“Money can’t buy happiness,” the saying goes. Playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman convey this truism over three antics-filled acts in You Can’t Take It With You (1936).... Read more

Deep recession, rampant unemployment, disaffected youth — Road, staged this weekend by the Middlebury College Theatre Department, seems to feature ripped-from-the-headlines themes. But Jim Cartwright’s play doesn’t take place in Anytown, U.S.A., in 2009. These circumstances grip an unnamed town in the playwright’s native Lancashire, England, in 1986.... Read more

Attendance stats as low as zero — that’s as rocky a start as any performing arts group could have. Montpelier’s Tim Tavcar faced this two years ago when he founded WordStage, which brings together chamber music and staged readings around literary and historical themes. Audiences have warmed to Tavcar’s innovative scripts, however, and four shows are slated for the group’s third season.... 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

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

Tin and aluminum are the traditional, if slightly boring, gifts for a 10th anniversary. But Vermont Stage Company is opting instead for a “greatest hits” gala to commemorate the decade-long union of Burlington’s professional theater troupe with both its artistic director, Mark Nash, and its home stage, the FlynnSpace.... Read more