GOULD & STEARNS TOGETHER AGAIN

SATURDAY JUNE 28th  2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
TICKETS  Adults $10  Students $5
SOLD AT THE DOOR

HELP LIGHT UP NEYT

Come celebrate the Clown Jewels of Vermont at NEYT! Gould & Stearns present an evening of work, ranging from classics to new pieces, duets and solos, mime, clown,story and song. 34 years of collaboration yield a lot of laughs. We promise you'll get a chance to see your favorite skits and also hear stories about how Gould & Stearns came about. These performances offer fun for the family. All ticket sales will benefit buying new parking lot lights!

You've grumbled, and we've listened! It's time to fix up our parking lot once and for all. Not only are we eliminating the potholes and adding new spaces, we're putting in lights! But we need your help. If we sell out both shows, we'll be able to buy two lights, so save the date and bring a friend. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids. Just like the lights we added this past year, all new fixtures will be LED, to help us cut down on our carbon footprint.

Uncle Stevie's new groove

Stearns steps down as NEYT artistic director to live out other dreams, but he still plans to be deeply involved in the theater company he founded and nurtured

By JON POTTER / Reformer Staff

Stephen Stearns performs a tribute to Pete Seeger during the Collegiate A Cappella Concert at the Latchis Theatre on Feb. 1. The words and music of his late friend, Pete Seeger, are very much on Stearns mind as he starts a new chapter of his creative life, after stepping down as artistic director of New England Youth Theatre last week. (Kayla Rice/Reformer)

BRATTLEBORO -- Touring New England Youth Theatre with Stephen Stearns a few years ago, folk icon and activist Pete Seeger was suitably impressed ... but had one cause for concern.
"Stephen, there's one thing you have to worry about -- founder-itis," Seeger told Stearns.
In the 15 years since he founded NEYT, Stearns has built an empire of love an started dozens of programs both in New England and abroad. He's also come up with a pretty good way to treat the condition of founders who exercise too much control and stay on too long.
Last week, Stearns announced that he is stepping down from his role at artistic director at New England Youth Theatre. In the interim, as NEYT prepares for and conducts a national search for a new artistic director, Sandy Klein, NEYT's costume director, mentor advisor and head of faculty, will fill Stearns' big clown shoes as interim artistic director.
For his part, Stearns, who turned 70 on March 29, downplayed the significance of the announcement. It turns out, it's not a sign of the apocalypse or a signal that he's finished with everything and wants to ride off into some distant sunset. It's just time for him to do everything else he wants to do, including continuing to be a constant presence at his beloved NEYT.
"In many ways, there never was an artistic director. I faked it pretty well," said Stearns in an interview last Thursday. "I was definitely the founder, but I get too much of the lion's share of the credit."
From the get-go, Stearns has tried to foster an organization where everyone's talents are nurtured and everyone's input is valued. Because of that, he said, the structure is in place for NEYT to function quite well without him.
There has been, Stearns said, complete buy-in from all on NEYT's guiding principles: endowing youth with the responsibility to direct their own lives; giving youth a vehicle to show up, stand up and speak up, while teaching them to blend their "me" with the larger "we."
"For a long time, I've worked horizontally, harvesting ideas from everybody," he said. "The genius is there are a lot of geniuses. ... All these other people were under my wings, lifting me up.
"Giving up artistic director really doesn't mean anything," he added. "I'm moving on. I'm a surfer. I catch the next wave."
Fortunately for all, the surfing is pretty good inside the NEYT building at 100 Flat St.
Stearns will continue to serve on the board and direct plays and musicals there; he wants to devote more time to developing and nurturing the faculty; he wants to connect with playwrights to make NEYT an incubator for new work; he hopes to travel around the country and the world, talking with alumni and donors about NEYT's work; and he wants to do more teaching at NEYT -- alumni, he said, have been begging him to teach Clowning 101 again.
"One of them said ‘Uncle Stevie, you're wasting your time here. You've got to get back to the classroom,'" he recounted.
Stearns is bubbling over with other creative endeavors. He's working on a book about his life, a memoir, he says, of "all the times when I learned to fail magnificently."
He's also in conversation with a Hollywood screenwriter about turning the NEYT story into a film. Can you picture "Fame" meets "Mr. Holland's Opus"?
In his spare time -- what's that? -- he hopes to refine the three melodramas and four musicals he's written or co-written and publish them, and he's trying to put together a touring musical/comedy show he's calling "Uncle Steve: A Life in the Interesting Zone."
All this, and more. Maria's Children, an organization which provides orphaned Russian kids with arts programs, would like Stearns to become more involved again. He once was very active but had to scale that back to focus on NEYT.
Then there's work on the Brownfield site. On NEYT land adjacent to the theater, soil and two buildings -- the white brick Tri-State Auto building and the red, wood Livery Building -- were found to have contamination from their industrial pasts.
Aided by a $400,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields Program, cleanup work will begin this spring, and in August after camps end, bulldozers will arrive to begin bringing the buildings down and cap the site.
Stearns plans to be actively involved in studies to determine future uses of the site. He'd like to get NEYT alumni involved in creating something which might help draw younger artists to the state.
"A lot of them are saying they want to do art in Vermont," Stearns said. "Vermont is the happening place in the country. Everybody should be proud to be part of this."
His hopes for the cleaned-up Brownfields site include a Pete Seeger Singing Garden.
Which brings us back to Stearns' friend, Seeger, the late folk singer and pied piper who meant so much to so many.
On Friday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m., New England Youth Theatre will presents a sing-along tribute to Pete Seeger, "How Can We Keep From Singing."
Stearns will welcome a galaxy of singers and songwriters, many of whom knew Seeger, in a show which follows Seeger's life through stories and songs.
Performers include Peter Amidon, Ruth Pelham, Sarah Pirtle, Andy Davis, Scott Ainslie, Peter Siegel, Becky Graber and the Brattleboro Women's SingAbout Chorus, John Ungerleider, Bill Conley, Mike Miller, Val Mindel, Nick Apollonio, Keith Murphy, Becky Tracy, Jim Anderson, Molly Gawler, Ian Stearns, Al Stockwell, Jerry Stockman, Gould & Stearns and, of course, all who attend, who will be given plenty of chances to sing-along.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students, and proceeds benefit NEYT's Angels in the Wings scholarship fund. For information and tickets, visit www.neyt.org.
To accommodate demand, a special Children and Family Pete Seeger Sing-Along event has been added. All tickets are $5, and more details will be announced.

Retirement? No way!

At 70, NEYT founder Stephen Stearns lightens his work load, but he’s not hanging up his rubber clown nose yet

By Richard Henke/The Commons

BRATTLEBORO—“This ain’t Uncle Stevie’s swan song.”
So promises Stephen Stearns, founder of New England Youth Theatre (NEYT), who wants to make it clear that while he is stepping down as artistic director, he’s not heading out the door.
Now 70, Stearns is handing off his administrative responsibilities to free up time to write about his life’s work — and to pour more into NEYT as a teacher, director, and board member.

Read full Article

Pete Seeger's roots in Brattleboro were deep

By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN / Reformer Staff

Stephen Stearns of Brattleboro with Pete Seeger. (photo provided by Stephen Stearns)

BRATTLEBORO -- When Pete Seeger was in Brattleboro in September 2008 he wanted to take a walk up to the Crowell Lot on Western Avenue to take a look at the trees.

Seeger's great-grandparents owned the mansion, "Lindenhurst," which once sat on the Crowell Lot and Seeger visited the home as a boy around 1926, when he was 7. He could not remember exactly where in Brattleboro the mansion was once located, but he knew that if he found the old maple trees that stood outside the mansion he could be sure he was in the right place.

Seeger was in town that day to give a benefit concert at the Latchis Theater for a business loan program for farmers that was being co-sponsored by the Strolling of the Heifers.

New England Youth Theater founder Stephen Stearns was friends with Seeger and they drove around Brattleboro that morning trying to determine where the mansion once stood.

"He took me way, way to the back of the Crowell Lot and found this ring of maple trees, and when he tuned around and looked through the trees he said, ‘This is it,'" Stearns remembered. "He talked about how his grandfather used to walk through the trees to the Estey Organ factory. We were blown away."

Seeger died Monday at the age of 94 in New York City. He is being remembered for standing up to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, for bringing folk music to the mainstream through his work with The Weavers in the 1940s and ‘50s, and for singing about and working on countless social issues including civil rights, union organization, farming policy and the environment.

But now that his friend is gone, Stearns said he perhaps touched the most lives through his ability to get people to sing.

"I have four major influences in my life and Pete is right at the top of that list," Stearns said. "He was the ideal mentor because as much as he taught us, it was never about him. He encouraged people to get involved. He said, ‘We might not ever make a difference but at least we get to spend our time with great people.

A note Pete Seeger sent to Stephen Stearns.

'"

As a folkie growing up in New England, Stearns listened to The Weavers and he said the songs encouraged him to become an artist and pursue theater and music.

When Seeger gave a concert in Hanover, N.H., in 1981, Stearns waited until midnight for the chance to go backstage and meet his hero.

It was a decision, Stearns said, that changed his life.

In the dressing room that night Stearns told Seeger about a play he was involved with, "A Peasant of El Salvador," which dramatized the brutalities of the civil war in El Salvador.

That night Seeger invited Stearns and his artistic partner, Peter Gould, to perform the play at Seeger's music and art festival, The Clearwater Festival, on the Hudson River in New York.

Brendan Taaffe holds a letter that he received from Pete Seeger. (Kayla Rice/Reformer)

The gig introduced the Vermont actors to a wide audience and Stearns said the show led to other performance opportunities across the country and world.

And the following year, when Stearns joined Seeger picking up litter around the site, the two formed a bond that continued throughout Seeger's life. Seeger would eventually agree to become a board member of The New England Youth Theater and Stearns spoke with him a few months ago, understanding that Seeger was in declining health.

"His message was to keep on keeping on," Stearns said. "He lived his life to such a full degree and involved so many people. This is a time to celebrate a life. All things must pass."

Brattleboro musician and teacher Peter Amidon was giving a shape note singing workshop in Albany in 1990 when Seeger approached him about starting a new participatory stage at Clearwater to encourage more festival goers to sing.

"I was completely floored and humbled to have Pete Seeger approach me," Amidon said. "Pete thought too many people were watching and he wanted more people singing together. He was really excited about having us start that."

The participatory stage is now an integral part of the festival, which is held every year in June at Croton Point Park.

Seeger had been encouraging audiences to sing for decades and so it might have been overwhelming to have him ask you about leading a workshop, but Amidon said he never felt intimidated.

"You didn't get nervous around Pete. He was so soulful and generous and genuine," Amidon said. "He liked to make things happen and get people together. He was always excited abut something."

Brendan Taaffe is a musician who lives in Brattleboro and he grew up listening to Seeger.

"When you went to a Pete Seeger concert he would say, ‘Of course you can sing. Everyone can sing,'" Taaffe said. "That was a big influence on me. He gave us all a license to go to these incredibly rich folk songs and make them our own. He invited us to be a part of that tradition."

A few years ago Taaffe was recording an album of children's songs and he wrote Seeger to see if he could take part in the recording. Taaffe received a letter stating that Seeger was too busy, but Taaffe said even in declining the offer Seeger's words were encouraging.

"He told me to stay involved and never give up," Taaffe said. "It was the only time I had been rejected in such an uplifting way."

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at 802-254-2311, ext. 279, orhwtisman@reformer.com. Follow Howard on Twitter @HowardReformer.

’Oliver!’ opens tonight at NEYT

By JON POTTER / Reformer StaffPosted: 12/05/2013 03:00:00 AM EST

BRATTEBORO -- "Oliver!" is an uplifting and inspiring musical to be sure, but maybe it inspires people in the wrong ways.

"I saw this when I was younger, and I wanted to be a pickpocket," said Isaac Freitas-Eagan, who apparently has since abandoned those career aspirations.

Instead he’s an aspiring actor and part of the large New England Youth Theatre cast that’s been working on the beloved musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel "Oliver Twist" and set in a teeming London underworld full of rogues, pickpockets, bad characters, a few good souls and one very lovable orphan boy.

First performed at NEYT in 2006 -- the last show presented in its old storefront theater on Main Street -- "Oliver!" is being reprised, now in NEYT’s spacious Flat Street facility.

"Oliver!" opens tonight and runs through Dec. 15, with performances Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. That a young child would want, at least temporarily, to grow up and become a pickpocket is testament to the power of Dickens’ writing and to the colorful, complex ways they are brought to life on stage.

Add to that, a raft of memorable tunes, including "Food Glorious Food," "Consider Yourself," "You’ve Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two," "I’d Do Anything," "Oom Pah Pah" and "As Long As He Needs Me" -- and you’ve got the recipe for a smash hit, which "Oliver!" has been since its London premiere in 1960.

It also has the one ingredient director -- and NEYT Founder and Artistic Director -- Stephen Stearns requires of a holiday season show -- a miracle.

"I think the miracle of this show is that someone so destitute and so beaten and hurt by people and society can never lose a good heart, and that good heart can win the day," said Stearns, who directs a cast of more than 40 kids who range in age from 7-18.

A classic story of redemption, the show’s miraculous message shines through a setting filled with darkness, badness and characters who do what they have to do just to survive.

"It’s one of those shows that’s not all peaches and cream. It’s got that dark, Dickensian side," said Stearns. "Nobody wrote characters like Dickens wrote characters."

And that has the NEYT cast members excited.

"A lot of us are really rounded characters," said the show’s Fagin, Maia Struthers-Friedman, who explained that the actors spent a lot of time working on their characters, trying to bring the full richness of the show to life.

"It shows the humanity in all these characters. It shows they have emotions, and they have compassion," said Sophie Bady-Kaye, who plays Bet.

"This show has so much good and evil in each character," added Maia Gilmour, who plays Nancy. "I would want people to come out of this accepting who you really are."

Sure, this show has catchy dance numbers, highly hummable tunes and an optimistic message that goodness prevails, but ultimately it is about humanity.

After all, it does extend the invitation in song to "Consider yourself, one of the family."

"A lot of musicals really are show-tuney and all jazz hands, but this one has some feeling to it. It’s just a perfect mix of the good and the bad," said Gable Rak.

"It’s not really feel-good, but it makes you feel so good," summed up Ali Brodeur, the stage manager for the production.

"Overall, it’s an amazing show."

Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors.

Tickets are available at www.neyt.org or in person/by phone at the box office on Wednesdays from noon to 5 p.m.

The New England Youth Theatre is located at 100 Flat St. Call 802-246-6398.

Sponsors include Berkley & Veller Greenwood Country Realtors and The Richards Group.

Please, Stearns, may we have some more...Oliver!

Musical is a sentimental journey for New England Youth Theatre

By Richard Henke/The Commons BRATTLEBORO

Celebrating the kickoff of the 15th year, the New England Youth Theatre’s artistic director, Stephen Stearns, will direct the return of “Oliver!” This musical, based on a novel by Charles Dickens, was the last show that NEYT performed seven years ago in its original space in the Latchis complex before the company moved from a former Chinese restaurant to its new theater on Flat Street.

Read the full article at thecommonsnews.org

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