Best of Patch Readers' Choice: Belmont's Favorite Theater for Indie Films

It's all about finding the best location to view movies with real independent appeal.

The latest installment of our Best of Patch Readers’ Choice contest looks at where Belmont residents go to find the best in unique movie viewing. While everyone one likes the big summer blockbuster film – with its noise and special effects – there are times when you want something entertaining in which the style and content run counter to the mainstream. The films with subtitles, with an alternative view of the world and just plain fun to watch. A feature film produced outside the major film studio system. The question is: Where is the best place to watch independent films? Here are a few of our favorite places, but if we’re forgetting yours, please let us know in the comments and we’ll add them to the list. • Studio Cinema (Belmont) • …

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Be Swept Away to 'Once on This Island' at the Chenery

Chenery Middle School Theatre Arts to present musical tonite, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.

Chenery Middle School Theatre Arts is presenting the musical "Once on This Island," today, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the school's auditorium. This highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale The Little Mermaid garnered eight Tony nominations for its Broadway run, including Best Musical, Book and Score. In almost non-stop song and dance, the show tells the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl who rescues and falls in love with Daniel, a wealthy boy from the other side of her island. When Daniel is returned to his people, the fantastical gods who rule the island guide Ti Moune on a quest to test the strength of her love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred and death. Directed and Produced by …

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A Musical Remembrance: Chenery Composers' Work Perform Tonight

Five Middle Schoolers' opus – “In Memoriam- for those lost to us" – to be preformed by the MIT Wind Ensemble and Chenery musicians at school's historic Kresge Auditorium.

When a tragic event occurred earlier this year at the Chenery Middle School, the sense of loss was evident throughout the campus. For John McLellan, the school's band instructor, whether the students had yet experienced a death close to them or not, clearly they were effected and words was not always inadequate as an expression of the emotions they were feeling. McLellan then challenged his students to express that loss through music, but not just by performing works on the subject but writing a piece that would convey their thoughts. The result is “In Memoriam- for those lost to us”, a composition for wind orchestra by Chenery eighth graders Kiara Holm, Henry Killough, Chunlok Lo, Hannah Messenger, and Nicolas Neves. And for the second …

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Spring Strawberries and Cream on Biscuits

Pair fresh strawberries with sugar, cream and buttermilk biscuits for a delicious Spring dessert.

"One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I noticed the other day that our strawberry plants are beginning to grow and I already can't wait to pick them fresh from the garden. They are much smaller than the berries you get at the supermarket but they are sweeter and tastier. I immediately began to crave strawberry shortcake. I stopped at the market and found some nice red ripe strawberries but there were no packages of shortcakes in sight. I thought about making my own (nah, too lazy). I looked at the angel food cake (nah, not one of my favorites). Then I wandered over to get the cream and there was my answer...buttermilk biscuits. Just pop open the can, throw 'em in the oven and …

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Belmont High's 'Beauty and the Beast' March 15-17

Tickets for Belmont High School Performing Arts Company's performances on sale now.

The signs have dotted lawns since January and tickets have been on sale for the past month. And Belmont High School's Performing Arts Company is just about ready to present a tale as old as time with performances of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." With a cast of 70 performers, a backstage crew of 40 students and a pit orchestra of 30 musicians, this "Beauty" is the biggest musical Belmont High School has produced. With music by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) and lyrics by Howard Ashman ("Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid) and Tim Rice (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King), the hit movie and Broadway show will be coming to Belmont High School's …

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Lost Piece of Belmont History Restored in Conn.

A cabinet from Bellmont Estate found and restored by craftsmen in Tolland, Conn.

When the Bellmont Estate – the land and mansion owned by 19th-century businessman John Perkins Cushing for which Belmont was named – was pulled down in 1929, it was thought that the magestic house and everything associated in it was lost. But nealry nine decades later, a masterpiece of 19th century New England craftsmanship from the estate is being lovingly restored in a woodworking shop in Tolland, Conn. "It's something that was built 200 years ago by an absolute craftsman," said Prestige Woodworking owner Brian Werhle who has put more than 200 hours into the restoration of a 10-feet, 3-inches high cabinet, which weighs approximately 300 pounds which was was salvaged from the library of the "Bellmont." The discovery of the centerpiece and…

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Early Release Matinees at the Studio Cinema Next Week

Belmont Savings along with elementary school PTO/PTA sponsoring annual movie fest.

March is just about here and for most parents of elementary school students in Belmont, the new month means two things: muddy shoes after recess play and the dreaded early release Wednesdays. For three consecutive weeks, March 7, 14 and 21, elementary schools will be releasing before noon – the Wellington, Burbank and Butler at 11:40 a.m. and the Winn Brook at 11:50 a.m. And parents are now faced with the prospect of finding something to do with this collection of easily bored little ones. So how about a free movie played on the big screen? For the second year running, Belmont Savings Bank in coordination with the Burbank PTA, Butler PTA, Winn Brook PTA and Wellington PTO, is sponsoring free movie matinees at the Belmont Studio Cinema at …

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Academy Award-Winning "The Artist" at the Studio Cinema

Also the Top 10 Redbox rentals in Belmont.

You usually don't get a second chance to see the big winner at the Academy Awards on the big screen, but Belmont residents will as the Studio Cinema, 376 Trapelo Rd., is screening the silent, black and white film, "The Artist," winner of best musical score, director, actor and picture. Show times are 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. • • • Redbox, the DVD rental service, is compiling a weekly top-ten DVD rental list from Belmont residents. The past week (Feb. 20-26), Belmont movie selectors picked the Brad Pitt baseball film "Moneyball," as their favorite film to rent this week. "Drive," the crime drama with Ryan Gosling was second for the week. Third selection was the vampire/werewolf/human romance "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1." …

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Cooking with Sheila

Skip the Gym, Get Your Mussels at Home Instead

Why pay big bucks for an appetizer in a restaurant? Make delicious steamed mussels for a fraction of the cost in your own kitchen.

"I'm on a seafood diet.  I see food and I eat it."  ~Author Unknown I was not a fan of seafood until recently. The most I would eat was shrimp cocktail or a tunafish sandwich (which hardly classifies as seafood to most folks.) That was until my husband and I went to an inn one weekend that was serving steamed mussels as an appetizer. I threw caution to the wind and gave them a try. I have been hooked ever since. Not only are mussels delicious but they are also considered a "power food" since they are an excellent source of protein and have more iron and vitamin B12 than beef. They are also very easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive. I use a very basic recipe of steaming the mussels in butter, white wine, shallots and garlic. Before I …

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Sheila Duggan Chabot

10:50 am on Monday, February 20, 2012

Thank you for the clarification, Dotty.   more ›