What's on the horizon for Westport this fall? Westport Journal is has the answer! Featuring leading experts in the fields of drama, performing arts, cinema, literature, and fine arts, this illuminating panel will provide a road map to key cultural events that will have Fairfield County lining up to experience this fall.
Speakers include Mark Shanahan, artistic director at the Westport Country Playhouse; Carey Mack Weber, executive director at Fairfield University Art Museum; Heller McAlpin, book reviewer at NPR; Susan Granger, Connecticut Film Critic; and Lori N. Jones, director of programming and operations at Fairfield University Quick Center for the Arts.
Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years.
Lori N. Jones (she/her) serves as director of programming and operations for the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. Since 2013, Jones has worked with the Quick team to build a nationally recognized performing arts center with a focus on new programs that support artist creative residencies and making high-caliber arts experiences available to all. She previously worked with NC State Live and the American Dance Festival. Jones received her B.A. from North Carolina State University. In 2021, she served as faculty for the Regional Dance Development Initiative, RDDI: New England Now. She has been on a number of artist selection and granting panels, including her current work as an Advisor for the National Dance Project, and was honored to be a member of the 2018 class of Fairfield County Business Journal’s 40 under Forty. Jones has served in numerous voluntary leadership positions locally and nationally including as a founding member of the Fairfield Emerging Leaders Organization as part of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. She currently serves as a new member of the board for the Barnum Museum. She is also an independent consultant helping artists and presenters strategize their work and serves the ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance at Williams College.
Heller McAlpin is a New York-based critic who reviews books regularly for NPR.org, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle and other publications.
Mark Shanahan is the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse. He is also the writer/director of The New York Times Critics’ Pick A Sherlock Carol (Off-Broadway Alliance nomination, Best New Play 2021), playing two seasons in New York and annually at London’s Marylebone Theatre. He directed his own adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, in partnership with Agatha Christie Ltd. in a World Premiere production at the Alley Theatre. Additionally, he is the author of A Merry Little Christmas Carol, See Monsters of the Deep, the off-Broadway and regional hit comedy The Dingdong, and numerous radio plays, including his role as creator of the White Heron Ghost Light series, featuring Christopher Plummer, Judith Ivey, Rhonda Ross, and other notable actors. Shanahan has directed at stages around the country, including Alley Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Virginia Stage, Arkansas Rep, White Heron, Mile Square Theatre, Hudson Stage, Theatre Squared, Fulton Opera House, Weston Playhouse, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Merrimack Rep, The Cape Playhouse, and many more.
Carey Mack Weber has served in her role as the Frank and Clara Meditz executive director of the Fairfield University Art Museum since 2019, and was integral to the creation of the Museum in 2010. Weber also currently serves as the President of the Connecticut Art Trail.
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