Play On

A look at Symphony NH as its music director prepares to pass the baton

Though it doesn’t take cues from the movie Conclave, the process of finding a successor to Roger Kalia, Music Director of Symphony NH, is similar in spirit.

“You’re really looking for someone who is the face of the organization,” search consultant Nick Adams said recently. “How they interact with a whole host of fairly disparate groups of people … you want to have a system that allows you to see that person in these different environments.”

Kalia announced his departure in early 2024. When the final notes of Aaron Copland’s American Symphony fade at his last concert on May 10 at Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts, the maestro will have spent six years leading the state’s largest orchestra. By then, four or five potential new conductors will be finalized.

What happens next is an interesting twist on filling an outgoing leadership role. Each candidate will have an opportunity to perform for the classical music community over the course of the 2025-26 concert season. At the end, one will become Symphony NH Music Director.

Adams, who served as Operations Manager at Symphony NH from 2007 to 2014 and now heads the Boston-based Cantata Singers along with his search efforts, believes the season-long audition is the best way for a community to choose a potential conductor. They’ve considered 10 candidates thus far.

“What we were looking for is are they able to take an art form that’s hundreds of years old and program it in a way that … speaks to people who already know the language of classical music and orchestras, but also package it and involve composers and other music in a way that might bring new 21st-century audiences in.”

Symphony NH Executive Director Deanna Hoying values this long hello as a way to see how potential Music Directors will bond with the orchestra. To that end, the search committee will attend rehearsals to evaluate chemistry between them and the candidate.

“You want to know how these folks work with the musicians,” she said by phone in late February. “Are they efficient in how they use the time that they have? How do they work with our librarian? Watching how they work, how they treat people in that environment is really important, because our musicians are our most valuable asset. Many of them have been with us for decades.”

The selection process that culminated in 2019 was the result of a national search for a Music Director. Kalia lives in Evansville, Indiana, where he leads that city’s orchestra, and traveled to Nashua for his work there. The current effort is focused on finding a candidate based in the region.

Deanna Hoying. Courtesy photo.

“Working with a Music Director who doesn’t live here; I think one of the things they realized is the value of having them be a little bit closer is, one, you just get to see them more, and that helps a lot,” Hoying said. “People have connections to these artists.”

They began with an element of uncertainty, wondering if they could attract enough candidates, and they built safeguards into the process in case they needed to expand at some point.

“We felt like, ‘let’s start with what we actually want, which is somebody within a two-hour drive of New Hampshire,” Hoying said, adding the net would widen “if we felt that we didn’t have enough in the pool.”

Fortunately, she continued, “We had so much wealth of talent that we didn’t need to do that. What blew us all away was that we had so many incredibly talented people who are local … because you don’t know until you throw the net out what you’re going to get.”

Kalia and Hoying came to Symphony NH in the same year. After moving to Manchester from Louisville, where she worked with their orchestra, Hoying reached out to then director Mark Thayer to offer her services. She started as a grant writer in the spring. Kalia began his tenure that fall.

When the pandemic arrived, the organization turned from celebrating a new leader to wondering how it could survive.

“Roger started and didn’t even get through his first season, dear guy,” Hoying said. “In spring, it’s like, ‘Guess what? We’re going to have to pivot.’ He and I talked about pivoting a lot and we did it a lot as more information became available. We got through Covid; we did the livestream shows.”

Emerging from months of virtual programming, there were still plenty of restrictions to address.

“Everything was changing, sometimes very rapidly, and we were always having to respond,” Hoying recalled. “What’s everybody feeling now; how is this going to work? We knew there might be a percentage of our pre-Covid audience who may never come back.”

During that time, Thayer left to work for the symphony in Elgin, Illinois. He recommended Hoying, whose role had expanded into development, as his replacement. She accepted, but asked to begin as Interim Executive Director. “I wanted the board to feel like they had some agency, and to make sure they were comfortable with me,” she said. “And that I, in all honesty, was comfortable doing the job. I mean, this is a big job.”

The upcoming 2022-2023 season marking Symphony NH’s centennial year was an immediate challenge as she moved into her permanent position. “Covid really upended planning, but we were able to put together a season that really celebrated, as we called it, looking back.”

This included longtime partner organization the Nashua Choral Society performing Mozart’s Requiem with the local Nashoba Valley Chorale.“We looked to our past for inspiration,” she recalled. “We celebrated the hundredth at the brand-new Nashua Center for the Arts, which was lovely. We were one of the first shows; I think they had been open all of three weeks.”

That connection with Nashua’s newest venue became more critical with the closing of Keefe Auditorium, the site for many concerts in the past. In an interview last fall, Roger Kalia spoke of the challenges presented by losing the Keefe and its larger stage, while at the same time praising the Nashua Center.

“We had a dedicated audience at the Keefe, and that is a little bit challenging in the sense that we’re going to miss that,” he said. The new venue, Kalia added, “is acoustically really good, and close to the audience, in the sense that the seats are very close to the stage. It’s intimate music-making, and I really enjoy that.”

Symphony NH. Courtesy photo.

He went on to say that while the Keefe was the state’s largest auditorium, its 1,400 seats were sometimes hard to fill. “The Nashua Center has 700, and every seat is essentially filled. As a musician, you enjoy that, when you see a full audience sitting there.”

The relationship will continue when the Symphony NH Brass Ensemble is among the performers gathering to celebrate the center’s second anniversary on Tuesday, April 1. The Nashua Community Music School String Ensemble, Ukestra, Ruby Shabazz, Y Dance in Motion, Peacock Players and Actorsingers will also appear.

A statewide entity — the name was changed from Nashua Symphony Orchestra in 2012 — Symphony NH has expanded its reach in recent years, with multiple concerts in Concord, Derry and Manchester, in addition to Nashua’s St. Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church, where the annual Holiday Brass concert was held last December.

All parties in the search expressed that finding a Music Director who lives in the community comes with an underlying priority: selecting a candidate who will also be of the community. Nick Adams recalled a search committee member telling him that one of their evaluation metrics is, “Would I like to have a bagel and coffee with this person at the corner cafe? They’ll tell me about their musical selections and what inspires them. It’s an excellent way to think about it.”

Hoying concurred, saying, “there are definitely a lot of elements to this job, and Music Director is equal parts being on stage and working with the musicians and then really having that presence in the community … when they go into a local coffee shop, people know who they are.”

Part of classical music’s enduring nature comes from centuries of maestros reinterpreting important works, she continued, citing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as an example. “Everybody brings their own take to it, so I think that’s where you want to kind of generate that interest and this level of approachability. You’ve got to be able to connect with your audiences. Otherwise … that’s where I think you miss the mark.”

Further, she continued, “What I look for in a candidate is someone that’s got a very clear vision of what an orchestra can be in the 21st century, knowing that we do still have a lot of challenges. We are still competing with inflation and content on streaming services and all those things that keep people from coming out. What is the vision of the orchestra in the future, and how do we welcome everyone to our family, to our concerts?”

The committee hopes to choose finalists soon.

“Our current field of semifinalists is 10 people,” Adams said. “I tell Deanna all the time, ‘Your next music director is in this pool.’ The number of applicants that we had that are just really talented and are interested in this position is — it’s a very deep pool. I think a host of them will be really exciting for the community to see. What is most encouraging to me is I think the future is really bright.”

It’s a rich and varied list, he continued. “There’s certainly some that bring different kinds of strengths to the table, but each of them has been really able to present a compelling picture of what their music directorship would look like. So I think at this point we’re really looking at whatever the perfect fit is for the southern New Hampshire community…. There’s a lot of reasons to be excited.”

Next up for Maestro Kalia
What: “Serenade for Winds,” a unique concert that focuses on the orchestra’s wind section.
When: Saturday, March 8, 7:30 p.m., Nashua Community College (505 Amherst St., Nashua)
Tickets: $10-$40 at symphonynh.org

Kalia described the program:
“Although less common in concert halls than full symphonic orchestras with winds, today’s concert wind ensemble has a lengthy history, rooting itself in the European tradition of Harmoniemusik. Emerging in the late 18th century, Harmoniemusik was a form of chamber music written specifically for wind instruments. These ensembles, typically composed of pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons — the common instrumentation of the wind section for court and theater orchestras — were initially associated with the courts of European aristocracy. They provided lively outdoor entertainment or underscored formal banquets, serving as a sonic emblem of both elegance and status. Composers like Mozart and Haydn were among the first to elevate the genre, recognizing its potential beyond mere functional music.

“The growing prominence of the wind ensemble coincided with a broader interest in exploring the unique tonal palette of wind instruments. While strings dominated the symphonic repertoire, winds offered a range of colors — from the playful chirping of flutes and clarinets to the noble warmth of horns. By the early 19th century, advancements in instrument design allowed for greater technical and dynamic capabilities, inspiring composers to craft more ambitious works for winds. The wind ensemble transformed from a courtly entertainment medium to a standalone artistic force, paving the way for masterpieces such as those featured in this program.

“I would also mention that Mendelssohn was only 15 years old when he wrote his Overture for Winds. A very impressive achievement!”

Indiana wants him

Maestro Kalia talks about his final Symphony NH concerts

Roger Kalia’s tenure as Symphony NH’s Music Director draws to a close with three more concerts, the final in May. In a phone interview on Feb. 24 he talked about his final three concerts and shared memories about his time leading the orchestra, once again intimating that classical music fans may see him again.

Though he’s not participating in the search for his successor, Kalia offered his thoughts on becoming the Music Director at Symphony NH through a similar process.

For my year, they had, I think, eight or nine candidates. So it was a little bit bigger. I think it was over a year and a half rather than just one season. All the finalists conducted a concert, and then during the week we’d meet with search committee members and all sorts of community members. It’s an intense process.

man standing in suit without tie holding conductor's baton, smiling
Roger Kalia. Courtesy photo.

Serenade of the Winds”happens Saturday, March 8, at Nashua Community College.

There are three incredible works in this concert that really are probably the most famous pieces from the wind repertoire, I would say. When Mozart was writing these pieces, he was really kind of opening up a … I don’t want to say new genre, but a new way of writing for chamber music, and the focus was on wind instruments. The Mozart is one of the most famous works; it’s called the Gran Partita. It’s full of elegance, charm. It has a stunning slow movement, which is an adagio. It’s a seven-movement work, and we’re doing the first three movements and the finale…. We’re also doing the Dvorak Serenade for Winds, which is a joyful work that’s infused with a lot of Czech folk music, which is where he was from [and] it features, once again, all of the wind instruments of the orchestra, and really highlights the principal winds…. We’re opening the concert with a work by Felix Mendelssohn called the Overture for Winds, a very youthful, energetic piece, that really highlights his gift of melody and drama….

I feel that it’s important to highlight our wind musicians because they’re incredibly talented and it gives them more of a soloistic feature…. A lot of orchestras, I think, don’t program these works often just because … the strings aren’t playing. I think Symphony NH is unique in that, I feel especially during my tenure, we’ve done a lot with chamber works, and I call them that because they’re smaller works, it’s not a full orchestra. We did it during Covid especially.

With music from West Side Story and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, “It’s All Overtures” on Saturday, April 19, will appeal to even casual fans of classical music.

They’re all shorter pieces, let’s say 5 to 10 minutes. We’re doing nine or 10 overtures on this program, all pretty popular ones. I mean, talk about accessible and familiar pieces. You think about Rossini, the William Tell Overture, the one made famous by the Lone Ranger, something I think everyone would know. West Side Story with Bernstein … Maestro was an Oscar-nominated movie with Bradley Cooper. Because of that, Bernstein’s music has … been in the spotlight a little bit more. I think a lot of people know the Marriage of Figaro Overture by Mozart. It’s light, it sparkles, it’s fast, virtuosic.

The concert will also feature a piece by Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix’s older sister — a rarity, a 19th-century female composer.

It’s a great work, eight to nine minutes, and it sounds a lot like early Beethoven. It’s so melodic and rich. So I’m excited to feature that work. It deserves to be heard and celebrated. She faced a lot of barriers, [but] this overture now is getting played everywhere, the Overture in C. I think it’s a hidden gem, and it’s a fun one. The orchestra is featured, especially the woodwinds. There’s some beautiful clarinet solos and oboe flute solos.

For the all-American “Rhapsody in Blue” concert on May 10, Kalia bids adieu to Symphony NH with a program featuring pianist Fei Fei.

I’ve always loved conducting the music of American composers like Gershwin and Copland. Appalachian Spring has always been one of my favorite works, but rather than do that, I wanted to do a grand, majestic work like the Symphony No. 3…. It captures the spirit of America, the optimism of our country. It culminates in the triumphant Fanfare for the Common Man. I’m a former trumpet player and this is one of the great brass works in the repertoire…. Fei Fei, I want to say this will be our fourth time collaborating on Rhapsody in Blue…. She performs it with a unique twist … she really brings out the jazz elements, and she is so exciting to watch.

On becoming Musical Director of the Terre Haute Symphony on July 1.

I’m looking forward to working with their [outgoing] music director next month on … a decades-of-pop concert [featuring acts like] Frank Sinatra; Earth, Wind & Fire; Metallica; Led Zeppelin. It’s going to be a fun show with a singer [and] not to get off track here, I grew up a huge metal fan, and I was a big Metallica fan when I was in high school, and I love conducting rock shows with an orchestra, it’s so much fun. Audiences just go crazy. It’s not your typical classical audience where they’re just sitting there. They’re up, moving around, dancing, it’s great to see. Terre Haute, as with Symphony NH, they’re open to innovative programming. So I’m looking forward to all of these different innovative programs that we’re going to be putting on, the variety of music.

Though he’s leaving, it’s not goodbye forever.

I’m still going to be in touch with everyone from Symphony NH. Even though it’s a job, I’ve made a lot of personal friendships…. Deanna, who’s been my partner the last four years since she took the job as Executive Director, she’s been great to me. We see eye to eye on programming, and she’s all about … expanding the repertoire and making it more inclusive, and being about the community and reaching new audiences. I hope to continue that in a community like Terre Haute. I know they’re open to it. They’re open to innovation and making the orchestra accessible and community engagement is the key. I think that’s going to be a big part of my tenure there.

Finally, a favorite memory.

One of my most proud moments with the orchestra was the New Hampshire Concerto that we did last year, where we collaborated with four student composers from four different universities in New Hampshire, and they created a multi-movement work that was about New Hampshire, about the topography, the geography, the history, whatever it had to do with New Hampshire. It was really special to give those kids an opportunity to work with a professional orchestra, and I’m actually hoping to bring that model to my other orchestras now because I think it was so successful. Because it celebrated not only new music, but connected with the local community, the state of New Hampshire. Which is what this is all about, community engagement. It was also an opportunity to showcase our focus on music education, giving student musicians opportunities.

Symphony NH upcoming concerts

Serenade of the Winds
Saturday, March 8, 7:30 p.m. at Nashua Community College, Judd Gregg Hall Auditorium, 505 Amherst St., Nashua
A concert dedicated to the orchestra’s wind instruments, the program includes Mendelssohn’s Overture for Winds, Op. 24 in C Major (1824), select movements from Gran Partita, Mozart’s Serenade No.10 in B-flat Major, K.361, (1781) and Dvořák’s Serenade, Op.44, B.77, D minor (1878)

Hollywood Hits
Saturday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. at Stockbridge Theatre, 22-98 Bypass 28, Derry
Sunday, March 30, 3 p.m. at Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord
Blockbuster movie themes from Gone with the Wind, The Magnificent Seven, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, James Bond, Rocky, The Pink Panther, Moon River, Dances with Wolves, Ben Hur and more.

It’s All Overtures
Saturday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. at Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua
Well-known overtures, from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro to Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Rhapsody in Blue
Saturday, May 10, 7:30 p.m. at Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 South Main St., Concord,
Maestro Kalia leads his last concert, with guest pianist Fei-Fei. It’s an all-American affair with works of Aaron Copland, Florence Price and George Gershwin. The program includes Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924), Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement (1934) and Copland’s Symphony No. 3 (1944-46)

Illuminated Ensembles – Chamber Favorites
Sunday, May 18, 4 p.m. at Bank of New Hampshire Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
The final concert in the Illuminated Ensembles series, with the Symphony NH Woodwind Quintet performing an evening of classical chamber music.

Still the ones

Orleans comes to Concord

By Michael Witthaus

[email protected]

Orleans’ story is one of hurdles faced and cleared, including one so monumental it’s a miracle they’re still making music.

The first challenge came two years after the band formed in 1972, when the record label didn’t hear a hit on their second album and dropped them. They bounced back after the A&R head at Asylum listened to “Dance With Me” and “Let There Be Music” from the rejected LP. He caught something, and bought the re-recording rights.

Lance Hoppen made the trio his brother Larry co-founded a quartet 10 months after forming. In a recent phone interview, he explained why two enduring hits were non-starters until they landed on the ears of Asylum’s Chuck Plotnick. “With his input, they were re-sculpted,” he said. The first “opened the door at radio, and ‘Dance With Me’ basically went top five.”

The latter, he continued, “was now a hit record, as well as a hit song.”

Now a wedding standard, the ballad began as a riff that guitarist John Hall played at rehearsal.

“Larry said, ‘That’s a good one, you should finish that,’” Hoppen recalled. The song was atypical of a band that got its name from the Allan Toussaint and Meters covers it favored. Hall’s co-writer wife Johanna, who’d later pen the smash “Still The One,” wrote the lyrics.

“John said to her, ‘Is that it? Is that all it is?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, that’s what it is’ — look what happened to that,” Hoppen continued. “Some things just come out of the blue; no way could we have predicted it would be a hit, especially in light of the mainstream of our material.”

Orleans’ biggest hit came two years later, when a neighbor of John and Johanna Hall who was splitting with her husband asked if they could write a song about relationships that didn’t end in breakup. Joanna jotted the words to “Still the One” on the back of an envelope and gave it to John, who said in a 2021 interview that he wrote the music in 15 minutes.

Hall departed for a solo career in 1977, and the band’s final charting single, “Love Takes Time,” came two years later. But label problems of a different kind choked their momentum. Infinity Records made a big bet on an album of live recordings from Pope John Paul II that flopped. MCA took it over, and let Orleans’ 1980 follow-up record wither on the vine.

In July 2012, Larry Hoppen died by suicide. Reeling from tragedy, Lance was at the same time mindful of the band’s many business commitments.

“I just changed the question; it was not, are we going to continue, it was how,” he said. “So I called John.” Hall had wanted back into the band after serving two terms in Congress, and now he was needed, if only to fulfill obligations.

With the help of various alumni, they continued through November, concluding with a memorial concert in Nashville.

“I raised some money for his kids, that’s what that was for,” Lance said. “I was sure we were done, forty years, this must be it … then I got a phone call.”

A promoter putting together a Sail Rock Tour asked Orleans to be the house band for Christopher Cross, Robbie Dupree, Gary Wright and others.

“We were resurrected in that manner, and the years kept flowing,” Lance said. “It was a really high hurdle, under duress, and we made it.”

More than a dozen years later the band soldiers on. The current lineup includes Lance Hoppen and his brother Lane, Brady Spencer, Tom Lane, and Tony Hooper. Hall retired from touring due to health concerns but still joins on occasion. Lance hopes he and his longtime band mate will return to the studio one more time before calling it a career.

“We have … a retrospective collection and some new cuts,” he said. “John and I are kind of like, ‘Well, it’s come up again, are we going to finish this thing or what?’ There are a couple of tracks that … have been there for a long time. If we just finish them, we’ll have something to put out, and it’ll probably be the last thing we do.”

Orleans
When: Thursday, Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BNH Stage, 16 S. Main St.,
Concord
Tickets: $69 and up at ccanh.com

Featured Photo: Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 25/02/27

By Michael Witthaus

[email protected]

•• Welcome back: The show never ends as Carl Palmer hosts An Evening With Emerson, Lake & Palmer that’s a virtual concert from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame prog rock band. Video from a 1992 Royal Albert Hall performance brings back Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, who both passed away in 2016, while Palmer plays along on drums to evoke the masterful power trio. Thursday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $55 and up at tupelohall.com.

Hard rocking: Check out three distinct flavors of female-fronted metal with Dystopica, a Connecticut-based band led by singer Becky Brideau, who recently released the revved-up single “Freewheel Burning,” local favorites Sepsiss, hot on the heels of their latest, “Play the Game,” an indictment of industry success syndrome, and riffy duo the Saturn Cycle. Hollow Virtue opens. Friday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m., Shaskeen Pub, 909 Elm St., Manchester, $10 at the door, 21+, @KineticCityEvents.

Bag boys: Boasting they’re “the most famous bagpipe band on the planet,” the Red Hot Chilli Pipers have a pair of area appearances to kick off the Celtic-centric month. The nine-piece group is known for its rock ’n trad “bag rock,” which includes covers of everything from “Amazing Grace” to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m., Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, and Sunday, March 2, 7 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia. $29 and up at etix.com.

Forthright folk: The rootsy trio Low Lily — married couple Liz Simmons and Flynn Cohen, and fiddler Natalie Padilla — decided to be bold on their latest, Angels in the Wreckage. The a capella anthem “What’ll You Do” is punchy, political and ready-made for a march, while “One Wild World” covers similar territory more tenderly. Sunday, March 2, 6 p.m., Andres Institute of Art, 106 Route 13, Brookline, $25 at andresinstitute.org.

Neighbor loving: It’s legend that The Rough & Tumble was born when Mallory Graham met Scott Tyler on a double decker bus in 2011 while spying on his notebook. Their latest, Hymns for My Atheist Sister & Her Friends to Sing Along To, is a hopeful album focused on the nature of faith in a corrosive world. The energetic chorale piece “Love Them, Too” is a standout. Tuesday, March 4, 2 p.m., Taylor Community Center, 435 Union Ave., Wolfeboro, bandsintown.com.

Latitude adjustment

Easygoing Escape to Margaritaville hits Palace

By Michael Witthaus

[email protected]

New England spent most of February waking up to single-digit temperatures and the sound of snowplows in the street, so the latest musical at the Palace Theatre couldn’t arrive at a better time. Set in a sunny resort somewhere near the equator, Escape to Margaritaville is a frothy, guilty pleasure that’s packed with Jimmy Buffet songs.

With a book from a pair of sitcom veterans, the jukebox musical’s mood is best summed up by Tully (Matt McCloskey), who sings at the hotel bar and is modeled after the writer of “Changes in Latitudes” and the show’s title song. “The deeper you go,” Tully says, “the less interesting it gets.”

To paraphrase the Bard of the Keys, this evening comes with a license to chill.

The plot centers on a bachelorette getaway. Tammy (Megan Quinn) is finding some respite from her boorish fiance ahead of her wedding. Rachel (Jen Fogarty-Morgan) cares more about getting a soil sample from an island volcano for an energy venture that apparently involves potatoes, but falls quickly in a fling with the one-week-stand specialist Tully.

While that’s happening, Tammy is warming to the polar opposite of her husband-to-be, a genial bartender named Brick (Adam Fields). With those parts in place, and a few colorful denizens like hotel owner Marley (Nakiiya Coleman), old-timer J.D. (Jacob Medich) and handyman Jamal (Tyler Price Robinson), the Parrothead-pleasing songfest moves forward.

Though Escape to Margaritaville is aimed at the people who instinctively know the last two words in the chorus of “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” it’s also fun for folks who are new to Buffett’s brand of trop rock. In fact, the Palace company had little awareness of him before rehearsals, one of which was canceled due to a foot of snow falling.

That would change.

“Now I get it; I’m kind of a converted Parrothead,” Director Carl Rajotte said by phone recently. “We’re having a blast teaching this show. There’s a lot of stylized dancing, a Caribbean feel, and then just all the puns. The show is written for people who enjoy puns, and all of the actors are laughing during rehearsal.”

In a joint interview, Fogarty-Morgan and Quinn discussed the cast’s mood as a Feb. 28 opening night approached.

“It’s a really nice, easy story,” Fogarty-Morgan said. “It’s fun, it’s goofy and silly. The music is amazing and wonderful and you get to hear it in a new way, which will be fun for the fans. They put together a phenomenal cast, and everyone’s really going to have a good time.”

Quinn, a Palace favorite who also runs their Youth Theatre Company, is pleased to see many fresh faces in Margaritaville. “Besides Jen and one other person, I have not worked with any of these people before,” she said. “They are all so good, so talented and very funny. We’ve been having such a good time with them, so that’s been a nice experience.”

Early on, both Quinn and Rajotte were certain “for an embarrassingly long time” that Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” was a Buffett tune, but they since have come far. Everyone has a favorite now — “Cheeseburger in Paradise” is Quinn’s go-to, and Fogarty-Morgan is a fan of “Five O’clock Somewhere,” which began as an Alan Jackson tune with a guest vocal before Buffett took sole ownership by making it a staple at his concerts.

Rajotte selected the new work with an eye on the schedule, and the Palace will keep the tropical vibe alive by handing out leis to audience members. No word yet on whether blenders will be whirring with the show’s signature drink, though. The show is a great way to clear thoughts of frigid temperatures and seasonal stress, if only for a couple of hours.

“We always strive to do at least two brand new shows per season,” he said. “It’s the perfect time to do it, with the cold and snow … I keep on falling on the ice, but then I get to come in here and have a good time with this music and this show, and I know the audience will, too.”

Escape to Margaritaville

When: Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 2
& 7:30 p.m., and Sundays, 2 p.m. through
March 23. Also Thursday, March 20, 7:30
p.m.
Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St.,
Manchester
Tickets: $39 and up at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: The cast of Escape to Margaritaville. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 25/02/20

By Michael Witthaus

[email protected]

Family affair: With their reputation as Canada’s first couple of music set, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy bring their children Mary Frances and Michael Leahy on stage for an evening of Cape Breton’s finest mix of Celtic and traditional sounds. The show exudes youthful energy, while highlighting MacMaster and the elder Leahy’s fiddling talent. Thursday, Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester, $43 and up at palacetheatre.org.

Rock coda: Formed by Dokken’s principal songwriter George Lynch after the band broke up in 1989, Lynch Mob long outlasted its predecessor. Its first album went gold, and a dozen more followed in a 30-plus-year career that’s now wrapping up with a farewell tour called The Final Ride. The current lineup is Lynch on guitar, singer Gabriel Colon, with a rhythm section of Jaron Gulino and Jimmy D’Anda. Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $55 at tupelohall.com

Mule man: Million Voices Whisper, the first solo effort in nine years from Warren Haynes, has the Gov’t Mule leader and former Allman Brothers guitarist in town for a show. The new disc reflects the soul music that inspired Haynes early on and includes a collaboration with fellow Brother Derek Trucks, “Real, Real Love,” that was begun by Gregg Allman before his death. Friday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m., Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord, $55 and up at ccanh.com.

Ski jam: The house band for monthly jams at BNH Stage, Andrew North & the Rangers, play an apres-ski trio set. The local favorites have a new live album, Thanks for the Warning, Vol. 2, recorded at Feathered Friend Brewery in early December 2023. Their Bandcamp page has even more, like a 24-song show from early January show at Penuche’s Ale House in Concord. Saturday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Pats Peak, 686 Flanders Road, Henniker. Visit andrewnorthandtherangers.com.

Twin bill: A solid rock ’n’ roll show has true believers Dr. G & Lee topping the bill. Louisiana-born Brandon Gauthier fell in love with a 100-watt Fender amp as a teenager and has kept it loud since, while managing at the same time to earn a doctorate in history. Lee Durham is a veteran guitarist. All-female trio Catwolf opens. Saturday, Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m., Milk St. Studios, 6 Milk St., Dover, $15 at portsmouthnhtickets.com.• Shake it: A group of Boston area musicians with a love for funk, Booty Vortex play an early Valentine’s Day show at a romantic spot. Break out the dancing shoes and get out to get down for an evening of throwback dance music from bands like Earth, Wind & Fire and Wild Cherry. Along with winery selections will be a full bar with themed cocktails, beer and non-alcoholic drinks. Thursday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry, $40 at labellewinerey.com.

Dy-no-mite: Before he hit it big playing J.J. on the ’70s sitcom Good Times, Jimmie Walker worked as a standup comic at Black Panther gatherings in Harlem and toured with Motown revues. Friday, Feb. 14, 6 p.m., Newfound Lake Inn, 1030 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, $25 and up at eventbrite.com.

Song man: After his band Ghost of Paul Revere parted ways in 2022, Griffin William Sherry began a solo career; his first record, Hundred Mile Wilderness, dropped last fall. Recorded in Nashville with an engineer who’s worked with Sierra Hull and Brandi Carlile, the album’s title is a reference to the stretch of the Appalachian Trail that passes through Sherry’s home state of Maine. Saturday, Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $33 at palacetheatre.org.

Light show: Beginning with the landmark album Dark Side of the Moon, Floydian Trip recreates Pink Floyd’s touring years before Roger Waters and David Gilmour began feuding. The tribute act combed through countless audio and video clips culled between 1973 and 1981 for an authentic concert experience that includes lights, projections, lasers and a very convincing psychedelic sound. Sunday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $40 at tupelohall.com.

Plus one: Spontaneity defines the live experience of Session Americana, a musical collective begun over a decade ago that draws from the rich Boston Americana community. For an upcoming show, they’re joined by singer, songwriter and fiddle player Eleanor Buckland, who got her start with the trio Lula Wiles. She recently accompanied the group on a tour of Europe. Sunday, Feb. 16, 8 p.m., Word Barn Meadow, 66 Newfields Road, Exeter, $28 at portsmouthnhtickets.com.

Here’s Johnny

The Man In Black is a convincing Cash

By Michael Witthaus

[email protected]

Shawn Barker walked into auditions for the rock ’n’ roll origin musical Million Dollar Quartet sporting a rockabilly haircut with his eyes on the Elvis Presley role. The show’s director had a different idea, however, and his decision pointed Barker down a new path, and a multi-decade career starring in his tribute act, The Man In Black.

“There’s a million guys that audition for doing Elvis for this play, and we can pick any of them,” Barker, in a recent phone interview, recalled being told. “There’s nobody that we can pick that would do Johnny Cash except for you. You’re the one guy that we found that was like, this is the guy.”

Once that was settled, the musical’s producers encouraged Barker to take an immersive approach for his role.

“I went to where he was buried, to his house — anything I could do to associate myself with Cash,” he said. His efforts ultimately benefited The Man In Black. “It ended up getting so popular that I never took stage with the Million Dollar Quartet; I got too busy and I had to drop out of the Broadway production.”

Barker’s show begins in the Sun Records studio where Cash cut his first songs, and continues chronologically through the ups and downs of a career that found him at one point banned from the Grand Ole Opry for kicking out stage lights in an intoxicated rage, and welcomed back a few years later to host a weekly television show from the Ryman Auditorium stage.

The Johnny Cash Show, which ran for two seasons from 1969 to 1971, was an incubator for the crossover genre of music now called Americana, and Barker takes time to focus on it during his show.

“We talk about how groundbreaking it was,” he said. “He had people like Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt … it was a very eclectic group he brought to his show. And he was doing the folk festivals and stuff like that at the time when the whole hippie movement was going on. He was a pretty diverse cat, man.”

It concludes with the series of American Recordings albums that Rick Rubin began producing in 1994. Covers of songs like Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and “Rusty Cage” from Soundgarden helped bring Cash to a new, younger audience, driven by his music and stark, moving videos played on MTV and VH1.

“He’s one of the only stars that I can think of that had that far-reaching of a fan base,” Barker said, adding he sees evidence of this whenever he performs. “We get little kids at the show sometimes and then we’ll get the people that were there when he was at Sun Records. Eight to 80 years old is our crowd age;it’s pretty wild.”

Barker took a winding road to becoming a convincing doppelgänger for the country legend. Growing up in Missouri, he sang in the church choir and joined school band in fifth grade. When he started playing with friends in the basement, it was lots of rock music, from Skid Row and other popular groups.

After high school, he was in a working band called Nothing Yet, doing everything from early Stones to Rage Against the Machine — not exactly Pentecostal fare.

“Oh, yeah, it was a total departure,” he said. “Church was one of the things I grew up in as a kid, and probably went about as far from as you can, and then came back to as an adult.”

To hear Barker tell it, becoming Johnny Cash was bound to happen.

“My dad and his family are all from Arkansas like Cash, and grew up doing the same things,” he said. “Even as a kid, my dad worked on a cotton farm and pulled the big sacks. He’d talk about how his hands would be cut up from reaching in and popping the cotton off the plants.”

The Cash look was a gift from above, but the rest came naturally, and since launching the act in 2003, Barker’s come to see it as his destiny. Fans clearly love it. “The accent was something I already had in genetic makeup,” he said. “I didn’t really think it was going to be that long-lasting … but it turns out that this is probably what I’m going to do until I die.”

The Man In Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
When: Sunday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
Where: Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua
Tickets: $29 and up at etix.com

Featured Photo: Shawn Barker. Courtesy photo.

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