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Updated June, 2010 - Check back for bi-monthly updates!
June/July at Blackstone River Theatre
- THANK YOU! Despite the still-challenging economy, Blackstone River Theatre saw more than 3,300 audience members attend 50 concerts, dances, classes and private functions between mid-January and May, 2010! September, 2010 will mark the 10-year anniversary of the reopening of Blackstone River Theatre after more than four years of volunteer renovation efforts from July, 1996 to September, 2000. Since reopening, BRT has now presented 1,000 events in front of more than 64,500 audience members!
- As of February, BRT has been sending out UPCOMING EVENT E-MAILS! We will send out once-a-week emails via Constant Contact on Wednesdays (not as often during summer months). You can sign up at the theater itself or simply add your email address on the top of each page of our web site.
- Unfortunately, we have had to stop mailing out printed schedules through the mail as a cost-cutting decision. However, you can still pick up flyers at BRT shows, see our ad and listings in Motif Magazine, or pick up The Valley Breeze, Sun Chronicle or Woonsocket Call which all provide excellent coverage of BRT events on a weekly basis.
- BRT would like to welcome our newest Board member, Randall Souza, Esq.
- While we have a few concert events and classes in June and July, BRT is mainly taking the summer to continue ongoing renovations and painting/maintenance. We will however hold a few great concerts in August including Bjarv, an amazing Scandinavian trio, a concert by Pendragon performing music from the Ryan's collection, and a workshop on Romany music with The Bohemian Quartet.
- BRT continues to host more and more private events for fund-raisers, celebrations, public forums and more. Please call 401-725-9272 if you are interested in booking your function!
- The Fall season will see three levels of Irish step dance and five levels of fiddle instruction continue at BRT. Visit the classes link for the next round of upcoming classes at BRT including a September Svaroopa Yoga workshop, October Celtic stone carving class and more!
- From mid-September through October, BRT's Art Gallery will feature the Celtic-themed work of Lahri Bond, an excellent artist and writer known for his many contributions to the late, lamented magazine Dirty Linen.
- Blackstone River Theatre is a proud member of the organization RI Citizens for the Arts. We encourage you to check them out and get involved as there is still very important work to be done in the arts community (see info below).
Blackstone River Theatre's new stage and lighting are installed!
  As Blackstone River Theatre celebrates our 10th anniversary and 1,000 events this September, we will be able to do it on our new stage! In February, we began a special fund-raising campaign to raise $8,000 to purchase a new stage as well as a new, energy-efficient back lighting system. Navigant Credit Union generously jumpstarted fundraising efforts by giving a $1,500 "challenge grant" in hopes of getting other local companies to help BRT in this very important initiative. In short order, our friends at Open MRI of New England donated another $1,000, the BRV Heritage Corridor donated $500 and you, our patrons, donated another $5,000 in just four months! This will allow BRT to continue to put on the high caliber programming that we strive to present. THANK YOU!
Thank you members of Americorps NCCC Badger 1 team!
Blackstone River Theatre was very fortunate to benefit from the efforts of Americorps NCCC, Badger 1 team. The 9-member group of young men and women were in Cumberland for four weeks through early May, beautifying many spots around town and BRT is excited to have been one of them! You can see many improvements, both indoor and outdoors at the theatre as a result of their efforts! A big thank you to: Ryan Perket, Christian Adams, Bob Barker, Jamie Casterton, Chelsea Lamberson, Paige Miller, Jonathan Rhoades, Chris Watt, and Ramona Dowdell.
One more year without a BRT Celtic Festival...
As much as we had hoped to present a BRT Celtic Festival in 2010 (after also taking a year off in 2009), the Board decided that with the still-challenging economic climate in Rhode Island, as well as regionally, it would be best to wait until 2011 before attempting such a large endeavor again. Instead, time and resources were spent on necessary building improvements and renovations. We'll begin raising funds for next year's Celtic Festival soon as we aim for a June, 2011 return!
Rhode Island's artists AND arts supporters score a victory...but there's more to do!
 Governor's Carcieri's FY 2011 budget was a wake up call to the creative community. If enacted, these cuts would have had a devasting effect on the creative community and beyond. This proposal was to eliminate the public art program, the film tax credit and discretionary grant funds, a total cut of 58% causing a severe hit to the many arts and cultural institutions in our state that enliven our cities and towns, attract businesses and jobs, hire locally, buy locally and contribute largely to our economic well-fare. As a member of Rhode Island Citizens for the Arts, Blackstone River Theatre urges YOU to become aware of exactly what is at stake in the arts community and TAKE ACTION! We are very excited that the Senate and the House voted to restore funding to the Arts in the FY11 budget! But the battle is always ongoing...We urge you to visit the Rhode Island Citizens For the Arts web site at: www.ri4arts.org/member.htm Don't sit on the sidelines! When arts money goes away, it seldom comes back and quite simply, its effects can last a lifetime...
Older but still noteable news!
  Blackstone River Theatre 1 of 18 R.I. Arts Organizations to receive stimulus funds
Cumberland's Blackstone River Theatre is one of 18 Rhode Island nonprofits to receive a grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a federal stimulus program designed to aid in the economic recovery of our state and nation. Pictured at the July 27 press announcement held at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School in East Providence are, from left, Governor Donald L. Carcieri; Robert Drouin, Chair of Blackstone River Theatre; Russell Gusetti, executive director of Blackstone River Theatre; Congressman Patrick Kennedy; Congressman Jim Langevin; and Randall Rosenbaum, executive director of Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Blackstone River Theatre was one of four northern Rhode Island arts groups to receive a grant and was awarded $25,000 to protect the position of the Executive Director.
These federal stimulus grants for the arts are designed to support arts organizations who contribute to the economic, educational and cultural vitality of local communities throughout the state. The grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a federal stimulus program designed to aid in the economic recovery of our state and nation. This arts component is part of a $50 million investment in the arts through the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. A grant of $291,500 was awarded in May to the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to support a state component of this program. With $291,500 in federal stimulus funds and the additional $100,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation, 18 Rhode Island arts organizations will benefit from this infusion of funds designed to retain or restore jobs in the arts during this economically-challenging time.
Randall Rosenbaum, executive director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, reported that this was a very difficult process given the challenges that all arts organizations face during this economic downturn. Fifty-two organizations applied for federal stimulus support, with requests totaling $1,341,500.
BLACKSTONE RIVER THEATRE TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS
REGIONAL TOURISM AWARD AT STATEWIDE EVENT MAY 11, 2005
PAWTUCKET - The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council today announced that the regional tourism agency and Governor Donald L. Carcieri will present the Governor's Blackstone Valley Regional Tourism Award to the Cumberland, RI-based Blackstone River Theatre. The Governor, along with BVTC President Robert D. Billington, will present the organization their award during the 20th annual Rhode Island Tourism Unity Luncheon and Travel Exchange, being held Wednesday, May 11, at the RI Convention Center, Providence.
In 2005, the Rhode Island Tourism Division and the state's tourism districts will honor "Rhode Island's great attractions" with the regional awards. "As the BVTC also celebrates our 20th anniversary, one of our objectives is to focus on the importance that the arts and cultural presentation has on interpreting our Valley's proud and diverse heritage. The Blackstone River Theatre is one of the centerpieces that offers residents, as well as visitors, a unique way to learn about our quality of life through cultural entertainment," said BVTC President Robert D. Billington in announcing the award to Blackstone River Theatre.
In accepting the award, Russell Gusetti, Managing Director for Blackstone River Theatre said, "We are extremely honored to be singled out with this award. As an organization that has presented groundbreaking cultural arts and entertainment in the region for the last five years, it's very gratifying to be recognized for making interpretive arts and cultural entertainment a vital part of our audience's lives. We will continue to highlight the cultural significance that our performers and their diverse ethnic backgrounds have contributed to the communities we serve throughout the Blackstone River Valley."
GUSETTI, HEARTHSIDE RECEIVES VALLEY BREEZE "GOOD NEIGHBOR AWARDS"
BRT Managing Director Russell Gusetti and Kathy Hartley and John Scanlon of Lincoln's Hearthside were awarded The Valley Breeze's Inaugural Award for Historic Preservation. The award ceremony was held at the Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland on June 9, 2005. Gusetti and President of Friends of Hearthside, Kathy Hartley, and Vice President, John Scanlon, received the newspaper's first "Good Neighbor Awards" which was developed by The Breeze to recognize citizens of the community whose efforts benefit the Blackstone Valley and its people, but who may be largely overlooked outside of the Blackstone Valley itself.
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