Category: Art & Theater

22nd annual event continues its growth

The first Granite State Comicon, in 2003, was a modest affair that helped celebrate the recent opening of Double Midnight Comics.

“There hadn’t been a comic book show in Manchester in a while,” store owner Chris Proulx recalled recently, so he and his cohort decided to do one.

The one-day, one-room, no-celebrity comic book and gaming show turned out to be a big hit, and the event has experienced steady growth ever since. This year’s Granitecon, as it came to be known, is spread across the city, anchored by a slate of activities at DoubleTree by Hilton and the SNHU Arena. There’s even a Granitecon Lager, brewed by Great North Aleworks.

It begins with a preview night on Friday, Sept. 19, that includes Just Cos’ Wings, where cosplayers eat chicken wings and discuss their shared passion, and a D&D-themed show from local troupe Queen City Improv, both at the DoubleTree. Next is the 8-Bit Karaoke Bash, Granitecon’s official kickoff party, at nearby Shaskeen Pub.

The retro video game-themed title was chosen as a nod to the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo gaming console. The event is an annual fixture.

“People love karaoke, and it’s always a great turnout,” Proulx said. New to Granitecon this year is an afterparty at Harpoon Brewery, in the just-opened Queen City Center.

Among the big first full day events is an afternoon Q&A with voice actor Will Friedle to mark Batman Day, followed by an evening screening of 2000’s animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker at the Rex Theatre. It’s their second collaboration with the Rex. In 2024, the 40th anniversary of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was honored there.

Born in New Hampshire, TMNT is a part of every Granitecon. This year, there’s a gaming panel discussion about the next release of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG with designers Kevin Siembieda and Sean Owen Roberson, along with comic book artists Steve Lavigne, Jim Lawson and Luis Delgado.

Another Granite State-centric event is a free one, a screening of Jumanji at dusk on Sept. 20 in Veterans Park. The event is sponsored by the City of Manchester.

“I had been in touch with the department of economic development, and they were like, ‘We’d like to sponsor something,’” Proulx said. “I replied, ‘It’s Jumanji’s 30^th anniversary, and it was filmed here.’”

One of the things Proulx is looking forward to is Big Dumb Robot Con, where robot builders have the chance to show off their movie-themed work. “This is the second year, and we’re giving these guys some room,” he said of the SNHU Arena meetup. “They love to build robots and talk to people about how they build their robots.”

There’s now an educational component to Granitecon. It includes panels on topics like working in game publishing (Sunday, Sept. 21, noon), the process of creating a graphic novel (Saturday, Sept. 20, 2 p.m.) and a forum that covers how to bring gaming to novels (Saturday, 11 a.m.). The idea came from Doug Shute, founder of Victory Condition Gaming.

“He brings in all kinds of different developers,” Proulx said. “Whether it’s role-playing games or board games … they want to share their expertise, and he’s built that up to taking over half the ballroom at the hotel. We’re trying to figure out how to continue to grow that.”

Far from its humble beginnings, Granite State Comicon is an event that now attracts guests from around the world.

“When we first started, we’d have been excited if somebody came from New York,” Proulx said. “Now, there are people coming from Australia, Europe and South America…. That’s really cool.”

The ripple effect is filled hotel rooms, and folks coming from out of town who are looking for great places to dine. Proulx attributes a lot of this success to the event’s inclusive spirit.

“We don’t do any gatekeeping,” he boasts. “We’re like, ‘If you’re a fan of wrestling, if you’re a fan of video games, come on in.’ Everybody’s nerdy about something.”

Granite State Comicon

When: Friday, Sept. 19, from 3 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, and Sunday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Downtown Manchester, including DoubleTree by Hilton, SNHU Arena, Shaskeen Pub and Rex Theatre
Tickets: $20 to $125 at granitecon.com (day-of tickets sold at DoubleTree by Hilton, 700 Elm St., Manchester)
Full schedule and more: granitecon.com

Granite State native publishes tongue-in-cheek book

By Michael Witthaus

mwitthaus@hippopress.com

Microplastics Are Your Friends! is a new book that at first glance looks aimed at younger readers, but it decidedly is not children’s literature. Playfully illustrated, the colorful 30-pager is subversively hilarious as it depicts what might happen if the people behind a really bad idea tried to sell it as something to celebrate.

The central premise, delivered by a white-haired narrator named Professor McTegan, who looks a lot like Doc from Back to the Future, is that while microplastics contribute to all manner of maladies, they serve a higher purpose. Each teaspoon of deadly pixie dust in our brains is the only defense against a race of human-hunting demons called The Shalhoub.

Standing up to these “vicious hell beasts that will not rest until we’re completely eradicated from this mortal coil” is worth the cost of things like dementia and low fertility rates. Besides, forgetting the present to reminisce about the past is a good thing, right? And, the Professor adds, “look at our friends, solving the overpopulation problem for us!”

Prof. McTegan’s “odyssey of discovery as he explores the benefits of having microscopic bits of plastic inside you” came from the imagination of Mister Shushy, the nom de plume of a former standup comedian. He began with the idea of RFK Jr., or someone similar, deciding to sell microplastics as a positive and commission a children’s book.

“It is the kind of off-the-wall weirdo humor that I like,” he said by phone recently. His Mister Shushy’s Nightmare Box Substack contains examples of this, like Ask Cherk, an advice column run by an oversexed “debonair alien gonzo journalist” as well as the too-close-to-the-truth short story Flow Ryda Man, which includes equally funny context.

While he was a comic, the author appeared at the Shaskeen’s Wednesday night event and also ran a regular showcase at the Dover Brickhouse for “the majority of its lifespan,” he said. Despite successes like opening for Frank Santorelli, Mike Racine and others, however, he decided to leave. It turned out to be decent timing.

“I quit stand-up in, like, 2019, and then the pandemic happened,” he said. His day job also contributed to the decision. “I’m talking on the phone to people all day, and it’s mentally exhausting…. I didn’t have the mental energy to do that for eight or nine hours and then go out and do open mics.”

Zoom shows held no appeal, so he laid low for the next five years, but the November election changed that.

“Something snapped in me,” he said. “It was, like, I need a creative outlet, I need to not be just doomscrolling. It’s easy to be sick to your stomach and depressed if you’re just looking into this little infinite box in your pocket. So I started writing.”

The name of the demonic race to whom microplastics are Kryptonite was inspired by Dune, but the actor famous for Monk and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is there intentionally, and not altogether flatteringly. Don’t take it the wrong way, though.

“It’s a deep abiding love for Tony Shalhoub that he’s included in the book,” the author said.

While he works to get Microplastics Are Your Friends! into bookstores, the easiest way to read it is on a Kindle. For those who want a physical book, it can be ordered at Gibson’s in Concord and Manchester’s Bookery. He’s also working to get it into Eight Legged Octopus in Dover, Water Street Bookstore in Exeter and Jetpack Comics in Rochester.

It’s stocked in a store in the Massachusetts town the author now calls home, with a fun touch — in the nonfiction section. “Somebody has a great sense of humor,” a delighted Mister Shushy said, adding that while it’s technically a kids’ book, the real audience should be obvious.

“Sorry in advance if you’re upset,” he writes in an opening disclaimer. “But also, like, you saw a book with the title Microplastics Are Your Friends! and still bought it for your child, so hopefully this ends up being a teachable moment for you.”

Microplastics Are Your Friends! by Mister Shushy, Illustrated by Lucas D

Available on Amazon Kindle. Physical copies can be ordered at independent bookstores like Gibson’s in Concord and Bookery in Manchester. Works by Mister Shushy are compiled on mistershushy.substack.com. Follow him on Instagram @mistershushy.

Manchester Citywide Arts Festival returns

By Michael Witthaus

mwitthaus@hippopress.com

The goal of the week-long Manchester Citywide Arts Festival is not just to increase awareness of the arts so people will buy something to display at home, attend a dance performance or appreciate one of the many murals on the city’s walls. It’s also designed to help folks find their own creativity, and make something with it.

That’s the aim of several workshops happening between a kickoff event at the Currier Museum on Sept. 7 and a street fair on Sept. 13 in front of the Palace Theatre. On Monday at 4 p.m., choose between a free introductory dance class at Forever Emma Studios, the Palace’s youth theater program, and a pottery wheel demonstration at nearby Studio 550.

On Tuesday, there are two morning events at Rhythm & Roots on Hanover Street: Hatha Yoga at 10:30 a.m., and Dance Cardio: Move & Groove at 11:30 a.m. In the evening there’s a Beginner Ballet for Adults class happening at Dimensions in Dance at 84 Myrtle St.

Dimensions in Dance has a complimentary ballet class for youngsters ages 3 to 5 the next day, and the DEW Collective will host Explosion of the Arts, a community happening that event coordinator and Palace Director of Operations Katie Lovell is eagerly anticipating.

“They’re doing an immersive art experience where they’re going to be painting a live mural. There’s going to be 16 artists there,” Lovell said by phone recently. “The theme is ‘Dream On,’ and it’s in support of the arts festival. All these artists will paint this mural, and we’re going to use it as a backdrop for the stage at the street fair.”

Thursday evening events include Getting To Know Theatre Dance at Forever Emma Studios, a printmaking class at the Terracotta Room (1362 Elm St., Suite 102) and Intermediate Ballet for Adults at Dimensions in Dance. Friday is packed, with three events starting at 4 p.m. at Studio 550 on Elm Street. Clay Sculpting and Watercolor Painting are both family-centric, while Pottery Date Night is 18 and up. Also, there’s a terrarium workshop at the Terracotta Room.

Folks can get the lay of the land during the day-long Currier event, which will offer local food trucks and activities both inside and outside of the museum.

“They’re having a kind of open house event with vendors and different events,” Lovell said. “You’ll be able to do an art activity, meet local artists, chat with a curator, walk through the museum, do a screening of a film … it’ll just be a really nice day.”

Though a feel-good vibe prevails, this year’s festival hasn’t fully escaped the pain so many other arts organizations are feeling throughout New Hampshire and the rest of the country.

“We used to have a partnership with the Manchester Arts Commission, but due to funding, they’re not active at the moment,” Lovell observed.

The annual Manchester-wide Mural Festival was postponed from its scheduled early August date, then moved to next year mostly due to the decimating effects of the state’s decision to zero out money for the arts. James Chase, who organizes the event, will be in a booth at the street fair to raise awareness of his festival and other challenges.

The Saturday event promises to be joyous, with a full slate of musicians on the main stage, along with vendor booths and food trucks. Funding for the effort comes from the Palace and its sponsor, Red Oak Apartment Homes. Sponsors for the street fair are Auto Fair, Delta Dental and Granite State Credit Union.

Coinciding with the event is a Palace-sponsored Downtown Art Walk starting at 4 p.m. It’s the first in a monthly Second Saturday series. Participating galleries will have flags to signal their participation.

“People can walk around downtown and visit these galleries,” Lovell said. “You can go in for free, and just do a little art walk downtown.”

The Palace hasn’t been impacted by the fiscal challenges facing other organizations, so it’s doing its part to help others that have, she continued. “A lot of people come downtown to see our productions, so we’re really trying to focus on these events and building the community back up to help support all these art organizations that might be struggling.”

Manchester Citywide Arts Festival

Kickoff open house: Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. at Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester

Saturday, Sept. 13, street fair music schedule:
Miss Alli 10:30–11:30 a.m.
Melaza Dance 11:30 a.m.–noon
Gus and Jean noon–1 p.m.
Rhythm and Roots 1–1:30 p.m.
Paul Nelson 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Nsquared Dance 2:30–3 p.m.
Justin Cohn 3–4 p.m.

Weeklong schedule: palacetheatre.org/manchester-citywide-arts-festival

Avaloch Farm hosts musical weekend

By Michael Witthaus

mwitthaus@hippopress.com

Down a dirt road, nestled near what flatlanders would call a lake but Granite Staters know as a pond, is a sleepaway camp for creatives called Avaloch Farm Music Institute. It’s bucolic, with woods, meadows, corn fields and apple orchards, as well as, crucially, 34 soundproofed private guest suites for visionaries to work on their next masterpiece.

Alfred Tauber bought the property in the 1990s as a vacation home. A decade later, he met Deb Scher, and the two began work on a residency program that resembled MacDowell Colony in Peterborough but allowed space for interdisciplinary collaboration on new projects, Avaloch Executive and Artistic Director Ashley Bathgate explained recently.

“The idea was slightly different from MacDowell’s concept in that it was centered around ensembles and artists,” she said in a recent phone interview. “It meant that not just composers or a writer or a visual artist could come, but rather a string quartet or a 13-piece chamber orchestra, sometimes a soloist with a composer in tow.”

Bathgate is a cellist who first came to Avaloch a year after it opened in 2012, and she has returned many times to work on commissions with multiple composers. In 2022 she took over from previous Executive Director Scher and began growing a program that began as a summer getaway into something closer to year-round.

Avaloch now offers residencies seven out of 12 months. Along with an expanded program came facility improvements like the Concert Barn, which was completed in 2023.

“We’re finally able to have public concerts,” Bathgate said, like the upcoming concert from Tanjo & Crow on Aug. 29.

“Last year, they were artists-in-residence,” Bathgate said of the rootsy duo. “They’re going to be here for a week again, and then they’re going to do their EP release, which includes a song that they wrote at Avaloch. So we have all different kinds of shows now.”

A weekend of music continues Aug. 30, as Scott Kirby, Gabriel Donohue and Friends perform an in-house event. “Singer, songwriter, guitarist, storyteller, traveler and road warrior” Kirby grew up in Penacook and splits his time between Kittery, Maine, and Key West these days. Donahue is an Irish-born multi-instrumentalist who’s played with the Chieftains.

Finally, Bathgate will play a late morning concert featuring new works for solo cello and electronics following a Brunch & Bubbles event with apple picking after, weather permitting.

Bathgate’s work is informed by the eclectic mix of artists that come to Avaloch.

“Why I love this job is I also get to take the temperature and have a really broad view into what the younger generation considers contemporary art,” she said. “We had an eight-piece turntable ensemble that came two summers ago, and they were virtuosic in what they do.”

Graphic and digital visual artists have also come to Avaloch.

“We’ve had people who’ve done projection mapping in real time, where the visual component is improvised as the music is played,” Bathgate said. “I do some work with multi-tracking and live processing and electronics in my solo music, but I don’t have nearly the grasp or scope of some of these younger kids.”

Artistic diversity and cross-pollination of disciplines is important to Ashgate, whose resume includes 10 years with Bang on a Can All-Stars, who worked with members of Sonic Youth and Dirty Projectors.

“We were all over the map in terms of collaboration,” she said. “When I came here, that became very important for me to share.”

It makes for a unique on-campus vibe, Bathgate continued. “What makes Avaloch special and where you see that synergy is when you have different genres and people from different backgrounds all together, eating and spending time together, partaking and sharing in the different kinds of music that they’re making.”

This has produced many success stories, along with ventures like the Composers Conference, an 82-year-old institution hosted by Avaloch for the past two seasons, and New Music, New Communities, which pairs young composition fellows with a composer mentor and a performer who premiere a work that they write.

“We’ve had Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, and Guggenheim fellows in residence.” Bathgate said. “Some of them have recorded albums in the pine practice cabin that’s nestled in the woods.There’s been a lot of interesting creation of art. They use the grounds and the fields and the apple orchard as much as they use the facilities and the practice cabins.”

Upcoming at Avaloch Farm Music Institute

When: Friday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m., Tanjo & Crow EP release concert; Saturday, Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m., Scott Kirby, Gabriel Donohue and Friends; and Sunday, Aug. 31, 9:30 a.m., Brunch & Bubbles with cellist Ashley Bathgate (11 a.m. concert)
Where: Avaloch Farm Music Institute, 16 Hardy Lane, Boscawen
Tickets: avalochfarmmusic.org

Actorsingers Second Stage presents Avenue Q

Since the mid-1950s, Nashua’s Actorsingers theater company has been a mainstay in the area’s cultural scene, performing classics like The Sound of Music, Cats and Beauty and the Beast. In 2005, a subsection of the organization called Second Stage was launched to present non-traditional works.

Among adventurous Second Stage shows have been Evil Dead: The Musical, Reefer Madness and The Wild Party.

“It’s a little bit more against the beaten track,” Christie Conticchio of Actorsingers said recently. “What they would like to call their fringe productions.”

Conticchio is directing the company’s latest effort, Avenue Q, opening Aug. 22. The Tony-winning musical takes a Sesame Street-ish tale and places it in a gritty Brooklyn where most of the principals can barely afford rent. Most struggle with the search for meaning; this is underscored in an early song, “It Sucks to Be Me,” where cast members compare their woes.

Avenue Q is driven by puppets representing onstage actors. There’s neighbors Princeton and Kate Monster (Will Sulahian, Zoë Vitalich), odd couple roommates Nicky and Rod (James Spinney, Chris Drury) and Trekkie Monster (B.C. Williams), who along with the Bad Idea Bears (Dara Brown, Elsa Gustafson) embodies the musical’s irreverence. (Despite the puppets, this isn’t a kids’ show. According to a disclaimer on the company’s website: “This show contains racism, homophobia, profanity, sexual themes, and other sensitive topics.”)

Apex, North Carolina, custom fabricator DreamLab Studio provided the puppetry, which also includes boss lady Mrs. T (Kayla Williams) and the vixen-ish Lucy (Caitlyn Reilly). DreamLab founder Kerry Falkanger deserves her own credit in the playbill, with characters that are amazing.

“My actors keep talking about how comfortable it is to use their puppets and to look at them … they’re so pleasing to the eye,” Conticchio said, while noting that the production is using “between 20 and 30 puppets of different heads, bodies…. You wouldn’t think that Princeton needed three costume changes, but he does.”

For expertise controlling them, she consulted Ro Gavin, whose eponymous theater company in Portsmouth did Avenue Q in a previous season. “They came for … an entire workshop with the cast,” she recalled. “We went through syllables, how to do hand stretches, upper body strength. They got a crash course in Puppetry 101, even how to make a puppet breathe.”

A team of eight operators handles the puppets, and unlike the original Broadway show, there is no cast doubling. This is a move consistent with Conticchio’s directorial vision.

“Getting them as in-depth of the storyline as possible” was key, she explained. “This ensemble is, from the beginning, on stage I’d say more time than some of the leads.”

Actorsingers’ mission begins with “the promotion and presentation … of good amateur stage entertainment primarily of a musical nature” with “assistance and encouragement of many people, regardless of age, race or creed, in the development of their stage talents and to express such of their talents as will contribute to successful stage productions.”

Auditions for the show attracted an embarrassment of riches. More than 60 community actors showed up, all apparently Avenue Q fans.

“Casting Kate was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do as a director,” Conticchio said. “Luckily, I have seven other people on the board to help me.”

Asked what the response said to her about the amateur theater community in New Hampshire, and in the southern region of the state specifically, Conticchio was full of praise. “Honestly, it levels up with anything else regional, if not Broadway; I was so impressed with the talent,” she said. “After every group, I was like, honestly, thank you for coming out and sharing your talents with us. This is not going to be an easy decision.”

Greeley Park Art Show returns

Now in its eighth decade, the Greeley Park Art Show returns to Nashua as park renovations have reduced the amount of space available for the event. About 50 artists will show their work, along with children’s activities like puppet shows, rock painting, artmaking, a story hour, cornhole, and giant Jenga and Connect Four games.

Other attractions include food trucks and music from local guitarist George Packer (weather permitting). Bedford resident Ron Marcoux is a perennial favorite at the event. He will be back to demonstrate his woodworking techniques, and several other artists will also show off their creative process.

Two juried competitions are planned, one for adults and another for young artists.

Award categories include 3D, acrylic, mixed media, oil, pastel, photography, watercolor, digital art, and drawing/illustration. A Best of Show prizewinner will have their work displayed at ArtHub, a downtown gallery co-run by one of the event’s organizers, Sonia Guthrie.

The Adult competition will be held on Saturday, Aug. 16, with cash prizes totaling over $4,000. Artists up to age 18 vie on the following day. “The only difference is you don’t give them money; you can’t do that,” Guthrie said of the kids’ contest in a recent phone interview. “So they get prizes, more artwork supplies, that sort of thing.”

Additionally, as the show closes on Sunday, the Nashua Area Artists Association will present a scholarship check to at least one high school student with plans to pursue a degree in art.

“The overall goal is to promote the arts and artists,” Guthrie said. “Not just established, but brand new ones — kids. Greeley Park is the year-end celebration of that.”

Watching the youngsters interact with exhibitor demonstrations is Guthrie’s favorite part of the show. “Sometimes they sit down and kind of roll their eyes and go, ‘Oh, my Mom told me to sit here,’” she said. “Then they get into it and it becomes more fun for them.”

Guthrie welcomes an infusion of new blood into the Nashau art scene.

“The truth of the matter is many of our artists are getting older,” she said, adding some long-term members are skipping the show this year. “So we want to encourage the younger people to keep going with their art — if they have it and love it, they should do it.”

She has a message for anyone who feels more like a dabbler than artist: “There is no not good enough — you are what you are, you can learn to do better … but you’re still way ahead of people who don’t do it at all. Some of that is just confidence — there are an amazing number of people who are very reluctant to call themselves an artist.”

To claim the name, Guthrie continued, “you just have to be willing. I always think of Van Gogh; he never sold a painting. His sister-in-law is the only one that ever sold anything of his, and most of those were after he passed. Just because you haven’t sold yet doesn’t mean anything. To be a part of the art world is fun and exciting.”

At a time when arts organizations are losing funding and struggling to stay afloat, Guthrie believes NAAAis in a good place.

“If we break even, we figure we’re ahead of the game,” she said. They were helped by a $175,000 grant from newly opened The Nash Casino.

Guthrie hopes people will come out and support the event, especially anyone looking to create who needs encouragement.

“Camaraderie between artists is important,” she said. “They march to a different drum than the average person. Sometimes they really need that feedback from others that says, ‘Come o n, just keep going.’”