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Published: February 27, 2009
'Affair of the Arts'
BRATTLEBORO – On Saturday, March 7, join the Brattleboro Music Center, Fulcrum Arts, New England Center for Circus Arts and New England Youth Theatre for the second annual "Affair of the Arts." This collaboration of artists, acrobats, actors and musicians – a celebration of our vibrant arts community – offers a full day and night for everyone to enjoy the arts. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the "Affair of the Arts" begins with a free day of engaging performances and hands-on workshops held at New England Youth Theatre, located on the future site of the Brattleboro Arts Campus on Flat Street. At 8 p.m., the venue changes to the Latchis Theatre in downtown Brattleboro for a spectacular collaborative performance featuring all four host organizations. Daytime activities, presented in collaboration with several other local arts organizations, offer opportunities to participation in New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) sample classes (ages 5-7, 8-12 and 13-adult), a Gould & Stearns clowning workshop and the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) "Moving into Music" Class with Annie Frelick (ages 1-5); to take part in an opera workshop with Jim Anderson and Hugh Keelan; sing showtunes with Becky Graber; view open rehearsals of New England Youth Theatre (NEYT) "Just So Stories" and the BMC's Prima Orchestra; attend performance's by NEYT's Theatre Adventure Program and the BMC's Music Adventure Program; work with clay with Fulcrum Arts potter Natalie Blake; "play" in the BMC's "Instrument Petting Zoo"; enjoy performances including a painting and sword dance by Cai Silver, NECCA's circus acts, Inez Zeller and music by the BMC's Celtic Session; build paper cranes, enjoy drumming, get your face painted and more. The evening performance, loosely based on concepts from Lewis Hyde's book "The Gift," will explore the ways creativity and life forces are passed from person to person and family to family to form a flourishing community. This one-time-only performance celebrates the collaborative vision of the Arts in Brattleboro.
For more information, call the Brattleboro Arts Campus Organizations sponsoring the Affair of the Arts: Brattleboro Music Center, (802) 257-4523, bmcvt.org; Fulcrum Arts, (802) 254-9761; New England Center for Circus Arts, (802) 254-9780, necenterforcircusarts.org; and New England Youth Theatre, (802) 246-6398, neyt.org.
'Mini Mud!'
RANDOLPH –The third annual "Mini Mud!" variety show will be presented on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m., at Chandler Music Hall, featuring 63 talented youth and teens from the central Vermont area. "Mini Mud!" is a more youthful version of Chandler's Mud Season Variety Show, with performers ranging in age this year from 8 to 17. The performance will offer 25 acts featuring a variety of dance, song, comedy, drumming, skits, fiddling and much more. Participants are coming from near and far, including the towns of Randolph, Randolph Center, Braintree, Bethel, South Royalton, Tunbridge, Chelsea, Corinth, Williamstown, Rochester, Northfield, Berlin, East Barre and Montpelier. Area teens Zoe Gaby Smith and Hannah Butterfield will be on hand to help introduce the acts. Chandler's teen tech assistants will be working behind the scenes. "Mini Mud!" is a fundraiser for the youth programming offered at Chandler throughout the year.
Tickets are $12, $6 for students ($10 and $5 in advance); call (802) 728-6464, or e-mail: tickets@chandler-arts.org.
'Madama Butterfly'
MIDDLEBURY – Metropolitan Opera's "Madama Butterfly," third in the series of five live high-definition simulcasts at Town Hall Theater, will be presented on Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m. Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, the original Butterfly of the production when it opened in 2006, returns to the title role of Anthony Minghella's production, a new classic of the Met repertory, opposite Marcello Giordani. The New York Times declared, "even as it grows familiar to Met regulars, this staging retains its full capacity to beguile and move the viewer." The Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series brings the excitement of live opera to movie houses all over the world – at a fraction of the cost of a seat at the Met. THT is one of only two theaters in central Vermont to offer these broadcasts. "People in our community have driven as far as Albany to see this series," says THT Artistic Director Douglas Anderson. "We're immensely proud to offer it our beautifully restored theater." For the first time at THT there will be an Encore presentation the following day, March 8, at 6 p.m.
Reserved seat tickets are $22 and may be purchased by calling (802) 388-1436, or online at www.townhalltheater.org. Tickets may also be purchased, if available, at the door.
'Blood-racing' drumming
HANOVER, N.H. — San Jose Taiko, the internationally known Japanese-American drumming ensemble, brings its exuberant, visually spectacular drumming and movement to the Hop on Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m. at the Moore Theater. The performance will be followed at 5 p.m. by a taiko drumming workshop by the ensemble, for participants ages 12 and up ($5 each) with observers welcome for free. (Participants must register in advance with the Hop Box Office at (603) 646-2422. Enrollment is limited.) Founded 35 years ago by third-generation Japanese-Americans seeking a stronger connection to Japanese culture, SJT uses the massive, booming traditional taiko drums and their thundering, hypnotic rhythmic lines and adds rhythms and instruments from Africa, Indonesia, Latin America and the African diaspora. The intensely physical performance style "turns Japanese taiko drumming into entrancing movement and dance" (San Jose Mercury).
Tickets are $20; call (603) 646-2422, or go online to hop.dartmouth.edu/2008-0-9/090308-sanjosetaiko.html.
Poetry out loud
MONTPELIER – Students from 16 Vermont high schools will gather on Saturday, March 7, for the "Poetry Out Loud" state finals. The poetry recitation competition will begin at 1 p.m. in the City Hall Arts Center. The winner of Vermont's competition will advance to the national finals in Washington, D.C., on April 26-28, where $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes will be awarded. "Poetry Out Loud" is a national competition that encourages high school students to memorize and perform great works of poetry. A joint venture of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, this program is presented by the Vermont Arts Council in partnership with the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, Vermont Department of Education and the Vermont Humanities Council. This year's program will be hosted by Lost Nation Theater, resident company of the City Hall Arts Center.
The City Hall Arts Center is located at 39 Main St. This event is free and open to the public but seating may be limited. For more information, go online to www.vermontartscouncil.org.
'Max & Ruby'
RANDOLPH – "Max & Ruby", a new musical based on the series of books by Rosemary Wells and the popular television program on Nick Jr. and Noggin, will be performed at Chandler Music Hall on Thursday, March 5, at 12:30 p.m. for the general public. Wells' beloved bunny siblings Max and Ruby come to life on stage in a fun-filled musical production for the whole family. Seven-year-old Ruby and her little brother Max want to put on a play for Grandma. But, as is typical with the mischievous Max and his older sister, Ruby, some comic hurdles arise along the way, and Ruby needs to call on her Bunny Scout friends to help them try to finish the play on time. The production by Theaterworks USA is directed by Randy White with choreography by Tracy Bersley. The scenic design is by Louisa Thompson, and the costumes are by Junghyun Georgia Lee. This 60-minute musical is recommended for audiences age 3 and up.
Tickets are $5 and are available by calling Betsy Cantlin, (802) 728-9878, e-mail: outreach@chandler-arts.org.
Vermont Public Television
- Sunday: at 6:30 p.m., "Highland Heartbeat" premieres. Scottish singers selected from a country-wide competition perform with the Scottish Festival Orchestra. The program includes stunning footage of the countryside and readings from the works of Robert Burns. At 8 p.m., it's another premiere. "Daniel O'Donnell: Hope and Praise" finds O'Donnell with Mary Duff and a children's choir in an uplifting concert of multi-denominational hymns, up-tempo gospel and pop tunes.
- Monday: At 7:30 p.m. on "Profile," Fran Stoddard talks with Caro Thompson, filmmaker of "Champlain: The Lake Between." Her documentary will encore March 4 and 8. At 8 p.m., "Pavarotti: Salute Petra" premieres. This tribute concert to the late Luciano Pavarotti was taped in October 2008 at historic Petra in Jordan. Among the stars in the lineup are Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu and Andrea Bocelli. Eugene Kohn conducts. At 9 p.m., "Yanni Voices: Live From the Forum in Acapulco" showcases four new singers who are Yanni protégés: Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas and Leslie Mills.
- Tuesday: At 9:30 p.m., "Cantors: A Faith in Song" presents three acclaimed Jewish cantors: Naftali Hershtik, Benzion Miller and Alberto Mizrahi performing sacred and secular music in Amsterdam.
- Wednesday: At 9 p.m., "Great Performances: Hit Man" features a musical who's who as they pay tribute to the great songwriter and producer. Among them are Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban.
- Thursday: At 8 p.m., "Rock, Rhythm & Doo Wop" gathers Little Richard, Jay Black and the Americans and Little Anthony & the Imperials and more for a nostalgic concert.
- Friday, March 6: At 10 p.m., a viewer favorite returns. "Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black and White Night," filmed at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, brought Orbison together with the likes of Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and other greats.
- Saturday, March 7: At 7 p.m., VPT brings back the "As Time Goes By Reunion Special" with Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer. At 9 p.m. "Roger Hodgson: Take the Long Way Home — Live in Montreal" celebrates the Supertramp star in a solo concert from June 2008.
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