BAI in the News
Two Powerhouse Blues Bands Bring A Rare Musical Treat To The Latchis Stage
The Evan Goodrow Band And Brattleboro’s Own Scott Ainslie
From Preservation Hall New Orleans, to the crossroads of delta blues, to a full out Philadelphia funk festival—the Blues are coming live to the Latchis on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. to benefit Brattleboro Arts Initiative.
Blues fans and devotees will be delighted to hear Scott Ainslie fingering his magical acoustic slide guitar and sampling bits of one of the most famous Delta blues musicians, Robert Johnson. Ainslie is a devotee of the Mississippi blues legend and is the author of Robert Johnson/At the Crossroads (1992). He also is the video teacher for Robert Johnson’s Guitar Techniques (1997).
Ainslie plays and speaks of the music he loves with passion and authority. Combining thirty years of scholarship with almost forty playing guitar, from community concert series and local schools to the Kennedy Center and the renowned Empire Music Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ainslie presents a beguiling mix of the African and American roots of the Blues, in story and song.
The Evan Goodrow Band, named as “Boston’s Best Blues Band”(BostonBlues.com) heats up the stage in what Evan Goodrow describes as Brand New Soul. Goodrow has been described as James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Dave Matthews wrapped into one package.
Bottle-fed from an early age to soothing sounds of Ray Charles and Solomon Burke, Evan Goodrow’s tastes shifted to the fiery stylings of Jimi Hendrix in his teenage years. Continuing his musical evolution, Goodrow then went on to pursue formal studies as a jazz guitarist, but he quickly had a revelation that he was pursuing something that the cold halls of academia would never hold.
“It’s supposed to feel good, and nothing made me feel as good as the Blues music I was raised on as a child,” Goodrow states emphatically “Blues and soul music is feel good music by definition. When you hear the classics, or even just when that rhythm hits you, you can’t help but smile. And that’s the feeling I want to bring to people with my music.”
He’s not alone in bringing this feel-good music to his fans. Backed by one of the tightest groups in the United States, The Evan Goodrow Band consists of a hand-picked lineup of some of the finest and funkiest players in the Northeast.
In recent years, an ever-expanding fan base has led the EGB to tirelessly tour the Northeast, branching out from the Boston area where they began their musical career. When the EGB won the Boston Blues Award in November 2007, they received enough airplay nationwide to place them on the CMJ Top 40 independent chart.
Goodrow’s credits include performances with B.B. King, Jimmy Buffett, Buddy Guy, Peter Frampton, Susan Tedeschi, G.E. Smith, Entrain, Gordon Beadle, David Maxwell, and Bruce Katz.
"Exceptional!" “Boston’s Best Blues Band”
–B.B. King –Boston Blues Award, 2006
"Sings and grooves with the likes of Curtis Mayfield" “This is a band to watch”
–The Noise Magazine (Boston, MA) –Carter Allen 100.7 WZLX (Boston’s Classic Rock)
The Evan Goodrow Band and Scott Ainslie will be offering a blues improv workshop on Sunday, April 6. Those interested in playing with the band, getting a few lessons or just asking questions are welcome to attend. The cost is $10.
Sunday, April 6 Blues Improv Workshop at The Latchis, 12 Noon – 3:00
12 Noon – 1:30 p.m. Workshop with Blues Guitarist Scott Ainslie
(see details below)
1:30 – 3:00 The Evan Goodrow Band Workshop on Stage
Time on stage with Evan Goodrow and the band Bring your guitar and some cable and get ready to jam with the band. Evan will answer questions and impart the secrets of improvisation and electric blues.
Details for Workshop with Scott Ainslie:
If you happen to have an interest in playing acoustic blues guitar (the musical roots of rock) including Delta Blues, Slide Guitar, Open Tunings, and Piedmont/Ragtime Blues---then you should plan on turning up for Scott Ainslie’s workshop.
Ainslie is the video instructor for Starlicks Videos’ Master Sessions “Robert Johnson’s Guitar Techniques” and author of “Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads”---a book of transcriptions, history and annotated lyrics from Johnson’s famous solo blues recordings of 1936-37. Ainslie has four acclaimed CDs and is a seasoned performer whose work includes the music of Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis, Muddy Waters, David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, and the recently departed Virginia Bluesman John Jackson--a friend and mentor since 1967.
An accomplished teacher, Ainslie will spend his workshop time walking guitarists through a portion of Blues and slide guitar technique. Content of the workshop is always influenced by who is being taught, but sections on the ins and outs of slide playing in open and standard tunings, right hand/fingerpicking technique, and the special open bass chord transpositions that pepper any solo acoustic blues guitar performance will be covered in addition to requested material.
Participants should bring a heavy-walled porcelain, glass or brass slide that fits securely on their (little) finger, an audio recording device, paper and pencil. All are welcome.
Dinner and a Show at Latchis 4 to Benefit Latchis Restoration Project
BRATTLEBORO, VT—The Latchis Event Committee announces the second in a series of fundraising events to benefit the Latchis Restoration Project—a deliciously romantic dinner/theater offering set in the atmosphere of a posh New York City Supper Club.
A.R. Gurney’s smash Broadway hit “Love Letters” will be performed at Latchis 4 on Friday and Saturday evenings March 14 and 15 and Sunday matinee on March 16. Tickets--$75 each for the evening performances and $55 each for the Sunday matinee--are available at Brattleborotix.com and at the front desk of the Latchis Hotel. For the evening performances, the doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the show at 8:00 p.m. For the Sunday matinee, the doors will open at 1:00 p.m., with brunch served at 1:30 p.m., followed by the show at 2:30 p.m.
“We had such success with the 'Party of the Decades' by transforming the space into a cabaret from an earlier era—Rick’s Café of Casablanca fame—we’re going to do something similar for ‘Love Letters,’” said Jim Maxwell, board member. “In fact, the inspiration for the dinner/theater idea happened the night of the party.”
Maxwell continued, “Not only will those attending be able to enjoy a fun atmosphere and delicious meal prepared by Thirty-9 Main Restaurant; they'll also see a critically acclaimed play after dinner.” Seats are limited, Maxwell notes, so parties wishing to attend together should make reservations right away to ensure adjacent seating. There will be two couples to a table.
An elegant evening menu will include mixed green salad with blue cheese and champagne vinaigrette dressing; beef and wild mushroom stroganoff accompanied by buttered egg noodles; a vegetarian option of swiss chard and caramelized onion lasagna; and a baby beet and haricot vert sauté (translation—green beans with a French kick!). Chocolate espresso torte and coffee will be served for dessert. Red and white organic wine will be available.
Also enticing, the Sunday brunch menu includes an orange juice & champagne mimosa; seasonal fruit salad with citrus and poppy seed dressing; mixed seafood salad; strata of sausage and peppers; and gruyere cheese and coffee.
Dear Melissa, … Dear Andy, … “Love Letters” tells the story of two people who’ve known each other from grade school—the successful but staid lawyer, Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Larry Bramble), and the rebellious and unpredictable artist, Melissa Gardner (Beverly Miller). Their lives are poignantly revealed on an unadorned stage through an exchange of letters—50 years of hopes and ambitions, defeats and accomplishments. “Few [plays] have been tinier, or more beautiful than this tender sketch of the bond between two people who cannot live with, or without, each other” (Time). A bittersweet play, only at the end do viewers realize just how much Melissa and Andy mean to one another, spiritually so close as only true lovers can be.
Initially produced at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven in 1989, “Love Letters” also opened that same year at the off-Broadway theater the Promenade in New York City. Local actors Larry Bramble and Beverly Miller join scores of not-so-famous and very famous "Love Letters" couples who have sat side by side reading the life-long, intimate correspondence between the two soul mates— Blythe Danner, William Hurt, Judith Ivey, Jason Robards, Elaine Stritch, Kathleen Turner, John Rubinstein, Christopher Walken and dozens more. Recently, Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones performed the piece as a benefit at Paramount Studios in Hollywood to rave reviews.
Brattleboro Arts Initiative (BAI) and Actors Theater Playhouse are the producers and Larry Bramble is the director.
DECEMBER 2007: The Berkshire Review for the Arts has highlighted artist Joanna Gabler, who is gracing our Latchis Gallery with beautiful pieces of art. Don't miss this great write-up.
CASABLANCA PARTY AND A MOVIE! Kick Off of The Latchis Resotration Project Phase 2
BRATTLEBORO, VT—Celebrate the Party of the Decades at Latchis 4, 50 Main Street, on Friday, December 7 from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. during Brattleboro’s first Friday Gallery Walk. The Latchis 4 space will be transformed and renamed Latchis Café for the evening with the public invited to step into another era—Rick’s Café of Casablanca fame—to enjoy food, drink and surprises inspired by the classic movie.
Sponsored by Brattleboro Arts Initiative, the Party of the Decades will kick off a series of fundraisers to help underwrite the Latchis Restoration Project Phase 2 of the historic Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, VT.
“The Latchis has been an asset to the community, played to appreciative audiences, and made memories ever since it opened in 1938,’ said Pam Matweecha, president of BAI. “This next phase of the restoration will mobilize support to raise $930,000, so that our children and grandchildren have the same chance to make great memories of their own.”
Designed to celebrate the past, present and future of the Latchis, the kick off will feature a multi-tiered entertainment revue of the decades. Throughout the night, live music from the 40s, 50s and 60s by the Latchis 4 House Band will be accompanied by readings of true Latchis stories performed by several of Brattleboro’s finest actors and highlighted by favorite old movie clips from the same years. Stephanie Petkanas, vocals; Becky Graber, piano; Paul Jensen, guitar; Wim Auer, bass; Ben James, drums make up the Latchis 4 Band.
A cash bar of wine, champagne and classic martinis will accompany a variety of authentic Hors d’oeuvres inspired by the movie Casablanca and created by 39 Main.
Suspense will build toward the end of the night as door prizes are announced including a night for two in a mini-suite at the Latchis Hotel. Adivasi, Evan James Limited, Sprout, Windham Wines, 39 Main, and the Latchis Theater have also generously donated prizes.
Brave and patriotic folks will be invited to sing their school or national anthems. Reminiscent of “Rick’s,” a well sung anthem could win a prize. Others will be invited to fill out a survey for a chance to win.
Pam Taylor, interior designer for A Candle in the Night will be transforming the space in the spirit of the film along with exotic plants from Carley’s Florist. Jerry Goldberg, Executive Director of the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce, will act as Carl (Rick's Cafe manager played by S.Z. Sakall). Other members of the Brattleboro Arts Fundraising Committee may be dressed up to add to the ambiance and fun. Following the party, the movie Casablanca will be screened.
Phase 2 Campaign
When the Latchis family announced their intention to sell the building in 2001, Brattleboro Arts Initiative (BAI) in partnership with the Preservation Trust of Vermont and hundreds of individuals, businesses and institutions purchased the Latchis building and its businesses for over $1,550,000.
Over the last five years BAI has invested more than $250,000 in essential repairs, upgrades and safety systems. Phase 2 funds will be allocated to create a new 99-seat venue for performance and cinema, restore the marquee, improve lighting, highlight street-level architectural details and retire low interest loans.
Jim Maxwell, BAI board member says: “The creation of the 4th theater will allow a greater number and variety of live performances on the Main Stage. It will offer more venues and dates to local non-profits for fundraisers. Independent and art cinema films will be able to run alongside first run films that will generate new income to support operations and arts programming.”
The Phase I campaign raised just over $1 million, and the Preservation Trust of Vermont helped secure low-interest loans to cover the remaining $550,000. By retiring the remainder now, the Latchis will be able to devote 100% of operating profits to expansion of arts programming and enhancements of the businesses and building.
Under BAI’s stewardship more than 100 live performances and events in the 750-seat Main Theater have brought thousands of people to downtown Brattleboro.
The Latchis has enabled local non-profit organizations to raise more than $50,000 in fundraising events. In a typical week nearly 3,000 people come through the doors at the Latchis.
For more information about The Latchis Restoration Project and/or the Party of the Decades, please go to brattleboroarts.org or email: campaignmanager@brattleboroarts.org.
Making a business of art
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Arts Initiative Board Member Jim Maxwell, Latchis Corporation President Rick Hashagen, and Managing Director Gail Nunziata discuss new building plans for The Latchis.
Wednesday, September 12 BRATTLEBORO -- From the business side, there is no magic about running the Latchis Theater and Hotel and keeping it profitable.
"Business and the arts are not different categories of endeavor," said Jim Maxwell, a founding member of the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, which purchased the Latchis complex in 2001. "They are totally intertwined."
But for the people who frequent the building, whether to see a movie or performance or to spend a night in one of its 30 rooms, it's the magic of the building that keeps them coming back.
The building, completed in 1938, is the last of the 14 theaters Demetrius Latchis and his family built around New England.
In 2001, Spero and Elizabeth Latchis sold the building to the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and promoting performing arts space to town.
With the help of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, BAI came to the rescue of the building, which was in some disrepair, realizing that once renovated, it could provide additional performing space downtown and be an economic driver for the area as well.
The Latchis Group is the perfect example of how the arts and business can be combined to create a sum bigger than its parts, said Maxwell.
"The hotel has been going gangbusters," he said, with 71 percent occupancy in August, a record for the hotel.
"The business supports the arts mission," said Gail Nunziata, the managing director of BAI and the Latchis Group.
It costs about $200,000 a year to run the Latchis Group, said Rick Hashagen, the president of the Latchis corporate board. Operating expenses are paid through profits from the hotel, the movie theater and retail leases in its annex.
A $300,000 grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Renewal is almost gone, said Nunziata.
The grant was used to make the building safe and bring it up to modern code requirements, and included work on the building's electrical and plumbing systems, the installation of sprinklers and an alarm system and asbestos abatement, said Nunziata.
"We have gone ahead and done the kinds of improvements you don't see," she said.
But visible changes to the building's interior aren't far off, said Maxwell.
Space recently vacated by New England Youth Theater -- which moved to the old Tri-State Automotive building at the corner of Flat and Elm streets -- will eventually become a theater, with 99 seats.
"This will be a flexible new venue," said Maxwell, and will not only be utilized to show movies, but will also be available for educational purposes, speeches and lectures.
And the space will be available to supplement the initiative's "Live at the Latchis" events, a series of speeches, musical events, community meetings and cultural celebrations.
But more important than any new theater space, said Hashagen, is "everyone is asking for new bathrooms."
The building will also have a new "green room," where entertainers and performers can relax prior to a show.
Though some of the planned renovations will be paid for through grants, most of the $650,000 needed will be raised from the community during an as yet unnamed capital campaign, or what Maxwell called "Phase II."
"At some point, the main theater will also be renovated," said Maxwell, as will much of the building's facade and its marquee, during "Phase III."
The Latchis Group is already in the process of replacing the soft goods -- beds and linens and similar items -- in the building's hotel rooms, which Maxwell described as "a business decision."
A recent gift of a digital projector allows Latchis staff to show more independent productions in the main theater, but all those film buffs need not worry that digital will replace film stock, as the Latchis Group will continue to show 35mm movies.
Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.
New doings at the Latchis: Latchis 4
Latchis 4 is the working name for our new 99 seat theatre-in-progress at 48 Main Street. When complete, Latchis 4 will add new performance and film space to the Latchis complex. Most of Brattleboro’s memories of this space begin with the great Jade Wah Chinese Restaurant. After that it was home to New England Youth Theatre. Now, since the Youth Theater has moved to a free-standing home of its own, Brattleboro Arts Initiative and Latchis Corporation are excited to be making plans for Latchis 4.
The décor of Latchis 4 will be sleek and modern, and it will be well-equipped to host small-scale live events as well as first run, art and independent films. The addition of this theatre will also make room for more of the superb Live at the Latchis performances we’ve all come to enjoy on the Main Stage.
Even in what we are calling its “pre-construction glory,” you can see that Latchis 4 has the “bones” that make the Latchis so special: terrazzo floors, art deco façade, and historic streetscape. Since it will be a little while before we can get going on renovations, we’re using the space now and then as is, and encourage you to attend a Latchis 4 event, so you can say “you knew it when.”
On September 23 at 6:00 p.m. Lisa McCormick, renowned local singer-songwriter (and finalist in the Chock Full o’ Nuts theme song contest) will perform an unplugged sneak preview of her new CD Talisman Groove @ Latchis 4. Well known for her 2003 release, Mystery Girl, Lisa’s elegant command of language, unforgettably intimate vocals, and fluid acoustic guitar combine to create a deeply human portrait of love. Her new CD has been long awaited by the growing numbers of Lisa McCormick fans and will be available at www.lisamccormick.com and retail locations. (Listen to Mystery Girl selections on her website. You’ll be hooked.)
Brattleboro Arts Initiative is delighted to present Lisa McCormick @ Latchis 4 as a pre-show tidbit before Hilltown Folk presents folk-pop icon Suzanne Vega (“Luka”) on the Main Stage at 7:30 p.m. During Suzanne’s performance, take time to view Nimble Arts and New England Center for Circus Arts photo exhibit by Henry Wheaton in the Latchis Gallery for September (changes monthly for Gallery Walk). What a vision! One night, two live events in two performance spaces, two movies (don’t forget those!), and one great community appreciating a mixed media of Arts in Brattleboro’s own Latchis.
Lisa McCormick’s show is free, but seating is limited. Reservations are recommended, and can be made by leaving your name, phone number and number of seats at lisatickets@gmail.com. Tickets for Suzanne Vega are available at www.hilltownfolk.com
Close-up on Brattleboro, VT
All Natural
By Kathy Shorr, Correspondent, The Boston Globe, June 20, 2007
Brattleboro, the artful Latchis Hotel, and the glorious Latchis Theatre are featured in this article, along with other local hot spots and highlights. Click here to get to explorenewengland.com. Vermont Town Celebrates its stripped-down, organic living.
Artists seek respect, cash
By Joyce Marcel, Brattleboro Reformer
Wednesday, April 25
BRATTLEBORO -- They say that getting a group of artists to agree on anything is like herding cats, but Brattleboro's Alliance for the Arts, a loose network of local arts organizers, did a pretty good job with its Artist Town Meeting Tuesday night at the Latchis Theatre.
The meeting was inadvertently timely. The Brattleboro area has long been known as a good "arts town," and much of the energy in recent years has gone into defining and refining the area's "creative economy."
Recognizing that, American Style Magazine has just named Brattleboro one of the top arts towns in the country with populations under 100,000.
About 100 painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, ceramists, arts organizers and performers -- of all ages -- gathered to talk about current issues facing the arts community.
Broadly, these issues were: refining the cultural section of the Brattleboro town plan, stewardship of the arts, municipal funding for the arts, local artists' needs and other art-related concerns.
No matter how the issues were sliced and diced, however, they all came down to one thing: money, or the lack thereof.
Actor Jerry Levy framed it in terms of finding performing venues and being able to pay for productions. Brattleboro Arts Initiative director Gail Nunziata talked about trying to get funding from either the town, in the form of some percentage of the local option tax, or from the state.
Painter Scott Borofsky was among several people who suggested that new public buildings and public spaces be encouraged — or mandated — to include art.
Respect was another issue. Dalia Shevin, who described herself as a painter and a cupcake maker, talked about Tinderbox, a relatively new artists' collective of between 25 and 30 younger artists who congregate at a space upstairs at 17 Elliot St. She said that when the collective first formed, it had trouble with the town manager and fire department.
"You read a lot about how young people don't stay in Brattleboro," Shevin said. "To keep young people, you need stuff like Tinderbox. Even more than money, we need respect. We need people to know about us. We have struggled for legitimacy."
The town needs to respect art and artists more, Borofsky agreed.
"I remember when the town was looking for artists to paint around the holes in the concrete walls of the Harmony Parking Lot," Borofsky said.
"It wasn't respectful. They should have put together some kind of money — $100, $500 — surfaced the wall and asked artists for submissions. They should treat it as important. Not just 'paint around the holes.'"
Selectboard member Dora Bouboulis told the audience that in reality, there wasn't any money to be found.
"To make something happen, you've got to do it yourself," Bouboulis said. "You need to organize as a political force. There should be art all over the place, murals on the wall, at the exits onto the Interstate. But the realities of funding are these: Vermont has many times more needs than money at the state and municipal level. We're going to make serious cuts in vital services. Taxes are going up by huge percentages in the coming years. Infrastructure needs are going to be cut. The money just isn't there."
Several artists pointed out that since manufacturing has dwindled in Brattleboro, the arts — which includes galleries, movie theaters, restaurants, bars and entertainment centers — are expanding to fill the vacant spaces. As a result, they are attracting more and more people.
Gallery Walk alone -- which over the past 11 years has expanded to something like 55 venues -- fills up the town on the first Friday of every month and subsidizes the restaurants and shops.
Borofsky suggested that the town needed more "high end" galleries, the kind that attract magazine reviews and serious collectors. He suggested that Building a Better Brattleboro spend money to attract this type of gallery.
Town government should help out, he told Bouboulis. "You're our representative. Make this happen."
Creative people offer creative suggestions. Among those heard Tuesday evening: hold a juried biennial show of Vermont artists at the museum; piggyback a big art fair on the weekend of the Strolling of the Heifers; because Gallery Walk brings in so many people, the town should donate to the arts the parking meter money it collects from 4-6 p.m. on those days; businesses, which gain so much from the artists, should subsidize them more.
As the meeting came to a close around 9 p.m., painter Terry Sylvester, who is responsible for several treasured public murals in Brattleboro, warned that "murals on every wall" might not be in the town's best interest.
"It could be a little like Disneyland," Sylvester said. "I'm grateful to live in Brattleboro. It's worth appreciating for itself, and maybe not doing that much to change it."
