"Russian Roulette/Parisian Poker"

February 28, 2015 — I knew I could depend on theatre KAPOW to lift me from my winter blues. Always original, in "Russian Roulette/Parisian Poker" they give the audience a choice of which three out of six short comedies by Anton Chekhov and Moliere, directed by Matt Cahoon, will be performed. This afternoon, "The Imaginary Cuckold" and "The Flying Doctor," both by 17th Century French playwright Moliere, and "The Reluctant Tragic Hero" by 19th Century Russian playwright Chekhov were drawn from the hat for this afternoon's presentation. The audience was also given a choice of unlikely props. The performances run through Sunday, March 1 at the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire.

Carey Cahoon, winner of the New Hampshire Theatre Award for best actress last year, played male roles in both Moliere comedies, supported by a fine cast. In "The Imaginary Cuckold" the versatile but diminutive actress carried a stool around to stand on when conversing with the other actors, all about a foot taller than she is, in this zany comedy of misunderstandings. In "The Flying Doctor," a comedy of deception, Cahoon plays the dual roles of a doctor and his twin brother in a hilarious tour de force. Did I mention both plays also feature some fantastic wigs?

In "The Reluctant Tragic Hero," Peter Josephson, a Seacoast Spotlight Award nominee, gives one of his patented frenzied performances as a man driven nearly suicidal by his boring life and the demands made on him by others. Josephson has impressive energy and comic timing.

The afternoon was a welcome respite from this dreary, seemingly endless winter. A small company featuring exceptional talent and production values, theatre KAPOW's plays range from broad comedy to high drama. Their website is at this link:

http://www.tkapow.com/

I Knew It Wasn't My Imagination

February 25, 2015

From The Union Leader, Manchester, NH

The Parade of Storms Continues

February 14-15-16, 2015 — I don't know what more I can say about snow. It seems like the same apocalypse being played over and over. Saturday afternoon, a light snow began to fall and continued into the evening, and had only accumulated to a couple of inches by the time I retired for the night. Overnight, it ramped up to near blizzard proportions, and I awoke to an additional 8-10 inches on top of the three feet or so already on the ground.

The snow was tapering off when I began shoveling out Sunday morning for the fourth time in three weeks. Once again, it was very cold so the snow was of the light variety. Still, there was far more snow than space left to put it. I was suffering mild claustrophobia hemmed in by the mountains of snow surrounding my property.

The sun came out around noon but it remained very cold. The street plow went by and left a snowbank across the end of my driveway. I went out in the evening and carefully cleaned it out and leveled it off. I thought I was done for this storm. I listened to the wind howling through the night and hoped we wouldn't lose power. We didn't.

Monday morning the wind chill brought the temperature down to the equivalent of 30 below 0. I looked out the window and thought I could see another snowbank at the end of my driveway I had so carefully cleaned out the day before. I put on my Arctic gear and ventured out. Not only had the plow been by again and blocked my driveway, but the wind had blown snow into other areas I had shoveled out. I spent nearly an hour re-doing much of the previous day's shoveling, at times almost being blown over by strong wind gusts.

As I look around the neighborhood, I'm amazed at the incredible amounts of snow. Six-foot snowbanks line both sides of the street and driveways, this after a winter that didn't really get started until near the end of January.

...and On and On It Goes

February 7-10, 2015 — The meteorologists were calling it a "long duration" storm. I must have heard that phrase a few hundred times before, during and after the storm. Snow began falling in the early hours of Saturday morning and continued into the early morning hours of Tuesday. Most of the snow was of the light variety, but because of the "long duration" it accumulated to some very impressive depths, almost a foot on top of the nearly three feet from the two previous storms.

Temperature stayed in the single numbers and teens for most of the duration, so the snow was light and fluffy. The hardest part was shoveling through the dense bank, filled with icy chunks, thrown up by the plows in their frequent passes along my street. I had to shovel through that two or three times a day during the storm. The rest of the snow, in my driveway, walk and covering my car, was light and easy to move, but with my driveway surrounded by piles of snow nearing six feet in hieght, where to put it was becoming a problem. I'd pick up a shovel-full of snow, then walk around looking for a place to put it down.

Records have been broken south of here, in Boston and Worcester and their surrounding communities. After a series of disruptive breakdowns of MBTA cars in Boston, the city shut down the entire network Tuesday to try to recover, this at the same time they were urging people not to drive, creating a commuting nightmare.

As I look out over the enormous snow piles surrounding houses on my street, I think this is close to the highest snow depths I've seen in the forty-four years I've lived here. I don't think it quite reaches the totals of the Presidents' Day storm of 2003, but it's close.

Nor'easter II

February 2, 2015 — The second nor'easter in a week hit the area in the early hours of this morning and may continue into the early hours of tomorrow morning. Forecast is for eight to fourteen inches before it's over, on top of the nearly two feet from the previous storm. As I write this, the temperature is 7 degrees, down from a high of 11 a few hours ago. I just shoveled out for the second time. The low temperatures keep the snow dry and powdery and easy to move. I'll probably shovel out one more time this evening, and may have to do it again tomorrow morning if snow continues to fall through the night.

The Blizzard of '15

January 28, 2015 — The Blizzard of 2015 that walloped New England didn't quite live up to the media hype, but nonetheless a couple of significant records were set. Boston got 25.6 inches of snow, a record for that city for the month of January. The 34.5 inches that buried Worcester for them was an all-time record for any month.

There was some flooding and storm damage in southeastern Massachusetts and on Cape Cod. A seawall was breached in Marshfield. All driving, except for emergency vehicles and other essential personnel, was banned in Massachusetts for 24 hours. The electric company deliberately shut off power to the town of Scituate for 24 hours to lessen the danger of fire caused by flooding of electric wiring in basements which caused the loss of several homes in the blizzard of 2013.

It was a long-duration storm, lasting about 36 hours. My hometown got just under two feet of snow. All this occurred after a mostly snow-free December and January. In fact, it was the first significant storm since the day before Thanksgiving, back in November.

"A Christmas Carol"

December 13, 2014 — If you've become jaded by Christmas as I have (I think it's age-related), I recommend finding a performance of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" somewhere nearby. It's not hard to find at this time of year. One such performance is being staged by the Northern Essex Community College Department of Performing Arts at the college's Haverhill, Massachusetts campus. Directed by Jim Murphy, who also plays the part of Ebenezer Scrooge, this timeless, heart-warming story revived my Christmas spirit, at least for an afternoon.

Along with Murphy, who plays a great Scrooge, are John Budzyna as Jacob Marley, sufficiently frightening in his grave-clothes and rattling chains, and J. Mark Morrison as Bob Cratchitt. The large supporting cast of college faculty and students, along with several children, were all excellent. Designer Susan Sanders' set was simple and effective, facilitating frequent changes in furnishings for the many different settings the play requires. Music director Alisa Bucchiere's carolers moved the play along with their renditions of carols and madrigals from the 19th Century.

It was an afternoon well-spent. I congratulate all who participated in this well-done, audience-pleasing presentation.