"Black Coffee"

August 2, 2022 — "Black Coffee" was British novelist Agatha Christie's first effort written for the stage, produced in 1930. The Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire, is currently presenting it, one of many Christie plays they have staged over their 92 years. Blair Hundertmark directed this excellent production. Rachel Rose Burke designed the sumptuous British parlor in which all the action takes place, and Alison Pugh was responsible for the costumes, perfect for the period.

The cast of twelve included some of the Barnstormers' finest veteran actors and a few equally impressive talents we haven't seen before. To summarize, Sir Claud Amory (Bob Bates) has discovered his formula for an explosive has been stolen from his safe. He calls Hercule Poirot (Steve Barkhimer), Christie's famous detective who appears in many of her plays and novels. Sir Claud then gathers his sister Caroline (the always delightful Vinette Cotter), his son Richard (Neil Redfield) and Richard's Italian wife Lucia (Miyuki Miyagi), niece Barbara (Lisa Joyce, a big hit with the audience for her scene-stealing turn in the second act), secretary Edward Raynor (well-played, a bit on the sleazy side, by Robert St. Laurence) and the Italian Dr. Carelli (long-time Barnstormers favorite Doug Shapiro), an old friend of Lucia. The very refined John Schnatterly had the small but no less important role of Tredwell the butler.

As Lucia serves coffee, Sir Claud demands a cup before anyone else is served, complains that it's  bitter, then announces to the assembled group that all lights will be turned off briefly. If whoever took the envelope containing his formula places it on the table, no further action will be taken. If it is not returned, Sir Claud will take steps to find and prosecute the thief.

The lights go out, plunging the room into total darkness, there are a few screams, a thud or two, but when the lights come back on, the envelope is on the table, no one appears to have moved, and Sir Claud is still seated where he was, but motionless with eyes closed. When he fails to respond, Dr. Carelli examines him and declares him dead!

Detective Poirot arrives with Captain Arthur Hastings (John Long). Most of the group believes Sir Claud died of natural causes. Poirot isn't willing to take that for granted and takes a sample of the remains in Sir Claud's coffee cup. Later, Dr. Graham (Will Johnston) confirms the sample contains poison and that was the cause of Sir Claud's death.

Now the investigation begins in the best of Dame Agatha's style, with red herrings aplenty confusing the audience. The envelope returned to the table when the lights were out was empty. There was a duplicate key to Sir Claud's safe. It's revealed Lucia's mother was an international spy. Lucia claims Carelli was blackmailing her. She admits she once contemplated suicide. Does any of this have anything to do with the crime? There's even a confession which proves false. Where do we go from here? Inspector Japp (Lee Hollis Bussie), a take-charge kind of guy, arrives. In true Christie fashion, the perpetrator isn't revealed until the final minutes and it's not necessarily someone you may have suspected.

I've seen several Agathe Christie plays at The Barnstormers. No theater does them better. "Black Coffee" was new to me, and it didn't disappoint.

Show-n-Shine

July 31, 2022 — It was the 26th annual Show-n-Shine in Sanford, Maine, and somehow it got by me all those years. It was the first time I'd heard of it, so I decided to check it out. It didn't take long to realize the densely-packed, sprawling exhibit along a busy highway in Sanford was not my kind of show. Nothing wrong with it if you're a dedicated late model muscle car enthusiast, but I'm a classics fan in love with early brass era cars all the way up to the '70s, as original as possible, and that's what my website specializes in.

But I was there so I decided to make the most of it. I found a few old standards and some humorous customs. I have to admit some of these muscle cars are pretty impressive, including quite a few Japanese offerings that have been updated to muscle class by their talented owners.

Out of a field of approximately 200 vehicles, I came away after an hour and a half with 26 carefully-chosen photos. I'd like to suggest to muscle, custom and street rod enthusiasts that they find someone with a camera and some elementary web construction ability, it's not that hard, to start a website for them. Maybe some already exist. Do a search.

"The Legend of Georgia McBride"

July 20, 2022 — I have to comment on this latest presentation at the Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire very carefully. Last year when I reviewed “The Bøyg” I received an email from the playwright correcting me when I innocently stepped into the minefield of 21st Century gender references. But I will say unequivocally that "The Legend of Georgia McBride" by Matthew Lopez was hilarious, sometimes poignant, and received the greatest audience enthusiasm I've witnessed in some time.

Casey (Jordan Ahnquist) earns a meager salary and poor tips as an Elvis Presley impersonator in a drag queen theater. Bills are unpaid, rent is overdue, and his wife, Jo (Kira Sarai Helper), has just informed him they're going to become parents. Things only get worse when Rexy (short for Anorexia), played in convincing drag by Dyllan Vallier, is too drunk to appear in the evening show. Casey is chosen to be Rexy's replacement. Horrified at the thought, Casey refuses, until the manager, Eddie (Barnstormers veteran Bob Bates) tells him to either put on the dress or be fired. Having no choice, Casey agrees. With the assistance of Miss Tracy Mills (Brian Charles Rooney in a marvelously over-the-top performance), Casey changes into all the accoutrements of drag in full view of the audience, egged on by their cheers.

Casey assumes the name Georgia McBride and with Miss Tracy Mills' coaching his drag performance is a smashing success, the tips are non-stop, and he comes home to show Jo a fistful of cash, enough to pay the rent and all their bills, and the promise of more of the same. In an omission that will come back to haunt him later, he doesn't tell her how he earned this windfall.

Jo remains unaware of Casey's new role until one day she stops by the theater and discovers him in full drag costume. Stunned and humiliated, Jo packs Casey's things and orders him out of her life. I won't give away all the details of the ending, but suffice it to say all's well that ends well.

This was a pretty risqué play for the Barnstormers, but the audience loved it. Their enthusiasm, laughter and cheers had to be gratifying for the actors. There's a lesson here. In mostly conservative New Hampshire, any lifestyle you choose to pursue, as long as it causes no harm, is OK with us.

Taylor Shubert was the director and choreographer. Rachel Rose Burke designed the scenery. The many costumes Patty Hatch Hibbert designed were an important part of the production.

Misselwood Concours d'Elegance

July 17, 2022 — The Misselwood Concours d'Elegance at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, in its 13th year, is one of New England's premier car shows. Although far from the largest, it's combination of rare and beautiful vehicles and a picturesque setting overlooking the sea set it apart from the average show. Its status as a concours d'elegance dictates that a car exhibited in any given year cannot return for three years, assuring that you will see a whole new collection of vehicles most years if you're a repeat attendee.

This year's show featured three vehicles that appeared in popular '80s movies, the 1949 Buick Roadmaster driven by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man," Michael J. Fox's 1985 Toyota SR5 from "Back to the Future" and Christopher Lloyd's 1949 Packard Custom Victoria from all three "Future" movies. Besides these gems, there were many other rare vehicles, domestic and imported, among them names that may be unfamiliar to even serious antique car aficionados.

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/misselwood22/

Aviation Museum Car Show

July 16, 2022 — The Classic Car Show at the Aviation Museum in Londonderry, New Hampshire has grown from a small gathering to a major exhibit in its short history. After admiring the mix of many vehicles of various varieties and vintages, a walk through the museum with its antique planes, aviation artifacts and history can be rewarding, but it needs expansion. The exhibits are really too much for the small space, and when you add people, navigation and especially photography become problematic. But it's still worth exploring.

My coverage of the car show and museum can be seen at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/aviation2022/

BSAAC Car Show

July 10, 2022 — The Bay State Antique Auto Club returned to the Endicott Estate in Dedham, Massachusetts after a two-year absence due to the pandemic. There was a bit more empty space on the sprawling estate grounds than pre-pandemic, but a show of this size, sometimes over 1,000, could lose 200 cars and still have an impressive turnout of vehicles. The Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts, usually brought one of their antique cars to the show in the past, but were absent this year.

The weather was perfect, low 80s, low humidity, typical for this rain-free summer so far. There may be a price to pay as a widening area of New England slides into severe drought. But those of us who love our car shows are delighted with weekend after weekend without cancellations or postponements due to weather.

You can see my coverage of the biggest car show so far this season at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/endicott2022/

"Into the Woods"

July 7, 2022 — In the roughly dozen years I've been traveling to the Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire, to attend their consistently excellent live performances, "Into the Woods" was the biggest, most ambitious production I can ever remember seeing at this theater. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, the musical won three major Tony awards on Broadway in 1987. Clayton Phillips directed and choreographed this production for the Barnstormers. Bret Silverman was music director. The excellent scenic design was by Jonathan Dahm Robertson and Jose Avendano designed props. Truly stunning costume design was achieved by Patty Hatch Hibbert.

Full disclosure: I am not generally a Stephen Sondheim fan, even though he wrote one of my favorite songs of all time, "Send in the Clowns." That fact might color my review of this excellent production with  its cast of seventeen highly talented singers and actors. Great voices, fine direction, superb stagecraft, costumes and the Barnstormers' new sound system came together for one of the best New Hampshire summer theater experiences of the past several years. My issues are with Sondheim's songs which simply don't match my musical taste (except for the aforementioned), flawed though my taste may be, and some elements of the plot.

"Into the Woods" brings together several of Grimm's individual fairy tales in one story line. Among them are Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and others. The baker and his wife wish for a child but a witch's curse prevents it. Jack wishes his cow would give milk. Cinderella wishes her abusive stepsister would allow her to go to the ball. Jack's mother wishes for wealth. Red Riding Hood wishes for treats to bring to her grandmother. The characters are sent on a search of the woods by the witch to retrieve certain items that may or may not allow them to realize their wishes. The first act is filled with their misadventures in the woods, all set to Sondheim's music.

In the second act, "be careful what you wish for" could be the important lesson to be learned. The outcome of their bargain with the witch results in disaster, in a few cases tragedy, for some of the characters. The fate of some of these characters is rather jarring to the audience. However, I found the songs more appealing in Act 2.

Michael Ursua and Mary McNulty as the baker and his wife were the leads. Cheryl Mullings, a frequent Barnstormers performer and one of my favorites, played the witch in a terrific costume that hid her face in a brilliantly designed witch's mask, until she loses her powers and her natural face is revealed. Her powerful voice filled the theater with several of the show's best songs. The other fourteen cast members represented the finest assemblage of talent I've seen in a New Hampshire summer theater performance in quite some time.

Should you see "Into the Woods" if it comes your way? Absolutely! My review is my personal opinion and my opinion alone. Stephen Sondheim was one of America's finest composers and had the success and awards to prove it, my opinion notwithstanding.