Imagine

Broadway's hit musical "Rent" on the East Haven High School stage.

The Town Green swarmed with artists selling their wares under tents.

Juried art shows at Hagaman Library.

Scholarships for college-bound students majoring in performing arts.

The town's fledgling Arts Commission batted around those ideas Monday night with intensity and thoughtfulness and a slab of humor.

First up was guest Karen Jensen, the library director. She said renovations are done, the walls painted, and would like to have a juried art show and a regular roster of local artists to display their work at Hagaman. She asked arts commissioners Chair Fred Marotti, secretary Catherine McGarry, also the Deer Run art teacher, Fred's daughter Pam Marotti and Sam Giglio for help.

"We have a beautiful building there. We should utilize it," said Giglio.

Pam Marotti suggested having themes, citing her recent work using recycled materials. Jensen said she'd like to form a committee of arts commissioners and library volunteers to get the ball rolling.

Fred Marotti threw out a loftier idea.

How about a multi-town production of the rock opera "Rent?" The cost is steep, he said. About a thousand dollars for the rights per performance plus costumes and scenes. Having neighboring towns co-produce with East Haven would spread out the cost and bring in a bigger audience to hopefully turn a profit, he said.

"We couldn't do it alone. They have resources. We have resources," said Marotti. "They have established audiences. It would be a learning experience. We're looking at an off-Broadway production in our town."

If the show does go on, he said it wouldn't be until May 2012 or thereabouts.

Pam Marotti said she saw the play on Broadway, loved it and calls herself a "Rent-head."

"What's a Rent-head," asked Giglio, a generation or two her senior.

"I'm a 'Rent' fanatic," she said.

"Did you ever hear of Frank Sinatra?" Giglio said. "I'm a Sinatra-head."

For this year, Fred Marotti suggested doing a "baseline production" like the high school's performance of "Father of the Bride" in 2010.

Commissioners returned to the fine arts. They said they wanted to dress up the Town Green with an arts festival. Last August's art exhibit at the Town Beach Gazebo was a warm-up act for the extravaganza they'd like to see this August.

Taking cues from a plea before the Town Council last fall for a rock concert on the Green -- which went through unprecedented scrutiny and led to the town's first public property-use ordinance -- the commission outlined the needed steps to get the official OK.

First, get approval from the Parks & Rec Commission to use the Green. Next, the step that the rock concert organizer didn't take: talk to police and fire to secure adequate personnel for the event. Finally, it's to the Town Council for the final word.

Marotti said money raised from the festival would go toward a scholarship for high school seniors who want to study theater, dance or music in college. He said the commission offered the financial gift last year, but none of the applicants met the performing-arts criterion.

Citing the planning and work entailed in getting these efforts off the ground coupled with the fact that three of the seven commissioners were absent at the Monday meeting, Giglio said he wanted to ask the mayor for two more members.

"We're still in the infant stages here," he said. "We have no budget." The commission is about 18 months old.

Marotti said he'd ask the Board of Finance for a stipend.

To that, Giglio issued the chair a warning. "Make sure you're near the door when they kick you out."

Ever the arts promoter, Marotti said, "We're trying to give the people of East Haven what other towns have."