Category: Art & Theater

Concord art gallery welcomes NH artists

To understand the business philosophy of Meme Exum, owner of The Glimpse Gallery in Concord, the story of how she acquired her first piece of art is instructive. At age 20 she studied political science at Georgia State, waiting tables to support herself. Her only roommate was Angelina, an angelfish from the Amazon River.

Exum had an emotional connection with the fish, who’d nibble her finger when she fed it. One day she rushed off to work worried her aquarium’s pH balance wasn’t right, and when she returned from her shift her beloved companion had passed. Heartbroken, she asked a friend, a student at Georgia State’s art school, to paint her portrait.

She paid $50 for the small painting of Angelina in a spray of river silk with tiny bubbles escaping from her mouth. The image now greets visitors to Glimpse; it’s both a logo and the source of the gallery’s name. With the bubbles, “you’re getting a glimpse of her in her native habitat,” Exum said.

What does this have to do with running an art gallery located on the alley side of a building across the street from the Statehouse? First of all, Glimpse isn’t a moneymaker. Exum breaks even on costs, and her web design company pays the bills. She charges a wall space fee sufficient to cover maintenance but doesn’t take a commission when something sells.

She mounts six exhibitions a year, relying on word of mouth to draw people in. The current show offers works from seven artists whose works range from surreal images of stair-climbing fish to watercolor horizons, colorful canvas sculptures that echo Van Gogh, and portraits of players on the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

It opens July 9, preceded by four Friday evening receptions; the final one is June 28 at 5 p.m. It will include works from Julie Daniels, Mark Ruddy, Kevin Kintner, Rose Culver, Paul Gilmore, Cheryl Mitchell and Christina Landry-Boullion. Art prices can range from under $100 to a few thousand dollars.

“I simply am in it to get the art out,” she said, adding that she eschews social media. “That’s not the vibe, it’s more an underground following. You hear about it from other artists, you hear about it from people who truly love art. Then you come here, have a glass of wine or a non-alcoholic beverage and you simply see new art. If you don’t buy anything, you’re still supporting the artist.”

There’s another reason for her altruism, however.

After being bit by the collector bug in college, Exum got a job at an Atlanta architect’s office. There she ran a side hustle connecting her artist pals with interior designers.

“When I sold a piece from a struggling student who just graduated to an interior designer, that feeling of being the intermediary was my goal,” not money, she said. “It was a power for good.”

Her reward was being able to snag pieces she liked before they ended up on the wall of a million-dollar condo. “You know where I made bank?” she asked. “I get dibs on all the first art … I get to see all these artists and pick what I like.” In other words, she’s in business for reasons very similar to those of people who run used record stores or antique shops.

This explains the ancient Toyota pickup truck parked in front of Glimpse. “We’re never selling this, and our other car is a 10-year old station wagon,” Exum said. “Why buy a fancy car when we could have that cash available for when we see the right piece? We can buy it if we don’t have a car payment.”

Glimpse’s first exhibit in February had works from the online gallery Exum ran out of Atlanta before she and her husband moved north, along with pieces from her brother in Vermont and a few from a Bow artist. Since then she’s managed to fill the walls with mostly New Hampshire artists.

Choosing what to display doesn’t come down to her personal preferences; Exum tries to keep an open mind and find work outside of her comfort zone.

“I really look at pieces that I’m not necessarily drawn to, because we all like our own taste,” she said. “If I’m not really drawn to it let me see if I can understand it more and if that will give me a connection.”

Exum also knows there’s always more to glean.

“I am learning so much from the artists that Glimpse represents, like when they’ll mention an artist that I’ve never heard of,” she said. “It’s a very humbling place to be a gallery owner, and everyone’s telling you stuff you don’t know, but I’m just trying to absorb it as much as I can.”

First Glimpse Art Show
When: Friday, June 28, 5 p.m.
Where: The Glimpse Gallery, 4 Park St. (Patriot Building), Concord
More: theglimpsegallery.com

Jersey Boys at Winnipesaukee Playhouse

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

Along with being a jukebox musical about a great American vocal group, Jersey Boys has a lot of drama. The director of an upcoming production of the show at Winnipesaukee Playhouse believes that experiencing it is akin to buying a theater ticket and a concert ticket at the same time.

The Tony-winning musical, opening June 21, follows the Four Seasons vocal group’s arc of success, a path marked by triumph and tragedy. Iconic songs include “Sherry,” “Rag Doll,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” but the human stories — music and the mob, frayed family ties and other struggles — are equally compelling.

“I think there’s a tendency to assume with a show like this that we’re just going to sing and have some fun,” Teisha Duncan said in a recent phone interview. “But these are people who lived, who we can easily access stories about. They’re building a full-bodied production of character work. It’s not just about being able to sing the part and having these distinct voices.”

Jersey Boys is Duncan’s third production in three years with the Meredith theater, and her first musical. A Black Jamaican woman, Duncan didn’t expect to direct the show.

“It’s very rare that they give me things that are very much concentrated in a part of American history,” she said, “but I grew up listening to the Jersey Boys, I knew Frankie Valli. It’s very much a part of our canon, the music.”

She’s also spent time on stage in the musical theater world, acting in Disney’s The Lion King and The Color Purple and others. Jersey Boys is a bigger challenge, though.

“This is my first jukebox musical that I’m directing and at this scale of work,” she said, and expressed gratitude for the opportunity. “Even though it’s a separate part of my artistry, I’m glad that they trusted that I know the genre enough to direct it.”

It’s an eagerly anticipated show; already, tickets are selling faster than any production in the playhouse’s history. It’s also an ambitious undertaking, with a set that can be quickly reconfigured for more than 50 scene changes, including the Brill Building, nightclubs, New York City bridges and even a state penitentiary.

“It has to transition in real time,” Duncan said. “And it’s exciting to experiment with that, to see how we can create continuity through these transitions and relationships so there isn’t a moment where the audience has to wait for a setup. All of that happens as a rolling pattern.”

An all-female creative team includes Duncan, choreographer Chloe Kounadis and musical director Judy Hayward. The cast has a few returning members like New York actress Drea Campo, part of the Playhouse production of [title of show] last summer, and a lot of fresh faces.

“We have a nice blend of newbies to both the show as well as the theater house, and they’re all excited about it,” Duncan said. “Some of them have done the show, but they’ve played other roles. Our Frankie, I think he played DiCarlo in the last production, and our DiCarlo played Guardio.”

When asked to name her favorite part of the show, Duncan recalled audience response the night it was announced for the 2024 season, and the era’s evocative power.

Successful theaters “have a conversation with their community, and they listen to them,” she began. “They want to connect to parts of their life and memories that are exciting and create theater that’s reflective of who lives in [and] engages with that community, the parts of their memory that pull them back to what makes them happiest.”

The cheers and applause that greeted news of Jersey Boys still rings in her ears, she said.

“It feels like that dialogue between the Winnipesaukee Theatre and the community members is actually happening, and we want to keep that conversation strong,” she said. “We want people to come in and really tap into those beautiful memories. There is a specific sound of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. You hear that song, and you’re right into that. It brings out some of the happiest memories of most people’s lives. So, I love that about Jersey Boys.

• Curtain calls: The Palace Theatre’s (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) production of 42nd Street offers five shows in its final weekend: Thursday, June 20, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 22, at 2 & 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 23, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $38 to $59. See Michael Witthaus’ look at the production in the June 6 issue of the Hippo on page 14 (hippopress.com to find the e-edition).

• On stage:Sleuth is presented by The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts on Friday, June 21, at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 22, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, June 23, at 2 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre (880 Page St., Manchester, majestictheatre.net, 669-7469). As described on the website, the show presents the ultimate game of cat and mouse played out in a cozy English country house owned by ca elebrated mystery writer whose guest is a young rival who shares his love for games. Tickets are $15 and $20.

• Craft: Hall Memorial Library (18 Park St. in Northfield; hallmemoriallibrary.org, 286-8971) will hold a Summer Craft Show on Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Premiere:The Nashua Historical Society at The Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum (5 Abbott St., Nashua) will be hosting the premiere of the documentary ​At Home and Abroad: Nashua and World War II on Saturday, June 22, at 11:30 a.m. and at 1 p.m., according to their website. The documentary chronicles the stories of civilians, veterans and Holocaust survivors as Nashuans share personal and family World War II stories. The film was created by local filmmakers John Sadd and Jeremy Frazier. The showing is free and open to the public. Doors open at 11 a.m. Visit nashuahistoricalsociety.org.

• Fest in the Clouds: Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough is hosting its second annual Community Arts Festival on Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival will feature more than 100 booths with the works of local crafters, artists and community organizations and attendees can look forward to a scavenger hunt, art activities for kids, and other events, according to a press release. Seecastleintheclouds.org.

• Symphony Saturday: The Boston Civic Symphony with Conductor Fransico Noya and Pianist Frederick Moyer will perform Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Op. 22, Chevalier de Saint-Georges – Symphony Op 11 No. 2, and Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor at Colby-Sawyer College’s Sawyer Center Theater (541 Main St., New Boston) on Saturday, June 22, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for students. Visit summermusicassociates.org or call 526-8234.

• Outdoor theater: The annual mainstage production for the Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth opens Friday, June 21, when Legally Blonde The Musical hits the stage at 7 p.m. The show runs most Thursdays through Sundays until Aug. 11, all at 7 p.m. with matinées on Sunday, June 30 and Sunday, July 28 at 1 pm, according to prescottpark.org where you can find information on reservations.

Jersey
When: June 21 through July 6, Fridays and Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays , 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Where: Winnipesaukee Playhouse, 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith
Tickets: $25 to $52 at the winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org