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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T180000
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SUMMARY:Granite Theatre's Heritage and Horizons Gala
DESCRIPTION:Granite Theatre’s Heritage and Horizons Gala brings an evening of American-inspired food\, music and storytelling to Stonington on Friday\, September 25\, while raising money for the future of one of Westerly’s longtime community arts organizations. \nHeld at The Hounds\, the gala will mark America’s 250th anniversary with a cabaret-style celebration drawing from generations of American music and theater. Guests can expect performances\, storytelling and historical theatrical imagery surrounded by vintage Americana-inspired décor. \nBut the evening isn’t intended simply as a look backward. \nProceeds will support Granite Theatre and its work providing live theater\, educational opportunities and creative experiences in Westerly\, including the theater’s growing youth programming. Granite operates as Renaissance City Theatre\, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on contributions and community support. \nHeritage and Horizons: Celebrating the Past\, Investing in the Future\nThe theme for the September gala is “Heritage and Horizons: Celebrating our Foundations and Investing in our Future.” \nGranite is tying that theme to the country’s 250th anniversary by presenting a cabaret-style program exploring American music and storytelling across generations. \nRather than staging a traditional theatrical production\, the evening is designed as a celebration\, with performances and stories woven into the event alongside food and socializing. \nThe fundraiser comes during an important period for the theater itself. \nGranite entered its 2026 season under new artistic leadership\, while continuing to develop educational programs intended to introduce younger performers to theater. Its current mission emphasizes making theatrical entertainment and education accessible throughout the community. \nA Westerly Theater With a History of Its Own\nGranite’s story makes the “Heritage” portion of the gala particularly appropriate. \nThe theater occupies a restored Greek Revival church built in the 1840s at the highest point of downtown Westerly. The former Broad Street Christian Church eventually became home to theatrical organizations before opening its doors as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, the intimate theater seats about 140 people\, giving productions a scale quite different from larger regional performing arts centers. \nGranite has developed into a year-round community theater presenting plays and musicals while creating opportunities for local performers\, technicians and volunteers. \nIts 2026 mainstage season illustrates the range. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened the summer\, followed by the youth production Willy Wonka Jr. in August and Almost\, Maine in September. Following the gala\, Granite will return to the stage with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in October and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for the holiday season. \nAddison Roush Leads Granite’s 2026 Season\nThe gala also comes during the first season under Artistic Director Addison Roush. \nRoush grew up in Waco\, Texas\, and traces his interest in theater to seeing The Music Man and Alice Through the Looking Glass when he was 10. He began performing himself that same year. He later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Directing from Sam Houston State University\, where his work included lead roles\, directing and play workshops. \nGranite audiences had already seen him onstage before he took the leadership position. Roush appeared as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the theater’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. \nThe Granite Theatre board selected Roush from a field of candidates to succeed Nicole DiMattei beginning in January 2026. He was initially announced as interim artistic director with responsibility for overseeing the season and personally directing three productions. Granite now lists him simply as its Artistic Director. \nHe’s joined in the theater’s current leadership by Theatre Manager Caitlyn Ordway\, a Rhode Island native whose academic background includes writing and rhetoric\, film media and theater. Granite says her role focuses in part on creating a collaborative environment for staff and volunteers and making audiences feel welcome and engaged. \nInvesting in Young Performers\nThe “Horizons” side of the fundraiser becomes clearer when you look at what Granite has been building for children and teenagers. \nThe theater operates educational programs designed around the idea that theater can develop more than acting\, singing and dancing skills. Granite specifically identifies communication\, social development\, confidence and self-esteem among the benefits it hopes students gain from participating. \nIts youth program serves children and teenagers and has already resulted in full productions. \nIn 2026\, young performers ages 8 to 18 rehearsed and performed Disney’s Newsies Jr. in June. Granite followed that during the summer with Willy Wonka Jr.\, including a theater camp and August performances involving young actors. \nThat gives some substance to the gala’s promise to “invest in our future.” Money raised isn’t simply maintaining a building or filling out another theater season. It helps an organization trying to create a place where the area’s next generation can learn how theater works from both sides of the curtain. \nAn Americana Evening at The Hounds\nThe setting takes the gala across the state line from Granite’s Westerly home to The Hounds at 769 Stonington Road in Stonington. \nThe Hounds is an event venue situated near Stonington Borough and protected marshland\, giving the fundraiser a setting that fits the evening’s New England-meets-Americana atmosphere. \nGuests can expect vintage Americana-inspired décor\, historical theatrical imagery and a program combining performances and storytelling. \nGranite describes the evening as both a celebration of 250 years of American stories and an investment in ensuring another generation has a place to tell its own. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Heritage and Horizons: Granite Theatre Gala Fundraiser\nDate: Friday\, September 25\, 2026\nVenue: The Hounds\nAddress: 769 Stonington Road\, Stonington\, CT 06378 \nWhat to Expect: An Americana-inspired cabaret evening featuring live performances\, storytelling\, historical theatrical imagery\, food and a celebration of American artistic traditions. \nBeneficiary: Proceeds support the nonprofit Granite Theatre’s theatrical productions\, educational programs and community arts mission. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/granite-theatres-heritage-and-horizons-gala/
LOCATION:The Hounds\, 769 Stonington Road\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Hounds
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260922T180000
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DTSTAMP:20260913T201716Z
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SUMMARY:She Sings Dylan Reimagines a Legendary Songbook at River Jam at The Hounds
DESCRIPTION:She Sings Dylan at The Hounds brings a different perspective to one of American music’s most familiar songbooks Tuesday\, September 22\, when the Connecticut-based band takes over The Hounds Terrace in Stonington for the latest chapter of River Jam. \nThe concert runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and features She Sings Dylan\, a group built around an intriguing premise: take Bob Dylan’s enormous catalog and approach it through the voices and interpretations of women. \nIt’s also music for a cause. \nThe evening supports the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center\, with guests encouraged to bring a can of dog food to donate to the center’s pet-support efforts. Light bites from Dogwatch Catering are included with admission. The Hounds operates a cash bar\, and guests should bring their own chairs. \nDylan’s Songs\, From a Different Point of View\nShe Sings Dylan isn’t built around impersonating Bob Dylan. \nThat’s the point. \nThe band describes its approach as Dylan’s catalog “reimagined through a female lens\,” taking songs listeners may have known for decades and changing the voices\, arrangements and perspective around them. \nThat concept has plenty of historical precedent. \nDylan’s songs have always had lives beyond Dylan. \nJoan Baez became one of his most important early interpreters. Nina Simone transformed The Ballad of Hollis Brown and Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. Linda Ronstadt recorded I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight. Sheryl Crow has repeatedly explored Dylan’s catalog. \nShe Sings Dylan explicitly cites Baez\, Simone\, Ronstadt and Crow among the artists informing its approach. \nThat gives the band plenty of room to work. \nThis isn’t necessarily about reproducing the records. \nIt’s about the songs. \nThe Band Grew Out of a Rolling Thunder Project\nThe group’s roots go back more than a decade. \nIn 2014 and 2015\, musicians who would eventually form She Sings Dylan performed under the name Rolling Thunder Revival. \nThat project had a significant connection to Dylan’s actual musical history: the performers worked alongside Rob Stoner\, Dylan’s bassist and musical director during the famed Rolling Thunder Revue era. \nStoner played bass on Dylan’s Desire and toured with him during the Rolling Thunder Revue and subsequent performances. \nThe Rolling Thunder Revue itself was one of the strangest and most celebrated periods of Dylan’s career. \nBeginning in 1975\, Dylan assembled a traveling collection of musicians and artists that included Joan Baez\, Roger McGuinn\, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott\, Scarlet Rivera and others. Instead of simply mounting a conventional arena tour\, the ensemble moved through smaller cities and venues with the loose atmosphere of a traveling musical caravan. \nShe Sings Dylan eventually emerged from its own Rolling Thunder-inspired project with a more distinctive idea. \nThe women took the lead. \nMeet She Sings Dylan\nThe current lineup is anchored by Kate Hubbard on lead vocals and Sophia Coppola on vocals\, mandolin\, melodica and clarinet. \nThey’re joined by: \nJeff Martinson – guitar\nBill Carbone – drums\nSean Elkind – keyboards\nMarty Moroney – bass \nCollectively\, those musicians bring connections to a sizable chunk of the Northeast’s jam and roots-music world\, including Max Creek\, The Z3\, 10 Ft. Ganja Plant and Mystic Dead. \nThat background is particularly useful when you’re playing Dylan. \nHis songs can survive radical rearrangement. \nThey’ve been played as folk\, country\, blues\, gospel\, rock\, soul\, reggae and virtually everything in between. Dylan himself has spent decades changing tempos\, melodies and arrangements of his own songs onstage. \nA band doesn’t need to treat the studio recording as sacred to treat the song seriously. \nDon’t Expect a Greatest-Hits Tribute Show\nShe Sings Dylan says its repertoire includes both classics and deep cuts. \nThat’s an important distinction. \nDylan has been releasing music since his self-titled debut arrived in 1962. His catalog stretches from early acoustic folk through electric rock\, country\, gospel\, blues\, traditional American music and the reflective songwriting of his later career. \nThe obvious songs alone could fill an evening: Blowin’ in the Wind\, The Times They Are A-Changin’\, Mr. Tambourine Man\, Like a Rolling Stone\, All Along the Watchtower\, Tangled Up in Blue. \nBut Dylan’s catalog rewards going much deeper than that. \nShe Sings Dylan’s approach gives the band freedom to pull from that broader songbook rather than presenting a predictable procession of hits. \nAnd the Stonington show comes just three days after the band is scheduled to perform at Wormtown Music Festival in Greenfield\, Massachusetts. \nAfter The Hounds\, She Sings Dylan heads to Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den on October 1. \nDylan Going Electric Is Part of the Story\nThe concert’s promotional material singles out one of the most famous moments in American music history: Bob Dylan “going electric” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. \nIt’s a good piece of trivia\, but the story is more interesting than the shorthand. \nDylan appeared at Newport on July 25\, 1965\, strapped on an electric guitar and performed with a plugged-in band that included members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. \nThe set included Maggie’s Farm and Like a Rolling Stone. \nThe reaction has become legendary. \nSome people booed. \nExactly why they booed remains debated. Some objected to Dylan abandoning the acoustic folk presentation with which he’d become identified. Others may have been reacting to the sound quality or the unusually short electric set. \nWhat isn’t really debatable is what happened next. \nDylan did not go back. \nHis move toward electric rock had already begun on record\, but Newport became the symbolic moment when one of folk music’s biggest stars publicly broke with expectations. \nIt helped redraw the boundaries between folk and rock. \nMore than 60 years later\, musicians are still finding new ways to rearrange those songs. \nShe Sings Dylan is part of that continuing tradition. \nRiver Jam Is Different This Year\nThere’s another story behind the September 22 concert. \nFor a decade\, Mystic River Jam meant a summer weekend at Mystic Shipyard. \nThe annual two-day festival brought together regional rock\, reggae\, blues\, country and jam bands while raising money for local charitable organizations. Mystic Dead became one of its recurring headliners\, and the event developed a loyal local following. \nBut organizers announced in January that the traditional Mystic River Jam festival would not take place in 2026 after its 10-year run. \nThat didn’t mean River Jam disappeared. \nInstead\, the organization has moved into a different format. \nThis year\, River Jam has been bringing individual concerts to The Hounds in Stonington\, allowing the community-music and charitable sides of the old festival to continue without staging the full two-day Mystic Shipyard production. \nThe series began earlier this year with Mystic Dead at The Hounds. \nShe Sings Dylan is the September installment. \nThe Troublemakers follow on October 27\, and Mystic Dead returns for a New Year’s Eve show on December 31. \nSo River Jam isn’t really gone. \nIt’s having a very different year. \nThe Hounds Provides a New Home\nThe Hounds sits at 769 Stonington Road\, between Mystic and Stonington Borough. \nThe event venue occupies a property overlooking coastal marshland\, with its Terrace providing a covered outdoor gathering space adjoining the main Quarterdeck Room. \nIt’s a very different environment from the former River Jam setup at Mystic Shipyard. \nInstead of a full weekend festival with multiple bands and vendors\, these Hounds evenings are smaller\, individual concerts. \nThe September 22 event takes place on the Terrace. \nAnd there’s one practical detail worth remembering before leaving home: \nBring a chair. \nThe organizers specifically ask guests to bring their own chairs for the concert. \nYour Ticket Includes Food\nThe night isn’t just the concert. \nLight bites from Dogwatch Catering are included in the ticket price. \nDogwatch Catering is part of the same local hospitality family associated with Dog Watch Cafe in Stonington and has extensive experience handling weddings\, private parties and community events around southeastern Connecticut. \nBeverages are handled separately. \nThe Hounds will operate a cash bar during the concert. \nThat gives the evening a format somewhere between an outdoor concert and a casual catered gathering: bring your chair\, find a spot on the Terrace\, grab something to eat and settle in for three hours of Dylan. \nBring Dog Food\, Too\nThe charitable component is particularly specific this time. \nMystic River Jam is asking attendees to bring a can of dog food for the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center. \nThe center serves residents of Stonington\, Pawcatuck\, Mystic\, North Stonington and Westerly\, providing food assistance and a much broader range of social and essential services. \nIts food pantry alone serves more than 2\,200 people\, according to River Jam. \nBut households facing financial hardship don’t stop having pets. \nFood assistance programs increasingly recognize that helping people keep their animals fed can be part of keeping a household stable. When money gets tight\, pet food becomes another expense competing with groceries\, rent\, utilities and medication. \nThat’s why this concert’s dog-food collection matters. \nThe cows in Mystic River Jam’s wonderfully strange promotional graphic may be the ones telling you to attend. \nThe dogs are the ones you’re being asked to help. \nRiver Jam’s Charitable Roots Run Deep\nThe charitable element isn’t something added to River Jam this year. \nGiving back has been central to the organization for years. \nThe former Mystic Shipyard festival raised money for organizations including the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center and Sails Up 4 Cancer. \nIn 2024\, River Jam received the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center’s Good Neighbor Award for its support of the community. \nThe traditional festival also relied heavily on local volunteers and businesses\, helping turn it into something more than a weekend concert series. \nThat history makes the move to smaller benefit concerts at The Hounds feel less like abandoning River Jam and more like preserving the part that mattered most. \nMusic still brings people together. \nThe gathering still helps somebody. \nA Tuesday Night for People Who Really Like Songs\nThere’s also something appealingly uncomplicated about this one. \nNo giant festival grounds. \nNo six-stage schedule. \nNo need to decide between two bands playing at the same time. \nBring a chair. \nBring a can of dog food. \nHave something from Dogwatch Catering. \nGet a drink from the bar. \nThen spend three hours with a band digging into one of the deepest song catalogs in American popular music. \nBob Dylan has spent more than 60 years refusing to perform his own songs exactly the way people expect. \nA band called She Sings Dylan doing the same thing seems entirely appropriate. \nDetails\nEvent: She Sings Dylan at The Hounds\nSeries: River Jam at The Hounds\nDate: Tuesday\, September 22\, 2026\nTime: 6–9 p.m.\nVenue: The Hounds Terrace\nAddress: 769 Stonington Road\, Stonington\, CT 06378\nPerformers: Kate Hubbard\, Sophia Coppola\, Jeff Martinson\, Bill Carbone\, Sean Elkind and Marty Moroney\nMusic: Bob Dylan classics and deep cuts reimagined through a female-fronted perspective\nFood: Light bites from Dogwatch Catering included with the ticket\nDrinks: Cash bar provided by The Hounds\nSeating: Bring your own chair\nDonation Requested: Bring a can of dog food to support the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center’s pet-support efforts\nBeneficiary: Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center\nQuestions: Courtney Moore\, 860-961-0246\nUpcoming River Jam at The Hounds Shows: The Troublemakers\, October 27; Mystic Dead New Year’s Eve\, December 31 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/she-sings-dylan-reimagines-a-legendary-songbook-at-river-jam-at-the-hounds/
LOCATION:The Hounds\, 769 Stonington Road\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Hounds
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260616T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260616T210000
DTSTAMP:20260519T234756Z
CREATED:20260519T234756Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T234756Z
UID:10002523-1781632800-1781643600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Happy Hour Fundraiser at The Hounds
DESCRIPTION:Happy Hour Fundraiser at The Hounds brings live music\, community support\, and Grateful Dead-inspired energy to The Hounds on June 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event features a performance by Mystic Dead while raising funds for the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center and Always Home\, giving the evening both a festive atmosphere and a meaningful community purpose. Set just outside Stonington Borough near the Avalonia Paffard Marsh preserve\, The Hounds provides a scenic coastal backdrop for an early summer fundraiser built around music\, gathering\, and local support. \nMystic Dead has built a following across SE Connecticut for recreating the improvisational spirit and live energy of the Grateful Dead through extended jams\, classic songs\, and performances designed to capture the atmosphere of a traditional Dead-inspired concert experience. Known for blending recognizable favorites with spontaneous musical exploration\, the band draws both longtime Deadheads and newer audiences looking for a laid-back night of live music. The combination of the band’s style and The Hounds’ coastal event setting gives the fundraiser a relaxed summer-evening feel that fits naturally into the shoreline atmosphere of Stonington. \nThe Hounds itself adds to the experience with indoor and outdoor gathering spaces\, nautical-inspired design\, landscaped grounds\, and views surrounding the property near Stonington Harbor. Throughout the evening\, attendees can enjoy live music while supporting organizations focused on helping local families and community members across the region. A portion of event proceeds will benefit both the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center and Always Home. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/happy-hour-fundraiser-at-the-hounds/
LOCATION:The Hounds\, 769 Stonington Road\, Stonington\, CT\, 06378\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Hounds
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Happy-Hour-Fundraiser-at-the-Hounds-June-16.jpeg
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