The Performing Arts Preview Issue 2014
Performing Arts Preview; Lost Nation Nails ’39 Steps;’ A Vermont Health Worker in Liberia; Taste Testers at Keurig
Cover Story
2014-15 Performing Arts Preview
The same thing happens at Seven Days every year: When the brochures from arts presenters begin to arrive, we feel (a) bummed that summer is coming to an end; and (b) excited to find out what’s coming to local stages. Time has a way of hurrying along, and so this week the Earth’s rotation gives…
Obituary: M. Robert Ciardelli, 1939-2014, Colchester
M. Robert Ciardelli passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on Sunday, September 28, 2014, from brain cancer. Robert was born in Barre, Vt. in 1939, son of the late Mario and Eugenia (Faridoni) Ciardelli. He grew up in Barre until his family moved to Burlington in 1955. He graduated from Burlington High School…
Kala Laura Ann Luczynski
On September 10, 2014, at Fletcher Allen Health Care, Lisa Morris and Chris Luczynski welcomed a daughter, Kala Laura Ann Luczynski.
Obituary: Armande Renee “Fugie” Daniel
Armande Renee “Fugie” Daniel 88 years old peacefully passed away in Starr Farm Nursing Center during the evening on Sunday, September 28. She was born on June 30, 1926, in Highgate Springs, VT, daughter of Antoinette (Milotte) and George Messier. She married Gerard “Jerry” Daniel on a snowy November day in 1949. Renee and Jerry…
Obituary: Donald Forrest Dennis, May 7, 1949-Sept. 22, 2014, St. George
On Monday evening, our dear friend closed his eyes and died peacefully at home. Don lived life to the fullest, unyielding to cancer for more than fourteen years. The son of Louis and Beryl Forrest Dennis, Don was born and grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Baruch College, City University of NY, with a…
Obituary: Christine Morwood Reynolds, 1946-2014, Winooski
Christine M. Reynolds has gone to be with the Lord to join her heavenly family. Christine was born on July 15, 1946. On September 25, 2014 she passed away after a long, courageous battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her loved ones at the Vermont Respite House where she received compassionate care. She was…
Obituary: Louis F. Kannenstine, 1938-2014, Woodstock
Louis Fabian Kannenstine passed from this earth Wednesday September 24th at Dartmouth Hitchcock Memorial Hospital following a massive hemorraghic stroke. Lou, as he preferred to be called, was born in Houston Texas on June 5, 1938. He was the son of Helen R. and Fabian Miller Kannenstine, a prominent geo-physicist. Lou spent his growing-up years…
Vermont Products Vie for American Made Awards
Since MarthaStewart.com launched its American Made awards in 2012, a Vermont brand has yet to feel the love. But that could change this year, with 10 local companies currently nominated for the title of the best edible product in the country. Vermont’s chances are better than ever in 2014: Queen City Pops, Daily Chocolate, Whitney’s…
News Quirks (9/24/14)
Curses, Foiled Again Police accused Ryan Mullins, 22, of breaking into a pharmacy in Swansboro, N.C., and stealing a safe containing prescription drugs. He made his getaway by tying a rope around the 100-pound safe and dragging it behind his vehicle for two miles before he passed a police cruiser. The officer noticed the safe…
Rob Mermin’s Adventures in Mime and Space
Burlington-based Theatre Kavanah, along with Temple Sinai and Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, presents “Adventures in Mime and Space: The Legacy of Marcel Marceau with Rob Mermin” for one night only at North End Studios this Sunday, September 28, at 7 p.m. Perhaps best known in Vermont as the founder of Circus Smirkus, Montpelier-based Mermin trained in…
Digging Swale’s Remix Record, Direct Inbreds, With the Cheap Thrills Record Club
Last week, Burlington-based art-rock band Swale released a new album, The Next Instead. Backed by a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, the band unveiled the record as a double album on heavy-gauge vinyl, including a 16-track remix record, Direct Inbreds. Given Swale’s stature as one of Vermont’s longest-running and most-respected rock acts, for the band to…
Liberty Union Party Sticks to Its Ideals — and Keeps Losing
Can a political party be venerable without being successful? Consider the case of Vermont’s Liberty Union Party. Founded in 1970, the uniquely Vermont party that stakes out positions on the far-left edge of the political spectrum has no discernible impact on state or local elections. Yet its place in political history is secure. Sen. Bernie…
Young Farmers Take Root in Vermont’s Remotest Reaches
When Lila Bennett and David Robb set out to buy a farm in central Vermont, they had to get used to disappointment: Multiple land deals fell through at the last minute, and cash-bearing buyers outbid the husband-and-wife team on several occasions. “We had a lot of heartbreaking near misses,” said Bennett. In the meantime, they…
Swale, The Next Instead
(Self-released, digital download, LP) Veteran Burlington rockers Swale are back from a two-year hiatus with their second full-length album, The Next Instead. Swale’s core lineup consists of drummer Jeremy Frederick and husband-and-wife members Amanda Gustafson and Eric Olsen, with occasional help from bassist Tyler Bolles. The trio has been around since 2002 and has released…
Work: Hypnotherapist Maureen Finnerty Turner
Name: Maureen Finnerty Turner Town: Burlington Job: Hypnotherapist Maureen Finnerty Turner is not a hypnotist. Like others in her profession of hypnotherapy, she’s had to reassure clients that she would not make them quack like a duck when they are hypnotized. Such questions are less common than they used to be; these days, Turner says,…
![St. Albans Raid [SIV370]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/st_albans_13.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
St. Albans Raid [SIV370]
9/20/14: 150 years ago, St. Albans made history as the site of the northernmost land action of the American Civil War. A gang of Confederates stole over $200,000 from St. Albans’ banks, attempted to burn the town down and escaped to Canada. Years in the making, the town celebrated this memorable anniversary with four days…
Book Review: Pitiful Criminals by Greg Bottoms
We love stories about criminal masterminds, real or invented. Hannibal Lecter, Al Capone, Jordan Belfort, Walter White — their stories appeal to our fantasies of total control and our secret dreams of hedonistic, antisocial abandon. But another kind of criminal, underrepresented on “CSI” shows, tends to pop up more often on real-life police blotters. It’s…
Silent Mind, Good Morning Mr. Bright
(Chakra-5 Records, CD, digital download) Jamie Bright seems like one helluva happy fella. On his latest release as Silent Mind, Good Morning Mr. Bright, he tells us as much right from the get-go. Over a bright and bouncy acoustic groove that recalls Strangefolk at their most poptastic, he sings, “Woke up this morning, walked outside…
Keep the Change: Shumlin Warms Up to Fossil Fuel Divestment
Throughout his political career, Gov. Peter Shumlin has argued that the little state of Vermont should take big steps to reduce its contribution to climate change. But until last week, those steps did not include divesting the state’s pension funds of investments in coal, oil and gas companies — a favored tactic of environmental activists.…
Letters to the Editor (9/24/14)
It’s Not About You, Rick [Re Movie Review: Calvary, September 10]: I read the movie reviews as a guide sometimes — Margot Harrison’s are right on. But if there’s a blatant, personal tirade in the midst of them, I tend to think very little of the review or of the reviewer. “What does a man of…
Art Review: ‘Rock Solid In & Out,’ Studio Place Arts
Not many art exhibitions allow visitors to touch the art. “Rock Solid In & Out,” the 14th annual exhibition of stone sculpture at Barre nonprofit Studio Place Arts, not only allows touching but invites it. Among the pieces crafted from marble, granite, limestone and river rock are smooth, pod-like shapes at hand height, a dog’s…
Locavore Pioneers Open Duo in Brattleboro
Stephanie Bonin and her husband, Keith Arnold, know a thing or two about opening an eatery. Their Denver restaurant, Duo, is a perennial on national and regional best-of lists, and the couple has opened, then sold, two other restaurants in that city. Their second Duo debuted on Tuesday, September 23, in a less expected place…
Vermont Architect Designs an Eco Resort in Japan
Chester architect Claudio Véliz is particularly attuned to the environment in both his practice and his mindset. One of his favorite email signature taglines is a tally of unsustainable human practices: “Net human population growth, per day: 252,000; Net world oil consumption, per second: 952 barrels.” It ends with the quip, “Net change in Earth’s…
Theater Review: The 39 Steps, Lost Nation Theater
Lost Nation Theater’s production of The 39 Steps is a loving exchange between audience and performers. The actors move a spindly 7-by-3-foot rectangle into place; the audience agrees it’s a door. The main character clambers over a sawhorse and sways frantically as he steps on a trunk while another character follows; the audience accepts it…
Soundbites: New Record From the DuPont Brothers; DALY Residency; Thoughts on EXNE
Eating It Up Before we get into the meatier news of the week, I’d like to take a moment and offer a thought or two on last weekend’s Eat by Northeast festival at Oakledge Park. Ready? It was pretty neat. Moving on, the big news on … what’s that? You want more substantial observations, especially…
The Trip to Italy
When you think of comics taking their act on the road, you don’t typically think of comics, you know, actually renting a Mini and hitting the road. Unless you happen to be director Michael Winterbottom — in which case the resulting film, The Trip, proves the road trip to be a thoroughly inspired idea. The…
Free Will Astrology (9/24/14)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s no secret. The wealthy 1 percent of the population has been getting progressively wealthier. Meanwhile, the poor are becoming steadily poorer. I’m worried there is a metaphorically similar trend in your life. Am I right? If so, please do all you can to reverse it. Borrow energy from the rich…
This Is Where I Leave You
When we see an actor often enough on-screen, that actor can start to feel like a member of our circle of friends. Soon we’re saying, “I want to go to there” like Liz Lemon or reminiscing about the messes Michael Bluth got into. And when we see a bunch of our actor friends together in…
WTF: Are Tinted Car Windows Really Illegal in Vermont?
As of October 1, it will be illegal to operate a handheld phone while driving in Vermont. And if you’re thinking about tinting your car windows so you can chat, text or surf the web while sitting at a red light, you’re out of luck. In Vermont, tinted driver and front-passenger windows are illegal —…
I’m Doing Drugs, Having Sex … and Wondering If I Should Stop
Dear Athena, My friends and I have been partying a lot lately. I never experimented much when I was younger, so this is new to me. We’ve been having a lot of fun and staying up all night doing drugs. Since I started going out more, I’ve been meeting more girls and getting a lot…
Northern Bayou Cold Brew, Now in South Burlington
Chittenden County native Benjamin Lee started cold-brewing coffee at home while living in Boston for college. When Lee returned to Vermont last year — he and his fiancée now live in East Charlotte — he realized that no one was making coffee using the cold-brew method, so he set out to fill the void in…
Indie Films to Catch this Fall
That enticing, autumnal aroma you’ve recently been detecting isn’t just about leaves or meteorological shifts. Sniff again and you just might pick up the scent of cinema. Fall brings film to Vermont. The marquee cinematic event is the Vermont International Film Festival, from October 24 to November 2. (At press time, its lineup and schedule…
A Burlington Nurse Takes On Ebola in Liberia
Brant Goode is a nurse epidemiologist at the Vermont Department of Health. On a typical day, the 54-year-old father of two might analyze flu trends or help plan a pertussis vaccination effort. Last Friday was not a typical day. Goode flew to Monrovia, Liberia, where he’ll spend the next month helping to contain an epidemic…
Volunteer Tasters Test What’s New at Keurig Green Mountain
[Image-1] According to Tom Novak, 15 percent of American homes have one thing in common: a Keurig brewer. This may sound like a staggeringly high number to some, but the senior vice president of beverage research and development and regulatory affairs at Keurig Green Mountain isn’t satisfied. “Ninety percent [of households] have coffee brewers,” says…
Taste Test: Thai Dishes
After several visits to Thai Dishes — Burlington’s newest Thai restaurant, on Church Street just south of Main — I was stymied for words. The restaurant is the latest in a growing stable of reputable eateries from Claire and Art Jilandharn, who own perennial favorites Royal Orchid Thai Restaurant in Montpelier and Sabai Sabai Thai…
