Category: Art & Theater

The Art Roundup 24/06/13

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

• It’s Member Appreciation Week at the Currier Museum of Art from Wednesday, June 12, through Sunday, June 16. The week includes private tours, special discounts, giveaways, an extensive raffle and more, according to their website. Raffle prizes include a private tour (for up to four) of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses, a free art class at the Currier, a gift basket from the museum shop and more. Members will receive a 25 percent discount at the museum gift store and there is a fun scavenger hunt throughout the week. On Thursday, June 13, at 11 a.m. the Currier’s senior curator, Kurt Sundstrom, will present an overview of the Currier’s permanent collection, showing some of the history behind featured and lesser-known works; this event is for Currier members and registration is required since capacity is limited. On Friday, June 14, there will be a collection tour with Director of Engagement and practicing artist Bruce McColl, who will highlight some of his favorite works; registration is required. On Saturday, June 15, from 9 to 10 a.m., the museum will hold a members-only hour with complimentary coffee available in the Winter Garden Café and members receiving a free hardcover copy of UÝRA: The Living Forest, edited by the chief curator, Lorenzo Fusi. On Sunday, June 16, members will receive 30 percent off brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Winter Garden Café, where they can also enjoy live music. Visit currier.org.

Rustic Art
“Metalsum” will be on display at the McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, nhaudubon.org) through Friday, July 12. The show features rustic metal artwork with an emphasis on portraying the natural world by Jane Kolias, a New Hampshire native now residing in Vermont, according to the event website. Inspiration for these designs comes from observing nature, the creativity of fellow artists, and the found objects themselves, and each finished piece has its own unique configuration and blend of components which become garden and landscape pieces, wall hangings and tabletop items, according to the same website. Visit the exhibition Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord) on Thursday, June 13, at 6:30 p.m. will host New Hampshire author Brinda Charry, discussing the paperback edition release of her debut novel, The East Indian, according to their website. Charry, a former academic, has released numerous books and articles in her field of study, English Renaissance literature. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com.

• Nashua Public Library (2 Court St., Nashua) will host a book discussion of The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, which is about an U.S. Olympic crew team from 1936, on Thursday, June 13, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. All are welcome at this community book group, which usually meets on the second Thursday of the month. Visit nashualibrary.org.

• Prescott Farm’s (928 Whiteoaks Road, Laconia) Community Connections Programs will be offering a course titled Spinning Yarn on a Drop Spindle on Saturday, June 15, from 1 to 3 p.m. Participants will put some twist into yarn by learning to spin their own with a drop spindle and attendees will learn to use a weighted stick to twist wool into yarn, according to the website. Visit prescottfarm.org.

NY Artist Collab
The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester), as part of a series of exhibitions and commissions looking at the relationship between fine art and crafts conceived for the museum’s Welcome Gallery, has collaborated with New York-based artist Elisabeth Kley for an exhibit titled “Cymodocea,” which will run until Sunday, Aug. 18. Kley’s installation combines her signature ceramic sculptures with wall paintings, interspersed with a selection of her works on paper, and is reminiscent of the Pattern and Decoration movement, according to the website. The exhibit is supported by Outer Space Arts in Concord. Visit currier.org.

• The New Hampshire Historical Society will host a lecture on Thursday, June 13, from 7 to 8 p.m. titled “Swenson Granite Company, 1883 to 2016.” For more than 130 years the Swenson Granite Co. has quarried stone in New Hampshire, providing building blocks that created the Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Bridge, battlefield memorials at Gettysburg, and dozens of other notable structures around the country, according to the NHHS website. Kurt Swenson, the fourth generation of Swensons to manage the company, will present the story of this once family-owned business and the future of the granite industry in New Hampshire. The event is co-sponsored by the Concord Historical Society, with support from the Walker Lecture Fund, and admission is free and open to the public, with no registration required. Visit nhhistory.org.

• The Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) will host An Evening With Gaelic Storm Wednesday, June 19, at 8 p.m. This band is one of the biggest Celtic acts in the business. Tickets start at $39.

• Tribute band The Magic of Motown will perform at the Capitol Center for the Arts’ (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) Chubb Theatre on Tuesday, June 18, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $57.75.

Radio Remedy
The Radio Hour, a one-act choral opera by Jake Heggie, tells the story of Nora (played by Lisa Lovett), a middle-aged woman having a very bad day who seeks solace by locking herself inside her apartment and turning on the radio. The choir is split in two at the beginning of the show, with one choir representing Nora’s inner voice and the other choir as the radio show. The music explores a variety of textures, colors and sounds: traffic noise, swing tunes, radio ads, a quasi-rap song, big band and finally a full, celebratory flowering of grand choral singing, according to the website. Performances will be on Saturday, June 15, at 7 p.m. at the South Church Concord (27 Pleasant St., Concord) and on Sunday, June 16, at 4 p.m. at the Plymouth Congregational Church (4 Post Office Square, Plymouth). Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and military, and free for students. Visit nhmasterchorale.org for tickets.

—Zachary Lewis

Have improv, will travel

Colin Mochrie takes the show on the road

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Described as a hardworking and imaginative mammal in his bio on the show’s website, Colin Mochrie (Hilaritycus smoothius, as it says), known for his improv expertise on Whose Line is it Anyway? will be taking the stage in Portsmouth with Brad Sherwood, a fellow Whose Line-er at the Music Hall on Thursday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m. as part of their “Asking for Trouble” tour.

“It’s like a live version of Whose Line,” Mochrie said. “There’s a lot of games that would be familiar to a Whose Line fan … some games that we just made up ourselves…. We don’t have a host, we don’t have other people to work with. It’s just two hours of goofy fun.”

Audience members will have a good idea but will never know exactly which improv games to expect at the unscripted show.

“We do start off with a basic foundation but it can easily change…,” Mochrie said. “We do a new one that’s kind of fun, just because it scares me; we do sort of a musical tribute to the town that we’re playing, so it’s going to be a musical about Portsmouth, we’re hoping.”

Mochrie and Sherwood met on the hit television show.

“It was actually his idea to go on tour,” Mochrie said of Sherwood.

Every Super Bowl Sunday, Drew Carey, the former host, would take the cast to perform in Vegas in multiple shows leading up to the big game. Sherwood popped the question during one of these marathon improv sessions.

Afterward, they gave the idea a test run, and it worked. The tour has been running over 20 years.

“We’ve been friends, God, over 30 years now. It really helps when you’re working with someone, especially in improv, somebody you trust and you like. We both have sort of the same viewpoint on improv and what we like to do with it,” Mochrie said. Although nothing lasts forever. “So far. It could always turn, of course, because, you know, he has problems, but so far, so good.”

The Scottish-born Canadian improvisational comedian was drawn to the craft at an early age and referenced comedian Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams, as improv influences.

“I just saw this demonstration … that had been invented by this Englishman in Calgary called theater sports, and it was improv in sort of a sports setting where this referee would issue challenges and then you would improvise. I thought, ‘Oh, well this could be fun.’ It was something I enjoyed doing. I never thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be my career,’ just because there wasn’t an outlet.”

If Mochrie isn’t producing laughs on stage with Sherwood, he most likely will be on another stage doing the same.

“I improvise with a lot of different improv groups around the country,” he said. He also does an improv tour with his wife, Debra McGrath, as well as a tour with a hypnotist called Hyprov. “The beauty of improv is you’re kind of open to everything.”

Mochrie was open to the idea of a Whose Line live tour and noted that they had shot enough so that another season with host Aisha Tyler will be able to air: “It’s just a show you can’t kill, it keeps coming back.”

Mochrie is quite fond of the television show.

“I think the beauty of it was, we only shot two weekends a year so … unlike shows that go on forever and ever, we didn’t have a chance to get on each other’s nerves, so everybody still really enjoyed each other…,” he said. “We’re all good friends. We’re constantly tweeting and emailing and keeping in contact with each other. It is a good group.”

Not only has Mochrie been on both British and American versions of Whose Line is it Anyway; he’s also performed in numerous film and television roles and most recently in the film Villains Inc., which came out in April. He is also an award-winning writer , performer and producer.

“I do have fun doing scripted stuff on film and television. What I enjoy about stage more, I think, is that we are the architects of our own fate,” he said. That sense of autonomy is a driving force behind his work: “Doing improv and doing our show, we’re in charge. If the show sucks, it’s because we suck. If it went great, it’s because we were good. There’s no one else to blame and I like having that pressure.”

“I just love [that] every show is different. Every show is for that audience. No one else will ever see it again,” Mochrie said. “So it keeps it fresh for us. I think that’s part of the reason we’re still enjoying each other and the show after all this time.”

Asking for Trouble
• Thursday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. at The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, themusichall.org
Tickets $44 to $88

• Sunday, Oct. 6, 5 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org
Tickets $49 to $75

colinandbradshow.com

Featured Photo: Colin Mochrie. Courtesy Photo.

The Art Roundup 24/06/06

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

• Music outdoors: Concerts on the Common is put on by the Londonderry Council of the Arts at the Town Common (265 Mammoth Road, Londonderry) on Wednesday evenings in the summer from 7 to 8:30 p.m., totaling 11 free and family-friendly performances that will run until Wednesday, Aug. 14. On Wednesday, June 12, Jessica Lynn will perform. In case of rain the show will be held at Matthew Thornton Gym. Visit londonderryartscouncil.org.

• More music outdoors: The 13-week Tuesday night Henniker Summer Music Series starts off with a local six-piece acoustic Americana band featuring strings and shared vocal harmonies called Peabody’s Coal Train on Tuesday, June 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Angela Robinson Bandstand in the Community Park, according to a press release. The show is free but donations are welcome. In case of rain, the concert will be held inside the adjacent Community Center. Food can be acquired at the venue or can be brought in for picnics. The series, featuring new acts each week, will run until Tuesday, Sept. 3. Visit Facebook.com/HennikerConcert.

• Art outdoors: The Concord Arts Market, an outdoor artisan and fine art market, will run one Saturday a month from June through October, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Rollins Park (33 Bow St., Concord). Market dates are June 8, July 13, Aug. 10 and Sept. 14. Visit concordartsmarket.net.

• On stage: Paradise Now! will be presented by Theatre Kapow at the Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, ccanh.com) on Friday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 9, at 2 p.m. A group of women join a pyramid selling scheme promoting a range of essential oils in this U.S. premiere of the funny new play by Margaret Perry about ambition, exploitation and the search for connection in a fractured world, according to their website.See tkapow.com.

• The Currier Museum of Art will be holding its annual Member Appreciation Week from Wednesday, June 12, through Sunday, June 16, which includes private tours, special discounts, giveaways, an extensive raffle and more, according to their website. Starting from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12, there will be a members-only art-making activity in the Green Studio to get creative energy moving for all skill and experience levels, and there is no fee or registration required, according to the same website. At 3 p.m. there will be an exhibition tour with Chief Curator Lorenzo Fusi, who will give an overview of their newest installation, Elisabeth Kley’s “Cymodocea,” in the museum’s Welcome Gallery, as well as a guided discussion of the current exhibition “Filippo de Pisis and Robert Mapplethorpe: A Distant Conversation,” according to their website. Registration is required since capacity is limited, and is just the beginning of the Currier’s Member Appreciation Week. Visit currier.org.

—Zachary Lewis

In the money

Palace season finale 42nd Street shines

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

The final musical in the Palace Theatre’s 2023-2024 season is far and away its best. From the tap-tastic overture that begins the show, with the curtain rising just enough to reveal 20 pairs of legs in full dance, to the triumphant ending number that gives it a title, 42nd Street is a gem, packed with dazzling dancing, classy choreography and standout stars.

The show about show business won a Best Musical Tony when it debuted in 1980. Set in the Depression era, it follows rehearsals for Pretty Lady, a fictitious production that holds a few fortunes in its hands, including director Julian Morse (Dan Fenaughty), a Broadway legend looking to reverse his latest losing streak, and Peggy Sawyer (Jenna Bienvenue), fresh off the bus from Allentown with hopes of a spot in the chorus line.

Dorothy Brock is Pretty Lady’s star, due to a financial marriage of convenience. Her goofy but rich boyfriend financed the show on the condition that she be the leading lady, though she can’t dance and is past her prime. Larissa Klinger plays the role with nuance and grace; her performance is an understated gem.

Early on, different cast members offer scene-stealing turns — Megan Quinn as Maggie Jones, the brassy co-writer of Pretty Lady, and Ashton Lambert, playing high stepping tenor Billy Lawlor as the kind of person who treats a trip to the store as an audition — his over the top efforts to charm Peggy produced repeated out loud laughs from the audience.

Ultimately, however, 42nd Street’s lead actors carry the day, with Fenaughty commanding in a role originally played by Jerry Orbach. The cynical stage titan softens on the way to singing “Lullaby of Broadway” to remind Peggy of why she should hold on to her dreams. For her part, Bienvenue perfectly portrays her ingenue’s transformation from a chaos agent who can turn dance practice into a bowling alley in an earthquake, to finding her inner star.

Also, high marks are due to director and choreographer Carl Rajotte, for rising to the challenge of a production that has dancing in almost every scene. In particular, “Shadow Waltz” and its use of the Palace’s multimedia screen system was breathtaking. Closing extravaganzas in both acts are also stellar, all a reminder that technical investment in the theater is paying off handsomely.

With classic songs like “We’re In the Money” and “I Only Have Eyes For You” along with the infectious numbers “Go Into Your Dance” and “Dames,” it’s understandable that 42nd Street was the first film musical adapted for Broadway to succeed; it’s been produced hundreds if not thousands of times since.

It’s also director Rajotte’s favorite, for both its entertainment value and sentimental reasons.

“This is my fifth time doing 42nd Street,” he said during rehearsals. “I love Golden Age shows, but they tend to be a little out of date or sometimes the flow of the show is a little bit slower. This one was written in 1980 so it has that fast pacing, but with that charming Golden Age feel … it’s the best of both worlds.”

It’s also the show that brought Rajotte to Manchester. Twenty-five years ago, his father moved here after his mother had passed. One day he called his son, an actor in New York City, and told him about a professional theater company in his new home town. “I said, no, I would have heard of it,” Rajotte recalled.

In a wonderful bit of kismet, just a couple of days later Rajotte picked up a copy of Backstage, a newspaper for actors, and saw an announcement for auditions in New York for a production of 42nd Street at the Palace. He answered the call and was cast as Pretty Lady choreographer Andy Lee.

After that, he left on tour with another show.

“I figured I probably won’t be back again, but then Peter Ramsey called me while I was on tour and said, ‘Hey, how about you come back and choreograph and direct for us?’ I did a couple of shows, and then took the job full-time. This was really the intro, this show. So it’s dear to my heart.”

42nd Street
When: Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through June 23
Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester
Tickets: $28 to $49 at palacetheatre.org

Buy art, make art

Green Envy offers classes, crafts and more

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Kermit the Frog once remarked that it’s not easy being green, but Kermit had never met Helen Ryba, the owner of the eclectic and otherworldly Green Envy (377 Elm St., No. 1, Manchester), where she makes being green look easy.

Ryba, a renaissance woman, hosts spaces for local artists to sell their wares. She also holds various classes and offers an anytime drop-in candle-making experience through her Queen City Candle company with a plethora of scents so visitors can craft a unique smell spell specific to their soul or season. It doesn’t hurt that there is free parking on the side.

The offerings include antiques, hydroponic plants, art and more.

“People have a lot of fun if they come here,” Ryba said. “People say I’m a hidden gem but I don’t want to be hidden anymore.”

One unique offering is the locally crafted baby blankets made from old chenille bedspread material.

“I just like the idea that it’s local stuff,” Ryba said.

The candle drop-in is a great time, and participants only need to arrive an hour before closing to take part. “I’ll add different scents depending on the season,” Ryba said. “These are high-quality scents.” From Palo Santo to Baked Apple Pie and Froot Loops, $20 for a nice-sized unique candle that someone can make themselves is a treat.

The creation process takes place in a cozy classroom space with a large wooden table and a seafoam green microwave and refrigerator, which were a joint gift from her three sons, as well as local art pieces on the walls.

Age is no barrier, and the artists Ryba sells for run the full spectrum. “I have a lot of older women’s art here,” she said. “Some women will find later in life that they have these talents that they didn’t know that they had. They’ve retired or they’ve tried different things later on, and I think that’s cool.”

There are classes every Thursday night, typically running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A class from a couple weeks ago involved wreath making; others include Tarot card reading with a craft project involving the card that is pulled.

Succulents in vintage vessels pair nicely with the hydroponic plants. (“Hydroponic has no dirt, it’s only water, so it’s almost impossible to kill,” Ryba noted.) A plant resting over what looks like a potted plant is lifted to reveal a secret cenote of plant water.

“Once a week you raise the level to where it was originally and then once a month you just rinse the whole thing out, you rinse these, these are called LECA balls, with warm water and then you refill it and that’s it,” she said. LECA stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate and is used in a lot of hydroponic plants. Ryba has plant foods and other hydroponic plant supplies for sale as well. “People say this is their spot to come when they’re looking for gifts.”

In the Tarot card section there are locally crafted goth-type dolls. “This is a little bit different,” Ryba said. “I guess I have some women that are, I guess they’re witches. I’m not a witch but they like that kind of stuff.”

A line of lotions from a local nurse, a “Not Your Mother’s Hallmark Card Section,” a series of drink mixers from Goffstown, hot sauce from Portsmouth, and fine art glassware from Tara Van Meter are in the shop as well.

Birthday parties are even a possibility in the classroom space. “I did a birthday party for a girl who turned 30 and some of her friends,” Ryba said. Class night and private functions are BYOB: “I’ll supply the ice and the cups and all that good stuff.” There are guidelines; open bottles are not allowed to leave.

“People seem to really like the classes,” Ryba said. “Most of the people that come out to the classes are women. I would say 90 percent are women, it’s like girl power. They come as strangers and leave as friends. I’ve seen people get together afterward, so it’s really great.”

Shop and craft
Green Envy
377 Elm St. #1, Manchester
722-3885, greenenvywellness.com

Classes:
Conch Shell and Glass Necklace
Thursday, May 30, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; $49
Pressed Flower Lantern
Thursday, June 6, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m..; $35
More class listings can be found online.

The Art Roundup 24/05/30

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

Multi-artist show:Positive Street Art and Opportunity Network will be hosting their “United Through Color” exhibition on Thursday, May 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Positive Street Art (48 Bridge St., Nashua), showcasing the solo and collaborative work of 14 artists whose breadth of mark-making and material manipulation is sure to astound and inspire, according to a press release. Fifty-five percent of sales will directly go to the artist, 35 percent back into this program and 10 percent to benefit Positive Street Art, according to the same release. The organizations hosting the exhibit thank New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the artists featured in this exhibition will be Liz Morin, Darren Roberts, Sue Long, Teddy Theos, Ed Davis, Duncan MacLennan, Sara Coffill, Amanda Pare, Hannah Gould, Alyssa Sawicki, Meghan Costello, Lisa Beauchamp, Yasamin Safarzadeh, Amara Phelps, Roger Balcom and Randall Neilson, according to the release. Visit positivestreetart.org

• Choral festival: Be the Change is a collaborative choral festival that will be held Saturday, June 1, at 4 p.m. at Concord’s South Congregational Church (27 Pleasant St., Concord) and will feature these Concord Community Music School ensembles: Canterbury Singers, Northern Lights Women’s Vocal Ensemble, Purple Finches Youth Chorus, Songweavers Women’s Chorus, Songweaver Drummers and Sunset Singers, according to their website, which suggests ordering tickets in advance. Prices range from $10 to $30. Visit ccmusicschool.org/events.

NEW HAMPSHIRE ART
Two Villages Art Society in the Hopkinton village of Contoocook (846 Main St.) will showcase more than 30 New Hampshire artists and sell their work in the annual summer member show, “Communities Gather,” which runs until Saturday, June 22, according to a press release. Admission to the gallery is free, as well as the opening reception, and the gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. All exhibitors in the show are members of Two Villages Art Society (TVAS), a nonprofit organization that offers exhibits, workshops and other events. Work in this exhibit will include paintings and drawings, fiber arts, jewelry, pottery, and prints from painter Pamela R. Tarbell, ceramic artist Karen Sobin-Jonash, photographer Jeff Schapira, knitter Martha Johnson, fiber artist Jules Robinson, and other artists from Hopkinton, Concord, Warner, Meredith and nearby towns. The summer members exhibit is juried by a prominent member of the New Hampshire art community with a “Best in Show” and “Artist Merit” award to be presented during the opening reception.

• Spring concert: The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra will perform its spring concert at The Music Hall (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 436-2400, themusichall.org) Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. Tickets start at $23.50.

• Handbells: The Granite State Ringers, New Hampshire’s only elite handbell choir, will perform at the Spotlight Room (96 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) on Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $50.

• On stage: Manchester Community Theatre Players (MCTP) will present the musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the MCTP Theatre at the North End Montessori School (698 Beech St., Manchester) on Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. as well as on Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m. The show focuses on six misfit kids in a spelling bee and the three adults in charge, resulting in hilarious and touching stories from the tweens’ home lives, according to a press release. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is appropriate for ages 14 and older due to adult themes. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for those 65 or older, and $10 for students and those 18 and under. Visitmcpt.info.

• Book art: “Building Books 2” is a traveling exhibition at Twiggs Gallery ( 254 King St., Boscawen) of unique artist books organized by members of the New England Book Artists (NEBA). It starts with a free zine-making workshop from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, followed by an artists’ reception from 1 to 3 p.m. The exhibit at Twiggs runs through July 14, according to a press release. “Building Books 2” presents a range of interpretations on the themes of structure, architecture, public and private spaces, reality and fantasy, libraries, engineering, drafting, bookbinding, the handmade, the maker, connections, conceptualizations, personal narratives, home and much more, according to the same release. Visit twiggsgallery.org.

THE SHOW GOES ON
Into the Breeches! by George Brant, produced by Lend Me a Theater (lendmeatheater.org), runs Friday, May 31, through Sunday, June 9, at the Rochester Performing Arts Center (32 N. Main St., Rochester) with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $22 for students, seniors and members, $19 for senior members. Into The Breeches! is a 2018 warm-hearted comedy set in 1942: Concord’s Oberon Play House’s director and leading men are off in World War II, so the director’s wife becomes determined to produce an all-female version of Shakespeare’s Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV Part 1 and 2, and Henry V) to deliver a celebration of collaboration and persistence when the show must go on, according to the website.

—Zachary Lewis

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