"Shout! The Mod Musical"

July 20, 2023 — For the second show of its 20th professional season, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire chose Shout! The Mod Musical. Performed on the outdoor stage built in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to better protect patrons from the spread of disease, the stage has become a permanent part of the "Winni's" venue. This afternoon's show was presented on the day we've been waiting for all this hot, humid summer with showers and thunderstorms in the forecast almost every day and air polluted by smoke from Canadian forest fires. Today was in the mid-80s, low humidity and clear blue skies.

The show featured five young, talented women with great voices. Their characters were identified only as Yellow Girl (Deijah Faulkner), Green Girl, (Dwan Hayes), Red Girl (Sabrina Koss), Orange Girl (Kelsey McCollaum) and Blue Girl (Emily Song Tyler). The colors referred to the color of their dresses. Great idea! It made them the easiest to identify of any cast I've reviewed in years.

The setting is England in the sixties. Four of the girls are English and one (Yellow Girl) is the only American who has come in hopes of meeting former Beatle Paul McCartney. Each has her own backstory told in song and dialog, and they all refer to a magazine named Shout! for advice on fashion, relationships, love, marriage, etc. An off-stage voice of the magazine advises them, often in unflattering ways. The music is all from the sixties, much of it familiar, such as Wishin' and Hopin', Son of a Preacher Man, Your My World, Downtown and more, all performed with rousing enthusiasm by the five women.

As I looked around at the audience, I noticed a majority were in my age range, no doubt attracted by the music of their era. I hope more of today's 20 and 30-somethings will come to see this show and hear some of the finest pop music produced in living memory. Taylor Swift? Really, now!

Shout! The Mod Musical was created by Phillip George and David Lowenstein. The Winni performance was directed by Timothy L'Ecuyer. Choreography was by Ashley Meeken. Judy Hayward was the music director and Andrew Burns designed costumes.

Aviation Museum Classic Auto Show

July 15, 2023 — Once again, we had to watch the skies at a car show because of forecast for "chance of showers." Also once again, we got through the show before showers arrived, but dull, overcast skies and high humidity ruled the day.

I probably spent more time than I intended on two military vehicles, but as I was admiring them, the kind lady who owned one of them invited me to sit in the drivers' seats, climb to the gun turrets in each vehicle, and offered to photograph me while I was at it. Who could refuse that offer? The Humvee and the M35A2, both fully equipped for war, shown in great detail, are the main attraction, not me.

The rest of the show was a good mix of classics, muscle cars and customs, including a few late models. It can all be seen at the following link, including more than you ever wanted to see of me:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/aviation2023/

BSAAC Car Show

July 9, 2023 — Like so many this season, the Bay State Antique Auto Club show was threatened by rain, or at least pop-up showers. Held on the grassy fields of the spacious Endicott estate in Dedham, Massachusetts, it's a rain-or-shine show. It goes on regardless of weather. 

At least at the Endicott, there are plenty of places to duck for cover, including several cupolas and the large back porch of the mansion. This particular day was overcast and humid, but luck was with us and there was no rain during the show's allotted time.

This is a show that has hosted over one thousand cars some years, but hasn't reached that figure in several seasons. This year the smaller attendance made it necessary to re-draw the divisions between various classes, always carefully separated at BSAAC shows. There's a custom and street rod section, a section for unmodified standards, a truck section, and a few individual makes get their own sections, such as Cadillac. The centerpiece for the show is the Endicott mansion, and the most outstanding cars get an honored spot on the front lawn.

Although smaller than past BSAAC shows, this show still had a large turnout by the standards of the region, with a good variety. You can see a sampling of them at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/endicott2023/

4th of July in a Small Town

July 4, 2023 — You may have your Fourth of July celebrations in big cities with dozens of bands, huge floats, soaring speeches and moving memorials, all very inspiring of course, but to me there's nothing like a small town observance where many participants and spectators know each other, parades march along shady town streets, past town commons, and of course fireworks, just not quite as spectacular as New York and Boston.

Amherst, New Hampshire is typical of celebrations of the Fourth in small communities all over America. I wasn't there for the fireworks the evening before, but I captured video and a couple of pages of photos of activities on July 4.

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/amherst4th2023/

Nao Trinidad in Newburyport

July 1, 2023 — The Custom House Maritime Museum is hosting the tall ship replica Nao Trinidad July 1-9. Magellan's original Nao Trinidad sailed around the world between 1519 and 1522, an incredible achievement for those times. The ship is docked at the Newburyport, Massachusetts waterfront, and visitors are welcome to explore it. Caution is advised. It has three levels, accessed via steep, narrow stairways, called "ladders" in nautical terms. They recommend you descend backwards as you would any normal ladder.

In the nearby Maritime Museum you'll find history of the original Nao Trinidad, along with videos of the replica's construction and footage of it on the water in full sail. You'll also find much history, artifacts and various memorabilia about Newburyport's past as a major American seaport.

Even after the Nao Trinidad is gone, Newburyport is a fascinating city to visit, rich in history and an excellent walking and biking city. You can see my brief coverage at this link which hardly does it justice:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/naotrinidad/

Medfield on the Charles

June 25, 2023 — Medfield on the Charles Antique Auto Show, a sprawling show on the spacious grounds of the former Medfield State Hospital, like so many car shows and other outdoor events so far this spring and early summer, was held under the threat of spot showers and thunderstorms, but luckily none came.

The self-proclaimed "New England's Premier Auto Show," a bit of an over-statement, hosted hundreds of show cars and drew an impressive number of spectators, but was below turnout of previous years, possibly due to uncertain weather forecasts. As usual, one large field was dedicated to Corvettes.

Still, it was a productive show for photographers. You can view the results of my efforts at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/medfield2023/

"Mamma Mia!"

June 21, 2023 — For the first show of its 20th season, Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire chose the hugely popular Mamma Mia! Up to now, I had been ignoring this play, known as a jukebox musical. I didn't see the Broadway version that ran from 2001 to 2015, nor did I see the 2008 movie starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. I also resisted all the performances that played almost yearly around New Hampshire. But my curiosity finally got the best of me and I had to see for myself if the play is deserving of such demand. I can happily report it is!

The play has a rather hokey but charming story line. But you don't see Mamma Mia! so much for the story, but for the songs and dazzling production numbers. Those things it has in abundance, performed by the "Winnie's" professional cast. The songs are from the 1970s Swedish group ABBA. Most of us will find "Dancing Queen," "Mamma Mia," "I Have a Dream" and others familiar.

Sophie (Teghan Marie Kelly) has traveled to a fictional Greek island for her marriage to Sky (Andy Edelman). Her mother, Donna (Ashley Meeken) follows to attend the wedding. But something is missing for Sophia — her father. She never knew who he was, and Donna has never been forthcoming with that information. He may be one of three gentlemen Donna invited to the wedding, Bill (Alex Huffman), Harry (Jason Thomas Sofge), Sam (Andy Hansen), or maybe none of those.

Ashley Meeken as Donna is the one to watch. Tall, with great stage presence and a powerful voice, she dominates most of the production numbers. Another cast member, Ashley Rubin as Tanya, appears in a torrid sea-going dance number in a leopard-patterned bathing suit. Besides those already mentioned, other cast members, all excellent, were Deijah Faulkner, Sabrina Koss, Dwan Hayes, Vinnie Canale, Eddie Uribe and Kevin L. Scarlett, backed up by a talented ensemble.

Mamma Mia! music and lyrics are by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Chloe Kounadis was director and choreographer for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse presentation and Braden Chudzik was music director. Melissa Shakun designed the set. Olivia Kirschbaum designed the costumes, quite an achievement for such a large cast with many costume changes.

Did Sophie learn who her father was? Well, sort of. You have to see it.