"The Pajama Game"

June 12, 2019 — There are many songs that are so familiar to most everyone that we recognize them immediately, but have no idea of their origin. How about "Hey There"? Have you heard "There Once Was a Man"? "Steam Heat"? "Hernando's Hideaway"? Most of us can hear them in our heads and even remember many of the lyrics upon hearing the titles. But do you know where they came from? Well, the aforementioned songs were all introduced in The Pajama Game, a musical play that premiered in 1954. It has had many revivals, won two Tony Awards over the years and was made into a movie in 1957.

The play is now in performance at the New London Barn Playhouse in New London, New Hampshire. With book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, this presentation was directed for the Barn by Chad Larabee. Brad Carlson designed the realistic set, a reproduction of a mid-20th Century factory with brick walls and high windows. Emily Kimball did the costume design and Shane Parus was music director.

Heading a large cast were Carly Valancy as union rep Babe Williams and Chris Cherin as factory superintendent Sid Sorokin. Tom Ford played the dual roles of union head Mr. Hasler and Babe's dad, masterfully handling the parts of two characters with dramatically different personalities. With the union in tough negotiations with management of the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, things get even more complicated when union rep Babe and superintendent Sid, on opposite sides of the dispute, fall in love with one another.

Frankly, some of the singing was a bit flat and the orchestra at times sounded like a recording played off-speed. But the dance numbers were excellent, thanks to Natalie Wisdom's choreography and the fine talent and energy of Caroline Attayek as Gladys and the rest of the dance ensemble.

The New London Barn is just that, a barn. The ancient floor is worn and uneven, but the seating is comfortable. A cow bell is rung to alert patrons the show is about to start, and again when intermission is over. The acoustics of the old building are not the best, but it can be forgiven for that. It's an intimate theater experience and I always look forward to its shows. Its overall record for fine entertainment in a rustic setting in the years I've been attending has been excellent.

"Silent Sky"

April 28, 2019 — In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Edward Charles Pickering, director of Harvard Observatory, began hiring women to analyze and catalog data from telescopic photographs on glass plates. More than 80 of these women would work for Pickering during his tenure, earning 25 to 50 cents an hour working six days a week. They computed. The were called computers.

Lauren Gunderson honored three of these dedicated women in her play "Silent Sky," presented in its New Hampshire premiere at the Derry Opera House in Derry, New Hampshire, by theatre Kapow.

Emily Karel appeared as Henrietta Leavitt in a particularly moving performance, by turns exhilarating and heart-breaking. Henrietta's observation of variable brightness of stars proved the known universe extended far beyond our own Milky Way.

Candace Gatzoulis portrayed Henrietta's sister, Margaret, who remained at home and Henrietta missed Margaret's marriage and the birth of her nephew as she labored away at her intense, tedious job in Pickering's laboratory. When their father became critically ill, Henrietta finally went home temporarily but had her work sent to her so she could continue her research. Gatzoulis moved the story along with piano and song.

Carey Cahoon, a co-founder of theatre Kapow and winner of two New Hampshire Theatre awards for best actress, appeared as Annie Jump Cannon whose strict discipline kept the research on track. The multi-talented Cahoon also designed costumes and scenery for this production.

Gail Angellis, in her tenth show for theatre Kapow, took the part of Williamina Fleming, the first woman to hold an official title at Harvard. Angellis was an audience-pleaser with her convincing Scottish accent and folksy manner.

Jimmy Stewart, the lone male member of the cast, appeared as Peter Shaw, the socially awkward assistant to director Pickering. Smitten by Henrietta, he finds endless excuses to interrupt the women in their work while seeking Henrietta's attention. Peter and Henrietta eventually do find a temporary bond, but it's a relationship not meant to be. I can't confirm this part of the story is anything but fiction, but it's a charming romantic digression.

Rachael Chapin Longo directed this excellent production. Matt Cahoon, the other theatre Kapow co-founder and winner of multiple New Hampshire Theatre awards, was stage manager. And what would a theatre Kapow presentation be without Tayva Young's lighting expertise? Her backdrop of a huge starfield and other lighting effects were as important as the performances, executed by light board operator Trey Haynes.

A well-deserved standing ovation rewarded the cast at the end of the play, another triumph of this small but always outstanding New Hampshire company.

"Insignificance"

April 13, 2019 — It's around 1954. The Professor (A. J. Ditty), with wild hair and sloppily dressed in Princeton sweatshirt, baggy pants and no shoes, is going over his research papers when there's a knock on the door. When he opens it, in barges the Senator (Thomas Daniels), with slicked-down hair, carrying a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses. Loud, crude and overbearing, he tries to force liquor on the non-drinking Professor, lectures him on the communist menace and tries to convince him he should testify at the Senator's House Un-American Activities Committee.

The Senator eventually leaves, but soon there's another knock on the door. This time it's the voluptuous blond Actress (Kelsey Andrae) in fur coat, huge sunglasses, figure-hugging white dress, carrying balloons. Andrae plays the part to the hilt, and I was especially impressed with the dialog she had to memorize for her explanation of highlights of the special theory of relativity to the Professor, using toy locomotives, flashlights and other props, and much to the Professor's approval, she gets it right.

Yet another knock on the door turns out to be the Actress's husband, the Ballplayer (Landon Shaw). Incensed at finding his wife in the Professor's room, he becomes belligerent and threatening, striking fear into the Professor and the Actress. In a long harangue, he pops bubblegum and boasts about his thirteen World Series rings.

The characters are not named, but those of us who were around in the fifties, or those who are students of the period, should recognize the Professor as Albert Einstein, the Senator as Joe McCarthy, the Actress as Marilyn Monroe, and the Ballplayer as Joe DiMaggio. All performances are first-rate. The part of the Ballplayer, written as a loud, bellicose bully, is not the suave, gentlemanly DiMaggio we remember, but it's appropriate for this play, and he does share the anguish and heartbreak Joe must have known. Nick Cochran had a brief non-speaking part as the Senator's tall, grim aide.

They all return in the second act, in climactic scenes, offering some insights into what motivates them. This is all fiction, of course. There's no record of these four ever meeting in a hotel room or anywhere else, except of course Monroe and DiMaggio who were briefly married. It's an often funny, sometimes poignant, very entertaining presentation.

The play, titled "Insignificance" by Terry Johnson, was staged at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse (the Winni) in Meredith, New Hampshire. Neil Pankhurst directed, Lesley Pankhurst designed the costumes and Dahlia Al-Habieli the set.

Ice Harvest & Winter Carnival

February 16, 2019 — In all the years I had been going to the Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire, I had never taken a tour of the Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm, just a block up the street from the theatre. When I heard the farm was having its annual Ice Harvest & Winter Carnival, I thought that might offer some good photo ops, so I headed up there.

The day was cold, but I was expecting that, and dressed in layers. There was abundant snow on the ground, something we haven't seen much of during this remarkably snow-free winter in the southern portion of New Hampshire. There was a mix of sun and clouds with occasionally gusty winds.

Activities included ice cutting from a small pond at the farm. Visitors were invited to participate, cutting ice out in blocks which were then slid along a chute to be loaded onto pallets towed by oxen to the ice house for storage. There were various demonstrations of cold weather tenting, ice boat operation, ice sculpture and, of course, a tour of the museum.

Photography was challenging because of sun glare and sharp contrast between darkly-clothed people against glistening snow. But, with a little help from Adobe Photoshop on my PC, I was able to improve upon what my camera had difficulty with. You can see the results at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/wintercarnival/

"Stage Struck"

February 10, 2019 — This play has so many plot twists the audience is repeatedly surprised as one twist after another upends everything that happened before. In a continuation of its winter season live performances, the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, presented Simon Gray's "Stage Struck," directed by Charles Morey and featuring a stellar cast of four, all veteran performers with wide-ranging experience. They included Kraig Swartz, one of the most prolific and popular Peterborough actors, and another frequent and equally popular performer, Lisa Bostnar, who has several TV roles to her credit and will be appearing in a made-in-New Hampshire movie, "Parallel America," in the near future. Appearing for the first time at Peterborough were Nicholas Wilder and Charles Weinstein.

The complicated plot involves former stage-manager Robert (Swartz), who has  happily given up his career to care for the household and pamper his successful actress wife, Anne (Bostnar). A visit by a gun and knife-toting friend, Herman (Wilder), ramps up the tension in this seemingly peaceful setting. Later, Robert's world is thrown into turmoil when Anne informs him she wants a divorce. It seems her psychiatrist (Weinstein) has put her up to this. Robert cooks up a scheme to get even, but of course, as in any good play, nothing works out as planned. There are counter-schemes and counter-counter-schemes that keep the audience guessing.

Of course, as you might suspect, the gun and knife become important props in the play, In fact, there's a warning in the theater lobby that there will be multiple gun-shots in the performance. Unfortunately, the gun was responsible for the only glitch in the otherwise perfectly executed play, when it misfired at a crucial point near the end. But the actors got past the malfunction smoothly, and I think most of the audience understood it was unintended.

The sumptuous living room set with its plush furniture and towering bookcase was the work of Emmy Boisvert. That ingeniously designed bookcase was the site of one of the most startling events of the play. Bethany Mullins did a great job on costume design, particularly Lisa Bostnar's.

"The Little Mermaid"

December 29, 2018 — Hans Christian Anderson's popular story, "The Little Mermaid," re-imagined as a British-style "panto," was written for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, the "Winni," in Meredith, New Hampshire, by Neil Pankhurst, who also directed this presentation. Judy Hayward was the musical director, with choreography by Chris Hendricks. The many spectacular costumes were designed by someone identified in the program only by his or her initials, D. W. The beautiful, frequently changing sets were the creations of Andrew Stuart. The efforts of all these individuals and others came together brilliantly in a delightful holiday production.

The songs were all familiar to the audience, from Sigmund Romberg to the Beatles, opera, show tunes and currently popular numbers. Audience sing-alongs were encouraged. Indeed, there was lots of interaction with the audience, in panto style. Panto, short for pantomime, originated in England and is characterized by song, dance, slapstick comedy and outrageous puns. This program had all those elements, and was appropriate for all ages. Children and adults could delight in the overall production, while adults could pick up on the "in" jokes and parody on present day issues and politics.

John Findlay skillfully juggled three roles as Hans Christian Anderson, Baldrick and a captain. Gender switching is common in panto, and actress Rob Yonkers lent her talent and great singing voice to the male role of Prince Harry. It was hard to top Tom Bengston, big and burly, towering over the other actors, in magnificent drag as the flamboyant Dame Gladys. Kelley Davies was charming as Marina, the mermaid whose one desire is to be human. Richard Brundage was King Hamlet, Ken Chapman portrays King Neptune and Ellouise McGonagle was Megan, a princess. Ursula Minich Boutwell played Octavia who has an important role near the end, in a very clever octopus costume. Winni veterans Lynn T. Dadian and Barbara Webb, in keeping with the nautical theme, played a crab and starfish named Jules and Verne. The junior chorus, consisting of eight teen and pre-teen girls, was fantastic. The band was composed of Judy Hayward on keyboard, Paul Bourgelais on guitar, bass and banjo and Eric Weinstein on drums.

The Winni's acoustics caused some sound distortion, at least where I was sitting. Scene 1, introducing Neptune's underwater palace, was just a bit lacking in energy, but all the rest of the production was truly magnificent, and I think the audience was the most enthusiastic I've enjoyed being a part of at the Winni or any other theater in years.

Christmas 2018

December 24-25, 2018 — Christmas with my extended family seems to get bigger, noisier (in a good way) and more entertaining as years go by, girl friends and boy friends come and go, marriages and new babies come along. We have gift exchange and a Yankee swap at one house Christmas eve, then breakfast Christmas morning across town. Weather was good both days this year, fortunately for me because I have to drive 90 miles from my home to theirs.

Photos and videos of some of the gaiety can be seen here:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/christmas18/