Arts Preview
Upcoming arts and entertainment events
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Fireworks, accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture, follow each of the VSO’s outdoor summer concerts. Photo by Ed Barna |
Toolbox
Published: July 3, 2009
VSO opens Stowe series
STOWE – Stowe will present a summer of world-class music that will attract melody lovers young and old. The concerts begin on July 5 with Stowe Performing Arts’ Music in the Meadow performance by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
In celebration of Lake Champlain’s Quadricentennial, the VSO, conducted by Anthony Princiotti, will present a salute to Uncle Sam — Vermont’s own Uncle Sam, Samuel de Champlain, who discovered Lake Champlain in 1609. In a program both Gallic and aquatic the VSO will pay tribute to our Frenchman in American with Gershwin’s “An American in Paris”; an overture by Berlioz, a medley from “Les Miserables,” Sousa’s “Hands across the Sea” March, Handel’s “Water Music,” and show tunes from “South Pacific.” Fireworks will accompany the traditional close of the concert – Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
The concerts continue on July 12 with jazz great Chuck Mangione, and on Aug. 30 with western-swing group Asleep at the Wheel. These performances are held in the serene outdoor setting of the Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow. Gates open for picnicking two hours prior to show time.
Stowe Performing Arts also hosts the free Stowe Gazebo Concerts on Tuesdays from July 21-Aug. 11. These concerts — by local bands Stolen Moments, The Nisht Geferlach Klezmer Band, Community Military Bands, and Prydein — promise to entertain listeners alike with their sweet summertime melodies and laid back feel. These concerts begin at 6:30 on the lawn at the Helen Day Art Center.
The 36th annual Vermont Mozart Festival will hold concerts in Stowe on July 26, Aug. 2 and 9. Join the VMF Orchestra at the Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow for fireworks and musical masterpieces by Beethoven, Bizet and Mozart.
Aug. 20-22nd, Stowe welcomes the Music Festival of the Americas at Stowe. The festival includes three different concerts with music varying in style from jazz to Tchaikovsky, and performed by the exclusive Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Chamber Ensembles. The event will be held at the Topnotch Resort and ticket packages are currently available.
Stowe’s summer concert series concludes on Sept. 6 when Stowe Performing Arts presents the United Air Force Liberty Jazz Band. Made up of 18 outstanding musicians from around the country, the Liberty Big Band takes pride in preserving the heritage of America’s true art form, jazz. Hear this stellar ensemble at the Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow. This concert is free.
For more information or to book accommodations, call 1-800-GO-STOWE or visit www.gostowe.com.
Santa Fe Ballet
HANOVER, N.H. — Classical ballet gets an engaging, adventurous update in the work of the sophisticated and entertaining Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB), which performs at The Moore Theater of Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center on Thursday, July 9, at 7 p.m., and Friday, July 10, at 8 p.m. Each performance is followed by an on-stage discussion by company members. ASFB’s Hop program consists of contemporary ballet works from 1975 to the present, by dance legends Twyla Tharp and William Forsythe and new stars Jorma Elo and Cayetano Soto. Only 13 years since its founding, the western-based company has already won international acclaim for an unabashed embrace of contemporary choreography that extends the emotional and physical range of classical ballet without sacrificing its radiant technique and purity of line. The company’s unique two-city base and small size (fewer than one dozen dancers) also set it apart. Dance Magazine called ASFB a “terrific chamber company of chic and charming dancers, with a winningly distinctive repertory… a model of what a small classic company should be.” It’s a reputation that helped persuade Tharp to allow her legendary but rarely seen 1975 work, “Sue’s Leg,” to be once again performed, exclusively by ASFB. That 25-minute work — a buoyant pastiche of 1930s dance-hall styles set to music by Fats Waller, and the first commissioned piece by the then very young choreographer — is among the works ASFB will bring to the Hop.
Tickets are $26, $14 for 18 and younger; call (603) 646-2422, or go online to hop.dartmouth.edu.
Mamet’s ‘Speed-the-Plow’
MIDDLEBURY – Fasten your seatbelts for David Mamet’s classic skewering of Hollywood power brokers, “Speed-the-Plow,” presented by Middlebury Actors Workshop July 8-12 at Town Hall Theater. In this production, veteran Workshop actors Harry McEnerny and Steve Small star as Charlie Fox and Bobby Gould, two ambitious Hollywood producers with the chance of a lifetime: a major player wants to star in one of their properties and they finally stand a chance to prove themselves worthy of a seat at the big table. They are all set to pitch the deal when an unexpected obstacle blocks their way in the shape of a sexy temporary secretary. Suddenly Charlie and Bobby are adversaries in a fierce battle for their very survival in the business. “I saw the excellent revival of ‘Speed-The-Plow’ on Broadway this past winter. It occurred to me that it would be a superb vehicle for Harry and Steve. I am thrilled to be directing two of Vermont’s best comedic actors in these plum roles,” says MAW Artistic Director Melissa Lourie.
“Speed-the-Plow” runs July 8-11 at 8 p.m., and July 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $17; call (802) 382-9222, or go online to www.townhalltheater.org.
‘Ways of the Woods’
WARREN – “Ways of the Woods: People and the Land in the Northern Forest” — the Northern Forest Center’s mobile museum about forest heritage and culture across northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York — will be on display at the Warren Elementary School, 10 a.m. to 3:30 pm., on July 4. “Ways of the Woods” features multi-media displays housed in a mural-covered 18-wheel tractor-trailer. Outdoor displays, artifacts and children’s activities combine with the videos to help people explore the ever-changing relationships between people and land across the Northern Forest. This year, in addition to exhibits about the region’s culture and heritage, “Ways of the Woods” will be incorporating new exhibit content focused on emerging forest-based economic opportunities and related scientific research ranging from the development of biofuels to engineered wood products, forest health and productivity, and the potential community benefits of well-planned tourism development.
The complete 2009 tour schedule and updates are available at www.northernforest.org.
Warebrook Contemporary Music
IRASBURG – The Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival will celebrate its 16th year July 7-11. Warebrook has brought cutting-edge new music to the Northeast Kingdom, the unlikely meeting of two worlds and brings together composers, performers and growing audiences to enjoy the music of our time. This year marks the inaugural year of the Warebrook Institute for the Advancement of Modern Music, which will bring musicians together of all ages to study with resident composers and performers for an informative series of seminars, lessons, and composition master classes, chamber music coaching and open rehearsals. The institute takes place July 7-10; participants can choose morning or afternoon sessions. The reading session of new works is Thursday, July 9, 9 to 11 a.m. (There is still room in the institute; an application can be downloaded from the festival web site.) This summer’s repertoire includes music by Allen Shawn, Charles Wuorinen, Allen Anderson, Ursula Mamlok, Andrew List, Martha Horst, Elliott Carter and Daniel Kessner. The Warebrook Opera Workshop will present a concert performance of a new opera by Sara Doncaster (music) and Ron Falzone (words), “Coriander and a Penny’s Worth of Lonesome.” Performers are Jon Garrison (tenor), Lisa Jablow (soprano), Krista River (mezzo-soprano), Tom Oesterling (tenor), Donald Wilkinson (baritone), Susan Jensen (violin), Leslie Perna (viola), Darry Dolezal (‘cello), Sara Brady (flute), Mark Margolies (clarinet), William Anderson (guitar), Joan Forsyth (piano), and Aaron Trant (percussion). The schedule:
-Thursday, July 9: Opera Workshop – concert Performance of scenes from Coriander and A Penny’s Worth of Lonesome. Music by Sara Doncaster, words by Ron Falzone, (some adult language and situations in this presentation may not be suitable for young children), Haskell Opera House, Derby Line, 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, July 10: Concert – music by William Pfaff, Ursula Mamlok, Elliott Carter, Lisa Bielawa, Daniel Kessner and Martha Horst, Irasburg Town Hall, Irasburg, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 11: Concert – music by Allen Shawn, Allen Anderson, Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Andrew List, Charles Wuorinen and Craig Walsh, United Church of Newport, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10.00 per concert, $7 for students and seniors; call (802) 754-6335, email: wcmf@sover.net, or visit www.warebrook.org
Evenings with Robert Frost
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Humanities Council will continue its popular “You Come, Too” Robert Frost poetry series throughout the summer. VHC’s executive director and Frost literary executor Peter Gilbert will lead one-hour discussions of Frost’s summer poems on July 8, Aug. 12, and Sept. 16. The talks take place at 5:30 p.m. at VHC’s offices at 11 Loomis St. The series was inspired by VHC’s dual focus on Robert Frost in 2008. VHC chose Natalie Bober’s biography “A Restless Spirit: The Story of Robert Frost” for its statewide one-book community reading program, Vermont Reads. And VHC’s annual fall conference in November explored Frost’s life and poetry. Frost’s poetry is known for its ability to evoke the seasons of New England in all their complexity of contradicting emotional states. In 1936 Frost published a slim volume of poems titled “From Snow to Snow,” containing 12 poems, one for every month of the year. VHC’s monthly discussions have focused on the poem that Frost associated with that month, and several other, timely poems. Participants are invited to either read the poems in advance or read them upon arriving.
Refreshments are served. RSVPs are encouraged, at (802) 262-2626, ext. 307, but spur-of-the-moment participants are welcome. Discussion will start at 5:30 p.m. and end by 6:45 p.m.
Holiday bluegrass
CRAFTSBURY — Citigrass, the popular New York City-based bluegrass band will perform on Craftsbury Common on Sunday, July 5, at 7 p.m. The band “combines the fiery fingers and squeaky clean harmonies of a traditional bluegrass outfit with the spontaneous energy of a jam band and classic rock,” according to founder and banjo player Sandy Israel. He’ll be joined on fiddle by the Chamber Players’ own Kenji Bunch, also a well-known violist and composer. Tim Kiah on bass and Noah Chase on mandolin will round out the instruments. Citigrass has shared the stage with such acclaimed artists as Ricky Skaggs, Mike Gordon (Phish), and the Yonder Mountain String Band, and was recently the featured soloist with the Mobile Symphony Pops. The band has performed at Gracie Mansion for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and its music was recently featured in the Billy-Bob Thornton movie, “Astronaut Farmer,” and other short films. They are repeat performers on ABC TV’s live New York Morning Show at Lincoln Center.
Admission is free and donations will be welcomed by volunteers for concert sponsor, The Craftsbury Chamber Players, who will be passing country-style hats.
‘Johnny Cash’ on Oct. 10
RUTLAND – A Broadway-quality tribute show to the man in black, Johnny Cash, “David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience,” will be appearing at the Paramount Theatre on Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. This is the only Johnny Cash Tribute ever to be selected by the state of California (even over Johnny’s original band) to play the 40th anniversary commemorative concert at San Quentin State Prison, celebrating the historic performance of Johnny Cash at the facility in 1969. This is an accurate, note-for-note, authentic representation of The Johnny Cash Show. Like the original “Beatlemania,” the music and history of the legend is conveyed with dignity. Stone takes you through the late country legend’s career, covering “Early Johnny Cash,” “Johnny Cash & June Carter,” and the “Folsom Prison Concert Era.”
Tickets are $28-$35 and can be purchased at the Paramount Theatre box office, by calling (802) 775-0903 or online at www.paramounvt.org.
Puzzle pieces fit together
BURLINGTON — It’s been a little more than a year since the Vermont Arts Council launched its second statewide arts project, Art Fits Vermont. In that time they have distributed 9,500 wood puzzle pieces and 51,000 paper pieces to 191 organizations and 136 schools across the state. That means that 60,000 people, or 10 percent of Vermont’s population, has taken part in the art-making project. On Saturday, July 11, all puzzle participants are invited to Burlington’s Battery Park to share their artwork and help assemble the “World’s Largest Puzzle.” “puzzlePALOOZA” will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the official Guinness World Record count at 2 p.m. Later in the day, the Arts Council is participating in the “Champlain 400” Parade. This unique procession will feature hundreds of dancers, musicians, giant puppets, and street theater groups. The Council is seeking volunteers to represent Vermont’s 251 towns. (Participants will receive a free shirt and a puzzle piece to carry in the parade; anyone interested in volunteering can call (802) 828-5423.)
For more information, visit www.vermontartscouncil.org.
Collin Fry pastels workshop
The Vermont Pastel Society will again offer a pastel workshop with nationally renowned artist, Collin Fry, July 27-28. Fry worked with a small group last fall, and got rave reviews for being a generous and skilled facilitator. This summer Fry’s plein air workshop will emphasize creativity; that is: to continue the values approach as a basis, while taking liberties and changing things including composition and color to create a painting. Along with the emphasis on creativity, Fry has said that he will work in a personal way with each artist – analyzing the approach, style and stage of development to facilitate working toward the goal of raising each person’s art to the next level. Fry stressed that with serious attention to individual needs and desires, some real progress is possible. Demonstrations each day will emphasize what he is talking about. Each day will begin with a lecture and demonstration. There will be handouts and because the group will be small, plenty of one-on-one attention. At the end of the second day there will be time for a critique. Some experience in painting in the pastel medium is necessary. A materials list will be provided.
The cost of the workshop is $175 and the number will be limited to 12. For further information, e-mail: claudia@vtlink.net.
Jazz Mandolin Project
BURLINGTON – Two hundred and seventy five years after Samuel de Champlain claimed an enormous tract of land including Lake Champlain, Leo Tolstoy wrote perhaps his most famous short story, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” about another individual determined to acquire as much land as possible. Over a century later, Jamie Masefield and The Jazz Mandolin Project have placed this parable in front of the movie screen to critical acclaim at performing arts centers, festivals and universities. Through narration, music and video footage, this multi-media performance allows the audience to reflect on its own time and place. What could be more appropriate for Vermont’s celebration of the Lake? The performance is Wednesday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m., at Contois Auditorium in City Hall. The Jazz Mandolin Project features Peter Apfelbaum (woodwinds, keys, percussion), Sean Dixon (drums, glockenspiel), Scott Ritchie (upright bass), and Jamie Masefield (mandolin).
Admission is $15; for more information, go online to www.jazzmandolinproject.com.
Vermont Public Television
-Sunday: At 9 p.m., “Masterpiece Mystery!” presents the first of four new “Miss Marple” tales with Julia McKenzie in the title role. Agatha Christie’s spinster sleuth finds a disturbing parallel between the murders of a businessman and his family and a nursery rhyme.
-Thursday: At 9 p.m., the series “Inside” shows what it took for the crew to put on the Rolling Stones’ free concert in Rio de Janeiro for more than a million people.
-Saturday, July 11: At 8 p.m., “The Thin Blue Line” returns to the VPT Britcom lineup. Rowan Atkinson stars as the pompous head of a small police station. In the first episode, local students are doing wacky stunts for charity. At 10 p.m., “Austin City Limits” encores Jakob Dylan with songs from his debut solo album.