Entertainment

The Green Mountain Mummers, Windham County’s men’s sword dance troupe, will be performing on Halloween weekend for the 39th consecutive year! On Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27, the group will present its symbolic death-and-resurrection “street theater” rain or shine in seven locations in Windham County, Vermont (see full schedule below).

The group of 12 men (mostly Windham County residents) is the oldest continuing sword dance and mumming troupe in the United States. Founded in 1975 and with only one of the original members still performing, the group has added many younger members over the last several years. However, it still operates in the manner of the traditional English morris and sword dancers from which the dances were originally collected: they meet to practice and perform only once a year. A favorite every year at election season is the group’s mummers play which has been characterized as a “live political cartoon,” drawing on current events and providing social commentary through humor.

Lenelle Moïse in Womb-Words, Thirsting

November 2-3, 7:30pm

$16 General, $13 students and seniors

For reservations email info@sandglasstheater.org or call (802)387-4051

Sandglass Theater’s Voices of Community Series kicks off on Saturday, November 2nd and Sunday, November 3rd, with poet/theater artist Lenelle Moïse and her one-woman show Womb-Words, Thirsting at Sandglass Theater in Putney, VT.

This week’s concert takes us to Los Angeles in 1983 for a performance by Midnight Star.

This show has everything you need to get your funk on. Shiny suits, bright colors, Jheri curls, sunglasses, robot voices, and nightclub floor-fillers. If you listen to the Chocolate City show on WVEW Saturdays, these songs should sound familiar.

They got started at Kentucky State University in 1976, had a few under-the-radar albums, then broke out big with No Parking On The Dance Floor. The music video featured a classic dancing in the streets scene. with both Prince and Michael Jackson impersonators and dancing police, cowgirls, and construction workers. If they are at this LA show, however, they are watching from the audience.

Vermont Premiere of “World Circus” Film 
Saturday, November 2nd @ 7:30pm 

NECCA – New England Center for Circus Arts, 74 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro, VT 
63min Documentary – Suggested donation @ door 

The “World Circus” feature documentary follows five top circus acts from around the world to the Monte Carlo Circus Festival, and with interviews from the founder of the Big Apple Circus, owner of Ringling Bros., and artistic director at Cirque du Soleil, it reveals the behind the scenes life, history, and culture of circus on an international scale. 

Bada Raga will be live on Artist ala Mode. Thursday, October 17th 6 pm -7pm.  Channel 8 Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV).

This weekend’s concert takes us to Atlanta, Georgia in May of 1978 for a club show with a new band you might like called the B-52’s.

This is a grainy black and white video that captures the weirdness and wonderfulness of an early B-52’s performance. I started listening to them around 1980 or so, and was able to see them at a show in Tampa for their Mesopotamia tour.

The show was at a Jai Alai facility, which was a bit weird, but we had traveled almost 3 hours to get there and didn’t care. I was in high school and got to hear Ring My Bell by Anita Ward played loudly over the sound system before the show – a formative experience for a rock lover in learning to like funk.

Ken Burns to appear October 19, 7:30 p.m.

For Immediate Release – Latchis Arts invites the community to a Grand Re-Opening Benefit at the Latchis Theatre in downtown Brattleboro. This event will mark the public’s first glimpse of the renovations that have taken place since the theatre was closed for construction on August 1, 2013.

Ken Burns, long-time friend of the Latchis, will celebrate the re-opening by screening Episode 5 1933-1939 “The Rising Road” of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.

Green Mountain camp is holding a family contra dance on Saturday October 5th at 6:30 PM at the camp – 565 Green Mountain Camp Road in Dummerston, Vermont. $10 per person or $25 per family with autumn snacks and cider for sale.  Dances are taught so no experience necessary. Old fashion family fun! Call 802-257-1751 for more information.

The Apron Theater Company and the Next Stage Arts Project present Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman directed by Carrie Kidd at Next Stage in Putney on October 10,11,12,13, and 17, 18, 19. Evening performances are at 8 pm. The Sunday, October 13th performance is a 2pm matinee.

An attack on the “American Dream” of materialism, Death of a Salesman is a three-act play (two acts and a “requiem”), centering on the main character, Willy Loman, (played by Arthur Pettee.) He dies as he has lived, a failure in the eyes of society. Arthur Miller wrote: “…to me the tragedy of Willy Loman is that he gave his life, or sold it, in order to justify the waste of it.”

On Saturday and Sunday, September 7 and 8 from 10am-4pm, Sandglass Theater announces the return of local favorite, Puppets in Paradise, a two-day extravaganza of performance, food, and community. “Paradise” is the enchanted setting of landscape architects Gordon and Mary Hayward’s gardens. Walk the gardens, take in the colors and smells of lush herbs, flowers, and other beautiful flora as you meet puppets, theater artists and musicians around each corner and behind every bush. The “Puppets” are 10 spectacular and entertaining short performances presented throughout the day among the flora. Food and refreshments add to the delight of a beautiful day.

A few months back I posted the . That concert was Cyndi at her height of popularity from her first album “She’s So Unusual”, when she was young and full of frenetic energy. This concert is from the tour for her 11th album, “Memphis Blues”, and shows her as an older, accomplished musician. Lauper’s voice has lost none of its range and if possible is even more remarkable at nearly 60. 

The album and tour celebrated her lifelong love of the blues. Lauper sings many of her hits along with these, most rearranged to showcase her unique talents. I’ll leave the surprises for you to find. 

YEP PRODUCTIONS is presenting 110 LANDAFF. A short film being shot in Brattleboro on September 9th with David Koechner (The Office and Anchor Man) and Paula Pel (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock) playing the parents of Mary Jo Parker played by Cassandra Dunn. The supporting cast is made up of 18 New England Youth Theatre actors.

Annie Lennox doesn’t need a lot of introduction. She’s practically a legend.

The unusual pop star proves her mastery in this special concert at LSO-St Luke’s in London from March, 2009. Appearing with her band and 21 strings from the BBC Concert Orchestra, she sings her heart out through her hits from her solo career and the older Eurythmics favorites. Lennox’s voice is just as wild, she is just as strong and slightly strange as ever and she still thrills.

This weekend we have heavy metal thunder.

Lemmy Kilmister is the heart and soul of Motörhead . He’s the guy who has founded, steered and staffed Motörhead from the beginning in 1975 and is still at it. Among metalheads he’s a god. Even if you’re not a metal fan there’s something about Lemmy that’s irresistible. He’s a character, an old-fashioned hard-drinking, chain-smoking rocker with charm and wit. At a surprising 67 years old now (68 on Christmas Eve this year) he has unsurprising health issues and had to cancel the rest of this Summer’s gigs due to illness. But I have no doubt he’ll be back on the road soon. It’s his life.

An old-time Gospel Hour is planned in West Dummerston on Sunday, August 25th, starting at 10:30-12:30. The event will be held at the Dummerston Community Center.

Guitar and vocals by GinMillBill. There will be no preacher and no preaching.
Songbooks will be available.

Light refreshments will be available.

It is predicted that within the next year we will be forced to make the conversion to digital projection equipment here at the Northfield Drive-In Theatre. The digital conversion is the most significant advancement of technology in the movie industry since the introduction of audio soundtracks in the late 1920s. Just as the introduction of “talkies” led to the end of the “silent” movie era, digital projection technology will mean the end of 35mm film. This will be an enormous expense for us, especially given the fact that we are only a seasonal business.

Monday Movie Matinees for Kids at Brooks Memorial Library
Monday August 12 at 1 pm

Bring a lunch and join us at 1:00 p.m. in the Meeting Room for a free feature length movie. 

All movies are rated G or PG and run approximately an hour and a half. 

Call 254-5290 ext 110 for movie title, or download schedule at brookslibraryvt.org, click on “Kids and Parents”

Filmed at the Aragon Ballroom in November and shown on MTV on December 21, 1994, this concert was Green Day in its first wave of mainstream commercial success. Their album “Dookie” had made a huge splash that year, selling millions, and making Green Day a big name act.

The band was started in 1987 by childhood pals Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt with the name Sweet Children. Their first gig was at Billie Joe’s mother’s workplace that year. They were 15 years old. They gained a small record company contract in 1989 and changed their name to Green Day in honor of their love of marijuana. Tre Cool joined as their regular drummer in 1990 and Green Day’s primary line up has stayed the same since.

Monday Movie Matinees for Kids at Brooks Memorial Library
Monday August 5 at 1 pm

Bring a lunch and join us at 1:00 p.m. in the Meeting Room for a free feature length movie. All movies are rated G or PG and run approximately an hour and a half.

If you haven’t seen and heard the English Band Mumford and Sons perform you’re in for a treat. If you have, this is among their best performances. Mumford and Sons came into my life with their first Top 40 single, “Little Lion Man” from their debut album, “Sigh No More”. The album became a hot seller on the success of that first single and the band was launched worldwide. They went on to win Grammy nominations, and both the ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artists and  the Brit Award for Best British Album, 2011. An auspicious beginning.