The Performing Arts Preview 2022
Vermont’s Performing Arts (Mostly) Return to Form for the 2022-23 Season; Sandglass Theater Marks a Major Transition With ‘Flushing’; UVM’s School of the Arts Gathers Many Creative Disciplines Under One Roof
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Vermont’s Performing Arts (Mostly) Return to Form for the 2022-23 Season
There’s no sugarcoating it: The past few years have sucked for the performing arts. That’s been true of basically everything since the pandemic hit, but especially devastated were the artists and venues whose very existence depends on gathering large numbers of people in enclosed spaces. We don’t need to rehash the whole tragic tale. You…
Obituary: Bonnie L. Juenker, 1934-2022
Highly regarded professional secretary knew how to run an office before computers were cool
In Memoriam: Catherine Hughes, 1956-2022
Catherine Hughes, 65, passed away at her home on July 29, 2022. A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, October 22, at 2:00 p.m. at All Souls Interfaith, 291 Bostwick Farm Rd., Shelburne, VT. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Catherine’s name to the Humane Society…
Obituary: Susan Wheeler, 1931-2022
Former Vermont state representative remembered for her wit, community service and activism
Obituary: Paul Thomas Maher, 1957-2022
Family man through all seasons of life encouraged nieces to keep their sense of wonder
Obituary: Lisa Boyle, 1954-2022
Charlotte woman bravely regained and maintained physical independence following paralyzing accident
Obituary: Susan Krasnow, 1949-2022
Charlotte woman believed we should all work toward a fair and just world
Theater Review: ‘The Ties That Bind,’ Dirt Road Theater
New play, new theater company, new performance space — The Ties that Bind is a premiere trifecta. Dirt Road Theater, founded by married partners Dominic Spillane and Maren Langdon Spillane, offers its first major production in Barre’s First Universalist Church, now converted for community events. Montpelier playwright Tamar Cole’s new play is set in a…
Free Will Astrology (9/14/22)
VIRGO(Aug. 23-Sep.22) It’s impossible to be perfect. It’s neither healthy nor productive to obsess on perfectionism. You know these things. You understand you can’t afford to get bogged down in overthinking and overreaching and overpolishing. And when you are at your best, you sublimate such manic urges. You transform them into the elegant intention to…
Montpelier School District Offers Free Mental Health Support
The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the well-being of those who work and learn in schools. To help them, Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools recently started a new program that provides free mental health support to people in the school community. The district has signed a contract with national online therapy platform Talkspace to…
Sandglass Theater Marks a Major Transition With ‘Flushing’
In Flushing: Make Room for Someone Else, a new work by Putney’s Sandglass Theater in collaboration with Parris-Bailey Arts of Tennessee, two actors and four puppets explore themes of art, memory, legacy and family history. The double autobiographical piece, which premieres on Thursday, September 15, at Puppets in the Green Mountains, was conceived and written…
Night Spires, ‘Whispers From the Grave’
(Self-released, digital) One of these days, I’ll finish writing my magnum opus, Confessions of a Child Metalhead. An account of what it’s like having older brothers take you to metal shows when you’re a tyke, the memoir features everything from being kicked out of the pit at an Anthrax show for being too small to…
Chris Weisman, ‘Pencil Crayon’
(Self-released, digital) Brattleboro-based composer Chris Weisman is easily one of Vermont’s most prolific musicians. The singer and guitarist, who somehow exists between the twin poles of Beatlemania and free jazz, has released more than 35 albums in the past decade, including his most recent, Pencil Crayon. Moreover, he’s done so while pioneering a sort of…
Teresa Celemin’s Art Hop Winner Reacts to the Loss of Abortion Rights
The women’s faces are distorted, eyes askew, makeup smeared. Most have long, limp hair. Their heads are affixed to glittery green boards and assembled together for “Billy Bounty Hunter’s Trophy Wall: Abortion Heads of Texas.” This is the first-place winner in the South End Art Hop’s juried show. The 30th annual Burlington festival took place…
Barn Opera’s New Season Promises to Delight and Challenge Audiences
Barn Opera has officially completed two and a half years of renovations on its 19th-century barn in Brandon. At an open house in late August, the public toured the venue, which now has 104 reused cinema seats, complete with cupholders. Its lobby features an electric fireplace, a bar repurposed from a Vermont post office counter,…
Letters to the Editor (9/14/22)
Negative Portrayal [Re “Dis-Connected,” September 7]: From the teaser on the front page (“911 Callers Told Police Were ‘Defunded'”) to the subhead on the article inside (“Burlington dispatchers blame ‘defunding’ when police don’t respond quickly, crime victims say”) you would think every caller was told about “defunding.” But when you see the numbers, it appears that…
An Australian Horse Whisperer Offers His Talents to Vermont’s Amish Community
Neil watched intently as Gary Itzstein circled his 12-year-old chestnut mare, Chessy, in a delicate dance of trust. Itzstein carried a long pole with a blue flag tied to the end and moved it from Chessy’s right side to her left, letting the flag gently tap the pony’s belly. He aimed to make Chessy less…
UVM’s New School of the Arts Gathers Many Creative Disciplines Under One Roof
A dozen dancers moving in unison greeted visitors to the University of Vermont’s Michele and Martin Cohen Hall for the Integrative Creative Arts on a recent afternoon. The students weren’t performing live. But their production, recorded in Cohen Hall’s black box theater in 2020, illuminated video screens throughout the revamped building to showcase its mission.…
Brenda Siegel Brings the Experience of Poverty to Her Campaign for Governor
At first glance, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Brenda Siegel’s résumé appears light for someone hoping to unseat one of the country’s most popular governors. She’s never held public office. She finished third in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary and third again in the 2020 primary for lieutenant governor. A single mom who acknowledges her financial struggles,…
Essay: Natalie Miller Riffs on How Her Nightclub Survived the Pandemic
Del Close, one of the founders of modern improvisational comedy, once said performing improv is “like building a 747 in mid-flight.” As an improviser myself, I can attest that the art form requires an almost delusional sense of faith that, if we all work together onstage, we’ll be able to create a transcendent, funny, unscripted…
Montpelier Architect Ward Joyce Is a Warrior for Public Art
A vivid new mural by Chicago artist Mauricio Ramirez covers the side of the Shaw’s supermarket in Montpelier — all 150 feet of it. It’s the latest and largest of the Capital City’s public art installations. Yet it’s nowhere to be found in Travel + Leisure’s recent write-up of Montpelier as one of “9 Best…
From the Publisher: Show Business
It takes confidence — and some marketing prowess — to convince a stranger to spend two hours in a dark room on the promise that the experience will be sufficiently entertaining. A long drive, and the cost of admission, dinner and a babysitter, may factor into the assessment of whether, in the end, it was…
I Don’t Want to Babysit My Sister’s Baby
Dear Reverend, My younger sister is six months pregnant. She and her husband are very excited, and I’m happy for them, but she keeps alluding to me babysitting. I don’t have children, and I have absolutely no desire to take care of a baby, even for an hour. I’m not trying to be a jerk;…
Roland Emmerich’s Disaster Epic ‘Moonfall’ Is One of the Most Ridiculous Things You Can Stream Right Now
Sometimes you want to sit and solemnly contemplate a future full of natural disasters, and sometimes you just want to watch a terrible disaster movie. If you missed the latest offering from Roland Emmerich (2012) when it was in theaters in February, or skipped it because the teaser trailer seemed a little staid, I’m here…
Now Playing in Theaters: September 14-20
new in theaters THE BIRTH OF INNOCENCE: About a decade ago, Vermont storyteller and director Malcolm D. Parker was convicted of defrauding investors in his new age documentary. At long last, the finished film hits local screens. (74 min, NR. Playhouse, Savoy) HOCKEYLAND: The rival teams of two Minnesota towns square off in Tommy Haines’…
Soundbites: Sarah King Fights for What’s Right; James Kochalka Superstar Unleashes the Mummy
It can be a little weird the first time you try to describe to non-southerners how politics work down in the so-called Bible Belt. The prevailing notion among northerners is that it’s basically a bunch of old, white Evangelical racists who love good food, bad music and discrimination. To be fair, that’s not really far…
Theater Review: ‘Both Eyes Open: The Annie Oakley Story,’ Lost Nation Theater
When a person achieves legendary status, they inevitably lose control of their own story. Their life and achievements become the partial property of their adoring public. Living legends have big questions to grapple with: How much am I willing to give up? What will it take for me to reclaim what I’ve lost? In Vermont…
With Latest Probe, Vermont Is Playing an Outsize Role in Regulating Cryptocurrency
Celsius Network, an online cryptocurrency lender, attracted more than a million users with promises of sky-high returns — until a market crash over the summer plunged the startup into bankruptcy and put members’ money at risk. The company said it was the victim of extreme market conditions. But a bombshell court filing last week detailed…
Kalchē Wine Cooperative Brings a New Model to Vermont’s Natural Wine Scene
Kalchē Wine Cooperative knows how to throw a party. The Fletcher-based natural winery’s chilled reds, ciders, coferments and piquettes — appropriately called “space juice” — are vibrant, experimental, immensely drinkable and downright fun. The cooperative’s female and nonbinary owners, a majority of whom are Black, celebrated their first release with a bash at Switchback Brewing…
Small Pleasures: An Homage to Lewis Creek Farm’s Dilly Beans
Like the chipmunks and squirrels feasting on my garden, I get a little panicked when cooler September days arrive. Where did the summer go? Why did I not hike more mountains, bike more causeways, go to more summer farmers markets? The chipmunks and squirrels don’t ask those things, of course. They are single-mindedly focused on…
Las Hermosas to Launch Weekly Taco Nights in Burlington at Vivid Coffee
Starting on September 23, married couple Mario Dominguez Hernandez and Anne Kellogg of Hinesburg-based Las Hermosas will host Friday taco nights at Vivid Coffee at 150 Cherry Street in Burlington. From 5 to 8 p.m. or until food is sold out, customers can order on-site and eat at the café or take food to go.…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, September 14-20
It’s All Downhill Thursday 15-Sunday 18 Fans of high-octane cycling flood Killington Resort for the Fox US Open of Mountain Biking, a free, four-day bonanza of fearless bike riding. Spectators take in downhill and endurance races of all varieties, watch daredevils defy gravity in the whip competition, and visit the vendor village in between. Epic…
Cocina Pirata Hosts Tasting Menu Dinners at Burlington’s Karma Birdhouse
Travis Limoge will offer his second series of seven-course, prix fixe tasting menu events from September 22 to 24 in the rooftop space at Karma Bird House at 47 Maple Street in Burlington. Reservations for the Pirata events must be booked in advance through exploretock.com/pirata. Each “dinner experience,” as Limoge described them, has only eight…
