 11 mph.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph.
Tomorrow
Sunny, with a high near 86. West wind 5 to 8 mph.
Tomorrow Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 64. Light north wind.
High Tides
12:06 AM / 12:33 PM
Low Tides
6:32 AM / 6:41 PM
Police: Prepare for Traffic Saturday for CT Challenge Bike Ride
The Westport Police Department advises all residents and motorists that the CT Challenge Bicycle Ride will be starting in Fairfield before entering Westport this Saturday, July 30. The shorter rides will enter town in the area of Beachside Avenue while the longer routes enter town on Long Lots Road.
This event uses a staggered start, but the majority of riders will be on the road between the hours of 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM. The route for this ride takes participants on multiple roads across the east side of Westport and surrounding towns.
The police department asks that motorists use caution and be mindful of riders as they travel through town.
Westport COVID-19 Cases Up 6; State Positivity Rate, Hospitalizations Up
The State Department of Public Health reported 6 more COVID-19 cases in Westport over the past day. The State positivity rate was up to 11.79% while hospitalizations were up to 328 patients.
Westport total positive or probable cases: 5,547 cases.
Westport total COVID-19 Deaths: 38 deaths
State Daily Test Positivity: 11.79% [up from 11.52%]
State COVID-19 Hospitalizations: 328 patients [up from 318]
Morning Weather Report
Today
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. South wind 5 to 9 mph.
Tonight
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tomorrow
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Tomorrow Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. West wind 3 to 5 mph.
High Tide
11:57 AM
Low Tides
5:56 AM / 6:04 PM
Westport Country Playhouse Announces Comedy/Drama “4,000 Miles”, Beginning August 23rd
(L-R): Lea DiMarchi as Bec; Mia Dillon as Vera; David Kennedy, director; and Clay Singer as Leo. Photo contributed by Cynthia AstmannPress Release: Westport Country Playhouse will stage “4000 Miles,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award-winning comedy/drama, written by Amy Herzog and directed by David Kennedy Playhouse associate artistic director, from August 23 – September 4. The four-member cast for “4000 Miles” features Mia Dillon as Vera Joseph with Clay Singer as Leo Joseph-Connell, Lea DiMarchi as Bec, and Phoebe Holden as Amanda.
After completing a cross-country bicycle trip from the west coast, 21-year-old Leo crashes at the Greenwich Village apartment of his feisty 91-year-old grandmother Vera. Although these unlikely roommates are not always in harmony on issues of age, family, love, sex, and politics, they find an emotional connection that gives each a purpose.
“’4000 Miles’ is a profoundly compassionate look at two somewhat lost people and the moments in which they find each other, even across the enormity of a multi-generational divide,” said Kennedy. “And it may be one of the wisest plays I’ve encountered in a long time.”
Mia Dillon, a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, first appeared onstage at Westport Country Playhouse in the 1979 pre-Broadway tryout of “Once a Catholic” for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Other Broadway credits include “Our Town” (with Paul Newman), “Crimes of the Heart” (Tony Award nomination), “Da,” “Agnes of God,” “The Miser,” “The Corn is Green,” and “Hay Fever.” Other Westport Country Playhouse credits include “Lettice and Lovage,” “A Song at Twilight” (CT Critics Circle Award nomination), “Our Town,” “Return Engagements,” “Angel Street,” and “Speed-the-Plow.” Hartford Stage credits include “Seder” (CT Critics Circle Award nomination), “Engagement Party,” and “Cloud 9” (CT Critics Circle Award). Recent film work includes “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always” and the soon to be released “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret.”
Clay Singer spent the past year with the Broadway National Tour of “The Band's Visit.” Credits include “Into the Woods” (Barrington Stage), “Single Rider” (Off-Broadway), and “Twelfth Night” and “Man of La Mancha” at Westport Country Playhouse. Singer is a graduate of Westport’s Staples High School, and an alumnus of Staples Players.
Lea DiMarchi’s select regional theater credits include “Oleanna” (Katonah Classic Stage); “The Miracle Worker” (Judson Theatre); and “As You Like It,” “Cyrano de Bergerac,” and “Into the Woods” (Texas Shakespeare Festival). Film/TV work includes “Hawaii Five-0” (CBS),”FBI” (CBS), and “This Is the Night” (Blumhouse). Born and raised in Honolulu, DiMarchi trained at Carnegie Mellon. leadimarchi.com
Phoebe Holden is a Taiwanese-American actor and writer from Taipei. She received her BFA in acting at NYU Tisch, where she studied at the Experimental Theatre Wing. Selected theater credits include Caroline in “I and You” (Syracuse Stage), Petra in “En Folkenfiende” (NYU Tisch Stageworks), and Claire in “Faculty Portrait” (IRT Theater).
Playwright Amy Herzog’s other plays include “After the Revolution” (Lilly Award), “The Great God Pan,” and “Belleville” (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist; Drama Desk Nomination). Herzog is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Helen Merrill Award, Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, and The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. She has taught playwriting at Bryn Mawr and Yale, and has an MFA from Yale School of Drama.
Directing “4000 Miles” is David Kennedy who is in his fourteenth season as Playhouse associate artistic director. He has directed Playhouse productions each season, including “The Invisible Hand,” which received the 2016 Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, and for which Kennedy won the CCC honor for Outstanding Director of a Play. He was previously with Dallas Theater Center, and was founding artistic director of The Lunar Society in Toronto and Milkman Theatre Group in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The creative team includes Arnulfo Moldanado, scenic design; Maiko Matsuhima, costume design; Carolina Ortiz Herrera, lighting design; Fitz Patton, sound design; Michael Rossmy, intimacy coach; Sean Sanford, props supervisor; Dana Tanner-Kennedy, dramaturg; Tara Rubin, Casting, CSA, Claire Burke, CSA, casting; Shane Schnetzler, production stage manager; Gwen Sewell, assistant stage manager; and Lauren Lambert, production assistant.
Production Sponsor is the Eunice and David Bigelow Foundation. 2022 Season Media Sponsors are Moffly Media and WSHU Public Radio.
Performance schedule is Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. (No Wed. or Sat. matinees during preview week). Special series include Taste of Tuesday (August 23), LGBT Night Out (August 25), Post-Play Dialogues (August 25 and 30), Opening Night (August 27), Sunday Symposium (August 28), Backstage Pass (August 31), Thursday TalkBack (September 1), and Open Captions (September 4). Running time is approximately 100 minutes with no intermission. For the Playhouse’s 2022 season only, plays will be consolidated to a two-week performance schedule instead of the usual three-week run. More info at https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/4000Miles/.
Single tickets for “4000 Miles” start at $30 during preview performances (August 23 - 26), and beginning August 27 Opening Night, tickets start at $50 and are subject to change based upon availability. Buy early for best prices. For information on special offers, including discounts for students, senior citizens, educators, military and first responders, Indigenous peoples, professional playwrights, and groups, as well as options for pay-what-you-will and Westport Library and Bridgeport Library passes visit www.westportplayhouse.org/visit/box-office/.
All play titles, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.
All audience members must wear a mask while inside Westport Country Playhouse. For updates on Covid-19 health and safety protocols at the Playhouse, visit https://www.westportplayhouse.org/visit/covid19safety/
For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).