Summer of Adventure – 02/22/29

Summer is here! OK, not the actual season but if you have kids the planning for summer is happening, with many camps about to register or already registering kids for offerings June through August. Know of a camp not listed in our guide? Let us know at [email protected].

Also on the cover Last! Chance! To! Vote! When February is over, voting is over in the Best of 2024 readers’ poll. Vote now at hippopress.com.

It’s a big weekend for theater: The Prom opens at the Palace Theatre (see the item on page 7). Cue Zero Theatre Co. takes on the Lizzie Borden story in Blood Relations (see Michael Witthaus’ story on page 28). And the Milford Area Players present The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (see the item on page 29).

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Mistaken identity Dartmouth Health said in a statement on Feb. 24 that a local doctor has received threats of violence ...
Photo of assorted sports equipment for football, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball, and basketball
The Big Story – Patriots Rebuild Strategy: Withthe NFL’s new calendar year two weeks away from beginning (March 13), the ...
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Not the Disney direct! According to a Feb. 22 report from WMUR, Spirit Airlines is suspending service at Manchester-Boston Regional ...
People standing in a line behind a long orange ribbon that's about to be cut. This signals the opening of a business.
Friday, March 1 The Prom begins its four-week run at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) ...
Kids laying in the grass looking happy
Your guide to summer day camps The calendar says winter but when it comes to signing kids up for day ...
Black and white picture of woman holding an ax while one half is in a modern setting and the other is in a vintage setting.
Cue Zero production explores Lizzie Borden case One century before O.J. Simpson’s televised court proceeding captivated a nation, a murder ...
The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities • Also coming to the Currier: In addition to the new ...
A line of little porcelain figurines
Dear Donna, What do you do with old paperback books? Is there value or are they to be put in ...
Family fun for whenever Lacrosse season • Catch some Saint Anselm Hawks lacrosse at Grappone Stadium (Saint Anselm College in ...
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Red River Theatres’ Simchik Cinema is open again After several months of repairs and refurbishment, the Simchik Cinema at Red ...
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Use your barstool-sitting superpowers for good on Saturday, March 9, at the Tap House Grill in Hooksett during On Tap ...
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News from the local food scene • Chef’s table dinners: Tickets are available for March Chef’s Table Dinners at Flag ...
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The Bedford Village Inn livens up March with two events: Fondi Restaurant Week and Burgerama. According to the Bedford Village ...
Brass Plated Shuffle Cocktail in a glass
We’ve all been there. You might be sitting and having coffee or cocktails with a friend. You start talking about ...
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Fire Sale, Albatross () Some call it “melodic punk;” I call it neo-emo (or usually just “emo” for short, most ...
A girl in a red coat walking down a wintery path
The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday, 432 pages) Ariel Lawhon was in an obstetrician’s waiting room when she came ...
Two girls looking down at what looks like the trunk of a car
A pair of friends, one recently dumped by her girlfriend and one getting burned out at work, decide to take ...
Local music news & events • Broadway bash: Four actors who’ve all starred in Phantom of the Opera gather for ...
Two men singing and playing guitars
Slim Volume on the rise Blending elements of alt country and harmony-rich classic rock, Slim Volume is a breath of ...

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Fresh from the snowy farm – 02/22/24

Farmers markets aren’t just for summer. A few area towns take their markets indoors for the winter, offering an opportunity to keep in touch with farmers, cheesemakers, bakers and other local food purveyors even in the snowy season.

Also on the cover Vote! Vote today, right now even, in Hippo’s Best of 2024! Find the survey, which asks about all flavors of local amusement, on hippopress.com.

Also, it’s the season of Thin Mints and Samoas. Find out where to get those boxes of Girl Scout cookies and what flavors are available on page 24.

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Two food recalls The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health Services, is advising consumers ...
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Nashua holds its annual Tiny Film Festival The Nashua Public Library’s 2nd Annual Tiny Film Festival is now accepting 60-second ...
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The Big Story: Even with the Celtics and Bruins taking center stage with football done, the big story is the ...
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Helping wheels As mentioned at the bottom of this page, we welcome your QOLs. Michael McDonough of Catholic Charities of ...
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Thursday, Feb. 22 The Robert Cray Band comes to the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St.; nashuacenterforthearts.com, 800-657-8774) ...
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Winter farmers markets offer a taste of sunnier seasons Farmers markets aren’t just for the warmer months; some continue to ...
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NH Philharmonic performs Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony Among the most well-regarded of Gustav Mahler’s nine symphonies is his second. Commonly called ...
The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities • “Voice of the city”: Positive Street Art (48 Bridge St., ...
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Dear Donna, What do you do with old paperback books? Is there value or are they to be put in ...
Family fun for whenever Vacation at the museum School vacation runs Monday, Feb. 26, through Friday, March 1, for many ...
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Executive Director of Symphony New Hampshire Deanna R. Hoying leads Symphony New Hampshire, the state’s oldest professional orchestra, known for ...
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News from the local food scene • Bourbon dinner: The Homestead’s Bristol location (1567 Summer St.; 744-2022, homesteadnh.com) will hold ...
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Girls learn sales and leadership skills while selling Samoas and Thin Mints Girl Scout cookie season is underway, combining tasty ...
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2½ cups (222 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats ¼ to ½ cup chopped nuts ¼ cup sesame/poppy seeds 3 Tablespoons brown ...
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The Writeful Heirs, The Writeful Heirs (self-released) Big fan of the New Boston, N.H., area, which is where this boy/girl ...
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Fear Factories, by Matthew Scully (First Arezzo Books, 273 pages) Justice for Animals, by Martha C. Nussbaum (Simon and Schuster, ...
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A paramedic briefly dies, which somehow kickstarts her ability to see into the future, in Madame Web, one of those ...
Local music news & events • Record party: The fourth Thursday of the month is Bring Your Own Vinyl Night ...
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MILF Life Crisis explores life after divorce Life keeps handing Anne Marie Scheffler one-woman shows. In her early 30s she ...

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Back in the field

MILF Life Crisis explores life after divorce

Life keeps handing Anne Marie Scheffler one-woman shows. In her early 30s she did Not Getting It, a sendup of the dating scene. With marriage and kids came Suddenly Mommy! Scheffler’s recent divorce produced MILF Life Crisis, which arrives at Bank of NH Stage in Concord on Feb. 24.

In the new show, Scheffler and several of her alter egos explore re-entering a social fray made even more baffling by dating apps and age. Ultimately, though, it’s a celebration of the new freedom her new life offers. Flipping the acronym to (M)others are (I)ncredible, (L)ovely and (F)antastic, a derogatory fetish term is recast as a way to see female 40-something singlehood through a hopeful lens.

“We’re gonna make it fun and sexy, we’re gonna put on our leopard print,” Scheffler said in a recent phone interview. “You guys, just don’t worry about yourself, because we’ve got it covered.” It’s a powerful response to the idea that ending a marriage at a certain age is a death sentence.

“It could be the end of the world, but what if we decide it’s not?” Scheffler continued. “What if we decide we’re like George Clooney, and we only get better with age? This is the best time to be single because your kids are out … when you’re dating and you don’t have some part of your brain that’s like, ‘must procreate, must procreate’ — that’s really freeing.”

She’s egged on by fictional friend Kendra, whose airy attitude toward relationships aligns with Sam Malone from the ’80s sitcom Cheers; “let’s just go to bed, we don’t need a relationship” is her credo. Other characters in her journey from marriage to divorce to dating are friends offering sympathy and encouragement. Even her ex-husband appears, with his identity shrouded — apparently, he knew what marrying a comedian might portend.

“In our divorce agreement,” Scheffler said, “it’s literally in the legal document that I’m not allowed to use his real name.”

While MILF Life Crisis isn’t a show that Scheffler wanted or expected to make, she has a natural talent for mining laughs from her adversity.

“We can either be oppressed and sad, or laugh at it, shine the light in the dark corners and point out the silliness,” she said. “One of my strengths is I don’t put other people down; my comedy is very self-reflective, making fun of myself. What am I doing in my life that’s ridiculous? There’s a strength to making fun of what you’re supposed to take seriously.”

Scheffler always knew she would be a performer, but originally had her sights on being a serious actress. However, fate intervened.

“I went to theater school thinking I was going to be the next Meryl Streep, thinking, ‘I cry all the time, I’m sure I’ll be dramatic,’” she said. “I ended up being told, or it was very clear to the world, that I was good at comedy.”

She trained and toured with Second City and studied at the now-defunct Theater Resource Center. She also learned the mask-based style of clown technique created by Richard Pochinko, and studied with Phillippe Gaulier, who also taught Sacha Baron Cohen; Gaulier told her she was bound for great things.

“I thought that was probably a good sign,” Scheffler said. “With Second City, improv, the ability to write my own material and the Pochinko clowning, life is the best when I’m laughing.”

It’s led to a steady stream of success, despite the curveballs.

“I thought Suddenly Mommy! was going to be the thing that got me my TV series and put me on the map, but sadly, I got divorced; then my manager was like, everybody wants to know what your next show is,” she said, adding that she has a follow-up in the works called MILF & Cookies. “Who knew that I was going to be the poster child for divorce? I didn’t want that particularly… you wake up in your early 40s and you’re like, ‘I’m supposed to be married forever; now I have to start dating again?’”

MILF Life Crisis
When: Saturday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m.
Where: Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $43.75 at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Anne Marie Scheffler. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 24/02/22

Local music news & events

Record party: The fourth Thursday of the month is Bring Your Own Vinyl Night at a downtown craft brewery whose name illustrates the evening’s spirit. Check out To Share’s extensive collection, which includes everything from Tupac to Bob Seger’s Night Moves along with nuggets like Sanford Townsend Band’s Smoke From a Distant Fire. Thursday, Feb. 22, 4 p.m., To Share Brewing, 720 Union St., Manchester, tosharebrewing.com.

Folked up: Singer, songwriter and superb raconteur Vance Gilbert performs an “evening with” show. His latest album, 2023’s The Mother of Trouble, includes a song called “Simple Things” that Gilbert described as “what happens when a Black kid from Philadelphia who grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire, and didn’t know the Average White Band was white, tries to write a song like John Prine.” Friday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $25 at palacetheatre.org.

Country girl: Happy career news continues for April Cushman, who will play a Saturday night apres-ski gig with her trio. There are events like a recent showcase in Cincinnati and a Plymouth, Mass., headlining show coming in May, and in June, Cushman will be on the side stage for Lainey Wilson’s Meadowbrook concert and later entertaining NASCAR fans ahead of Race Weekend. Saturday, Feb. 24, 6 pm., Pats Peak Ski Area, 686 Flanders Road, Henniker. See facebook.com/aprilcushmanmusic.

Picking power: A fundraiser for an inventive sculpture garden has the New England Bluegrass Band, led by Cecil Abels, a Mississippi-born singer, guitarist and proprietor of Mr. Sippy’s BBQ, who came to the region via a career in the U.S. Navy. Converted from a ski resort in 1996, the beneficiary venue now welcomes a wide array of sculptors to create and place their work in its growing collection. Sunday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m., Andres Institute of Art, 106 Route 13, Brookline, $25 at andresinstitute.org.

Song circle: This month’s Songwriter RoundUp at a Lakes Region winery has Brooks Young and Tim Winchester with host Katie Dobbins. Young had quite the year in 2023, opening for George Thorogood & the Destroyers on an East Coast tour, buoyed by the success of his Supply Chain Blues album. Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Hermit Woods Winery, 72 Main St., Meredith, $10 and up at eventbrite.com.

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