Performing arts
• The Grammar School presents “Once on This Island”: On Wednesday through Saturday, April 13-16, at 7 p.m., the seventh and eighth grades at The Grammar School in Putney will present their annual musical.
For this year of celebration, highlighting the school's 50th anniversary, the offering is the junior version of Once On This Island , the spirited one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. They are the award-winning duo behind such acclaimed shows as Ragtime and Seussical , as well as the animated feature film Anastasia .
Prepare to be dazzled by this tale of doomed young love across the stark social divide that tears at the very fabric of the “Jewel of the Antilles,” none other than Haiti. The narrative is complete with a foursome of colorful ruler gods who preside over the tragic, yet hopeful, unfolding of the story. The setting is lush, the dancing joyous, and the music infectious.
All of it comes together under the assured guidance of second-year director Leelee Bookwalter, herself a TGS alumna, and producer/music director Alli Lubin, for whom this marks the 18th such adventure at The Grammar School.
The Thursday, April 14 performance of Once On This Island will benefit Putney Family Services. Tickets can be purchased at the door - $10 adults, $5 children/alums, $25 family maximum. For reservations, always recommended, call 802-387-5364.
• NECCA celebrates World Circus Day: The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) is celebrating World Circus Day. The actual day is Saturday, April 16, but the celebrations will include a myriad of activities over several days. All events take place at NECCA at the Cotton Mill Building in Brattleboro.
For those wanting to try circus themselves, the spring circus workshop weekend from April 15-17 features classes for all ages and abilities. Offerings include trapeze, clowning, stilting, aerial yoga, teeterboard, aerial fabric, handstands, pole climbing, and more. Pre-registration is highly recommended.
Those wanting to just observe and mingle with the circus fans who come from all over the United States to participate in the workshop weekends, there are several performances. On Friday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m., there will be a Juggle For Japan performance featuring area and guest jugglers in a benefit show for victims of the recent tsunami and earthquake. Fee is by donation.
On Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m., Circle of Sawdust , a special appearance with true stories of high adventure and low comedy by Vermont's own Rob Mermin, founder of Circus Smirkus, will be presented. Fee is sliding scale at the door: $15-$5.
On Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m., NECCA presents Life on Tour - Behind the Stage Lights , a question and answer session with professional performers about the joys, laughs, trials and tribulations that are all part of a life on the road. Members of the panel have been on tour with companies that include Ringling Bros Barnum&Bailey, Cirque Eloize, Cirque du Soleil, Pilobolus, Martha Graham, and more.
For a full listing of the workshops and events surrounding World Circus Day, visit the web site at www.necenterforcircusarts.org, or call 802-254-9780.
• “My Fair Lady” at NEYT: Founder and Artistic Director Stephen Stearns brightens the New England Youth Theatre's spring season with the musical story of Henry Higgins and Eliza Dolittle, adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion , with lyrics and music by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her impeccable speech. The bet becomes more than a game as the two spend more and more time together.
Performances will be April 15-17, with evening performances Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. The show is also performing a second week: April 19-23, with evening performances Tuesday through Saturday at 7 p.m., and a matinee on Saturday at 2 p.m.
On Tuesday, April 19, NEYT is celebrating our business supporters with Business Appreciation Night. Tickets will be $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for students, plus tax. Advance tickets may be bought online at www.neyt.org, or at the NEYT box office on Wednesdays from noon-5 p.m. For more information about NEYT's programs, see their website or call 802-246-6398.
Visual arts
• Egg decorating: The Tasha Tudor Museum, 974 Western Ave., Brattleboro, will present an Easter celebration on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. until noon.
Tudor, a beloved children's book author and illustrator, simply loved holidays and every year celebrated Easter by decorating goose, chicken, and even canary eggs. Now you can learn how to do it too. The crafting table will be strewn with specialty stickers, velvet ribbons, nostalgic die-cut scraps and Dresden trims straight from Germany.
This event is limited to 10 people. The cost is $25 per person, or $15 for charter members of the museum. Call 802-258-6564 or email info@tashatudormuseum.org to reserve a space.
• Jonathan Ryan Storm exhibit: 7sq Gallery (located in the front of Works on Paper in Bellows Falls) will present an exhibit of new work by Brattleboro artist Jonathan Ryan Storm.
Born in Arizona in 1980, Storm grew up in California, Illinois, Texas, and London. He creates a variety of work, including paintings, collages, and detailed line drawings and illustrations. His work has been exhibited internationally, from Seattle to Copenhagen. He has also designed album covers for various artists on the Moorworks and Autumn Records labels. He currently lives and works in Brattleboro, Vermont.
An artist's reception will be held on Friday, April 15, from 6-8 p.m., as part of Bellows Falls Third Fridays (BF3F). The drawings will be on display at 7sq Gallery through May 31. 7sq Gallery is located in the front of Works on Paper, an art conservation studio specializing in the preservation of artistic and historic works on paper. The studio and gallery are open Monday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by appointment.
Music
• A Night in Vienna: On Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m., the Brattleboro Music Center invites everyone to enjoy the decadence of a night in Vienna at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro.
Luscious desserts will be provided by L.A. Burdick Chocolates, including Viennese tortes, bonbons, and a chocolate fountain. Talented musicians from the BMC string faculty will provide live Viennese music throughout the evening. Soprano Margery McCrum and Tenor Jim Anderson will also regal us with songs of champagne and dancing.
Experienced dancers, led by Marty Gehring, will perform a demonstration of traditional Viennese waltzes; and Jim Murphy will be on hand to provide dance instruction. Champagne, beer and wine will be flowing at a cash bar. A raffle will be held at the end of the evening including a two-night Boston weekend for four; dinner for four at the Chesterfield Inn; Marlboro Music Festival concert Series tickets for two; Simon Pearce large Thetford bowl; and pottery from The Turnpike Road by Malcolm Wright.
Reservations are $40 per person (includes a complimentary drink). For reservations, call the BMC at 802-257-4523 or visit www.bmcvt.org for more information.
• John Abercrombie Trio at VJC: The Vermont Jazz Center will present three heavy hitters in concert on Saturday, April 16, at 8 p.m., in a tribute to founding director Attila Zoller.
Two of Zoller's close friends, guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Adam Nussbaum, will be joined by Hammond B3 organist Gary Versace. The trio will present an evening of music and stories, evoking memories of Zoller by playing his compositions, reinterpreting the jazz standards that he loved, and conveying colorful anecdotes of a man whose life burgeoned with productive energy, creativity and surprise.
This festive evening will serve as a coming together of three, high-level musicians who are masters in their own right. Abercrombie, especially, can be singled out as having directly affected the evolution of modern jazz over the past 40 years - first as a trailblazer in the jazz-rock-fusion style, then as someone with who uses jazz standards and the jazz language as a springboard for an eclectic, totally unique approach.
Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for students with valid ID. To purchase using a credit card, visit the VJC website at www.vtjazz.org and order using their secure server. Tickets can also be purchased at In the Moment in downtown Brattleboro, or can be reserved by calling the VJC ticket-line at 802-254 9088. A surcharge of $1 per ticket will be added to all tickets purchased with a credit card, online, or by phone.
• Benefit concert for Greater Falls Warming Center: After a winter concert that was upstaged by icy roads and a sleety thunderstorm, musicians Julie Waters, Jesse Peters and Ali Chambliss have agreed to offer a spring concert to benefit the Greater Falls Warming Shelter.
There are no guarantees in Vermont, but it is hoped Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stone Church (Immanuel Episcopal) in Bellows Falls will provide better weather. The suggested donation is $10.
Despite the audience of a mere 15 people, the winter concert raised $350 for the shelter, so the musicians figured it was worth trying again, hoping to draw a much larger audience in better climate. All three musicians have been part of the local musical scene, performing in venues throughout Windham County.
The warming shelter opened Nov. 22 at 83 Westminster St. (behind Athens Pizza) to provide a warm spot during the winter months for those who would otherwise be spending the night outside. It is staffed seven nights a week by volunteers who serve in two shifts from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and 1 to 7 a.m. It is expected to close April 18.
New volunteers are urged to contact the shelter at bfwarmingshelter@yahoo.com or leave a message at 802-463-2567 to learn about the shelter and the on-going training provided. Members of the shelter steering committee will also be at the concert to provide information. Monetary contributions to the shelter can be sent to the shelter's fiscal agent, Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), at 91 Buck Dr., Westminster, VT 05158.
• Red Molly, Chris O'Brien in Putney: Twilight Music presents folk/Americana/bluegrass trio Red Molly with folk singer/songwriter Chris O'Brien at Next Stage (formerly the United Church) in Putney on Sunday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m.
Red Molly, the sisterhood of Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Molly Venter, features three-part harmonies, guitars, dobro, banjo, bass and a warm, engaging stage presence. Their distinctive sound is dark and heart-wrenching one moment, soulful and uplifting the next. The release of their first studio CD Love and Other Tragedies in 2008 established Red Molly as one of the fastest-rising bands in the acoustic music scene.
O'Brien's youth belies his maturity as a songwriter and vocalist. Within three years of joining Boston's competitive music scene at the age of 21, he was chosen from a pool of nearly 1,000 contestants to appear on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion , nominated for a coveted Boston Music Award and named WUMB's “New Artist of the Year.” On the road for most of the year, O'Brien is currently touring in support of his latest CD, Little Red .
Next Stage is located in the former United Church at 15 Kimball Hill. Tickets are $17 general/$15 students and seniors. For ticket reservations and information, call 802-254-9276. The concert is presented in conjunction with Next Stage Arts Project.
Literature
• Jessie Haas at Village Square Booksellers: Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls welcomes Jessie Haas, author of Revolutionary Westminster from Massacre to Statehood on Friday, April 15, at 7 p.m.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord have long been considered the beginning of the American Revolution. However, Vermonters know that the first blood was actually shed in Westminster in March of 1775. More than a month before Lexington and Concord, Westminster Whigs endured an attack from their own Loyalist sheriff and his men, which left two dead. In response, the county rose in revolt in what became known as the Westminster Massacre.
This bloody event set the stage for Vermont's separation from New York and her position as a mainstay of American Independence throughout the entire war. Jessie Haas and the Westminster Historical Society vividly retell the story of the real first battle of the American Revolution and Windham County's important role throughout the war. Call 802-463-9404 for book and event reservations.
• Melissa Coleman at The Book Cellar: As the daughter of revered organic farming apostle, Eliot Coleman, Melissa Coleman's childhood was steeped in her parents' back-to-the-land idealism. In her new memoir, This Life Is In Your Hands, she explores the lofty goals that lead her parents to abandon their privileged backgrounds in order to carve out a farm on a piece of remote Maine coast, and the price their family paid in pursuing that dream.
Coleman will read from her book at The Book Cellar, 120 Main St., Brattleboro, on Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m. Seating is limited. Contact The Book Cellar at 802-254-6810 or info@bookcellarvt.com, or stop by to reserve your place. For more information about Melissa Coleman, visit: www.melissacoleman.com.
• Local Voices at Moore Free Library: Local poets and prose writers are invited to read their unpublished works on the last Wednesday of each month at the Moore Free Library, 23 West St., Newfane.
The next Local Voices reading at the library is April 28 at 7 p.m. Come a little early to sign up to read. For more information, call librarian Meris Morrison at 802-365-7948.
Film
• BCJC presents “Concrete, Steel, and Paint”: As part of the “Art and Restorative Justice” film series, the Brattleboro Community Justice Center will show the film Concrete, Steel, and Paint on Tuesday, April 26, at 7 p.m., in the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room.
Concrete, Steel and Paint is a documentary that follows the development of a mural in a Philadelphia neighborhood; a mural forged by the hands of violent offenders and victims together. Howard Zehr says this film portrays the essential core of restorative justice by literally illustrating “a dialogue that is sometimes difficult and painful, sometimes reconciling, but always engaging.”
The “Art and Restorative Justice” film series shows how all forms of art - from the written and visual to the theatrical and musical - facilitate the act of self-expression and creativity, which are crucial elements to meaningful human experiences. In restorative justice, the transformations from pain and suffering to healing and renewal are optimized when people can truthfully and beautifully express themselves. The films show how the themes of art, self-expression, and creativity are closely intertwined with restorative justice. Community members are invited to attend the showing at no charge and stay for a discussion afterward.