BLACKSTONE RIVER THEATRE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

Featuring Armand Aromin, Aubrey Atwater, Erika Damiani and members of Tir Na Nog Irish Dance, Elwood Donnelly, Bob Drouin, Benedict Gagliardi, Russell Gusetti, Mary Lee Partington, Torrin Ryan, and Ed Sweeney

At Blackstone River Theatre’s 10th annual Christmas Celebration audiences can expect the unexpected – familiar and unfamiliar songs, high energy step dancing and clogging, ancient carols, spoken word, jokes and more – as musicians and dancers perform in varied combinations or join together on beautiful Christmas and winter-themed pieces. “That’s one of the nicest thing about this show,” explains Russell Gusetti, BRT executive director. “We all get a chance to perform with each other in several different configurations, something audiences simply do not get to see at any other point in the year.” Get your tickets early … just 30 tickets left as of Friday afternoon!

Featuring Armand Aromin, Aubrey Atwater, Erika Damiani and members of Tir Na Nog Irish Dance, Elwood Donnelly, Bob Drouin, Benedict Gagliardi, Russell Gusetti, Mary Lee Partington, Torrin Ryan, and Ed Sweeney

This new Sunday 2 PM Christmas Celebration show has been added to our 7 PM show as we are cancelling Saturday’s scheduled concert due to the snowy weather forecast. Cancelling/rescheduling is never an easy decision to make, but we will always choose the safety of our patrons, performers and volunteers first and it seems likely that there will be enough snow falling all day to make travel problematic, especially at night. We also cannot control when our parking lot gets plowed… so, we still have about 30 tickets left for Sunday’s 7 pm show and NOW we have a new 2 PM show to fill…. we hope many Saturday reservations can attend Sunday instead!

At Blackstone River Theatre’s 10th annual Christmas Celebration audiences can expect the unexpected – familiar and unfamiliar songs, high energy step dancing and clogging, ancient carols, spoken word, jokes and more – as musicians and dancers perform in varied combinations or join together on beautiful Christmas and winter-themed pieces. “That’s one of the nicest thing about this show,” explains Russell Gusetti, BRT executive director. “We all get a chance to perform with each other in several different configurations, something audiences simply do not get to see at any other point in the year.” Get your tickets early … both shows have sold out the last three years!

You are invited to Blackstone River Theatre’s 12th annual Holiday Craft Fair and Festival fundraiser! 

Please come out and support BRT programming as well as area craft vendors and home-based businesses while you do your holiday shopping locally! We will have 26 vendors on site between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and the event will also feature continuous live music with Bob Drouin, Russell Gusetti, Ed Sweeney, Cathy Clasper-Torch, Ryefield Cove, Atwater~Donnelly, The Broad Street Fiddlers and more, plus raffle prizes, a bake sale table, and refreshments. Door prizes will be raffled off from each vendor with the raffle proceeds to benefit BRT’s programming. Think out of the box (store!) 

Featured vendors include: LnKDesigns • Scentsy Wickless Candles • Ann Lilley Designs • Thao Thao Studio • Ducharme Creations in Wood • Tree’s Creations • Jane’s Place Crafts • Designs by Diana • The Pampered Chef • Legging Crazy • Judi Goudreau Studio • Timeless Treasures • Party Time Mixes • Honeybee Haven • Jeannette Winters • Turbocatbeads • BeachArt • Pocasset Wampanoag Creations • Celtic Mor • Jessie G Art and Chris Giroux Photography

Atwater~Donnelly, Cathy Clasper-Torch & Shelley Katsh, Stefan Couture, Andrew McIntosh & Kyle Forsthoff, Torrin Ryan, Ed Sweeney, and Kim Trusty

Masks are required for all patrons and staff until further notice. Patrons will also be asked to show their vaccination card or a photo of their vaccination card when they enter the club. Patrons will be asked to show proof each time they attend BRT. Call in your reservations for our November 27, 7 p.m. Homecoming Concert to 401-725-9272.

With family and friends in town for Thanksgiving, BRT’s 21st annual fundraiser will feature some of the best of Rhode Island’s homegrown talent as well as others who now live in the Ocean State. Starting at 6:00 p.m. and during intermission, Blackstone River Theatre will also hold a silent auction featuring CDs, jewelry, original artwork, Christmas items and gift certificates. 100% of the proceeds from both the concert and the silent auction will go to support Blackstone River Theatre’s programming and operating expenses. This is not only BRT’s one big fundraiser for the year but it also serves as an excellent sampler as audiences get to see many different acts in one evening, all who will be performing concerts in the coming year.

NEW THIS YEAR! A very generous donor has offered to DOUBLE any donations made to Blackstone River Theatre at the Homecoming Concert or money raised during the Silent Auction raffle!

Featured performers, who are all donating their time, include Atwater~Donnelly who will perform Appalachian, original and Celtic-inspired folk music and clogging. Kim Trusty will play a set of her jazz and blues-based original music and Blackstone River Theatre also welcomes the return of Stefan Couture, a soulful singer-songwriter from northern Rhode Island. Andrew McIntosh and Kyle Forsthoff, both of Fellswater, will play a set of Scottish music on pipes and percussion and Ed Sweeney will focus on his guitar and 5-string banjo playing. Cathy Clasper-Torch, on fiddle and cello, will be joined by accordion/keyboard player Shelley Katsh and All-Ireland champion Torrin Ryan will perform a solo set of traditional Irish music on uilleann pipes and whistle. Many of tonight’s performers are also instructors at Blackstone River Theatre and offer many of our Heritage Arts Studio classes so we are showcasing them in hopes you’ll be inspired to join a class in 2022! 

*All ticket prices include a $1.00 per ticket restoration charge

For tickets, call Joe at 658-1766. Winetasting event includes raffles and cheeses and light appetizers. The Cumberland Land Trust is a private, non-profit, charitable conservation organization run by a dedicated group of volunteers. Their mission is to preserve the natural resources of Cumberland for present and future generations by preserving land for open space. Since incorporation in 1989, CLT has protected more than 354 acres of land acquired through purchase, donation and conservation easements. The Land Trust applies for grants from private foundations and organizations and from government sources to help acquire select properties including streams, ponds, wetlands, open space, working farms, scenic and natural sites and historically significant properties. For more information visit:  www.cumberlandlandtrust.org

We hope you will stop by Blackstone River Theatre today between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. as we host our first-ever BLOOD DRIVE when the Rhode Island Blood Center Bloodmobile parks outside of the theatre. As an incentive, all donors will be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets for BRT’s concerts on Nov. 4 (The Gnomes) or Nov. 11 (Jeremy Kittel). Bring your driver’s license or another form of ID when you donate. Thank so much for helping!

Ballads have been a source of inspiration for Lindsay Straw since her childhood in Montana, but she truly grew into the art while studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There she began to tie together the threads of the traditions she was most passionate about: English, Scottish, Irish and American songcraft. She also founded a young Celtic trad band at the college, The Ivy Leaf, which she draws from to fill out the music on her new second album, “The Fairest Flower of Womankind.” In addition to her own sensitive, agile accompaniment on guitar and bouzouki, Straw is joined by members of The Ivy Leaf, Daniel Accardi (fiddle), Armand Aromin (fiddle), and Benedict Gagliardi (concertina, harmonica), plus renowned Maine guitarist Owen Marshall (The Press Gang). Throughout, Straw’s tender vocals and careful arrangements draw out the inner depths of these old songs, telling tales of women from beyond the ages. Straw will be joined tonight by mandolin player Jordan Santiago.

Daymark is an international trio performing traditional Irish music infused with infectious energy, raw power, and Northern swagger. Fusing the talents of Will Woodson (flute, border pipes), Dan Foster (fiddle) and Eric McDonald (guitar, vocals) the group presents a classic blend of wind and string as driving flute meets virtuosic fiddle, underpinned by expertly delivered guitar. Sharing a love for the music of generations past, in Daymark’s sound one can hear the echoes of Irish-American dance halls from the 1920s and 30s, alongside the lonesome tones of Donegal country fiddlers and the rollicking smoky pubs of Northern England’s immigrant neighborhoods. Each member of Daymark is well established in their own right, and collectively the three have lived and studied traditional music across Ireland, Scotland, England, America, and Canada. Foster hails from Northern England, and developed his music in the lively session scene there before honing his fiddle style in Limerick under master musicians. Woodson holds a master’s degree in traditional music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and in addition to his musical work is an established pipemaker, performing on an instrument of his own construction. McDonald is a native of Boston, and learned his music in the city’s sessions and folk clubs before studying at the famed Berklee College of Music. 

Drenched in the emotions of blues, folk and country music, the extraordinary roots singer/songwriter Kerri Powers uses her dramatically dark and beautiful voice to mine the melancholy depths of romantic heartbreak and broken dreams in the edgy narratives of her songs. A native of rural Massachusetts, Powers sings the blues with such authentic, downhome grit that you might well think she’s from Mississippi. Besides being a consummate chronicler of disappointment and despair, she can also morph into an impishly naughty rebel with a cause, a Mark Twain-like trickster whose wry words, dramatic sense of dynamics and phrasing can also celebrate joy and hope. Her new CD is called “Starseeds.” Kerri will be joined by drummer Marco Giovino who is Robert Plant’s drummer and Tom Jones’ Music Director. Says John Apice, of No Depression, “I don’t know where this young lady came from but it’s got to be a secret place. This is not the kind of singing and performing that can be easily taught. It has to be in your spirit, in your blood and the fact that she is from the Northeast is going to confound the artists down South, in the Delta, in Memphis, Clarksdale, Austin, and Nashville.”

*All ticket prices include a $1.00 per ticket restoration charge