Broadway Stars to Inaugurate New Arts Center in Restored Vermont Gristmill with Norman Rockwell Musical

Four acclaimed Broadway actors will spend the last week of October in Arlington, Vt., rehearsing Perfect Picture (a musical about the life of Norman Rockwell) just a few miles from the artist's former home - in preparation for a staged concert at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium on October 31.

Perfect Picture has book and lyrics by Emmy Award winner Eileen Bluestone Sherman with music by her sister, award-winning composer, Gail C. Bluestone.

The rehearsal week will include an invited "dress rehearsal" at the newly-reinvenTed Vermont Gristmill on October 29, which now houses a performance space and is dedicated to fostering artistic collaboration.

"After two years of renovations, I'm excited to reintroduce the mill as an Arts Center to the community," explained Dr. Joshua Sherman, the mill's designer and Producing Artistic Director - who is also a practicing physician.

"Rockwell left an indelible mark on America and Vermont," Dr. Sherman explained. "Born New York City, he chose Arlington, as his family home. So it's fitting that we inaugurate the East Arlington Mill with a show that explores Rockwell's life and then take Perfect Picture home to New York on October 31."

The actors will present the staged concert reading at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center as part of John Znidarsic's Broadway's Future Songbook Series, following John's interview with the show's creators. The program (sponsored by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts) begins at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free.

The cast of Perfect Picture includes Tony Award winner LiLlias White (currently featured in the Netflix series The Get Down), Two-time Tony nominee Crista Moore (star of Broadway's Gypsy and Big) and Tony nominee Mark Jacoby as Norman Rockwell. (Jacoby was Tony nominated for his performance in Show Boat, but is often remembered as the Phantom from Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera and Father in the original Broadway production of Ragtime). Additional casting to be announced.

Sam Willmott (Fred Ebb Award winner) is the musical arranger for the piece, with musical direction (and additional musical arrangements) by Grammy nominee Emilio Solla.

Perfect Picture
Perfect Picture got its start when award-winning author Eileen Bluestone Sherman visited the old Norman Rockwell museum in downtown Arlington, Vermont, and subsequently read Rockwell's autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator, as told to Thomas Rockwell, the artist's middle son and a distinguished children's author.

"The writing was lyrical, and the book captured my imagination," Eileen Bluestone Sherman explained. But with further research, she discovered Rockwell's personal life was very different from the pictures he painted. "He wanted his fans to believe his life was just like one of hisSaturday Evening Post covers, but in truth, the man was a tortured soul. He yearned for respect among the art world elite. Still, he really is an American hero. His quest to raise money for the war effort in the early 1940s with The Four Freedoms posters is one of the great untold American stories."

Eileen Bluestone Sherman has enjoyed a long artistic collaboration with her sister, Gail C. Bluestone, an award-winning composer and much-lauded music educator. Together, the Bluestone Sisters created The Odd Potato, a Hanukkah musical, which has played in cities across the country. The corresponding The Odd Potato: The Broadway Album features 20 Tony Award winners, including Jim Dale, Hal Linden, Donna McKechnie, Sutton Foster, Hal Prince, & Elaine Stritch and is narrated by Judd Hirsch.

The Mill
Constructed in 1764 by Remember Baker (Ethan Allen's first cousin), the mill in East Arlington is one of Vermont's oldest buildings. During the American Revolution, a local rebel regiment used the space for meetings. It operated as a gristmill until the 1920s and is fondly remembered as "The Candle Mill Village" (a major tourist destination in Southern Vermont for over 40 years). For the past 14 years, it was a successful antique center.

Dr. Joshua Sherman purchased the property in 2014. He explained, "While my father was in medical school in Albany, he and my mother would come to Vermont as their special get away. They continued that tradition with me and my sister. Every fall, we would visit Arlington."

The mill, he added, was a focal point of their annual pilgrimage. The elder Dr. Sherman took an annual portrait of Joshua and his sister, Jenny, by the Mill - which often served as the family holiday card. "Each year, my mother would remind us, 'If the four of us ever get separated in life, go to the mill.'" Thirty years later, when the opportunity presented itself, Dr. Sherman bought the mill - and it officially became "home."

"I spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with the mill and the two accompanying buildings," Sherman explained. "In the 1940's, Arlington was not only home to Rockwell, but several other famous Post illustrators. It was a great arts community. That inspired me to re-invent the property as an Arts Complex with a theater, sound studio, event space, and gallery. I have years of work ahead to complete that vision, but The Mill is an exciting start."

Re-invention is Dr. Sherman's specialty.

He was groomed in both the visual and performing arts as a child and enjoyed early success in the world of theatrical design. His mentors include the legendary caricaturist, Al Hirschfeld; ballet designer Peter Harvey; production designer Santo Loquasto; costume designer Willa Kim, and legendary theater/film designer, Tony Walton. As part of Walton's Broadway design team, Joshua worked on the Tony Award winning Annie Get Your Gun (starring Bernadette Peters); Elaine May's Taller than a Dwarf (starring Matthew Broderick and Parker Posey); and Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes (starring David Straithairn), among others.

When he decided to pursue a career in medicine, Joshua started to focus his talents on producing. Producing credits include The Odd Potato: The Broadway Album (which features 20 Tony Award winners, including Jim Dale, Hal Linden, Donna McKechnie, Sutton Foster & Elaine Stritch); productions of Perfect Picture, as well as the show's concept album (featuring Tom Wopat, Beth Leavel & LiLlias White); and Charmers, a web series of short musical films in the genre of classic movie musicals, featuring rising star, Ryan VanDenBoom (Annie, Something Rotten). Joshua is currently developing Antonio's Song - a play inspired by the life of Antonio Edwards Suarez, co-written by Suarez and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Dael Orlandersmith. Joshua is a proud board member of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation and a Grammy voter.

Dr. Sherman explained, "Theater and Medicine both require good listening and communication skills - and most importantly, the ability to collaborate. It is critical that patients trust their doctors. Similarly, it is important for artists who are developing new works to feel safe as they experiment. It's amazing to think that The Mill was once a meeting place during the Revolutionary War. Although there is still a lot of renovation work ahead, I ultimately envision the property as a safe space for artists to collaborate and create new and revolutionary ideas for the arts!"

To post a comment, you must register and login.