Mar 22-28, 2017
Middlebury’s Christal Brown Brings Dance Inspired by Muhammad Ali; The Power and Pitfalls of Social Media for Vermont Pols; What’s the Story Behind Shen Yun?
Cover Story
Christal Brown’s Choreography Is Inspired by Muhammad Ali
A young man in a business suit sits downstage reading a newspaper, while larger-than-life photographs illuminate the screen behind him. He looks up and addresses the audience: “This is the legend of Muhammad Ali, the greatest fighter there ever will be.” Two men appear under spotlights, dancing to the rhythmic repetition of a looping voice-over:…
Obituary: Matthew Henry Young, 1948-2017
Matthew Henry Young was born on May 1, 1948, in New York City, the son of Leo and Shirley (Stein) Young. He had two sisters, Mandy and Libby. Matt grew up on Long Island, and at age 13 asked to go to boarding school. He went to Blair Academy in New Jersey, where he made…
The Parmelee Post: First-Ever Documented Maple Geyser Erupts in Jericho
Vermont maple producers predicted a particularly productive year in 2017, but no one could have foreseen how truly explosive the sugaring season would be. For the first time in recorded history, a massive maple syrup geyser has spontaneously erupted in the woods of Jericho, blasting thousands of gallons of the sticky liquid gold high into…
![SD Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade [SIV483]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/episode483.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
SD Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade [SIV483]
3/17/17: Friday afternoon was sunny and warm, good weather for people to sit outside and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The annual SD Ireland Parade provided some entertainment with its procession of 20 honking concrete trucks. The mighty march was flanked by police cars on both ends and departed from SD Ireland in Burlington, proceeded through…
From Railroad to Statehouse: A Chef Comes Home
Shaun Murphy is up before sunrise at her house in Plainfield, and in the kitchen at 4:20. The coffee is all but ready for her, set up the night before by her mother. Murphy just has to hit the “on” button, and coffee starts to drip. Then she arranges her hair in two tight braids…
Theater Review: Grounded, Northern Stage
The applause at a curtain call congratulates the actors and also signals that an imaginary world must yield to a real one. At Thursday night’s preview of Grounded at Northern Stage, the curtain call was the only shaky moment in a haunting solo performance. Megan Anderson stood drained and briefly uncertain of how to connect to…
Four More Local Albums You (Probably) Haven’t Heard
One of the blessings of our local music scene is its sheer magnitude and bounty. It’s also a curse. Seven Days receives so many album submissions that we often don’t find space to review everything that crosses our path in a timely fashion. But our mission is to get through everything that comes across the…
Soundbites: Banded Together
Ever since the current presidential administration took office — that is, when our nation began its descent into Mad Max-style chaos — we’ve seen an outpouring of benefit concerts for various causes under threat of defunding and even extinction. Planned Parenthood continues to be a popular beneficiary, as it’s one of the most publically embattled…
Up in Arms: Bill Would Let Cops Take Guns in Domestic Violence Cases
Stella Gravel sat before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month and told her daughter’s tragic story: Early one morning in August 2013, Rhonda Gray’s estranged husband, Troy, shot and killed her in her Fairlee home. He then killed himself with the same rifle. Troy Gray had been facing a court date to answer to…
Letters to the Editor (3/22/17)
Bad Deal for Burlington In “Size Wise: In Burlington, Upward Growth or ‘Vertical Sprawl’?” [February 22], Kevin J. Kelley did not go far enough into what is a very interesting dialogue happening nationally and internationally on the topic of mid-rise, human-scale cities. Not only are human-scale cities far more “livable,” they outperform environmentally, socially, and…
The Media Bern: Sanders Keeps Vermont Press at Arm’s Length
On his way out of the St. Johnsbury Academy gymnasium last Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stopped in the hallway and faced the media. For all of two minutes. He answered three short questions and hustled on to his next engagement. Little did I know that this would be my one and only opportunity to…
The Story Behind Lavish Chinese Dance Extravaganza Shen Yun
Have you heard that Shen Yun, the internationally acclaimed Chinese dance extravaganza, will perform two shows this weekend at Burlington’s Flynn Center for the Performing Arts? If not, you must be living way off the grid. In recent weeks, the New York-based company behind the show has inundated the Green Mountain State with a full-blown…
Vermont Inmate No. 144711 Is a 90-Year-Old Veteran
None of the professionals involved in his case thinks that 90-year-old Emery Woodall Jr. should be in prison. Not the police who arrested him for a relatively minor infraction, the prosecutor who filed charges against him, the Department of Corrections — or the lawyers, nonprofits and government agencies that weave together Vermont’s social safety net. Woodall…
Little Vera, the Artist
“Will you take me out to Essex?” A short brunette — looking ultra-cute as she stood there shivering in her fluffy woolen hat — was speaking to me through the passenger window as I idled on the lower Church Street taxi queue. Frigid air rushed into the vehicle. The night was one for the books:…
A Musical Takes on the Global Economy
According to the New York Times, in 2011, an Oregon Goodwill manager named Julie Keith bought a package of Halloween decorations for $29.99 at her local Kmart. A year later, she opened it up — and discovered a handwritten SOS note from a man imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp. This improbable story of connection,…
Art Review: James Secor, Studio Place Arts
Nomophobia: It sounds like a fear of not existing, of being “no more.” The term is actually an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone-phobia” — that is, the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The condition was first recognized in 2010, but debate persists about whether nomophobia is more accurately considered a form of anxiety disorder.…
Follow the Leader? Stakes Are High for Vermont Pols on Social Media
If you want to inspect Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman’s swollen toe, find out Gov. Phil Scott’s favorite Girl Scout cookie or see Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) cuddling with his golden retriever puppy, Facebook’s the place. The state’s elected officials are increasingly embracing social media to share policy positions, solicit feedback, tout positive…
Movie Review: Live-Action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Still Charms
How many times can you retell a “tale as old as time”? Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film ever to receive an Academy Awards Best Picture nomination; transformed into musical theater, it became one of Broadway’s longest-running shows. Now comes this live-action remake — or partially live-action, if one considers…
Free Will Astrology (3/22/17)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Of course you want to get the best of everything. But that doesn’t mean you should disdain cheap thrills that are more interesting and gratifying than the expensive kind. And of course you enjoy taking risks. But there’s a big difference between gambling that’s spurred by superstitious hunches and gambling rooted…
Clever Girls, Loose Tooth
(Self-released, digital download) The discovery of a loose tooth is cause for celebration — if you’re 5 years old and it’s a baby tooth. But a wiggly permanent tooth is quite the opposite. It’s like something out of a nightmare, and a fairly common one at that. A quick perusal of any of those dubious…
Roastery at Capitol Grounds Expands and Rebrands
Since Capitol Grounds Café opened in 1998, more than a few Montpelierites have relied on the State Street café-roastery for their daily wake-up or afternoon pick-me-up. As of Monday, March 20, regulars may have noticed that the labels on the self-serve canisters — and the packaged beans in the retail display — have been replaced…
BCO and Ray Vega Turn Up the Heat With Latin Jazz
Jazz and classical music seem inimical. One calls for improvisation every time a piece is played; the other involves reverent adherence to the written score. Jazz audiences know to applaud solos while a tune is being played. Classical audiences frown on early clapping, often holding their applause until a violin’s last reverberation has reached their…
Maple Sugaring Season Is Off and Running
Most Vermonters know that maple sap runs when temperatures are above freezing during the day and below at night, and that the season ends when the trees “bud out.” But for the past two winters, we’ve had patches of unseasonably warm weather, raising a question: When it’s 60 degrees in February, what happens to the…
My Guy Gets Angry When I Talk to Other Men
Dear Athena, My guy got so angry when I was talking to another guy about simple, polite stuff! I’m not allowed to say a thing to any of my exes, and if I talk to guys at all, I’m a slut who is obviously cheating and shouldn’t be trusted. Look, I’m an adult. If I…
The Herstory of Huntington Open Women’s Land
In 1974, Carol “Crow” Cohen moved to Richmond with her husband and small daughter. That year, shortly after giving birth to her second daughter, she dialed the local “Women’s Switchboard.” A hybrid rape crisis hotline and general women’s network, it was listed in the phone book. “Because Vermont is so small,” Cohen wrote in her…
Eyedos, Guerrilla Bars
(Self-released, digital download) Serial killing, drug binges and death camps are not topics that come up when you think about Vermont hip-hop. Buckle up, though. All are touchstones on Guerrilla Bars, the debut album from Eyedos, a Burlington rapper keen to carve his own lane. Eyedos has been a longtime member of Jynx Inc., the…
Kirtan Rabbi Brings Chant to Ohavi Zedek
At a prayer service at B’nai Jeshurun, a synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Rabbi Andrew Hahn chants the Sh’ma, the most important prayer in Jewish daily worship. A video clip shows him holding each Hebrew word with a long, mournful resonance, the congregation echoing his chants in similar style. Ordinarily, the Sh’ma is brief, but…
Movie Review: ‘Ti Laurent’ Revives a Classic
“Well, what can a poor boy do / Except to sing for a rock-and-roll band?” mused Mick Jagger in the classic “Street Fighting Man.” One possibility, he suggested, was to “kill the king.” Another: stage “a palace revolution.” The singer expresses extreme frustration that “where I live, the game to play is compromise solution.” As…
In Waterbury, Zenbarn Feeds Community
Waterbury, last Thursday evening: A local strummer sat by the stairs at Zenbarn, twanging homespun folk tunes and gifting warm smiles to all passersby. At the end of the bar, the chef from another of the town’s restaurants lounged on a barstool sipping bourbon. At a high top nearby, two girls in their early twenties…
Olé! Hot Tamale and El Toro Open in Morrisville
Over the past few months, the dining scene in Morrisville has been a bit of a revolving door. Thai Kitchen, which had taken over the former Bee’s Knees spot at 82 Lower Main Street, closed. So did the short-lived Nichè, which, for just three months, offered cocktails and comfort food at 74 Portland Street, former…
