Category: Art & Theater

Mozart Sunday

Classical groups join to present Requiem

With the 100th anniversary of Symphony NH happening in April, the organization wanted to do something to celebrate its longstanding relationship with another classical music pillar of southern New Hampshire, the Nashua Choral Society.

“Thinking back to 2019, with everything that’s happened since then, lots have changed in four-plus years,” said Deanna Hoying, the executive director at Symphony NH.

The groups will be performing Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, a popular choice for full orchestras and choirs. The symphony performed the same piece in 2019, when it was hired by the choral society. This time, there are some differences.

To boost their numbers, Hoying said, the Nashua Choral Society invited the Nashoba Valley Chorale to perform with them. Another change is the location, with this concert taking place at the Immaculate Conception Church in Nashua.

“There’s a very different sound in a church facility than in a big concert hall,” said Hoying. “There’s something magical about hearing that work and singing that work in a church. I’m so grateful to have them; both choirs and church have been delightful to work with.”

A requiem is traditionally a Catholic mass for the dead, Hoying said. Preceding the piece, at first as a small joke, is Death of a Poet, a string orchestration composed in 2014 by TJ Cole, inspired by the poem written by Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov. Hoying said the symphony strives to pair contemporary, living composers with greats like Mozart.

Mozart’s Requiemis most famous for being a source of conspiracy theory by the music community, as it was the last piece he worked on before his death. In modern times, the piece was popularized by the movie Amadeus (PG, 1984), which follows the life of Mozart told through the viewpoint of his rival Antonio Salieri.

Hoying said this will be, in many ways, a more meaningful production of the mass than the performance in 2019. This performance will be part of the symphony’s centennial year, and it will be honoring the years of collaboration between the symphony and the Nashua Choral Society.

Even beyond that, the music will weigh heavier after the pandemic, Hoying said. She added that, even with the official end of pandemic-era restrictions, audiences have still been wary of coming out to shows. She hopes for the music to be cathartic and healing after years of isolation and loss.

“Everyone will have their own independent response, depending on their own experiences,” Hoying said. “There’s a level of joy that, for many of us during the pandemic, we missed that part. Even if it’s a requiem, there is such joy in this ability to recognize and move on.”

Mozart’s Requiem performed by the Symphony NH
Where: 216 East Dunstable Road, Nashua
When: Sunday, March 5, at 3 p.m.
Price: $45 for adults, $35 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for youth 10 to 17, $10 for students 27 and younger with valid identification, and free for youth younger than 10 accompanied by an adult.
Visit: symphonynh.org.

Featured photo: Symphony NH’s full orchestra. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/02/23

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Meet the Marches: The Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) brings the March sisters (Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy) and their Marmee to the stage with Little Women, the Broadway musical, which will run Friday, March 3, through Sunday, March 19. The shows run Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $25 to $46.

• Postponed until Friday: The Community Players of Concord’s production of The 39 Steps, originally slated to run at the Concord City Auditorium last weekend, will hit the stage Friday, Feb. 24, through Sunday, Feb. 26, according to a Players press release. The show will go on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m., with tickets purchased for the original show dates valid for the same day of the week. Tickets are on sale for the new dates at communityplayersofconcord.org. Ticket holders who want a refund or to change the day of the week can contact box office chair David Murdo at 344-4747 or nhdm40@comcast.net, the release said.

• Postponed until May: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who had been scheduled to play the Dana Center for the Humanities at Saint Anselm College (100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester; anselm.edu/dana-center-humanities) on Thursday, Feb. 23, will now play the Dana Center on Wednesday, May 31. Tickets purchased for the February show will be valid. Tickets cost $45.

Animals and happiness
The Two Villages Art Society’s gallery (846 Main St. in Contoocook; twovillagesart.org) will present “Secrets of Happiness,” a solo show by Ty Meier, Saturday, Feb. 25, through Saturday, April 1. On Saturday, Feb. 25, from 3 to 4 p.m. there will be an opening reception followed by live music from 4 to 6 p.m. by Hydro-Geo Trio, a Hopkinton-based band, according to a press release. Meier’s pieces are “acrylic and inks, generally painting stylized animals and birds,” the release said.

• The girls’ story: Cue Zero Theatre Company will open its fourth season on Friday, March 3, with the play Radium Girls, by DW Gregory, about the women who painted watch dials with radium paint in the early 20th century and became sick from radium poisoning, according to a press release. The play will run Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 5, at 2 p.m. at the Arts Academy of New Hampshire (19 Keewaydin Drive, No. 4, in Salem). Tickets cost $15 per person and are available online at cztheatre.com and at the door.

• About Jackie: The Derry Public Library (derrypl.org) will hold a virtual program on Wednesday, March 8, at 6:30 p.m. called “Jacqueline Kennedy: Beyond Style” featuring a docent from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to discuss the first lady’s life and legacy, according to the website. The program will include photographs and documents from the Kennedy Library’s archives, the website said. Register online.

Inspiring voices

Poetry Society hosts virtual session with displaced Ukrainian poets

As the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine looms, the New Hampshire Poetry Society is showing its support for Ukrainian poets.

Through a virtual event, the New Hampshire Poetry Society will have poets who are currently or have been refugees in Poland read poetry written in their native language.

Ewa Chrusciel, a member of the New Hampshire Poetry Society and the person who proposed the reading, said that she, state’s poet laureate Alexandria Peary, and Society president Melanie Chicoine will read the translations of the poems.

Chrusciel said she wanted to find a way to respectfully honor the beginning of the war and the experiences of those displaced by it. To her, written word, especially poetry, is one of the main ways she can show support for Ukraine, especially if those writers hail from the war-torn nation.

“When countries are occupied, [written word is] how we carry on when languages are banned or when we are divided by other countries,” Chrusciel said. “When the territory is divided, the language becomes the nation, the poetry becomes the nation.”

When Chrusciel visited a theater she loved in her native Poland, she said, she was shocked to see the space was being used to house displaced families from the war in Ukraine. She had intended to take in a show on her routine visit, or at least catch up with some members of the artistic community.

Through some connections at the theater, Chrusciel quickly made a workshop for 14 writers who found themselves stranded by the war in their homeland.

“It was a bit like the tower of Babel,’” Chrusciel said. “I speak Polish and English, some spoke Polish, Ukrainian and English. There was lots of translation going on, but it still felt like a very united, transcendent moment.”

It took all of three hours in the performance space for Chrusciel to feel that these women were her close friends. Over the course of the war, Chrusciel said, she has met up with many of the writers still in Poland. Many members of the group have moved around, staying with family in other parts of Europe or in America. Chrusciel said she knows two of the writers went back to Ukraine.

When the group met, Chrusciel hoped to keep the meeting lighthearted. She didn’t intentionally bring up the writers’ displacement as a source for the workshop. She brought humorous poems to inspire the writers, but the poets were drawn to tackling the most relevant topic in their lives.

“That experience of loss was palpable,” Chrusciel said. “[The poems] would always transpire on the topic of loss and displacement and homesickness.”

At the virtual reading, Chrusciel hopes the writers, and the listeners, can learn more about how the war has affected the poets. She said that having people hear the poetry will be a step toward understanding the pain and hope of the Ukrainian writers.

While not all the writers from the original group will be joining the virtual event, Chrusciel said all of them have continued writing, and will continue to document their experiences any way they can.

“Poetry can save a human,” Chrusciel said. “They write down those details they see and feel. Their poetry isn’t just a playground, it’s a witness, it’s a testimony, and it’s a responsibility.”

Voice In A Shattered World: Ukrainian Women Writers On War And Displacement
Where: Saturday, Feb. 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
When:On Zoom, link is listed on the website.
Visit: psnh.org

Featured photo: Ukrainian writers group in Poland. Photo courtesy of Ewa Chrusciel.

The Art Roundup 23/02/16

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Schedule change: The Community Players of Concord’s production of The 39 Steps originally slated to run at the Concord City Auditorium this weekend has been postponed to Friday, Feb. 24, through Sunday, Feb. 26, due to an illness within the company, according to a Players press release. The show will go on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m., with tickets purchased for the original show dates valid for the same day of the week. Tickets are on sale for the new dates at communityplayersofconcord.org. Ticket holders who want a refund or to change the day of the week can contact box office chair David Murdo at 344-4747 or nhdm40@comcast.net, the release said.

• New at the Currier: The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144) will kick off a new series of discussions with the museum’s educators and curators this Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. with a tour led by museum director Alan Chong, according to the website. The tour is part of the museum’s weekly Art After Work program, when admission is free from 5 to 8 p.m and the evening includes tours and live music (this week: Hickory Horned Devils), the website said.

While at the museum, check out the newly acquired painting “Black Men and Women in a Tavern,” which was painted in Antwerp around 1650 and “produced in the circle of the Flemish artist David Teniers the Younger,” according to the website. It is one of the “earliest depictions of free Black people in Europe,” the website said. The painting is on view in the European gallery, the website said.

• Exploring memory: Theatre Kapow will present Breadcrumbs, a play by Jennifer Haley, for the next two weekends with shows at Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m.

Performances on Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. will be livestreamed from Theatre Kapow’s studio, the website said. “A reclusive fiction writer diagnosed with dementia must depend upon a troubled young caretaker to complete her autobiography,” according to a press release. The Sunday show will be followed by a discussion with representatives from community organizations who will answer questions about Alzheimer’s and resources for patients and caregivers, the release said. In-person tickets cost $28 for adults, $23 for students (plus fees). Live stream tickets cost $15 per device and are available at tkapow.com.

Acrobats
The Peking Acrobats featuring the Shanghai Circus will come to the Stockbridge Theatre (5 Pinkerton St. in Derry; pinkertonacademy.org/stockbridge-theatre) on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, $15 for youth and $5 for Pinkerton students, according to the website, which describes the performers as pushing “the limits of human ability, defying gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility and control.”

• Music from the Black church to popular culture: Author Vaughn A. Booker, a professor of religion at Dartmouth, will lead the virtual program “Lift Every Voice and Swing” hosted by NH Humanities on Friday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m., according to a NH Humanities newsletter. Booker, whose 2020 book is called Lift Every Voice and Swing: Black Musicians and Religious Culture in the Jazz Century, will discuss “how the religious beliefs of popular jazz musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams shaped their music” the newsletter said. Go to nhhumanities.org to register for the program.

• Winter concert: The New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra will present “Winter Serenities” featuring “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” by Ralph Vaughn Williams, the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra by Eugene Goosen and “Symphony #1” by Gustav Mahler this Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Both shows will be presented at the Seifert Performing Arts Center (44 Geremonty Drive in Salem; 893-7069). Tickets cost $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, $8 for students and $5 for K-through-12 Salem students, according to nhpo.booktix.com.

• A second chance at beautiful music: The Manchester Community Music School’s faculty performance of “Chanson d’Amour” featuring Harel Gietheim on cello and Piper Runnion on harp has been rescheduled (it had been slated for Jan. 19) for Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at the school, 2291 Elm St. in Manchester, according to a press release. Admission is free but pre-register at mcmusicschool.org to attend in person or online.

• The kid circus: The High Mowing School middle schoolers (Pine Hill Campus, 77 Pine Hill Drive in Wilton; highmowing.org/hilltop, 654-6003) will show off their circus skills with their show Circus with a Chance of Meatballs Thursday, Feb. 16, at 4 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for children.

Even closer to opening night

Nashua Community Arts receives another gift

With the smell of sawdust lingering in the air and the first layer of flooring and drywall up, the Nashua Center for the Arts is physically constructed.

While the project was in talks for the better part of a decade, and ground broke almost five years ago, seeing the modern building design, the 750-seat theater and the lights and sound systems being installed makes the project much more real.

Construction, according to Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess, is due in large part to Bank of America and the generous gift of $250,000 they gave in 2022. On Wednesday, Feb. 8, the bank has matched that amount, to give a total of half a million dollars for the project.

“When [Bank of America] stepped up for $250,000 and became a donor of a lobby … that really showed the community that there is a lot of interest,” said Richard Lannan, the president of Nashua Community Arts. With the new donation, the theater in the Nashua Center for the Arts will be called the Bank of New Hampshire Theater, said Lannan.

Lannan said he has been a champion for this project from the start, helping conceive the idea 10 years ago when Nashua Community Arts first pitched the prospect of a state-of-the-art theater in the downtown area. Lannan said a survey was conducted to ask members of the community if they wanted to see a theater built and if they thought it would be a good thing for downtown. With much positive feedback, the project was decided.

Choosing architects and contractors and designing the theater took two years, Lannan said. Construction began in 2020.

Now, only eight weeks from completion, Lannan is amazed that the project is so close to being finished.

“I’m in here every week,” said Lannan. “Even with that, I’ll be wondering, ‘Oh wow, when did they do that?’ It’s awesome.”

For now the stage is just concrete, the seats are in storage, and the reception area is matching shades of off-white walls and gray base layer flooring, but the image of a theater with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems and a special type of floor that can hold seats or be used as a function hall, a standing-room-only pit or even a banquet area is coming to fruition.

“We are a destination now,” said Wendy Hunt, president of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. “I personally cannot wait for April 1. [Visitors are] going to find out that we are state of the art in so many ways. Really, Nashua has it all.”

April 1 will be the official opening reception for the Nashua Center for the Arts, ahead of the first show coming to the theater, Winnie the Pooh, opening on April 6. Not all the shows will be plays, with a magician coming, several concerts, and a ballet rendition of Beauty and the Beast.

The reception is completely sold out.

“It feels good to come in and see things happening,” Lannan said, looking around the soon-to-be-filled theater. “I’ve been involved since the beginning. I can’t wait to start coming to shows.”

Winnie the Pooh
Where: Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St.
When: Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7, at 6 p.m.
Price: $39 to $69
Visit: nashuacenterforthearts.com

Featured photo: There won’t be a bad seat in the house at the Nashua Center for the Arts. Photo by Katelyn Sahagian.

The Art Roundup 23/02/09

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• The big 2-0: Manchester Community Theatre Players will be “Celebrating 20” this Saturday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m. at the North End Montessori School (698 Beech St. in Manchester). Tickets for this musical retrospective of the last 20 years cost $20 and are available at the door or at manchestercommunitytheatre.com.

• Romeo + Juliet: Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative (belknapmill.org/powerhouse-upcoming-productions) presents Romeo and Juliet at the Colonial Theatre (609 Main St. in Laconia) on Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $16 to $20. The same cast will also perform a staged reading of Montague + Capulet, an original sequel to the Shakespeare classic, at the Belknap Mill (25 Beacon St. in Laconia) on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Tickets to that show cost $10.

• March film fest: Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival, which will run Thursday, March 16, through Sunday, March 26, at locations in Manchester, Bedford, Keene, Concord, Portsmouth and Hooksett. The festival will include 11 feature-length films and a five-film shorts program, according to nhjewishfilmfestival.com, where you can purchase tickets for individual shows ($12) or for an all-access package ($200). Of the features, six will be screened in theaters and five can be streamed at home, the website said. From Monday, March 17, through Sunday, April 16, four of the films shown in theaters will be available to be viewed at home. See trailers for the feature films and the shorts on the festival website.

• More in movies: Speaking of film, catch a silent film from the end of the silent film era about wealth near the end of the Roaring ’20s — The Smart Set(1928) starring William Haines and Alice Day will screen Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center (39 Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com). The screening will be accompanied by live music performed by Jeff Rapsis. Tickets cost $10.

The 39 Steps
The Community Players of Concord will present The 39 Steps, a comedy based on the Alfred Hitchock thriller from 1935, on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $20, $18 for students and seniors, and are available at communityplayersofconcord.org.

• Audition call for grades 2 to 12: The Palace Youth Theatre is presenting a small cast production of Into the Woods (it will run at the Rex Theatre in Manchester April 3 and April 4) and will hold auditions on Monday, Feb. 13, with times at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. at Forever Emma Studios (516 Pine St. in Manchester), according to a press release. Auditioners will be expected to stay for their entire one-hour slot; come prepared to sing a musical theater song and then learn a dance to perform, the release said. The audition is open to kids in grades 2 through 12. To schedule an audition, email meganalves@palacetheatre.org with the performer’s name, age and preferred audition time, the release said.

• Auditions for adults: The Community Players of Concord are holding open auditions for their May show Not A Word, a new comedy written and directed by longtime Players member Wallace J. Pineault, according to a press release. The show will feature a cast of nine and a story about movies in the 1920s before sound entered the picture, the release said. The auditions are scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20, and Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Players Studio (435 Josiah Bartlett Road in Concord), the release said. Rehearsals will begin in March; see the script, character list, audition information and more at communityplayersorconcord.org/auditions.

• Remember CDs? The Friends of the Dover Public Library (which is at 73 Locust St. in Dover) are holding a CD sale through Saturday, Feb. 11, to sell off the library’s music collection, which it is discontinuing, according to a press release. The sale (which started Feb. 5) features CDs for $2 (with boxed sets specially marked) in genres including rock, country, classical, world, pop, jazz, folk and bluegrass, soundtracks and children’s music. The library is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.

• Exhibit in color: The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing (33 N. Main St. in Rochester; 812-1488) will host an exhibit in February featuring the work of Madison resident John Girourard, according to a press release. “Girouard’s current body of work consists of vividly depicted abstract paintings that use strong, bold colors in a mixed medium that delight in swirling movement. Thickness and transparency of the media, allow the works to retain qualities of depth and liquidity even after drying. Each canvas possesses layers of pure, rich color and thick undulating texture that capture light by visually traveling through the painting. Swirling strokes and flow of color give the pieces a living moving appearance that assumes a decorative splendor,” the release said. See the exhibit Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Author to author: Rebecca Makkai will discuss her new murder mystery I Have Some Questions for You with Lara Prescott, author of The Secrets We Keep, at the Music Hall Lounge (131 Congress St. in Portsmouth; themusichall.org) on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The discussion will include a Q&A, according to a press release. Tickets cost $45 and include a copy of Makkai’s book.

The Art Roundup 23/02/02

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Last call for Piano Men:The Palace Theatre’s ode to the music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury, The All New Piano Men, wraps up its run this weekend with shows Friday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m. The show is an original production of Carl Rajotte, artistic director at the Palace (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588), according to the website. Tickets start at $25.

• Wilkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome: Also at the Palace in Manchester this weekend, the Palace Teen Apprentice Company production performed by student actors ages 12 through 18, will present Cabaret on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults. See palacetheatre.org.

• Disney’s next generation: The Riverbend Youth Company will present a tale of the kids of Disney villains in The Descendants: The Musical, based on the Disney Channel movies, at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford; amatocenter.org) on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12 for adults, $8 for children and seniors.

• Get all shook up: Local artists will perform the songs of one Elvis Aaron Presley at “A Night of Elvis,” a variety show featuring songs, skits and more, at the Majestic Theatre (88 Page St. in Manchester; 669-7469, majestictheatre.net) on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $20.

• New show — and a slate of concerts: The Two Villages Art Society (Bates Building, 846 Main St. in Contoocook; twovillagesart.org) will present a new show — the work of The Secretive and Mysterious Order of the Crimson Sparrow — opening Thursday, Feb. 2, and running through Sunday, Feb. 19. Ty Meier, an artist and member of the Society’s board of directors, organized and curated the show and describes the 14 artists (which include painters, printmakers, illustrators and sculptors) as “a scrappy group of underground art ninjas,” according to a press release. The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.

On Saturdays Feb. 11, Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. the gallery will also host concerts featuring light refreshments (donations will be accepted at the door), the release said. The schedule includes Ariel Strasser (a Boston-based Minnesotan singer, songwriter and piano player) on Feb. 11, The Honeybees (Mary Fagan and Chris O’Neill with original songs, 1930s era jazz, Western swing, folk-rock and Americana) on Feb. 18 and Hydro-Geo-Trio (featuring George Holt, Dave McLean, Dan Morrissey and Mitch Simon with blue grass and new-grass) on Feb. 25, the release said.

• Small works and a silent auction: The New Hampshire Art Association’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St. in Portsmouth; nhartassociation.org) will hold its annual fundraiser silent auction scheduled to have started Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the gallery and online, according to a press release. The auction will run through Feb. 19. The gallery is also hosting a “Small Works” exhibit featuring works 8 inches by 8 inches or 8 inches by 10 inches, the release said.

• Underground Russian art: Moscow-born Nickolay Manulov, 88, now a resident of New Hampshire, will have his works and pieces by his wife, Ludiya Kirillova, displayed at the Mariposa Museum (26 Main St. in Peterborough; mariposamuseum.org), which is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is also having an artist reception for Manulov, known as “Kuk,” with a Q&A discussion on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m. Admission to that event is $10. Manulov’s art, and that of his late wife, was illegal during the time of Stalin and wasn’t allowed to be exhibited in official venues even after Stalin’s death, according to a press release. Kuk emigrated during the Russian invasion of Crimea, bringing his and his wife’s work with him, the release said.

• Dream the impossible dream: The Seacoast Repertory Theatre (125 Bow St. in Portsmouth; seacoastrep.org, 433-4472) will present the musical Man of La Mancha, Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. through Sunday, March 5. The show follows Don Quixote, a man who lives in a fantasy world of his own creation that baffles everyone he meets but changes the world for the better and inspires those around him, according to a press release. This show contains adult themes including violence. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased at seacoastrep.org

• One-woman show: The Pontine Theatre will present guest artist Tannis Kowalchuk and her original one-woman show Decompositions at the Pontine’s 1845 Plains Schoolhouse Theatre (1 Plains Ave. in Portsmouth; pontine.org) on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. A Feb. 5 show is sold out but an online show is available (it is accessible about a week after the performance, according to the website. Tickets cost $29. In the song-filled multimedia production Kowalchuk performs monologues and stories exploring the composting process as a metaphor for life, according to a press release.

Opening day for new show

Nashua playwright’s production comes to the Concord stage

At the Hatbox in Concord, the community theater troupe Lend Me a Theatre is preparing the first production of The World Was Yours, by Nashua playwright William Ivers. Matthew Parent, director of The World Was Yours, said he was extremely excited to bring this play to life.

“It’s a great story about the value of art and what people think of art and whose opinion about art is right or not,” Parent said. “It’s this debate, and you can extract that to be about anything, not just art.”

This isn’t the first of Ivers’ plays to be produced, but it is the first time Lend Me a Theatre has produced an original and independent text.

In the play, three artists compete for the same grant: aging art professor Adley Schwartz, his young student Joy and guerilla graffiti artist Z-Jones, according to a press release. Watching the action from the ether are Bob Ross, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol, the release said.

Parent, who is a new member to Lend Me a Theatre, said having an original play be his directorial debut is extremely exciting. He said it’s incredible that he is allowed a chance to put his own spin on the text, to work with the Ivers to realize his vision, and to work with actors to breathe life into characters that have never been portrayed before.

Even though this is the first performance of The World Was Yours, Parent said there is a very good chance that it won’t be the last. This show will have a reading done in New York City, and it has gathered interest from the Royal Court Theatre in London.

“It’s unusual for a community theater or nonprofessional theater to do new plays,” Parent said. “Usually they do shows that have been published and done before. In that respect, [The World Was Yours] is brave.”

The World Was Yours
What: Original play by New Hampshire playwright William Ivers produced by Lend Me a Theatre
Where: Hatbox Theatre, 270 Loudon Road in Concord
When: Friday, Feb. 3, through Sunday, Feb. 19, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $22 for adults, $19 for seniors and students
More info: hatboxnh.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/01/26

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Stories of ballooning: Hear the stories of balloonists who explored New Hampshire skies in the 19th century at the presentation “Lighter Than Air” on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry; aviationmuseumofnh.org, 6699-4877). Leah Dearborn, the museum’s assistant director, will discuss balloonists such as Eugene Goodard, Thaddeus Lowe (an aeronaut for the Union Army during the Civil War) and others, according to a press release. “Early pioneers of local skies took to balloons and other lighter-than-air vessels for a host of reasons. Some were intended to pursue military reconnaissance and scientific inquiry, while others were simply daredevil stunts designed to attract a crowd,” the release said. Admission costs $10.

• Paint night: Katrina Reid will lead the “Bearly Winter Paint Nite” at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road in Manchester; chunkys.com) on Friday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Reid brings the materials and the know-how to teach the art of painting, according to the website. Admission costs $35; reserve a spot online.

• Call for art: The Lakes Region Art Association is looking for pieces for its upcoming exhibit “Love, Passion & Chocolate,” which will run Thursday, Feb. 2, through Friday, Feb. 25, at the Lakes Region Art Gallery (120 Laconia Road, Suite 300, in the Tanger Outlets, Tilton), according to a press release. An artists reception will be held Saturday, Feb. 11, from 4 to 8 p.m. featuring chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate, the release said. The rules for submission: Each artist can submit up to five unframed pieces no larger than 8 inches by 8 inches, artwork music be dry and ready to be bagged, all artwork must be for sale, there is an entry fee of $25 and artwork must be received by Jan. 28 by mail or dropped off on Wednesday, Feb. 1, from noon to 6 p.m., the release said. See LRAANH.org.

• Upcoming auditions for Cue Zero:Cue Zero Theatre Company will hold auditions for its April production of The Wolves, a gritty drama by Sarah DeLappe directed by Erin Downey, on Monday, Jan. 30, and Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Arts Academy of New Hampshire in Salem. All characters in the production are female/female presenting, according to the press release. Sign up for an audition slot at CZTheatre.com and those auditioning should prepare a one-minute dramatic monologue and be prepared to read sides on request; callbacks are Sunday, Feb. 5, the release said. Get information about the character breakdowns on the website.

Other Cue Zero auditions on the horizon include for Be More Chill, which is based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, and the CZT Lab Series productions Empathy and Join, original pieces. Auditions for Be More Chill, which will be presented at the Derry Opera House on Friday, June 23, through Sunday, June 25, will be Wednesday, March 8, and Thursday, March 9, at the Arts Academy of New Hampshire in Salem. Auditions for the Lab pieces, which will be presented in August, will be Sunday, March 12, also in Salem. See cztheatre.com for all the details and to sign up for auditions.

• “Winter Frost” winners: The Seacoast Artist Association announced the winners of its “Winter Frost” show, which can be viewed through Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Association’s gallery at 130 Water St. in Exeter (the gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.), according to a press release. Martin Lamon of Stratham won Best in Show for his painting “Winter Sunset” and Mark Leavitt won the People’s Choice Award for his watercolor “New Snow in Vermont,” the release said.

The Seacoast Artist Association’s next show is “Let Me Show You What I Love,” with a dropoff for local artists to submit their works on Saturday, Jan. 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (see the rules and find the application at seacoastartist.org), the release said. A reception for that show will be held Friday, Feb. 10, from 5 to 7 p.m.

• Painting and photography: The new exhibit by Center for the Arts in New London will open Friday, Feb. 3, at Bar Harbor Bank and Trust (321 Main St. in New London) as part of the Center’s First Friday Gallery Stroll. The show, “Where Painterly Art and Photography Converge,” will feature 15 paintings and one sculpture displayed with photographs used as reference images, according to a press release. The exhibit will hang at Bar Harbor Bank for three months, the release said. The exhibit will feature the works of 12 painters and four photographers, the release said.

The February First Fridays from the Center for the Arts (centerfortheartsnh.org/first-fridays) will run from 5 to 7 p.m. and include four other galleries: the New London Inn with the work of Kim Schusler, the New London Barn Playhouse Fleming Center Gallery for Contemporary Art, the Tatewell Gallery and the Candita Clayton Gallery; the Blue Loon Bakery (open from from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.) also features the work of Susan D’Appolino, the release said.

• Sculpture: 3S Artspace (319 Vaughan St. in Portsmouth; 3arts.org) will feature the architectural sculptures of Frank Poor in the exhibit “Relics,” which opens Friday, Feb. 3, and runs through Sunday, April 2. There will be an opening reception on Feb. 3 from 5 to 8 p.m, according to a press release.

Music at the Andres
Support the Andres Institute of Art (106 Route 13 in Brookline; andresinstitute.org, 673-7441) with a night of music from the Soggy Po’ Boys on Sunday, Feb. 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Institute’s welcome center. General-admission tickets cost $25; a five-seat table in the first row costs $200 per table, according to a press release. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served before the show and a cash bar will be available, the release said.

• Circus with a Chance of Meatballs:The High Mowing School middle schoolers (Pine Hill Campus, 77 Pine Hill Drive in Wilton; highmowing.org/hilltop, 654-6003) will show off their circus skills with their show Circus with a Chance of Meatballs Thursday, Feb. 16, at 4 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for children; bring a donation for the Wilton’s Open Cupboard Food pantry for free popcorn, according to a press release.

• “Comic thrill ride”: That’s how the Community Players of Concord describe their production of The 39 Steps, a comic riff on the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie, which will run Friday, Feb. 17, through Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $20 for adults and students, $18 for seniors. The performances are slated for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, according to a press release. See communityplayersofconcord.org for tickets.

• Music at the Andres: Support the Andres Institute of Art (106 Route 13 in Brookline; andresinstitute.org, 673-7441) with a night of music from the Soggy Po’ Boys on Sunday, Feb. 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Institute’s welcome center. General-admission tickets cost $25; a five-seat table in the first row costs $200 per table, according to a press release. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served before the show and a cash bar will be available, the release said.

• The faculty presents: The Manchester Community Music School’s Faculty Performance of “Chanson d’Amour” featuring Harel Gietheim on cello and Piper Runnion on harp has been rescheduled (it had been slated for Jan. 19) for Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at the school, 2291 Elm St. in Manchester. Admission is free but pre-register at mcmusicschool.org to attend in person or online.

A winter oasis

Concord Garden Club holds 20th annual Art in Bloom

Every year the Concord Garden Club celebrates the winter with its Art in Bloom event. This year’s show features 23 bouquets inspired by the creations of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.

“It’s not all paintings, textiles, pottery,” said club president Nancy Betchart. “It’s interesting to see the creativity and to see what people use to come up with arrangements.”

Betchart’s own project was inspired by a birch tree lamp with a red and orange shade. Betchart said that she and her partner took a few hiking trips in preparation to mimic the lamp with their vase, covering the glass holder with birch tree bark and arranging a colorful bouquet in the vases.

Other projects florists have selected for inspiration in years past have been hand-sewn clothing, pillows, woodworking and more. Betchart said it’s not just about capturing the visual representation of the craft, but it could be the color palette, the textures or even the feeling that it evokes in the club member.

The hardest part of the show, after selecting a craft, is sourcing the flowers for the arrangement, Betchart said. The wintertime makes it challenging to find the vibrant blooms and specific flowers the arrangers might be looking for. Betchart said she’d seen club members use flowers from a grocery store in a pinch.

“Garden club members aren’t professional florists,” Betchart said. “It’s just a lot of fun. It’s a way to develop a new friendship and just an opportunity to be creative.”

One of the most creative displays Betchart ever saw, she said, was when a garden club member created a flower cushion to match a throw pillow. She said the florist copied the design and texture of the craft, and it was something she never would have thought of.

Each bouquet will be on display next to the item that inspired it. The display will have a plaque that tells viewers what flowers and techniques were used in the making of the bouquet, and a sign explaining the item that inspired it.

Garden club members who participated in creating the bouquets will be at the gallery for the opening day, Thursday, Jan. 26, at 1 p.m. to talk about their creations and why they were inspired by the crafts they chose.

“It’s a nice way to encourage people to see some creative things and to get out and mingle and see the nice crafts artisans are making,” Betchart said.

The Concord Garden Club’s Art in Bloom
Where: 49 S. Main St., Concord
When: Thursday, Jan. 26, 1 to 5 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 27, and Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit: concordgardenclubnh.com

Featured photo: Art in Bloom photos courtesy of Nancy Betchart.

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