Upcoming Events: Exploring the stars at St. Luke’s supper; Lloyds perform ‘Love Letters;’ learning about doulas at Rock Library; Springfield Players stage ‘Red Herring;’ ‘Tosca’ stars local opera singers; help your tykes gain math and science literacy; and BRAM history walk

For more upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph calendar. To be included in our Upcoming events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@www.chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please.

Claudio Veliz will speak at St. Luke’s on Saturday.

May 17: Stellar Saturday supper at St. Luke’s

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 313 Main St., Chester will host its second Saturday Night Supper beginning at 6 p.m. on May 17, with a dinner of “heavenly” dishes and desserts. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 5 to 10. Guest speaker will be Claudio Veliz, award-winning architect and instructional/research astronomer.

Veliz will discuss Finding Sister Earth, which is a popular topic unfolding in the realm of astronomy. The talk will include the basics of how these orbs are found and he’ll speak of their distances and what they could mean for future generations.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call the church office at 802-875-6000 or email stlukes@vermontel.net.

Barbara and Sam Lloyd.

May 17: Sam and Barbara Lloyd bring ‘Love Letters’ to Ludlow

A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters will be performed Saturday, May 17 at 7 p.m. at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium, 37 Depot St., Ludlow. The play features the talents of Sam and Barbara Lloyd of Weston. Love Letters will be performed with no intermission. The play is free; donations are appreciated. The play is not recommended for children.

Love Letters is comprised of actors reading letters exchanged over 50 years between two people who grew up together, led separate lives but continued to share confidences. Critics have called it “an emotional ride.”

Sam Lloyd and Barbara Lloyd have performed together at Weston Playhouse, as well as with the Vermont Symphony, Vermont Symphony chorus, Counterpoint and the Opera Theater of Weston.

May 22: Learn about doulas at Rock Library

Local author and women’s health advocate Elayne Clift will present “What’s a Doula? Facts, Feelings and the Philosophy of Woman Supported Birth” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 22 at the Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminister St., Bellows Falls.

Clift will read from and discuss her latest book, with Christine Morton, “Birth Ambassadors: Doulas and the Re-emergence of Woman-supported Birth in America,” a book about women who offer physical and emotional support to birthing mothers.

The program will explain the midwifery model of childbirth vs. the medical model and will discuss some of the politics of birthing in various settings. Film clips of Ina May Gaskin, “the mother of American midwifery,” will be shown.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information call 802-463-4270, email sam@rockinghamlibrary.org, or go online to rockinghamlibrary.org.

May 23: Springfield Community Players kick off season

From left, the cast of Red Herring is Alina Abraham, Don Gray, Kathryn King, Scott Stearns, Anna Kendall, Dave Allen, Kathleen Kirby and Greg Villone

The Springfield Community Players will kick off their 2014 season with the comedy, Red Herring, by Michael Hollinger. This fast-paced farce is under the direction of Players veteran Tom Field, and will be presented on Friday and Saturdays May 23 and 24 and May 30 and 31 at the Players’ Studio, 165 South St. in Springfield.

The year is 1952. Eisenhower is on the campaign trail, Joe McCarthy is busy rooting out Commies and the H-bomb is being tested in the South Pacific. Against this backdrop Red Herring unfolds a tale of three unlikely love stories, a murder mystery and nuclear espionage.

This spoof of film noir shifts locale and focus with dizzying speed as it draws the audience into its web of intrigue and romance, dropping clues to the mystery along the way. All of this intrigue is liberally laced with wicked humor, sure to make for an enjoyable evening for theatregoers.

Curtain time for all performances is 7:30 p.m. Tickets at $15 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors and may be reserved by calling 802-885-4098.

May 30: Windham Orchestra, PanOpera perform ‘Tosca’

Stan Norsworthy

The Windham Orchestra and PanOpera join forces to bring Tosca  to the region. Performances of Puccini’s Tosca  will be at the Latchis Theatre, 48 Main St., Brattleboro,  at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 30 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 1; and at the Academy of Music Theatre, 274 Main St., Northampton, Mass., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5.

Tosca features Jenna Rae in the title role. She has performed locally in recital and solo work with The Friends of Music at Guilford, Rae lives in southern Vermont with her two young children.

From Northampton, Mass., tenor Alan Schneider will perform the role of Mario Cavaradossi. Schneider has appeared in opera, operetta, and music theatre productions with many companies in his native New England and elsewhere.

Baritone Stan Norsworthy will perform the role of Baron Scarpia, the Roman chief of police, who plots to possess Tosca and execute Cavaradossi. Norsworthy has had an extensive and distinguished career in the U.S. and Europe, both as a baritone and a heldentenor. Norsworthy lives and teaches in Chester.

For Brattleboro tickets: general admission is pick your own price from $10 to $40; premium seating $75; purchase on-line at BrattleboroTix.com; or call the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523. For Northampton tickets: general admission $20 all seats, purchase on-line at academyofmusictheatre.tix.com or call Academy of Music at 413-584-9032 ext 105. For additional information visit www.bmcvt.org or call the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523.

May 31: Early math, science literacy program for families

The Rockingham Free Public Library and the WNESU Early Education Center have teamed up to present Little Lit: Math and Science, a free, fun evening with books, toys, and early math and science literacy at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, in the WNESU building located 25 Cherry Hill, Bellows Falls. Families with children from newborn through 5 are welcome to take part in this free program. Each family will receive free books, toys and activities to help their children develop early math and science literacy skills. Free dinner and childcare will also be available during the program. Families that need childcare should call in advance.
For more information and to arrange childcare, please call the library at 802.463.4270, email sam@rockinghamlibrary.org, or go online to rockinghamlibrary.org/littlelit.html.

June 7: BRAM opens season with 5K Walk for History

Participants of last year’s 5K Walk for History.

On Saturday, June 7 Black River Academy Museum will celebrate opening the museum for the summer season with a 5K Walk for History. Registration is at 10 a.m. and the walk begins at 10:30 a.m., starting and ending at the museum, 14 High St., Ludlow. Entrant fee is $20 ($10 seniors and students). The fee entitles walkers to a special BRAM t- shirt, water and power snacks.

Two new exhibits will be on display opening day. One is a collaborative effort with the sixth graders at Ludlow Elementary School and BRAM that focuses on the impact of tropical storm Irene. The other exhibit is the final installation covering the Civil War. John Stewart, a member of the museum, curates this exhibit and the previous three exhibits.

The museum is open noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday,  or by appointment. For more information contact museum director Georgia Brehm at 802-228-5050 or by email: glbrehm@tds.net or visit the website at www.bramvt.org.