Music
• Open Mic Night in West Townshend: On Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m., there will be an open mic night at the old West Townshend Country Store on Route 30. Robert DuGrenier will be the master of ceremonies. All who wish to play or listen are invited, and any donations of refreshments are welcomed. For more information, contact Sally Newton at [email protected].
• Mitch Easter at Main Street Arts: Mitch Easter is one of a kind. Producer of REM's classic albums Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckoning, frontman of the acclaimed indie-pop band Let's Active, and one of the most heralded music producers of our time, Easter is a true American original.
And he'll be coming to Main Street Arts in Saxtons River on Saturday, Feb. 19. Opening the show will be the Weisstronauts, the 1960s-style instrumental band helmed by Athens record producer Pete Weiss.
Now on a short tour with his band, The Mystery Crystals, the intimate setting of the Main Street Arts performance space should be a perfect location to catch up with Mitch Easter. There will be beverage service provided by Pleasant Valley Brewing Company, and proceeds from the show will benefit Main Street Arts.
Doors open at 7 p.m.; the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, with $25 best-in-house “Angel” tickets available on-line only. Advance tickets are available at Village Square Booksellers and Fat Franks in Bellows Falls, in Chester at Misty Valley Books, in Brattleboro at Brattleboro Books, and on line at www.brattleborotix.com. For further information, call 802-869-2960.
• Exploring Curtis Mayfield's music at Marlboro College: As part of its Black History Month programming, Marlboro College will present a jazz concert by the William Parker Octet on Friday, Feb, 18, at 8 p.m., in Whittemore Theater.
Parker's 2010 release, I Plan to Stay a Believer: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield, is the culmination of a project the bassist began more than 10 years ago with the goal of interpreting Mayfield's socially conscious-infused pop songs in the same way one would approach Duke Ellington or Thelonius Monk. He will be joined by Michael Wimberly (drums), David Burrell (piano), Lewis Barnes (trumpet), Sabir Mateen (saxophone), Darryl Foster (saxophone), Leena Conquest (vocals) and Amiri Baraka (poetry).
General admission tickets ($25) can be purchased in advance by visiting www.brownpapertickets.com/event/145451. The concert is free for Marlboro students, faculty and staff. In case of inclement weather, call the Marlboro College Events line at 802-451-7151.
• BMC Chamber Music Series continues: On Saturday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro, concert goers will have an opportunity to hear some of the most-cherished works in the cello and piano literature as the Brattleboro Music Center's Chamber Music Series presents Peter Wiley and Anna Polonsky performing a program of Schumann, Beethoven, Chopin, and Franck.
Cellist Peter Wiley enjoys a prolific career as a performer and teacher, and is well known locally as a Marlboro Music Festival performer where he continues his long association dating back to 1971. Pianist Anna Polonsky is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. They will present Schumann's Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70; Beethoven's Sonata in F major, Op. 5, no. 1; Chopin's Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3; and Franck's Sonata in A major.
This is the third concert in the Brattleboro Music Center's 2010-11 Chamber Music Series. Tickets for the Peter Wiley and Anna Polonsky concert ($30, $20, $10) are available by calling the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523 or online at Brattleborotix.com. For additional information, visit www.bmcvt.org.
Performing arts
• Actors Theatre Playhouse holds auditions: The Actors Theatre Playhouse in West Chesterfield, N.H., is holding interviews and auditions for its first Main Stage presentation of the 2011 season, Sarah Ruhl's surreal comedy, Dead Man's Cell Phone.
Auditions will be held on Feb. 26, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, and March 5, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Hannah Grimes Center, in Keene, N.H. The show is scheduled for 12 performances over four weekends, Thursdays-Saturdays, from June 23-July 16.
When unexceptional Jean inherits - or rather confiscates - an incessantly ringing phone at a café, she becomes comfort and confessor to those he has left behind, and embarks on a transformative (and fantastical) journey of her own.
The following actors are needed: Jean, a slightly offbeat museum worker prone to empathetic confabulation (30s-40s); Gordon, the dead man who owned the phone, perhaps an unrepentant rogue (30s-50s); Mrs. Gottlieb, his acerbic, sophisticated mother who wears fur indoors (60s-80s); Dwight, his good-natured somewhat eccentric younger brother (30s-40s); and Carlotta, Gordon's mistress who knows how to wear lipstick, who also plays “The Stranger” (25-30).
The Playhouse will e-mail you a copy of the play, or sides if you like, before your audition for your perusal. Actors interested in auditioning should come with a prepared 1-2 minute monologue of their choosing and expect to read from the script as well. Contact director Hallie Flower at [email protected] or 603-852-8957 for interview time and further information.
• NEYT presents Euripides' Hecuba: In the aftermath of the Trojan War, not even the Trojan royal family can escape oppression, slavery, and murder by the victorious Greeks. One woman takes justice into her own hands. This great queen, Hecuba, persuades King Agamemnon to allow her to pursue justice, or her own personal vengeance, against her son's murderer.
NEYT's young performers, ages 9-13, are taking on Euripides' Hecuba. These students are excited to explore and interpret the tragic fallout of a long and bloody war - a war that has left both sides damaged and seeking reparations and vengeance. At an age where pervasive media bombards our young actors with images of violence, NEYT is proud to give these students an opportunity to digest and understand violence and justice in a way that inspires empathy rather than apathy.
Shows will be March 4-6 and 11-13, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $6 for students. On Friday, March 4, all tickets will be priced at $6 to celebrate the opening of this show. Purchase advance tickets online at www.neyt.org, or at the NEYT box office on Wednesdays from 12-5 p.m.
Lectures
• A Visitor's View of Palestine at RFPL: “For all the writing about them, Palestinians remain virtually unknown, particularly in the United States,” noted scholar Edward Said asserted in 1986. Twenty-five years later, this still remains true.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m., join Beth Stickney at the Rockingham Free Public Library for a talk and slideshow: Come Drink Coffee with Me: A Visitor's View of Palestinian Lives.
Even the most devoted follower of the daily news in the U.S. is hard-pressed to conjure an image of life in Palestine beyond armed conflict played out in distant, dusty villages. While tourism thrives in Israel proper, the Palestinian territories are not must-see vacation spots for most Americans. The Palestinians, however, are devoting great energy and ingenuity to their own emerging tourist industry. From nature hikes to politically oriented tours, the West Bank in particular, repays even a brief visit with abundant hospitality and opportunities to experience Palestinian family life, culture, and home-cooking.
Following a recent two-week trip that took her from Hebron in the south to Ramallah and Nablus in the north, Stickney, an instructor at Keene State College, will present her impressions of Palestinian life, culture, and cuisine - with a dash or two of politics.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Call 802-463-4270 for more information.
• Award-winning author discusses Harlem Renaissance: As part of Marlboro College's celebration of Black History month, author Emily Bernard will be discussing the power and potential of interracial friendships through the historical lens of the Harlem Renaissance on Monday, February 21, at 7 p.m., in Ragle Hall.
Bernard will discuss the dynamics between Carl Van Vechten, a controversial white patron of African American arts communities, and his black friends and protégés during the 1920s and beyond, including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Nella Larsen. Van Vechten is the subject of Bernard's forthcoming book from Yale University Press, Carl Van Vechten: A Life in Black in White.
Bernard earned The New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2001 for Remember Me to Harlem: the Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, and Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendships, was chosen by the New York Public Library as a “Book for the Teen Age” in 2004. She is currently Associate Professor of English and ALANA U.S. Ethnic Studies at the University of Vermont. In case of inclement weather, call the Marlboro College Events line at 802-451-7151.
• Story of New Orleans at Putney Library: From its position near the foot of the great Mississippi, to its bayous, levees and swamps, New Orleans is a city created and molded by its geography. As a major port city, it evolved as a vibrant multicultural melting pot; as home of the country's oldest continuous Black community, it produced new forms of art and music including Jazz, Mardi Gras Indian beadwork and Carnival folk art.
Join local writer Mimi Yahn Thursday, February 24, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Putney Public Library for “Bayous, Hurricanes & Carnivals: The Story of New Orleans.” Yahn will present a whirlwind look of how geography shaped the history, the politics, the culture and the gastronomy of New Orleans.
Enjoy Yahn's beautiful and moving slide show of post-Katrina New Orleans and her people, hear a sampling of music from the region and help celebrate Mardi Gras 2011. Then come back to the library any time throughout March and April to see the exhibit of Mimi Yahn's New Orleans Mardi Gras/Katrina photographs.
Film
• Looking back at Packer Corners in Guilford: “A Year in Packer Corners,” a home movie from 40 years ago, will be given its first public showing on Monday, Feb. 21, at Guilford Central School at 7 p.m.
The event is the second in the series of Guilford Movie Nights forming part of the town's year-long 250th anniversary celebration. Admission is free with donations welcome.
The movie was shot over the course of one full year in the Packer Corners neighborhood, an early Guilford settlement, by residents Evelyn and Don McLean. A friend of the bride's gave the couple a used Kodak Brownie 8 mm silent movie camera as a wedding gift in September, 1969. For the next 12 months, the McLeans took home movies of their neighborhood, at the dozen or so permanent and second homes in the settlement.
The raw footage was edited into a 47-minute silent movie which begins in the autumn of 1969, traversing the five seasons - mud season is a prominent feature in the movie - to the autumn of 1970. Brief footage of the first Friends of Music-produced concert in the Organ Barn, the new Packer Corners Farm commune, farm animals and pets, a tranquil beaver pond, and family activities are all included.
Accompanying the film, McLean created a soundtrack from various musical sources, which was separately recorded on open reel tape, and played along with screenings of the film.
In 2009, in time for the 40th reunion of Packer Corners Farm, the film was professionally transferred to digital format, and videographer Michael Hanish of Guilford worked with the filmmakers to further edit out scenes, such as those in total darkness, to tighten up the movie, and to make the soundtrack part of the piece, now correctly in sync.
Copies of the DVD, which also include a sequel and a number of short subjects from later in the 1970's, as well as a commentary track option, will be on sale at this event, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Guilford 250th, which will also benefit from the raffle of a donated copy of the movie, and the sale of popcorn and drinks. For more information, visit www.guilford250.com.
Also, Guilford Cares has offered to give rides to people who wish to attend events in the Guilford 250th anniversary celebration, but don't drive, don't drive at night, or simply don't have reliable transportation, especially in the colder months. Those wishing to get a ride to an event may phone Susan Davis at 802-254-2240.
• Headline Vermont screening at BMAC: There will be a special screening of the Vermont Public Television documentary, Headline Vermont, to benefit Vermont Independent Media, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 10 Vernon St.
Headline Vermont, a film produced by Daniel Lyons of Brattleboro, looks at the history of journalism in Vermont and highlights remarkable people and events as it chronicles Vermonters' passion for newspapers. The film combines archival images, interviews with historians and journalists, and re-enactments to tell colorful stories of newspapering from the frontier era into the 20th century.
The film also features a segment about The Commons, its staff, and its unique approach to community journalism.
A reception for members of Vermont Independent Media will be held at 5 p.m., with a screening of the film at 5:30. A question-and-answer session follows the film with filmmakers Lyons and Tim Wessel and Elizabeth Ottinger of Vernont Public Television.
There is no admission charge, but donations will be accepted and appreciated to support Vermont Independent Media's efforts to bring local independent journalism and media education to Windham County.