Lyric Theatre has earned a reputation over the past 35 years for serving up family-friendly entertainment. The company’s new show, a raunchy romp about male nudity and shifting gender roles, should prove no exception.... Read more

Following last year’s run of her play Dreamtime — a fictional drama based on the 2001 murders of Dartmouth professors Half and Suzanne Zantop by Chelsea teens James Parker and Robert Tulloch — Vermont playwright Maura Campbell returns with another original work inspired by troubled youth.... Read more

10/24/09: Triptych Creations is the handiwork of special make-up FX artists Rebecca Reil and Sara Glasgow. Eva visits Triptych HQ to get shot through the face for the 4th Annual Burlington Zombie Walk. Get ready for a hefty serving of blood, guts and brainz.

Music: Aaron Reil, "Scratch Me"... Read more

Sometimes an innovative project starts with Hey, I have a crazy idea... Using an email with that opening line, Northern Stage artistic director Brooke Ciardelli got Emmy Award-winning music editor Roy Prendergast to compose an original score for her theater company’s production of Hamlet, which opens this week in White River Junction.... Read more

Many of us can say that music is one of the greatest joys in life, whether we prefer hip-hop or opera. But pursuing music professionally can be a grueling path. Classical musicians begin training as children. The few who have enough talent and grit to make it as pros face a lifetime of relentless rehearsal, travel and performance. These demands sometimes sap the passion that inspired the initial pursuit.... Read more

10/11/09: The 2nd Annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta transformed the Burlington Waterfront Sunday with crowds of cheering fans and a bevy of floating pumpkin vessels.  The money raised will go toward the Linking Learning to Life program called PILOT.... Read more

Even ardent Shakespeare fans would probably ’fess up that their initial childhood brush with the Bard was not love at first sight. He does run on a bit for young attention spans, and the archaic vocabulary feels forbidding. Despite the efforts of earnest English teachers, many of us had a tough time trying to understand, much less love, the scribe of Stratford until college or beyond.... Read more

Farce is one of the theater’s oldest and sweetest treats: over-the-top comedy, with absurd plot twists and exaggerated characters. The ancient Greeks yukked it up to Aristophanes’ critter-filled capers; Victorians guffawed at Oscar Wilde’s drawing-room delights. These farces still engage and entertain today because fast-paced, witty dialogue supports the frivolity. And, despite surface silliness, the plays contain lasting insights into what makes people tick.... Read more

In 1998, Britain’s National Theatre surveyed 800 savvy stage professionals to determine the 20th century’s “most significant” English language play. The result? Waiting for Godot (1953), originally written in French by Irishman Samuel Beckett, topped the list.... Read more

A sour economy has added a note of uncertainty to all aspects of arts funding this year, from stock portfolios to charitable donations to ticket sales. A year ago, we wondered about the effect these conditions would have on performing arts presenters such as Burlington’s Flynn Center and the Paramount in Rutland, which were planning a new season even as the markets slid south. ... Read more