Spring Fertility at Jorgensen; School Vacation at the Air Museum; Wine Tasting and Tours in Farmington

Momix, Connecticut’s homegrown global talent in dance, will reveal the mystery of nature like none other in its sumptuous touring show Botanica this weekend, April 15 and 16, at 8 p.m. in Jorgensen’s Cabaret.

Contemporary dance wunderkind Moses Pendleton has created a lush testimony to fertility, using inventive props, magical lighting, athletic dance and a touch of humor, plus a wide-ranging score that runs from Delirium to Peter Gabriel to Vivaldi. This is a sumptuous movable feast.

In two parts, Winter Spring and Summer Fall, Momix dancers will reveal, as the program promises, nature’s “one single plan: to escape above ground from the fatality below.”

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Rd. on the UConn campus in Storrs. Doors open at 7 p.m. Sandwiches, dessert, alcohol and other beverages are available for cash purchase. For tickets, priced at $45, $38 and $34, call 860-486-4226 or visit jorgensen.uconn.edu.

School Vacation Activities at Air Museum

Build a model airplane; take the pilot's seat in an aircraft and imagine what it would be like to fly it; enjoy stories of famous aviators and astronauts; build parachutes and design and test paper planes. These activities and more are on offer as the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks welcomes all ages during school vacation week from April 18 through April 22. The special programs are billed under the heading Explore the History of Science and Flight.

For a complete list of activities, dates and times, visit www.neam.org. The New England Air Museum is at 36 Perimeter Road, Windsor Locks. Phone 860-623-3305. 

Music to Die For in Vernon

Even non-classical music fans know Mozart’s Requiem, if only from the film “Amadeus.” The masterpiece is enigmatic, steeped in controversy over its creation on the composer’s deathbed. This weekend you can hear it in its glory.

Ninety voices from the Vernon Chorale and guests from the UConn Concert Choir will perform an all-Mozart program, featuring the stunning Requiem, Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Rockville. Vernon Chorale’s Ehren Brown will conduct the singers and 21-piece orchestra for the Requiem. The concert will include the Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, directed by UConn’s Michele Holt, and the first movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Of course you could rent “Amadeus,” but you won’t hear the uncut Requiem, nor have 90 singers overpower you with the Dies irae (day of wrath) or soothe you with the Lacrimosa (day of tears).

Suggested donation will be $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For information visit vernonchorale.org.

You Really Gotta Go to ‘Urinetown’

Can “Urinetown,” this decade-old, three-time Tony-winning play about the crude depths of corporate greed, have meaning today? Um. Yeah.

Plus, in a theatrical irony, it stars the super talented Andrea McArdle of “Annie” fame in this show that breaks all Broadway musical rules. The Connecticut Repertory Theatre production runs April 14-17 and 27-30 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus.

But, really, how elemental can the good v. bad story be than this: evil corporation controls the public pay toilets, those who insist on peeing for free are banished to Urinetown, and finally a hero emerges from the cesspool to lead a rebellion. Book and lyrics are by Greg Kotis, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann. Paul Mullins directs.

Don’t try to hold it. Get your tickets – $22 for tonight, $32 for weeknights and matinees, and $35 for Friday and Saturday nights – by calling 860-486-4226 or visiting Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

A Rootin' Tootin' Script Readin'

The Suffield Players presents a Page to Stage event April 20. The staged reading features Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage by Jane Martin. The script features two rootin’-tootin’ sisters, a pink-haired “She-Devil,” and a crazed biker.  Admission is free. 

The reading is at Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave., Suffield. For more information including a starting time, visit www.suffieldplayers.org or phone 800-289-6148.

Vacation Science Camp at Children's Museum

Wondering what to do with your pint-size Poindexter during school break? Scientific investigation, experiments, crafts, and educational games are all on the roster of activities at the Children's Museum in West Hartford. You can sign your child up for one day or several. Workshop titles are Buggin' Out, Beakers and Broomsticks, Growing Up Wilds, RoboKids, and It's Easy Being Green. 

For workshop details and more information, visit thechildrensmuseumct.org or call 860-231-2830 ext 44. The Children's Museum is at 950 Trout Brook Drive, West Hartford.

Hill-Stead Wines: A Prohibition Peek

Private-label Hill-Stead wines, presented in conjunction with Jonathan Edwards Winery; savory hors d'oeuvres; the sounds of Majk Jazz; and tours of the Farmington museum and its newly restored wine cellar all promise a corking good time at the Hill-Stead Museum. 

The event is the April 15 Ambassadors Wine Launch Event, which runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to dress in 1920s style. Tickets cost $33 in honor of 1933, the year Prohibition was repealed. 

The Hill-Stead is at 35 Mountain Road, Farmington. For more information, visitwww.hillstead.org. To purchase tickets, phone Mem Legros at 860-677-4787 ext. 180. 

Harvey Reid Returns to Roaring Brook

Singer-songwriter and National Fingerpicking Guitar and Autoharp champion Harvey Reid returns to Canton's Roaring Brook Nature Center for an April 16 show. The Maine resident's discography includes Steel Drivin' Man, Guitar Voyages, and Blues & Branches. His cd/book set The Wreck of the Isidore is a 100-page, 13-song maritime music project.

Concert time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20. Roaring Brook Nature Center is at 70 Gracey Road, Canton. Visit www.roaringbrookconcerts.org. 

A Cappella Slam in Rockville

Four area contestants will compete in the battle of unaccompanied vocal groups at the 7th Annual Stephen C. Marcham A Cappella Slam this Saturday, April 16, at 7 p.m. at the Vernon Senior Center Performance Hall in downtown Rockville.

Defending its title is last year’s winner A Minor, the co-ed UConn group of singers that once included David Plamondon, a promising pre-med student who was struck and killed by a campus shuttle last month.

The three other competitors are Key of She, an all-female group from Eastern Connecticut State University; ConnChords, a group with a 60-year history from Connecticut College, and Harmonious Soul, with UConn roots and members from Manchester, Tolland, Vernon, Marlborough and Ledyard. First place winners will be awarded $500. For information, call Cliff Edwards, Rockville Downtown Association executive director at 860-875-7439 or visit rdact.com. 

Ira Joe Fisher Reads at UConn Co-op

Weatherman broadcaster poet Ira Joe Fisher will read from his works Thursday, April 14, at 6 p.m. at the UConn Co-op. Fisher, a radio, TV and theater (“The Fantasticks”) veteran for decades, was the weather reporter for CBS’s Early Show, where he was known for an ability to write backwards on plexiglass weather displays. But it’s his ability to write poetry, from left to right, that will be showcased at the Co-op. Fisher has two poetry collections, Some Holy Weight in the Village Air and Songs from an Earlier Century, and a chapbook. He is a UConn faculty adjunct and has taught at several other colleges.

Co-op appearances are free. For information, call 860-486-5027 or e-mail suzy.staubach@uconn.edu.

Ricky Martin Pops into Mohegan

Latin Pop kingpin Ricky Martin makes a tour stop at Mohegan Sun on Sunday, April 17, at 7 p.m. in support of his latest album Musica + Alma + Sexo. Martin’s latest single, “Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu,” is at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Pop charts, and its English version, “The Best Thing About Me Is You,” is just out in video.

For tickets ($45 or $55), call 1-888-777-7922 or visit Mohegan Sun.

Winning?

Entertainment or implosion? You decide. Erratic but "winning" actor Charlie Sheen brings his latest stunt, My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option tour to Foxwoods on April 17. The 8 p.m. show is in the MGM Grand Theater.

Ticket range from $82.50 to $150. Foxwoods Casino is at 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket. Visit www.foxwoods.com or call 860-312-3000 or, toll-free, 800-369-9663.

Kids Activities at Old Sturbridge Village

School vacation week at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA, brings a host of activities and events that were all part of life in 1830s America. The village re-enacts Patriot's Day, which commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War and "the shot heard 'round the world." Visitors can meet soldiers from both sides of the conflict – a loyalist and a Minuteman, and compare beliefs about the American revolutionary movement. Children can drill and march with muskets, and hear stories from blacksmiths whose skills were utilized during the war. Visitors can meet newborn lambs and piglets, ride in the village stagecoach, and participate in games and demonstrations from tug-of-war and 1830s baseball to butter churning. Demonstrations include soap making, sewing, plowing and other farm activities. 

Admission prices are $20 adults; $18 seniors; $7 children ages 3 to 17; and free to children under 3. For more details, visit www.osv.org or call 800-SEE-1830. Old Sturbridge Village is at 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, Mass. 

Bergman Adaptation at Yale

Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven presents the U.S. premiere Autumn Sonata, the theatrical adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's psychological study concerning the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters. The production is directed by Robert Woodruff, whose Yale Rep credits include Notes from Underground and Battle of Black and Dogs. Candy Buckley plays Charlotte, the classical pianist whose career takes precedence over family life. Rebecca Henderson makes her Yale debut as Charlotte's daughter, Eva, who has not seen her mother in seven years.

Autumn Sonata runs from April 15 through May 7. Yale Rep is at 1120 Chapel St., New Haven. For tickets and more information, visit www.yalerep.org or call 203-432-1234.