|
Curtain Calls
By Heidi Masek hmasek@hippopress.com
• New play, old curtain: Erin Longgood of Antrim, Tom Guertin of Concord and Isaac Helfrich of Henniker perform in the new play Café Aphorism by Henniker resident Tom Dunn, running Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. at Pleasant View (227 Pleasant St.) in Concord. The actors are shown in the photo above rehearsing in front of the recently restored stage curtain at the Henniker Community Center; this is the first time in almost 100 years that actors have been working with this curtain. Café Aphorism is staged as part of “Windows,” eight shorts presented by the Alchemists’ Workshop showing Americans in a variety of roles, mostly by New Hampshire playwrights including Alan Lindsay, George Kelly and Melanie Yergeau. Actors and technicians are members of the Department of Education’s WIA Youth Stimulus Program. For reservations call 428-3544 or see alchemistsworkshop.org.
• Condolences: Charles J. Reagan, 90, of Manchester died Sept. 16, according to the Goodwin Funeral Home. Among his community contributions, Reagan served as a volunteer and house manager at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, along with his wife Georgie, for more than 40 years, according to the Palace. The Palace will host a special memorial service Monday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m. (80 Hanover St., Manchester) where friends and colleagues can reminisce about “Charlie’s love for the Palace and Manchester,” according to the theater.
Mayor Frank Guinta gave Reagan a key to the city during his 90th birthday celebration Sept. 6, according to his obituary. Condolences to Georgie Reagan, well known to the Hippo for her service as the Mayor’s Assistant for the Arts, the Manchester Arts Commission and for her efforts and success in increasing public art in the city, and to their family and friends.
• Ladies of steel: Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling is, “really a peek into the world of three generations of women in the deep South in the early 1980s,” said Dan Barth, who directs it for the Nashua Theatre Guild. Maria Barry, Christina Hamilton, Kate Harper, Renee Macneil, Caroline Mellone-Lagno and Judi Mitchell perform. See it Thursday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 26, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m., at the Jan Streeter Theater, 14 Court St. in Nashua. Tickets cost $10 and $12; visit nashuatheatreguild.org or call 320-2530.
• Ernest Thompson: During “An Evening with Ernest Thompson,” playwright Thompson, known for On Golden Pond, discusses his work and answers questions. This free event is Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m. at AVA, 11 Bank St., Lebanon. AVA Gallery and Arts Center and the NH Writers’ Project host it to promote the Upper Valley Literary Festival Oct. 16-17. Visit nhwritersproject.org or call 314-7980.
• Theatre Sports: Check out the new Theatre Sports Comedy Improv series that starts Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Adams Memorial Opera House, 29 West Broadway in Derry. Tickets cost $10 and $12 at DerryArts.TicketLeap.com or 437-0505. The series continues Oct. 3, Nov. 11 and Nov. 21.
• Chicago and London: Chicago-based improv and sketch troupe The Second City (secondcity.com) has a 50th anniversary tour stopping in New Hampshire Friday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. at The Music Hall (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 436-2400, themusichall.org). Tickets range in cost from $23 to $30.
National Theatre of London HD Broadcast Series (www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntlive) presents a second NT Live cinemacast of a live theater production with Shakespeare’s All’s Well that End’s Well. See it Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at The Music Hall. Ticket costs range from $15 to $27.50.
• Show your support: Billy Butler and Dane Leeman created the musical The Gay Bride of Frankenstein and staged it at the Players’ Ring in Portsmouth last fall -- it opens in New York Sept. 28 as part of this year’s New York Musical Theatre Festival.
The storyline is “nothing new ... It’s a love triangle with a twist,” Butler said last year.
Gay Bride is tagged as a “graphic novel [that] comes alive on stage when high school friends Edna, Chloe, Hairy and Thad stumble into a night of rock music that can raise the dead! Will the girl get the girl? Never has there been a Halloween love story like this with mystery, magic and a Scooby Doo twist that will scare you silly.” Cast members include Jonathan B. Wright (Spring Awakening, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt), Emma Hunton (Spring Awakening) and Darryl Winslow (Avenue Q, Evil Dead). There are six chances to catch it during the festival: Monday, Sept. 28, Wednesday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 4, and Thursday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 11, at 4:30 p.m., at TBG Theater, 312 W. 36th St. Tickets cost only $20; call 212-352-3101 or visit nymf.org. Or support the effort of this locally created musical by buying a copy of the workshop recording at gaybrideoffrankenstein.com.
• Magic: Local Tom Anastasi and E. Kyle Minor wrote The Magic of Crime. The “audience-participation mystery-comedy dessert theater” has been performed six times in seven years. It’s full of jokes and is family-friendly, Anastasi stated in a release. The Wheeler Players are producing it with StageCoach Productions at StageCoach, 25 Front St., fifth floor, in Nashua, Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. Call (978) 314-9828 for tickets, which cost $5 and $10 and include dessert.
• Help out: Need to get rid of computers, laptops, printers, TVs, DVDS, VCRs, cell phones, stereos, toasters or microwaves? Alvirne Class Act holds an electronics recycling fundraiser Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Alvirne High School, where you can get a tax deductible receipt for the recycling fees. E-mail HSOnStage@gmail.com or call 320-1073.
• Correction: In “World War II and the hair salon,” on page 20 of the Sept. 17-23 Hippo, it was incorrectly reported that actor George Piehl is in the fundraiser production for Community Players of Concord’s 1944 Big Band Comedy Canteen. Piehl assisted, but does not perform, director Betty Thomson said. He is currently acting at the Ogunquit Playhouse.
|
Navigation
