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Powerful performances elevate 'Analog and Vinyl'

Powerful performances elevate ‘Analog and Vinyl’

By David Lampe-Wilson Weston Playhouse kicks off its 78th season with the world premiere of  the musical Analog and Vinyl, a meet-cute love story with a dash of demonic doings. And while there is much to recommend it, this new musical plays less like a finished work and more like an upscale workshop. The show’s […]

'Help Wanted:' Middle schoolers answer the call of the stage

‘Help Wanted:’ Middle schoolers answer the call of the stage

By Josh Bodin On Thursday and Friday, May 15 and 16,  the Green Mountain Middle School presented the play Help Wanted in the auditorium of the Chester high school, giving middle schoolers the opportunity to have a part in a theatrical production without having to compete with high school students. “The play was about a […]

Jeanette Staley featured at River Artisans Co-op

June’s River Artisans Cooperative featured artist is painter and collage artist Jeanette Staley, whose painting career has spanned more than 30 years. As proprietor of an art studio in Hudson, Mass., for 12 years, she provided a venue to support emerging visual and performing artists and musicians. Staley taught classes in painting and collage to […]

Windsor artists highlighted at Open Studio weekend

Windsor artists highlighted at Open Studio weekend

Vermont Crafts Council Spring Open Studio offers the Chester Art Loop in Southern Windsor County again this Memorial Day Weekend. Working together to present its varied and talented group of painters and artisans, the 20-mile gang create a beacon to visit Chester and its surrounding towns of Andover, Weston and Ludlow. The studios will be […]

Students’ music to take center stage at Ludlow concert; auditions for Blanche Moyse Chorale

  Three area students have been selected to join 21 other Vermont students at OPUS 28, 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30 at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium, 37 Depot St., in Ludlow as classical musicians play their original compositions. The area students honored are Erik Heitsmith, grade 5, and Rosie Saccardo, grade 5, both […]

Playhouse seeks 15 high schoolers for free summer theater program

Playhouse seeks 15 high schoolers for free summer theater program

    Weston Playhouse Theatre Co.’s 2014 Student Ambassador program is accepting applications through May 23 for its summer students program. The Student Ambassador program will give up to 15 high school students the opportunity to attend six of Weston’s summer shows free of charge. The program will also give students an insider’s look at […]

'Chorus Line,' 'Uncle Vanya' on tap at Weston; spring into CAFC; casting call at Ensemble Theatre; artist featured at River Artisans

‘Chorus Line,’ ‘Uncle Vanya’ on tap at Weston; spring into CAFC; casting call at Ensemble Theatre; artist featured at River Artisans

  Weston announces 2014 theater season Weston Playhouse Theatre Company’s Producing Artistic Director Steve Stettler has announced that its 2014 line-up will include the classic musical about theater A Chorus Line as well as the 2013 Tony Award-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and the world premiere of the new rock musical, Analog and […]

Getting into the act: Area students learn from a Weston star

Getting into the act: Area students learn from a Weston star

  Students from Killington, Ludlow, Cavendish and Chester descended on the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium Monday afternoon to begin the first in a series of seven acting classes taught by Weston Playhouse favorite and Broadway actress Susan Haefner, who also lives in Andover. About a dozen children in grades 4 through 6, meeting for the […]

Friends, family rally to keep artist's memory alive with GMUHS scholarship

Friends, family rally to keep artist’s memory alive with GMUHS scholarship

  By Cynthia Prairie Friends and family of the late Heath Gordon are establishing a memorial scholarship fund for Green Mountain Union High School seniors who are pursuing higher education in either art or music. Gordon, who grew up in Chester with his older sister Wendy and younger brother Sam, was a musician and artist […]

Weston Playhouse expansion site plan gets OK with conditions

Weston Playhouse expansion site plan gets OK with conditions

  By Cynthia Prairie Site plans for the new cultural arts facility of the Weston Playhouse Theatre Co. have been given the go-ahead by the Weston Planning Commission with seven minor conditions for use and one conclusion of law that could force the playhouse to speed up its capital fund-raising campaign. The decision was sent […]

Preparing for Overture; Children’s book raises funds for farmer relief effort

Preparing for Overture; Children’s book raises funds for farmer relief effort

Decking the halls Children’s book raises funds for farmer relief effort Vermont children’s book publishing company, Radiant Hen in Coventry, has published a children’s picture book to benefit the Vermont Farmer Emergency Relief Fund, organized by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. The book, titled Higher Ground is about Tropical Storm Irene and its […]

Comedic 'Shakespeare on the Green' at GMUHS this weekend

Comedic ‘Shakespeare on the Green’ at GMUHS this weekend

    The Green Mountain Union High School Drama Department will present Shakespeare on the Green at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 in the GMUHS auditorium, 716 VT Rt. 103 S. in Chester. Shakespeare on the Green,  written by Amanda Petefish-Schrag and Ben Schrag, includes portions of five of Shakespeare’s most […]

Weston Playhouse hires interim managing director, capital campaign chief

Weston Playhouse hires interim managing director, capital campaign chief

    Two new staff members have joined the  Weston Playhouse Theatre Company.  The playhouse had hired Arts Consulting Group Inc. of New York City to provide transition management services while it undertakes a national search for a new managing director. That position was left vacant with the departure of Stuart Duke after 17 years […]

Upcoming Events: Games Day at Rock library; Coffin at Vermont Voices; story hour; Keewaydin dinner; fiddle music abounds; BRAM funder

Upcoming Events: Games Day at Rock library; Coffin at Vermont Voices; story hour; Keewaydin dinner; fiddle music abounds; BRAM funder

  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. Nov. 16: Read, learn and play at Rockingham Library The Rockingham Free Public Library will join hundreds of libraries worldwide from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Saturday, […]

3rd annual Rotary Cabaret a singular sensation

3rd annual Rotary Cabaret a singular sensation

  A s dinner winds down, the spotlight comes up and the third annual Chester Rotary Cabaret is under way. Students from Green Mountain Union High School’s drama and music departments entertained an enthusiastic crowd of diners on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Newsbank Conference Center. The performances were proceeded by a dinner prepared by […]

With an artist's eye: A close look at the Biker Tattoo and tattoos

With an artist’s eye: A close look at the Biker Tattoo and tattoos

Iron Adventure Run Tattoo In the military, a tattoo can be any display or show, a parade. In everyday life, a tattoo is a design inked on skin. On Saturday, Aug. 24, Chester played host to the Iron Adventure Run Tattoo, which saw hundreds of motorcyclists and their rides roll into town. At the same […]

Playhouse gets zoning board OK; Duke leaves WPTC

Playhouse gets zoning board OK; Duke leaves WPTC

By Cynthia Prairie The Weston Zoning Board of Adjustment has granted the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company a conditional use permit to build a new theater complete with parking spaces, driveway and landscaping on the 5-acre Walker Farm property at the corner of Route 100 and Chester Mountain Road in Weston. ON THE COVER: Architect Jim […]

Playhouse plans for year-round performances with Walker Farm expansion

Playhouse plans for year-round performances with Walker Farm expansion

By Cynthia Prairie The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is planning to expand its theatrical offerings to year-round with a new cultural center at the 4.9 acre Walker Farm, just north of its Weston Green main stage. The company, which attracts audiences from throughout the northeast, currently stages shows from late spring to early fall, offering […]

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, and a shame to miss this 'Mockingbird,' now at the Weston Playhouse

It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, and a shame to miss this ‘Mockingbird,’ now at the Weston Playhouse

By Karen Zuppinger There are few things more Southern than sweet tea, molasses on hot buttermilk biscuits or Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Arguably one of the most influential novels of the 20th century, and one of the best film adaptations of all time, what could a stage production offer that the book and […]

Chester's Cheyenne Prescott places 2nd in 10th Keene Idol

Chester’s Cheyenne Prescott places 2nd in 10th Keene Idol

By Karen Zuppinger KEENE, N.H. Seventeen year old Chester resident Cheyenne Prescott is this year’s 2nd place winner of the 10th annual Keene Idol singing competition. Bested only by industry vet and former “The Voice” contestant, Michelle Brooks-Thompson, Prescott’s vocals and stage presence stood out on a night when all seven finalists brought their A […]