April arts picks not eclipsed by total eclipse
Let’s see, what’s going on in Vermont this month? Hmm… Oh, yeah, there’s a total solar eclipse that’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event drawing potentially hundreds of thousands of people to our tiny little state for a rare celestial event and all the partying that goes with it.
You won’t find any events from that April 8 occurrence here, however, as we’ve covered that in a separate round-up. What you will find here is a collection of 30 arts-and-entertainment offerings covering almost every day this month except for April 8, with enough music, theater and visual art to keep you so busy you might even forget about that whole moon-blocking-the-sun phenomenon.
Psychedelic rock from Montreal
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, the Montreal-based, Japanese-inspired psychedelic-rock group TEKE::TEKE follows Burlington surf-rockers Barbacoa, Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $16 in advance, $18 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Tribute to Pete Sutherland
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, the annual Farmers Night concert series nears its end when musicians including Patti Casey, Oliver Scanlon and Tom MacKenzie pay tribute to the late Vermont traditional/Americana musician Pete Sutherland, Vermont State House, Montpelier. Free. www.legislature.vermont.gov/the-state-house/events/farmers-night-concert-series/
Bringing the blues to Burlington
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, jazz/blues/funk harmonica player Jason Ricci and his group The Bad Kind play a show presented by the Vermont Blues Society, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington. $25. www.vermontbluessociety.org
Marsh Lights light up Richmond
7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, members of longtime Vermont bluegrass group PossumHaw unite in Marsh Lights, who play a show presented by Valley Stage Productions, Richmond Congregational Church. $17.50-$27.50. www.valleystage.net
‘I Am My Own Wife’ in Montpelier
7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, “I Am My Own Wife,” the Doug Wright story of a trans woman surviving Nazi Germany, begins its run through April 21 by Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier City Hall Arts Center. $10-$30. www.lostnationtheater.org
Middlebury hosts ‘Hundred Days’
7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4-Saturday, April 6, 2 p.m. Sunday, April 7, billed as “a theatrical memoir and concert,” “Hundred Days” by Middlebury native Abigail Nessen-Bengson and her husband, Shaun Bengson, receives a staging starring Lincoln native Grace Experience and her partner, Stephen Shore, at the Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. $33-$44. www.townhalltheater.org
‘Going with the Flow’ in Shelburne
5-7 p.m. Friday, April 5, a reception for “Going with the Flow,” works on paper by Castleton artist Richard Weis, kicks off the exhibition that will be displayed through May 31, Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery, Shelburne. Free. www.fsgallery.com
Waterbury gallery displays ‘Flora’
5-8 p.m. Friday, April 5, the multi-artist exhibition “Flora” begins with an opening reception and remains in place through July 8, The Phoenix, Waterbury. Free. www.thephoenixvt.com
Homecoming for ‘Karen Carpenter’
7 p.m. Friday, April 5, Sally Olson, portraying Karen Carpenter, and Ned Mills as Richard Carpenter bring their “Carpenters Legacy” musical performance from its home in Las Vegas to Olson’s hometown for a show in the Paramount Theatre, Rutland. $39. www.paramountvr.org
‘Kodachrome’ on stage in Shelburne
7 p.m. Friday, April 5, the Shelburne Players present the Adam Szymkowicz play “Kodachrome,” centered on a photographer who gains insight into the lives and romances of her neighbors, which begins its run through Saturday, April 13, Shelburne Town Hall. $15-$25. www.shelburneplayers.com
Natalie Cressman, Ian Faquini at Metronome
7:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, trombone player/vocalist Natalie Cressman, known in part for her work with Trey Anastasio’s solo band, and guitarist/vocalist Ian Faquini perform upstairs from Nectar’s at Club Metronome, Burlington. $15. www.liveatnectars.com
UVM welcomes Telegraph Quartet
7:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, the San Francisco based Telegraph Quartet performs as part of the University of Vermont Lane Series, UVM Recital Hall, Burlington. $6.50-$45. www.uvm.edu/laneseries
The return of Paula Poundstone
8 p.m. Friday, April 5, a frequent performer in Vermont, comic Paula Poundstone, makes her way back to the state for a show at the Barre Opera House. $28-$46. www.barreoperahouse.org
Pre-eclipse music, films
8 p.m. Saturday, April 6, Burlington City Arts warms up for the total eclipse with a typically evocative performance by Burlington-based cellist Zoe Keating, Unitarian Universalist Society, Burlington. $40. BCA keeps the artistic eclipse preparations going at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7, when local composer Randal Pierce performs original pieces as well as Dvorak’s “Song to the Moon” to a series of celestially themed films including the silent classic “A Trip to the Moon,” Contois Auditorium, Burlington City Hall. $20. www.burlingtoncityarts.org
Ratboys are coming to town
7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7, Chicago indie band Ratboys headlines a show with the Toronto group Ducks Ltd. In the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $18 in advance, $20 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Singer-songwriters at Radio Bean
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, a post-eclipse night of singer-songwriters features Americana musician Josephine Foster and Burlington musician Henry Jamison, Radio Bean, Burlington. $20. www.radiobean.com
Five days of films Made Here
6:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, presented by the Vermont International Film Festival, the Made Here Film Festival, which presents movies from more than 30 filmmakers from New England and Quebec, starts its screenings, discussions and workshops to be held through Sunday, April 14 with two hours of short films, Burlington Beer Co. Admission is “pay as you can.” www.vtiff.org
See ‘The Wizard’ at the Flynn
7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11-Saturday, April 13, 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13-Sunday, April 14, 6 p.m. Sunday, April 14, Lyric Theatre travels down the Yellow Brick Road for its spring musical, “The Wizard of Oz,” at the Flynn, Burlington. $20-$49. www.lyrictheatrevt.org
Vermont Youth Dancers retell ‘Cinderella’
1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13, 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, the Jericho-based Vermont Youth Dancers deliver three performances of “The Impossible, A Telling of Cinderella’s Story,” Mount Mansfield Union High School, Jericho. $15. www.vermontyouthdancers.org
VSO Jukebox meets Beta Technologies
5 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s Jukebox chamber orchestra brings the touring program “The Sound of Science” to a place where science is happening, the nascent electric-aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies, South Burlington. $15-$35; the 7:30 p.m. performance is sold out. www.vso.org
A Wednesday night double bill
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, a pair of Americana acts share the bill when John R. Miller and The Deslondes perform, Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $18 in advance, $22 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Hans Williams rising toward Higher Ground
7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18, rising singer-songwriter and Vermont native Hans Williams performs following Brooks Hubbard, Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $25 in advance, $30 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Blues artist Artis hits UVM
7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19, Hawaii-born blues guitarist Ron Artis II & the Truth perform for the University of Vermont Lane Series, UVM Recital Hall, Burlington. $6.50-$39.50. www.uvm.edu/laneseries
‘Prairie Home Companion’ turns 50
7 p.m. Saturday, April 20, the radio variety show “A Prairie Home Companion” celebrates 50 years with a stage show featuring Garrison Keillor, the Flynn, Burlington. $72.31-$93.27. www.flynnvt.org
Folk show with Fellow Pynins
7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20, the contemporary folk duo Fellow Pynins plays this month’s incarnation of the Ripton Community Coffee House. $15-$25. www.rcch.org
Umphrey’s McGee rescheduled
8 p.m. Wednesday, April 24-Thursday, April 25, jam-rock vets Umphrey’s McGee, who postponed an appearance in Vermont in October, make plans again to play two shows in the Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $45 in advance, $50 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Jade Bird lands at Higher Ground
8 p.m. Friday, April 26, singer-songwriter Jade Bird brings her acoustic tour to the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $20 in advance, $25 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
Pulitzer Prize-winner speaks with Burlington crowd
6 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson appears virtually, but before an in-person crowd, to discuss her book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” which was the basis for the recent film “Origin,” in a conversation presented by the Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center, Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain. $45. www.gbmrc.org
Higher Ground hosts Amythyst Kiah
8 p.m. Sunday, April 28, rootsy singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah plays the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, South Burlington. $22 in advance, $25 day of show. www.highergroundmusic.com
‘The Kite Runner’ arrives in Burlington
7:30 p.m. Monday, April 29-Tuesday, April 30, set in Afghanistan and based on the bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini, the play “The Kite Runner” will be staged twice at the Flynn, Burlington. $30.50-$72.50. www.flynnvt.org
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.