Beginner Bachata Class

Bachata is built on connection, footwork, and music that gets you moving before you know the steps.

This beginner class at the C.H. Booth Library is a first taste of the social dance from the Dominican Republic that has become one of the most popular partner dances in the world. You cover the basic bachata step and rhythm, how to lead or follow, one simple turn and the partner connection that holds it together, and how to move to the beat if you have never danced before. It is pitched squarely at total beginners: no partner, no experience and, the library promises, no rhythm required.

Good to know. Free, open to teens in grade 8 and up as well as adults, and registration is required.

Where to go. The Meeting Room at the library, 25 Main Street.

Meet the Banjo

Banjos provided. You will be playing one before the hour is out.

Banjoist Kent Besocke runs a beginner workshop at the C.H. Booth Library that has people playing almost immediately, then fills in the basics underneath: strumming, picking, tone and rhythm. By the end you have some basic chords, a few simple folk tunes and enough song accompaniment to hold your own in a jam, which is the actual point of the instrument.

Good to know. Free, banjos are provided, and it is open to adults and teens aged 12 and up. Registration is required.

Where to go. The Meeting Room at the library, 25 Main Street.

Canvas Painting Workshop

The hardest part of a painting is the blank canvas. They have removed that part.

This morning session in the chbMAKERS' Corner hands each participant a pre-sketched canvas and a set of acrylics, and the rest is yours: choose the colours, add your own style, and work at whatever pace suits. No drawing experience is needed, since the drawing has already been done, and everything is supplied including the canvas, paints and brushes. Charbel Khalil leads it. The point is as much the unwinding as the painting, and you leave with a finished piece that is recognisably yours.

Good to know. Free, all supplies provided, and registration is required.

Where to go. The chbMAKERS' Corner at the library, 25 Main Street.

Rocky Horror Picture Show with Live Shadow Cast

The film plays. In front of it, a full cast acts every frame out in real time.

The Come Again Players perform a live shadow cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Edmond Town Hall — the 1975 horror musical, rated R, with everything happening twice at once. Newly engaged and painfully wholesome, Brad and Janet get a flat tire on a dark and stormy night and take shelter in the mysterious castle of the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Outrageous humor, dazzling musical numbers and a great many surprises follow, set to "Time Warp," "Sweet Transvestite" and "Dammit Janet."

Whether you know every callback or are experiencing the madness for the first time, this is an interactive event unlike anything else on the calendar. Costumes are encouraged — come as your favorite character and be ready to sing, dance and do the Time Warp again.

Bring the props. The show alone is $30. Show plus a prop bag is $36 in advance, or $38 on the day.

Good to know. Doors at 6:30 pm for a 7:30 pm show. Concessions are available for purchase throughout the evening.

Fall Flavor Explorers: A Day-Off-From-School Cooking Camp

No school? Put them to work in the kitchen.

Chef Robyn Herman is turning the October 5 day off into a hands-on, three-hour cooking adventure at Edmond Town Hall. Young chefs practice kitchen safety, learn safe chopping and peeling, and make kid-friendly recipes from scratch: a savory main, a crunchy side, a sweet treat and an Apple Tasting Flight. They build confidence, make new friends and get to taste everything they cook.

Two sessions. Ages 7 to 11 from 9am to noon, and ages 12 and up from 1 to 4pm.

Good to know. Register through Edmond Town Hall, where current pricing is posted.

Where to go. Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, Newtown.

2026 Designer Handbag Bingo

Ten games, three cards a game, and a Coach bag on the line every time.

Kind Works fills Edmond Town Hall for a night of bingo played for designer handbags. The prize table runs Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade, valued between $200 and $800, and every penny raised goes back into Kind Works and the art and community programmes it runs.

What your $40 ticket covers. Ten bingo games with three cards each, automatic entry into three door prizes, three raffle tickets for the prize drawings of your choice, and water, coffee, tea and dessert.

Two side games worth knowing about. The Golden Game is $25 a card for a designer bag valued at over $2,000. The Bonus Bench Game is $50 a card, and the prize is a handmade Kind Works mosaic bench, which is the sort of thing you cannot buy anywhere. There is also a Lucky Lotto Tree raffle, and you do not need to be in the room to win that one.

Bring your own. Food and drink are BYO. The hall provides water, coffee, tea and dessert, and the rest is up to you and whoever you come with.

Good to know. Doors open at 6 and the bingo starts at 7. Questions to info.kindworks@gmail.com.

Where to go. Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown.

Jeff Hiller is basic.

An hour-ish of stand-up whose entire thesis is that Jeff Hiller is basic. He makes the case convincingly.

Hiller is best known as Joel opposite Bridget Everett on HBO's acclaimed series Somebody Somewhere. His other television work includes American Horror Story: NYC, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, plus a series regular role on Pop's Nightcap. On film he has appeared in Greta, Set It Up, Morning Glory, Ghost Town and Adam.

He made his Broadway debut in Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and has appeared off-Broadway in Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, Silence! and Heartbreak House, and in Shakespeare in the Park in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost and most recently as Panic in Disney's Hercules. He started out performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City.

Make a night of it. Beer, wine and concessions are available for purchase throughout the evening.

Good to know. Doors at 6:30 pm for a 7:30 pm show.

Comedy Show at Aquila's Nest

A vineyard is a strange room for stand-up, which is rather the point.

The vineyard's indoor tasting room turns into a comedy room from 6 to 9. It is one of three comedy nights on the autumn schedule, alongside dates in October and November, and it sits at the end of a Sunday that starts with RAE Duo playing free on the lawn from two.

Good to know. Ticketed events are held in the indoor tasting room unless the vineyard says otherwise, and some indoor ticketed shows are not open to children, so check when you book. The vineyard does not list a price on its schedule.

Vineyard hours. Wednesday 6pm to 9pm, Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday 1pm to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 9pm. The schedule key is 🌮 food truck, 🎷 free music, 🎟️ ticketed event.

Where to go. 56 Pole Bridge Road in Sandy Hook. Reservations are strongly recommended, and you can text 203-303-4802 to ask about walk-in space.

Comedy Night at Aquila's Nest

The second of the vineyard's three autumn comedy nights.

Stand-up returns to the indoor tasting room, on a Sunday that starts with A&R Duo playing free on the lawn from two. Steak-In-It and Taste of Grill are on site through the afternoon.

Check the time before you go. The vineyard's schedule lists this one without a start time, unlike its other ticketed evenings. The comparable comedy nights in September and November both run from six, but that is not confirmed for this date.

Good to know. Ticketed events are held in the indoor tasting room unless the vineyard says otherwise, and some indoor ticketed shows are not open to children, so check when you book. The vineyard does not list a price on its schedule.

Vineyard hours. Wednesday 6pm to 9pm, Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday 1pm to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 9pm. The schedule key is 🌮 food truck, 🎷 free music, 🎟️ ticketed event.

Where to go. 56 Pole Bridge Road in Sandy Hook. Reservations are strongly recommended, and you can text 203-303-4802 to ask about walk-in space.

Comedy Show at Aquila's Nest

The third and final comedy night of the vineyard's autumn run.

Stand-up closes the season in the indoor tasting room, on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Taste of Mediterranean is the truck on site. There is no free lawn music this Sunday, so the show is the whole evening.

Check the time before you go. The vineyard's schedule lists this one without a start time. The comparable comedy night in September ran from six, but that is not confirmed for this date.

Good to know. Ticketed events are held in the indoor tasting room unless the vineyard says otherwise, and some indoor ticketed shows are not open to children, so check when you book. The vineyard does not list a price on its schedule.

Vineyard hours. Wednesday 6pm to 9pm, Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday 1pm to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 9pm. The schedule key is 🌮 food truck, 🎷 free music, 🎟️ ticketed event.

Where to go. 56 Pole Bridge Road in Sandy Hook. Reservations are strongly recommended, and you can text 203-303-4802 to ask about walk-in space.

Gary Gulman's 7th Hour: An All-New Standup Show

Thirty years into a career built on precision, Gary Gulman brings an entirely new hour to Newtown, and Edmond Town Hall has already sold every seat.

Gulman is a product of Boston who arrived at comedy by way of a scholarship as a college football player, a stint as an accountant and a spell teaching high school. He has made countless television appearances as both a comedian and an actor, and has five TV specials to his name. The most recent two were made for HBO Max: Born On 3rd Base, which turns his comedic craft on the present Tale of Two Cities wealth gap, and The Great Depresh, a look at mental illness that is equal parts hilarious and inspiring.

He made his off-Broadway debut with a five week sold out run of his one man show Grandiloquent at The Lucille Lortel Theatre, directed by Tony Award winner Moritz von Stuelpnagel and produced by Mike & Carlee Productions, the team behind Oh Mary. In 2019 he appeared in the international blockbuster Joker, and more recently he co-starred with Amy Schumer in the Hulu comedy series Life & Beth.

His first book, Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s, is a memoir of his life from kindergarten through twelfth grade, published by Flatiron Books in September 2023. Amy Schumer called it "laugh out loud funny and heartfelt" and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Adrian Nicole LeBlanc found it "exquisite, love-affirming and generous". Gulman is now one of the most popular touring comics in the country, selling out theaters including Carnegie Hall in New York City. He lives in Harlem with his wife.

Good to know. This show is sold out. Edmond Town Hall has not published a waiting list, so check with the box office if you are hoping for a return.

Timing. Doors open at 6:00 pm and the show starts at 7:00 pm.

Make a night of it. Beer, wine and concessions are available for purchase throughout the evening.

Caroline Rhea

Aunt Hilda has been touring comedy clubs on six continents, and she is stopping in Newtown.

Caroline Rhea is a stand-up comedian and actress best known as Hilda Spellman on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, with comedy specials on HBO, Comedy Central and Showtime behind her. She voices Linda Flynn Fletcher on Disney's Phineas and Ferb, starred as Mrs. Miracle in Hallmark's A Mrs. Miracle Christmas, and most recently has a recurring role on NBC's Lopez vs. Lopez.

She has hosted her own talk show and been a regular panelist on Funny You Should Ask, Match Game, Name That Tune and Hollywood Squares. This year she performed at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in Scotland and filmed her seventh comedy special at the Sydney Opera House. Between tours she still makes time to host and serve as auctioneer for a long list of charities.

Make a night of it. Beer, wine and concessions are available for purchase throughout the evening.

Good to know. Doors at 6:30 pm for a 7:30 pm show.