Rye Lions Car Show

September 17, 2023 — The Rye Lions Club held its 40th annual Car Show and Cruise-In on Parson's Field in Rye, New Hampshire, featuring its customary high-quality antique vehicles. Competition Motors Ltd and Bayberry Vintage Cars brought several of their beautifully restored cars.

Unlike the cool, overcast previous day in Stowe, Vermont, the Rye Lions Show was held under cloudless skies and warm temperatures. Take a look at this excellent exhibit at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/rye23/

32nd British Invasion

September 16, 2023 — The British Invasion held its 32nd anniversary show, featuring only English-made vehicles and motorcycles, in Stowe, Vermont, while hurricane Lee was battering the coast from the Carolinas all the way up to Boston and southern New Hampshire. Stowe was cloudy and cool with light winds, and dry.

The show has a very British theme overall, with booths selling English-made products. The popular ladies' hat competition, an annual tradition, was held in the "Queen's" tent. My coverage of the event can be seen at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/invasion23/

Kiwanis Antique & Classic Car Show

September 9, 2023 — The 36th annual Kiwanis Club Antique and Classic Car Show was held as usual on the property of New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, New Hampshire. Thunderstorms in the forecast never occurred, but that prediction may have kept participation below normal for this popular show. That's unfortunate, but it's typical for this summer of unsettled and unpredictable weather. Actually, sun shone on the field most of the day.

In spite of the lower turnout, there were many fine cars, some rare and unusual, along with an excellent exhibit of beautifully restored pickup trucks from 1949 through 1970. I couldn't resist allowing my camera to wander for some pastoral shots and video of a nearby pond.

I'd be grateful if someone could explain to me why this Apkarian, whoever that is, has earned a "gate" at NHTI.

You'll find my coverage of the show, complete with pastoral pond and Apkarian's Gate, at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/kiwanis23/

"Sweeney Todd"

September 5, 2023 — I've been ignoring the musical play Sweeney Todd (full title: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) for years, even though it has been staged at least once a year at a theater somewhere within driving distance. With music and lyrics by renowned composer Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, it first opened in 1979 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The character of Sweeney Todd first appeared in Victorian times.

The popularity and success of the play finally got my attention and I made a reservation to see the Playhouse Professional Company's presentation at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire. This is not your average musical play. It deals with oppression, poverty and mass murder at the beginning of the industrial revolution in London. The Playhouse's excellent production rivals the best of Boston and New York.

Players artistic director Timothy L'Ecuyer directed this presentation, and Matthew A. Stephens was  music director. The first thing that impresses you is the towering set designed by Inseung Park, made to resemble 1800s industrial construction with movable ladders to allow actors to move up and down between the levels.

The cast of ten was led by Jesse Luttrell as Sweeney Todd and Molly Parker as Mrs. Lovett. The tall, muscular Luttrell and his powerful voice dominate the stage, sometimes almost frightening in his anger. Parker is excellent as Lovett, owner of a pie shop and Sweeney's willing accomplice in his murderous rampage, dispatching customers in his barber shop with his razor. The two eventually concoct a diabolical, fiendish scheme that will serve both their needs.

A love story plays out in the background, with Ethan Yaheen-Moy Chan as Anthony Hope and Kelley Jane Davies as Johanna. Dalia Aleman as the beggar woman, a seemingly minor role early on, turns out to be a character of much more importance. Rudy Martinez as Judge Turpin is Sweeney's nemesis. The rest of the superb cast is rounded out by David Fine, John-Michael Breen, Jason Thomas Sofge and Robert Hooghkirk.

Like most Sondheim musicals, the story is told in the songs. I counted thirty-four of them in the program. Even much of the dialog is set to music. Music director Stephens' pounding accompaniment sometimes seemed to shake the theater. I'll remember this production as the best of the 2023 summer theater season in New Hampshire.

Antique Truck & Car Show

September 4, 2023 — Atkinson, New Hampshire's annual Labor Day MacDonald Memorial Antique Truck and Car Show enjoyed the same sunny weather we enjoyed at Cruising Downtown two days earlier, but still hotter. Occupying Dow Common, the Atkinson Historical parking lot, and along the side of a local street, the show is well spread out, not as large as the Manchester event, but still larger than average for the area with lots of variety.

The show is hosted by Atkinson Lions and Atkinson Fire Association. I like the fact the show is restricted to cars 25 years old or more, a good idea if you're calling it an antique show. Pictures of the event at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/atkinson23/

Cruising Downtown

September 2, 2023 — I thought this year's Cruising Downtown car show in Manchester, New Hampshire, the latest of fourteen I've attended, appeared to be the biggest ever. When I heard the estimates, 1,100 show cars and 30,000 to 40,000 spectators, I decided my impressions were correct. Closing nine blocks of the main drag, Elm Street, several side streets, a few parking lots, the spacious Veteran's Memorial Park, and almost the entire length of the Notre Dame Bridge across the Merrimack River to local traffic and filling them with a huge variety of show cars puts this annual event among the largest car shows in New England.

The show is sponsored by the Manchester Rotary Club. Proceeds benefit non-profits. I won't take up a lot of your time describing it here. My inadequate effort to cover it all in photos and a video can be seen at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/cruising2023/

"Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery""

August 31, 2023 — For its final production of the 2023 summer season, its 93rd, the Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire, presented Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, a comic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. The plot roughly follows the original, but in the hands of comedy master and multiple award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig, it becomes something completely different. So if Doyle's novel was too stiff, stuffy and British for you, you'll love Ludwig's re-telling with all its mock seriousness, slapstick and inspired silliness.

Ever since the first Baskerville was found brutally murdered in a gruesome manner and many of his heirs down through the years have met the same fate, legend has it the family is being "hounded" by a monster dog which leaves huge footprints at the crime scenes, and has been heard howling. The howls, resounding through the theater, are particularly spine-tingling. Sherlock Holmes (Bill Mootos) and Dr. Watson (Ryan Halsaver) believe this legend is rather absurd and set out to prove it, meeting a host of bizarre characters along the way, all played by just three actors.

Mootos' formal British manner as Holmes is appropriate for that character, but it allows him to be outshone by the rest of the cast, Gil Brady, Buddy Haardt and Rachel Alexa Norman. Brady and Norman are especially effective, each with at least half a dozen different characters with completely different look, speech and mannerisms. Haardt mainly plays an American from Texas in a Stetson hat and carrying a six-shooter, with all the typical Texas braggadocio.

Directed by Blair Hundertmark, this production owes much to its crew as well as the actors. The splendid 19th Century parlor, ingeniously equipped with moving pieces to quickly change to other settings by moving the pieces in and out, was conceived by scenic designer Richie Ouellette and prop designer Lily Bitner. Production stage manager Deirdre Benson and assistant Kate Hausler, in her first Barnstormers assignment, were also indispensable to this play's success. Dan Clawson's light design was put to good use, as well as Kimberly O'Loughlin's sound. And none of it would have worked without Chelsie Cartledge-Rose's costumes.