Author: Michael Witthaus

Elle-ementary

Sherlock tale re-told in Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson — Apt. 2B

The game is afoot, and the many tropes made famous in tales of the world’s greatest detective are extant in Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B. The Community Players of Concord production, directed by Vicky Sandin, runs for three shows, Feb. 13 through Feb. 15, at Concord Civic Auditorium.

As with all Sherlock mysteries, there’s a twist. In what she calls “cheerfully desecrating the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,” playwright Kate Hamill reimagines the famous sleuth as a woman, along with her sidekick. In the process, she looks at their stories through a fresh and funny lens.

This is Sandin’s second Hamill production for Community Players. She previously directed her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 2023.

“I just know the vibe that she’s going for,” Sandin said by phone recently. “Kate Hamill and I are very tight in my eyes.”

Despite gender bending, familiar pieces are in place in Hamill’s play.

“What she did was modernize the canon,” Sandin explained. “Anybody who’s a Sherlock fan or who has read the stories will recognize tidbits from Conan Doyle’s original stories; she’s put those in there into the play as well.”

As Sherlock (a girl’s name too, but don’t call her Shirley), Suzanne Watts shines.

“This part was written for her, it’s just her all over,” Sandin said, adding that audiences will love her RP, Queen’s English accent. “I’ve always been so impressed by her acting charms, so I really wanted to work with her.”

Watts evokes the frazzled demeanor of television lawyer turned “cop-sultant” Elsbeth, with a distinct difference. “Our Sherlock is very much like that in the sense that she is able to put things together like Elsbeth and arrive at the solution sooner than everybody else,” Sandin said. “But she is not modest about her talent.”

Julia Kehr plays Ms. Watson, an American who’s moved to London for what one critic termed “an adult gap year,” who becomes Sherlock’s codependent flatmate. Sandin worked with Kehr in Pride and Prejudice. “She’s a very funny, comic, physical actor, and I just love watching what she brings,” she said.

Together they crack cases, all while Holmes is nagged by a crime she can’t quite name. “She’s solving all these little mysteries with Watson and she’s finding out that there’s a larger force at play … Holmes goes a little mental,” Sandin said. “When she figures out who’s doing all of this, it’s from the canon, but it’s not how you expect it to turn out.”

Travis Laughlin, who played the arch Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, is bumbling Inspector Lestrade. It’s a world away from his Masterpiece Theatre character, said Sandin. “There’s a whole level of amusement and laughter he’s brought to this part that I never knew existed … he is just laugh-out-loud funny.”

Rounding out the versatile cast are Heather McFadden playing Irene Adler with what Sandin termed “a lot of sexiness and suave,” Players veteran Karen Braz as Mrs. Drebber, Griffin Stuart as Texas tech billionaire Elliot Monk (the play happens amidst 2021’s late pandemic jitteriness), and Linda Pilla as grieving widow Mrs. Hudson.

Apart from the two Americans, everyone on stage uses different accents, but Pilla’s is genuine. “She was actually born and raised in Scotland, and in his books Conan Doyle made Mrs. Hudson a Scotswoman,” Sandin said. “She brings her native brogue from Glasgow … and does a wonderful job.”

As rehearsals have progressed, Sandin’s casting decisions have been reinforced.

“They know these characters more than I do,” she said. “They’ve started to interpret them in ways that are refreshing and new, which bring ideas on how to enhance the characters that they’ve built … that, to me, is the funnest part.”

Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson –Apt. 2B
When: Friday, Feb. 13, and Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m.
Where: Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St., Concord
Tickets: $22 and up at communityplayersofconcord.org

Featured photo: Suzanne Watts (Sherlock), Julia Kehr (Watson). Courtesy photo.

Gallery gathering

Jazz guitar accompanies art opening

Art and music go together like chardonnay and a fine brie. The pairing of jazz guitarist David Newsam with an exhibition by a group of regional painters opening Feb. 7 promises to be equally satisfying. Explore, Express: Painting with Purpose offers works from a New England College class led by Bedford artist Patrick McKay that’s met for the past 15 years.

“Someone like David is ideally suited for this kind of thing,” Rick Lugg, Exhibition Chair at Two Villages Art Society, said recently. “We’re trying to generate traffic, so we want a lot of people in there, and we want something that at least loosely complements the theme or the work of the show.”

Newsam has performed at Two Villages openings before. In a phone interview from his home in Raymond, he said he’ll play jazz standards and American Songbook selections this time.

“In the past, I’ve done a lot of open, free improvisation,” he said, adding, “I feel that a really important element is to try to shape the music to match the vibe of the artists.”

He’ll play solo on acoustic and electric guitar, eschewing the pedals, loops and other sound-scaping tools other musicians often use to augment their sound.

“I think it’s much more of a challenge to be able to do it all live without any kind of effects,” he said, pointing to guitarist Tommy Emmanuel’s approach as an ideal.

“He can present and portray an entire band just by himself, with the mechanics of the instrument,” Newsam explained. “I heard him answer this question once at a clinic, and he just said, ‘I hear the bass, I hear the piano, I hear the vocals, and I just try to play it all.’”

Born in Connecticut, Newsam attended Berklee College of Music and returned later to teach. He also taught at Dartmouth College and at UNH, where he founded their jazz guitar program.

“I always joked that at Berklee I was one of 50 guitar faculty, and at UNH I was the entire guitar program,” he said.

In high school Newsam listened to Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and guitar-based bands like the Allman Brothers; then he found jazz at Berklee. During his senior year he spent a lot of time in Hyannis, Mass., while taking care of his grandfather and got even deeper into the genre.

“Cape Cod was really a hotbed of amazing jazz players like Dave McKenna, the pianist, and Lou Colombo, the trumpet player,” he said. “I mean, these were some of the best players in the world, and they all were based in Cape Cod, so I had a ton of opportunities.”

Newsam continues to teach at Berklee and perform as well as occasionally record music. He and sax player Bobby Tynes recently released an instrumental EP, Kindred Souls. It includes a lively rendition of “Fishin’ Hole,” the theme song from 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, and a scintillating version of “The Very Thought of You.”

The two became friends in 1983.

“I had an opportunity to play a summer job, so I moved up to the Lake Winnipesaukee region,” he said. “Bobby’s uncle had a cabin. We met at a jam session and we’ve been playing music ever since … partners in crime for over four decades.”

The record is their first together. “It’s a collection of things we either did in the studio or did live that Bobby took into his recording studio,” Newsam said. “Some of the recordings are probably 20 years old…. It’s not like we went in as a project and recorded all that in one day.”

The five-track effort is available on streaming services for now.

“It’s really been fun listening to that, reminiscing about the music that we’ve played,” Newsam said. “We really are kindred souls. We don’t play for two or three months and when we get together it feels like we’ve been playing every day. It’s just that kind of relationship.”

Opening reception with guitarist David Newsam
When: Saturday, Feb. 7, noon
Where: Two Villages Art Society, 846 Main St., Contoocook
More: twovillagesart.org

Featured photo: David Newsam. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 26/02/05

• Church chuckles: The upstairs lounge at Stone Church has a slate of standup comics including Rob Steen, Shawn Ruiz, a DJ/rapper turned comic and actor and the deadpan Matt McArthur. Thursday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket, $15, stonechurchrocks.com, 21+.

• Twang rockers: Prog rockers turned electrified twangsters Horsefly Gulch headline a four-band show. The Strangeroos, super duo Blindspot and Frank Gruber open. Friday, Feb. 6, at 8 p.m., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester, horseflygulch.com.

• Helping hands: A fundraiser for a nonprofit community recording studio, Hearts On Fire features several Nashua area bands from across multiple genres. Tree Streets Collective was flooded during the Vine Street fire last December and lost many instruments as a result. Cody Pope, 6 Minds Combined, Dead Harrison, Faith Ann Band, Trophy Wives and more perform. Saturday, Feb. 7, at 2 p.m., Backstreet Bar & Grill, 76 Derry St., Hudson, $20, newhampshireunderground.org.

• Violin brunch: Kick off Sunday with brunch and elegant music from Lilly Inella, a violinist who enhances her performance with loops and backing tracks. Sunday, Feb. 8, at 11 a.m., Copper Door, 41 S. Broadway, Salem, linktr.ee/lillygetslost.

• Buffalo wingers: Nearing four decades since forming in college, jam band pioneers moe. have a new album, Circle of Giants, its first with keyboard player Nate Wilson (Percy Hill, Ghosts of Jupiter). Monday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m., Chubb Theatre, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $63 and up at ccanh.com.

Timely debate

Theatre Kapow performs What The Constitution Means To Me

When Theatre Kapow put together its current season last spring, the selection for early February looked to be a good one. The independent company leans toward plays that engage, challenge and provoke audiences. What The Constitution Means to Me, Obie-winning playwright Heidi Schreck’s account of the document’s impact on her life, fit that bill.

As a teenager Schreck was an evangelist for the Constitution. “It was like a Bible to me,” she said in a 2018 interview. At 15 she toured the country earning college tuition money by winning Constitutional debate competitions. Much of her play looks at the document’s impact on women’s lives, beginning with her great-great-grandmother and moving forward.

No one could have predicted Theatre Kapow’s prescience in choosing What The Constitution Means to Me, however. While Carey Cahoon, who plays Schreck, and director Emma Cahoon certainly knew its themes were timely and important, the past several months have made them even more impactful.

“One of the amendments that Heidi talks about quite a bit is the 14th,” Carey said in a recent Zoom interview that included Emma. “Many of us have been thinking about that particular amendment a lot lately, because that’s birthright citizenship; due process, equal protection under the law.”

In the same 2018 BUILD Series interview, Schreck called the amendment an impetus for writing the play. “I was looking for ways my own life had been personally affected by the Constitution,” she said. “The 14th amendment is very powerful, and they used it to decide a lot of cases having to do with female bodies.”

Re-reading the script to prepare for her role reminded Carey of its relevancy. “What’s more important to understand is the impact on our daily lives,” Carey said. “What does it mean to live it?” Emma described cathartic preparations, as events in Minnesota, Maine and other places demanded attention.

“We come in at the top of every day and spend 15 minutes being like, ‘Oh my God, the news since we last met,’” she said. “Then we just dive into something that feels productive. We get to step outside of ourselves without ignoring the big thing; instead, really processing the big thing.”

Emma stressed that addressing vital issues isn’t the only reason they’re doing the play.

“It’s very vulnerable and also very dark, and its historical language can be very specific, but it’s also very funny,” she said. “As we continue to deconstruct this play I think we’re still finding a way to have fun with it in spite of everything.”

The cast includes Nick Meunier playing a Legionnaire who helps a young Schreck during her debates, and two students from New Hampton School, Adia and Inaya Robinson-Wood, who alternate as high school debaters. The play concludes with a debate, on whether the Constitution should be abolished, with audience participation encouraged.

What The Constitution Means to Me opens with three shows at Winnipesaukee Playhouse and concludes with three more the following weekend at Concord’s BNH Stage. Following each of two Sunday matinees, anyone who wants to stay is invited for a conversation with the cast and director, with the hope of personalizing the production.

Carey noted that native New Englanders have a unique perspective.

“Revolutionary and Constitutional history is the local history,” she said. “You’re talking about it starting in your elementary school, because those things happened right here. If you grew up in a different part of the country, you’re not necessarily so well-versed in that period of American history.”

Both urge audiences to arrive with a willingness to engage in active listening — but also to enjoy the play as theater.

“I’m finding it fun, and I’m finding it layered — and I’m finding it cathartic,” Emma said. “I’m hoping that’s the experience people have in the room with us as well. I hope the spirit we’ve found in the rehearsal room is exactly what it feels like to then join us as an audience.”

What The Constitution Means To Me
When: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Feb. 15
Where: Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith (Feb. 6–8) and BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord (Feb. 13–15)
Tickets: $30 and up at tkapow.com
Advisory: Contains references to and discussions of domestic violence, sexual assault, abortion, and generational trauma

Featured photo: Carey Cahoon & Nick Meunier. Photo by Claire Gardner

Maine man

Griffin William Sherry returns to Rex

After his band The Ghost of Paul Revere called it quits after a dozen years together, singer, songwriter and guitarist Griffin William Sherry went solo. His debut album, Hundred Mile Wilderness, was greeted as one of 2024’s best. His live shows, sprinkled with Ghost songs, were equally lauded, and his fan base grew steadily.

However, as a recent phone interview got underway from Sherry’s home in Augusta, Maine, Sherry’s old band was top of mind. In mid-January, news broke of a fall reunion show and a reboot of Ghostland, the annual festival that ended with the dissolution of the much-loved band, amidst hopes it might carry on without them.

“That cat just ran out of the bag,” a laughing Sherry said. “Yeah, we’re getting the band back together, Blues Brothers style. Carrie Fisher will be exhumed from the grave and chase us down with a missile launcher…. We always wanted to play a show together and kind of kept that door open in case.”

He’s especially pleased that his band will perform at Ghostland, on Sept. 6 at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine. “That was something I really wanted to happen, for people that might not have been paying attention the last couple of years to see what I’ve been working on.”

His solo material is story-forward and personal, like “Roll Down Slow,” a hard-luck tale drawn from life on the road.

“As a touring musician, you tend to meet a certain type of people that tend to go pretty hard after the sun goes down,” he said. “That kind of flagrant irresponsibility was super interesting to me, and not something I was unfamiliar with.”

Written for his wife the morning after Roe v. Wade was overturned, “We Will Fight” is a defiant love song that resonates at shows. “I use it as an opportunity to platform both Planned Parenthood and also what I see as a civic duty to stand up for your neighbors and not let the times roll over you,” he said. “I think it’s pretty important right now.”

Hundred Mile Wilderness was recorded in Nashville’s legendary Studio B with producer Eddie Spear, who helmed Luke Bryan’s multi-platinum American Heartbreak and also worked with Brandi Carlile, Sierra Ferrell and breakout star Jesse Welles. Sherry played with a band of ace session players.

“My Juliet” is a breezy looking-for-love country song with a character highly informed by the studio band. Sherry allowed that many tracks reflect what he termed “the Nashville bluegrass [and] Americana sound that’s popular right now,” but his spirit, along with his original vision, still guides the effort.

“A lot of the stuff that I had brought to Eddie we ended up using on the final record,” he said. “The instrumentation we chose, certainly having Billy Contreras on fiddle, made it seem a little bit more like a bluegrass record. But that band … I can’t speak highly enough about all those guys.”

Sherry and his touring band, including guitarist Zachary Bence and bass player McCrae Hathaway, are at Manchester’s Rex Theatre on Jan. 30. He was at the venue around the same time last year, bringing filmmaker Ernest Thompson on stage to do “Cross The Bridge,” a song he co-wrote with Joe Delault and Thompson for the movie The Constituent.

Several new songs have made their way into sets lately, including the dreamy “Cathedral of Pine,” released in November, and “Moline,” a brooding ballad yet to be recorded. Sherry explained that he enjoys sharing his works in progress with an audience, and gaining insights from the experience.

“I don’t feel like a song is truly written until I’ve performed it in front of a bunch of people, to see where the reactions are and what needs to be changed or reinforced,” he said. “So I love playing songs for crowds before we put them on a record, so I have a little bit more of an idea what that song’s identity is.”

Griffin William Sherry
When: Friday, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
Tickets: $40 at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: Griffin William Sherry. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 26/01/29

• Song circle: A monthly evening of original music preceded by wine tasting, Songwriter RoundUp is hosted by Katie Dobbins playing some of her own songs, along with the return of singer-songwriter Temple Mountain, and Molly Shuvani, whose powerful voice gives her original songs like “Pebble In The Pond” a hymn-like quality. Several are on Soundcloud and worth a listen or two. Thursday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m., Hermit Woods Winery, 72 Main St., Meredith, hermitwoods.com.

• Snowy turn: Spending a weekend in ski country, Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners kick off winter carnival with a headlining show that’s free to active-duty military and veterans. The following night they’ll preside over apres ski at Ragged Mountain and wrap up with another Franklin set, accompanied by Andrew Mason McIntosh and Will Hatch. Friday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m., Veteran’s Memorial Ski Area, 266 Flaghole Road, Franklin, $15, $10 ages 6-17, kierbyrnes.com.

• Goth show: A fraternal falling out fractured doomy Gene Loves Jezebel into two bands led by identical twins Jay and Michael Aston. This happened in the late 1980s, and though the two reunited briefly in 1997, the rift remains, along with a need to clarify which version of the group is playing when a concert happens. At an upcoming local one, Michael will be the brother in charge. Friday, Jan. 30, 7 p.m., Jewel Music Venue, 61 Canal St., Manchester, $12 and up at promotix.com.

• Prawn act: Connecticut improv rock quartet Big Shrimp formed just a couple of years ago but is already garnering attention. Grateful Web included them in the Top 12 Upcoming Jam Bands for 2026, lauding, “pure heat: long sets, huge grooves, and a rhythm section that feels like it could carry an entire block party by itself.” Twiddle’s Ryan Dempsey joins them for a local show. Saturday, Jan. 31, doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester, $23 at eventbrite.com.

• New face: Promising a different show with local material every night, Kathy Griffin returns to New Hampshire with a grateful outlook after a harrowing few years. Sunday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m., Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $49 and up at ccanh.com.

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