NHTA 10

Happy 10th Anniversary NH Theatre Awards

For the complete winner list go to the NH Theatre Awards Website or here: http://http//caughtintheactnh.blogspot.com/2012/02/2011-nh-theatre-awards-winners.html

I love the NH Theatre Awards because it really exposes me to shows I may have not seen throughout the year as well as new theatres to add to my ever growing list of places to go see shows at. Last night was fabulous. Prior toe show Matt and I went out to dinner at Ignite Bar and Grille which is a few doors up the street from The Palace Theatre. The food was delicous. As previously noted Music Man was nominated for 9 awards so it was a very exciting night for me and the rest of the cast. There was pretty tough compettion all around but I was so excited that Ashely Hughes got Best Actress in A Musical for playing Marian Paroo. It was certainly well deseved. Paula Troie also got in the top 3 for best costume design but was beat by Allison Szklarz for her costume design for The Dionsaur Musical at Peacock Players (one of the many shows I wished I had seen.) Milford Area Players also won several awards for their Production of August Osage County which I am quite excited about. I was impressed by the performances my favorites were definitley Guys and Dolls- Actorsinger (Love Sit Down You're Rockin The Boat) The Dinosaur Musical Peacock Players, Oliver Manchester Community Theatre Players amd The Drowsy Chaperone New London Barn Playhouse. I was so happy for my co-worker on Princess K.I.M The Musical Toby Tarnow for her award for Children And Yoiuth Theatre. I have worked with her twice before now (once as a theatre camp counselor and once backstage for Man Who Came To Dinner last year.) It was certainly a well deserved award as I am costantly impressed with everything the Rivebend School of Theatre Arts puts on.

Shows with Multiple Wins
The Dinosaur Musical Peacock Players Best Youth Production, Best Youth Actor (Taylor Morrow) ,Best Director (Keith Weirch) , Best Musical Directo (Judy Hayward, Best Costume Designer., Best Sound Design (Rich Loomer) Best Lighting Design ( Keith Weirch,Norm St Germain Jeremey Robarge)
The Drowsy Chaperone New London Barn Playhouse Best Production (Professional Musical) ,Best Actress (Anne Torsigerler Bri ( Best Actress) Best Musical Director (Joel Mercier) , Best Director (B.T. Mcnichol) Best Chroregraphy (Sarah Case&Keith Coughlin )
Tom Ford also took home an award for Best Actor in A Musical for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Measure For Measure Peterborough Player Best Production Drama Comedy (Professional) , Best Sound Designer (Kevin Frazier), Best Scenic Designer ( Charles Morgan) Best Costume Designer ( Lara de Bujin), Best Actress Karen Peakes)
The Drowsy Chaperone Community Players of Concord
Best Production Musical (Community) , Best Supporing Actress Candace Azerola
August Osage County Milford Area Players
\Best Director Vick Bennison Best Supporting Actress Deb Shaw Best Productin Drama Comedy (Community)
Suessical The Musical Peacock Players
Best Supporting Actress Youth Megan Dwinell Best Supporting Actor Youth Nathan Schwartzberg



Congrats to all winners and nominees for the 10th Annual NH Theatre Awards.


I hope Okalhoma will get nominated for a few things next year. I look incredibly foward to the prospect of that. :)

2011 Theatre Viewing inHik Review

The 2011 In Review Theatre Post

Movies and Plays

It has been a busy year for me in both seeing movies and plays. Here's the run down

I made my return to the stage in 2011 after a four year hiatus landing an ensemble role in the Amherst PTA Producation of The Music Man. What a great experienee! It was such a great show to work on and so great to work with people I had seen in other PTA shows over the years. I am looking forward to auditioning for Oklahoma on Wednesday and hope that if I get cast the experience will be just as amazing as being in Music Man was. During January I was quite busy running back & forth between Music Man rehearsals and rehearsal for Guys and Dolls JR with Riverbennd Youth Company where I ran the spotlight. I think I found my technical niche finally which makes me quite happy. In March I tried something new and saw the annual Irish Music Show at the Amato Center around St Patrick's Day weekend. It was very cool to introduce myself to a new genre of music and I think Matt and I are likely to make this an annual tradition. At the end of April we went to NEC to see Hotel Laputts the annual spring mainstage production which was directed my former theatre professor Wally Pineault. Prior to the show we went to a reception for Wally's retirement at Country Spriit resturant which was quite lovely. I then had a whirlwind month between the end of April & middle of May where I saw 5 shows in the course of four weeks. A very interesting musical interpertation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sesibility at Wellsely College, NEC Movement Concert, Les Mis with Riverbend Yout Company (One of the best shows Riverbend has dne IMHO) Guys and Dolls at Actorsingers and Suessical The Musical at Peacock Players. All five shows were amazing. To read the full review see my entry The Killer Viewing Update. Suessical is nominated for several NH Theatre awards and I think that all nominess will be well deserving of the wins. Over the summer I had season passes to Summer Theatre in Meredith Village and the season was thier best season yet. Out of all the shows they did I'd have to saw my favorites were Buddy Holly Story and Hairspray. Looking very foward to their 2012 season, Though the schedule has not been finalized yet the show I am very excited about seeing Little Shop of Horrors. In August I saw The Producers for Riverbend Youth Company. I thoight the Riverbend crew did that show incredible justice. It is easily in top 5 list of favorite muscals. In September I saw I Love You You're Perfect Now Change at the Palace Theatre . Matt and I got our seats upgraded from aisle seats to onstage seating which was quite amazing. It was a whole new way to see a play.. which has be laughing the whole time In October I was blown awaya by amazing performances at the Milford Pumpkin Festival talent show espeically that of the winner 11 year old Caroline Burns of Hollis who did an amazing rendition of Adele's Rollin In The Deep. On October 23rd I saw And Then There Were None , Milford Area Players fall show and it definitely kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. On November 6th I saw A Chorus Line at Stagecoach Producitions (Another show up for numerous NH Theatre Awards) which was quite impressive. Chorus Line is one of my top favorite musicals and I feel that Stagecoach did it wonderful justice. I also saw a benefit concert for the Motivating Miles Foundation the week before Halloween which was quite lovely. My 2011 theatre viewing schedule wrapped up with the Riverbend Youth Company/Milford Area Players joint Holiday production The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This was Sonya's acting debut and I was very excited for her I thoight this was lovely interperation of one of my favorite holiday books growing up. Great job to everyone in the cast.

As for movies here is my top 10 list

Top 10 Movies of 2011

*Home Viewing ** Theatre Viewing @Remake

1. @* True Grit Rating A

2 **@ Footloose Rating A-

3 * The Departed A-

4 ** Harry Potter and The Dealthly Hallows Part IIRating A-The overall rating for all the Harry Potter movies is A.

5. ** The HelpRating A

6 * Country StrongRating

A7 ** Sherlock Holmes II Game of ShadowsRating A-

8. ** Twilight Breaking Dawn Part I Rating B

Ratings of past Twilight Movies Twilight B New Moon B- Eclipse C+Overall Rating of Series up to this point C+

9. ** MoneyballRating A-

**10. Green LanternRating B-

Movies that did not make the top 10 but are still worth seeking out: Burlusque, The King’s Speech, Enchanted. Mildred Pierce, Sherlock Holmes,Horrible Bosses

If you have seen any of these weigh in with your view points. It will merit fine discussion.

NH Theatre Awards Nominations

Music Man is nominated for several NH Theatre Awards. So excited for my fellow castmates. So excited for Feb 3rd

(Updated Feb 4th 4:02pm)

• Ashley Hughes Best Lead Actress in a musical Winner
• Liz Calabria Best Chreographer
• Paula Troie Best Costume Designer Top 3 Finalist
• Steve Vordenberg Kevin Linkroum Dave Ostrowski, Alan D, Kapalan Best Scenic Design
• Michelle Emmond and Meg Peterson Best Supporting Actress
• Best Sound Design John Sauter
• Best Ligthing Design Alan D Kaplan
• Music Man is also nominated for best musical production

For the full nominationas list please go here :
http://www.nhtheatreawards.com/index.php?categoryid=94
Other notable nominations for shows I have seen through out this year (if bolded it means winner)
A Chorus Line Stagecoach Productions
Best Director. Best Choregrapher, Best Lead Actor in A Musical, Best Lead Actress in A Musical, Best Supporting Actor in A Musical
Suessical Peacock Players
Best Performance Youth, Best Supporting Actor Youth Best Supporting Actress Youth , Best Director
Guys and Dolls Actorsingers
Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress ,Best Supporting Actress,Scenic Design, Sound Design.
My fellow Barn Playhouse co-worker Joel Mercier is nominated for two awards for Best Musical Direction of The Drowsy Chaperone at New London Barn Playhouse and Best Director for A New Brain with New Thalian Players. The Barn Playhouse's production of Drowsy Chaperone is nominated for 8 more awards aside from Best Musical Director
Congrats to my theatre professor from NEC Wally Pineault for his nominaton for Best Director of a Drama/Comedy for Almost Maine at Community Players of Concord

The killer viewing update

5 shows to cover here: Sense and Sensibility The Musical NEC Movement Concert, Les Miserables, Guys and Dolls and Seussical The Musical









Dateline April 30: To end off my April vacation my boyfriend and I went to Wellsely College to see their spring musical Sense and Sensibility The Musical. Granted I have never read the book by Jane Austen (and perhaps I should now) so I did not know what to expect. Unfortunately the program did not come with a song list something I found quite stands so I can't exactly point out what my favorite songs were but all in all it was a good show. Very talented students at Wellsely College and I can't wait to see thier summer show Last Night in Ballyhoo.




Dateline May 7th NEC Movement Concert Duets This marks the end of an era. This year all the theatre kids who were freshmen when I was a senior are graduating so next year I won't have anyone to go see in shows.. though depending on what shows they do next year I may go back. The Movement Concert is something I look foward to every year and I will miss going to those a lot. This year the theme of the concert was duets. I thought all the dances were phenonimnal but if I could pick three top favorites they would have to be Swans *Rachel Buck 10' and Maddison Shea ( I think she's a freshmen but I'm not sure) Stalker Song (Christna Vasta 11') Audrey Adam Boieslle (11) Ian Allen (10) and Rene Cobar (11) and Romeo and Juliet Kelly Merrick (12) Christina Vasta (11) and Ian Allen (10) Great job to cast and crew and congrats to all the seniors!




Date Line May 14th Les Miserabales Riverbend Youth Company
The last time I saw Les Mis I was in high school. For some reason I had a hard time appreciating the musical and I wasn't sure what I didn't like about it. I remember I saw it in Bedford and that Meghan Harrington and Jon Weinstein were both in it.. can't recall what theatre company it was. Now that I am older I think I have a deeper appreciation for what the show is about and also how powerful the music is. I would like to take the opportunity to say that out all the Riverbend shows that I have seen this one really stuck out to me and while Les Mis may not be one of my favorite shows of all time this was the best performance they have done. I am always impressed with Riverbend's show and I am not being biased because I do backtage work for them either. The amount of talent in each company is amazing.... but most definitley this one. Everyone in Riverbend is equally talented but particular people who stood out in this show were Georgia Craven (Young Cosette), Lucas Nevrla (Thenardier) Aly McKnight( Eponine), Amy Butenhof ( Fatime) Kat Feraco (Madame Thenardier) and Michael Martin (Marius) Fabulous job to everyone!! Congrats to all the seniors and best of luck to you all













Dateline May 20th Guys and Dolls Actorsingers My ongoing goal of seeing shows in theatres I have not seen shows at yet continues with Guys and Dolls at Actorsingers...ironically i am seeing this show in a little under a month at Interlakes Summer Theatre so I am withholding my review till then so I can do a comparison of the two performances. My ongoing goal to see shows at theatres I have not seen shows at yet continues on ... next up is Palace Theatre. I have season passses there next year and I have yet to decide what show I am going to see.

*Summer Theatre In Meredith Village recently changed their name to Interlakes Summer Theatre.

Dateline May 21st Suessical The Musical Peacock Players As a child I loved reading Dr Suess books so I was interested to see how his books would be brought to the stage... once again Peacock Players does an amazing job. I was familar with some of the songs because I've been reading some Suessical fanfiction and not being too familar with the songsI looked them up on youtube. <3 Notice Me Horton. :) Like always the talent was very versatile. Tony Clements pretty much stole the show as the Cat In The Hat. Favorite musical #s included Notice Me Horton,Alone In The Universe, How Lucky You Are and All For You! :) Great job to everyone! :)

Summer loving had me a blast

Okay so this summer has been very much consumed by work and I haven't had much time to blog. That's why I am so behind on my commentary. I shall reflect while I watch the Red Sox and the 11:00 news

These are the shows I have seen this summer

• Trip To Bountiful Wellsely College Summer Theatre June 29th
• Dick Tracy Andy's Summer Playhouse July 8th

• The Pursuit of Happiness Milford Area Players July 25th

• Chicago Summer Theatre In Meredith Village July 31st

• Almost Maine Peacock Players August 6th

• Shout The Mod Musical Arundel Barn Playhouse Aug 14 (which I just returned from)

A mixture of the familar and something new. My theatre travels first took me to Wellsley College. My boyfriend recently moved to Welllsely and we decided to take advantage of the summer theatre offerings. Trip To Bountiful took place in Texas and was about an older woman who was struggling with moving on from her hometown and trying to escape from her son and daughter in law to return to Bountiful. It was a very powerful story with a good message behind it and one that especially resonated with me because of my struggles to move on from NLBP. July 8th I went to Andy's Summer Playhouse in Wilton with my sister to see Dick Tracy. The kid she babysits was in the show. It was my first time seeing a show at Andy's and I was very impressed with how talented all the kids were. For a review please scroll a few entries down. On July 25th I went to see The Pursuit of Happiness at Milford Area Players. This had a good mixture of drama and comedy in it. It was about a girl who is preparing to go to college but she is realizing in the process that going to college is not for her. It's a battle of wits between Annie (Kathy McKay) and Jodi (Grace Stover) I was laughing the whole time. A scene that I thought was particularly humourous was the scene that takes place between Annie and Skip in the mall food court.

July 31st my travels led me to Meredith where I saw Chicago at Summer Theatre in Meredith Villlage. This was my first time seeing a stage production of Chicago and I loved it. Maggie Politi played Roxie Hart and she did amazing. My favorite musical numbers were Razzle Dazzle. My Own Best Friend and Roxie. For a full review of the play and a letter to editor I have submitted to the Weirs Times in regards to the show please see previous entries I have posted.

Last weekend I saw Almost Maine at Peacock Players. Typically I am more of a fan of musical then I am of straight plays but this one was really good. It was directed and performed by the Peacock Players Young Company which is the youth theatre troupe at Peacock Players. It's a romantic comedy which is a seires of short vingettes of the various stages of love. Favorite scenes were They Fell, Getting It Back and Story of Hope. I was really impressed with the versatility and talent of the cast which is consisted of high schoolers from Nashua and surrounding towns.
and finally tonight Matt and I went to see Shout the Mod Musical at The Arundel Barn Playhouse. It was my first time back to Arundel after being there several summers ago when my family used to rent a vacation home in Wells... back then we saw I Love Your Perfect Now Change (which I believe was in 2003) and Nunsense (which I believe was in 2005) Shout The Mod Musical was a musical revue of songs from the 1960s. I had heard of a few songs by hearing my parents talk about them but had never seen them performed. There were times when I wanted to get up and dance along and sing along too. Overall a very enjoyable time. I will definitley go back to Arundel next summer.


Now as summer winds down the only two upcoming shows that remain are my trip to New York this weekend during which I willl be seeing Jersey Boys and September 18th where I will go up to NEC to see the Open Door Performance of As You Like It. After that however I will be on hiatus until the spring when I go to see the Mainstage Theatre production of Hotel Laputts in April. After NYC I have start saving money up for an apartment bc I hope to move out of my house in the next year or so.

Flashback to the 80s

I feel the need to make it known that The Wedding Singer is one of my favorite movies starring NH native Adam Sandler. When I first heard it was going to be made into a Broadway Musical I was very excited. I was diappointed I didn't get to go New York to go see it so natuarally when I first heard Peacock Players was doing it as one of their mainstage shows I immediately jumped at the chance to go see it. When I saw it featured on NH Chronicle last week it made me even more excited to go see it. This show did not disappoint me in the least bit.

For those not familiar with the movie the basic plot is a wedding singer named Robbie Hart ( Michael Morrissey) is set to get married to his fiance Linda (Jenna Enos) but is left standing at the altar on his wedding day. He then falls in love with waitress Julia Sullivan (Danielle Lussier) who is engaged to Wall Street tycoon Glenn Guila (Kaleb Wells). This provides for a complicated love triangle as Julia falls in love with Robbie and realizes she isn't as in love with Glenn as she originally. For those who didn't get to see the play or have not seen the movie I will not spoil the ending all I will say is that it's very happy.
This show provided a lot of energetic dance numbers and equal amounts of 80s nostalgia with cameo appearance from such 80s music artists as Cyndi Lauper (Caitlin Donohue) and Billy Idol (Tony Travagalini) The cast had a diverse amount of local talent which included Morrissey, Lussier, Enos, Wells, Alyssa Dumas (Holly) Andrew Barrett Cox (George) and Rachel Ihde (Rosie). Favorite musical numbers included A Note From Grandma, Saturday Night In The City,If I Told You and Grow Old With You.

Great job to the cast and crew of Wedding Singer on an amazing performance!


Coming Up:

• Benefit Concert for Summer Theatre in Meredith Village The Summer Theatre's Great American Musical Song Book (Condenced) May 29th
• The Drowsy Chaperone Ogunquit Playhouse June 19 or June 26th Haven't decided when we're going yet.
• Fiddler on The Roof Summer Theatre in Meredith Village. If we plan things accordingly what I'm hoping to do is go see a JI show in the morning and see Fiddler at night. It will depend on time and budget.
• Chicago Summer Theatre in Meredith Village July 30th

Forbidden Broadway= funniest show I've ever seen

For Valentines Day Matt and I went to Peacock Players to go see Forbidden Broadway. I never saw this show when it was in New York so I was INCREDIDBLY happy to find out that Peacock Players had as part of their mainstage season this year. For those not familar with Forbidden Broadway I suggest looking it up on you tube. When I worked at the Barn Playhouse Matt Forbes and I used to watch those videos on youtube when we were on our lunch breaks (i think Bobby was with us on a few occassions too) Pretty hilarious stuff! What Forbidden Broadway basically is a parody of different musicals or songs from musicals. For example CATS was one of the shows they parodied (figured I'd pick the show that's my least favorite to talk about first) In this scene they parodied the song I Hope I Get It from A Chorus Line only the CATS were auditoning for shows. They also parodied Memory and that was one of the most humourous numbers (performed by Alex Giggey) Chelsea Delacy did an exceptional job singing a parody of Part of Your World from Little Mermaid which brings up a valid point that musicals based on Disney movies have seemed to overtake Broadway a lot in recent years (to me Beauty and The Beast and Lion King have really been the ones that were good though I have yet to see Lion King, based on hearsay it's pretty amazing) (insert your own opinions of Little Mermaid,Tarzan or Mary Poppins here because I haven't seen those) The Lion King number (which featured Mike Morrissory,Alyssa Dumas and Zack Uliaz) also touched on that briefly. The Old Revivals! number which featured Bailie Delacy, Dan Quinion, Tony Clements, Cameron Van Dyke, Katy Piszcek,Joe Messina, Alyssa Dumas, Laura Spence and Becca Tarr was the most enjoyable number of the whole show for me. Other people's opinions may vary. Overall the show was great and I highly reccommend it to anyone.

Congrats to the Cast and Crew on an amazing performance and to Alyssa Dumas, Becky Schneebaum and Tim L'Ecyuer for their top 3 Nomianations for Spring Awakening and Keith Weirich and Andrew Barret Cox for Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at the NH Theatre Awards ..and also to Tony Clements for his amazing performance at the theatre awards for Close Every Door From Joseph. :)

In honor of Valentines Day I have decided to post the video of On My Phone which parodies On My Own from Les Miserables. One of my favorite broadway love songs

Broadway Secret of The Day

Ok so if I feel so obliged I will post a broadwaysecret that particulary stands out to me once or twice a week. None of them esepcically stand out to me as most of them are catty Wicked fans bitching about which Elphaba.Galinda pairing is better. This week's choice as you can tell is about Alexandra Socha. I do not know her personally but she did shows at the theatre in Nashua that I had an internship at last winter (Peacock Players) so I have a lot of mutual friends who know her. Knowing she was so amazing as Wendla makes me all the more sad I didn't get to see Spring Awakening before it closed.

PS The admins at brodawaysecrets are kind of being a pain in the ass because I emailed them at the begining of last week with a technical question I was having with the site you have upload the pics too and they still haven't responded it to me yet.

Night of 1000 Stars

First entry of 2010

To ring in the new year Matt Sonya and I went to Peacock Players to go see Night of 1000 Stars. To sum it up it was a musical revue choc full of amazing Broadway Showtunes. The first act featured songs from shows they have done since their innagural season in 2002 and the second act had songs selected by members of the youth company. Quite a diverse amount of songs and quite a good way to reflect on all the various shows I have seen in 2009 at various theatres. There is quite a diversity of talents amont the members of this years Peacock Players Company.
Act 1 Highlights
*- will be downloading to my ipod
Suddenly Seymour Little Shop of Horrrors Michael Morrisey and Emily Pilapas
*Happily Ever After Once Upon A Mattress
*I am A Woman Smokey Joe's Cafe Danielle Lussier
*Run Freedom Run Urinetown The Musical Stephen T Stansfeld
Matchmaker Fiddler on The Roof Jacqui Grilli Emily Pilapas and Elise Lesser
Cookies A Year With Frog and Toad Michael Morrissey and Stephen T Stansfeld
*Lost In The Wilderness Children of Eden Tony Clements
Reflection Mulan Jr Caroline Donoahue
A Whole New World Aladdin Jr Caroline Donohue and Alex Giggey
Happiness You're A Good Man Charlie Brown John-Michael Breen
76 Trombones The Music Man James Scoville
Act 2 Highlights
*The Letter Billy Elliot Thomas Mitsock
Nothing A Chorus Line Jacqui Grilli
You'll Be In My Heart Tarzan Aileen Donahue
Take Me Or Leave Me Rent Shania Schwartz and Jenna Enons
*I Know It's Today Shrek The Musical Christina Higginson, Emma Jonnais and Becca Tarr
For Good Wicked Caroline and Caitlin Donahue

There were a ton of great songs in this shows.. some from shows I absolutley love and have seeen numersous times at other theatres and others I have never heard of. Great job to everyone in the cast. Happy New Year Everyone




2010 Tenative List of Shows To See (will largely depend on budget)
*- definite
Februrary
Peacock Players- Forbidden Broadway
March
*Bye Bye Birdie SHS Spring Musical
Honk Peacock Players
Art Milford Area Players
April
Children of Eden Amherst PTA
May
The Wedding Singer Peacock Players
Movmenet Concert @ NEC

also hoping to go see
Company at PSU
RENT at Palace Theatre
and hoping to go to New York in March to go see A Little Night Music YAY FOR RAMONA!! :)



oh and also please read my Little Shop of Horrors fan fiction and tell me what you think about it, it is still very much a work in progresss http:fanfiction,net/~showtunediva the name of the stroy is The Three Matchmakers

Of Jazz and Jesus Christ

Happy Valentines Day!

Last night I went to Jazz night at my alma mater Souhegan High School. We got there a little bit late but it was a pretty good show over all. We caught the end of the Weymouth High School Jazz Band's act and they were pretty good. I had not seen a Souhegan Jazz Band performance since I graduated in 2004 so it was a welcome additon to my theatre viewing schedule. I was very impressed with what I heard. The set started off with the familiar tune Groovin Hard and also played a Jazzy version of the church hymm Amazing Grace which I thought was pretty neat. They also played The Rooster and a latin tune which title is slipping my mind right now. Then a quartet from Massachusetts called Witchhunt played and I thought they were pretty awesome. We only stayed for one song of the Mike Valeres Band but they were really good too. I hope to go another Jazz night soon. Must keep my eyes peeled to the Amherst Citizen to see when the next one is going to be.

Tonight my boyfriend and I were delighted by the Peacock Players performance of Godspell. Godspell is one of my all-time favorite musicals and they did a truly wonderful job with it. Once again I was blown away by the talent of the cast as I was blown away by the talent of those who were in the Christmas Spectacular in December. Notable performances were by Day by Day (Chelsea Delacy and company) All For The Best (Jesus,Andrew and Company, Bless The Lord My Soul ( Caitlin Donohue and Company) and Turn Back O Man ( Stephanie Hogan and company) Congrats to cast crew and production staff Tim L'Ecruyer (Director) Judy Hayward (Musical Director) and Martha Daniels Holland (Chreographer)




Upcoming Performances
March

• March 9th Dirty Dancing in Boston with the Nashua Tech College Theatre Club
• March 14-16 Honk JR @ Amherst Middle School
• March 20-29th Jungle Book Kids @ Peacock Players
• March 27-29th SHS Musical Pirates of Penzance ; Student Directed Once Act Plays @ my college

I plan on going to see Thoroughly Modern Millie at Kearsarge Regional High School in North Sutton because some of the kids I directed in Bravery Soup are in it. I do not know the dates yet.

People should come to see Peter Pan April 16th-19th @ Souhegan High School in Amherst.

My boyfriend and I postponed our trip to New York til later in the spring due to money issues. With the change of plans also came a change of what show we are going to see. Instead of going to see Billy Elliot we're going to see HAIR. I am super excited because I've always loved the music from that play especially Good Morning Starshine. Plus my friend Jay is in the cast and he's giving us a backstage tour! <3

Looking Back/Looking Ahead

So since the summer I have seen quite a few theatre performances. 6 in total. Since the holiday season tends to get hectic for my family and I I figured I would post a reflection now of the shows I've seen and look foward to shows I look foward to seeing or working on.

Before I went on vacation to Italy I saw Carosuel at Lakes Region Summer Theatre with my boyfriend Matt. I was very impressed by the show and was suprised at how much I enjoyed seeing as how I fell asleep during the movie version. I also went to the Barn Playhouse to go see the junior intern production of Tea For Three based on my mother's children's book What A Pest. It was a really awesome and cute show and I really enjoyed it especially the song in the beginng that had West Side Story-like cherography in it. I do not have the program handy so I can't look up the title of the song. In September when I went up to Henniker to celebrate my birthday I saw the Open Door Theatre Production of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. I am a big fan of Shakespeare and this play was very lighthearted and funny. It was hard to pick a favorite part.. it was all so good. On Halloween weekend I went to Henniker again to see the CTE Production of Kennedy's Children by Robert Patrick directed by Emma Laing. I didn't think I would like it at first but I ended up really liking it a lot. It was very powerful and thought provoking. My high school theatre department's fall show Broadway Babylon was hillarious. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile. This was an a-la carte murder mystery in which a Broadway star gets murdered. It was fun to be part of an interactive murder mystery. Finally I saw High School Musical at Interlakes Theatre in Meredith with my boyfriend and his cousin Jackie. This was another case in which I underestimated the stage version because I didn't like the film version. I didn't think I was going to like play as much as I did but I ended up really enjoying it. My favorite songs were Breaking Free, Getcha Head In The Game and naturally We're All In This Together. A couple of entries down there is a sample review I wrote of HSM feel free to read it and tell me what you think. It's proabably too late to send it in to the newspaper in Meredith.
Now it's time to look to the future.. what does 2009 hold for such the avid theatre goer that I am?
After the Christmas holidays I will be doing publicity work for my town's community production of Peter Pan which will be performed the first week in April at Souhegan High School in Amherst. I don't know times yet. Peter Pan has always been one of my favorite movies... I could never decide if I liked the version with Mary Martin or the Disney version of it better. I am also hoping to do tech work for the upcoming production of Godspell at the theatre i am doing publicity for in Nashua. Show dates for that show are Feb 5-15th. Godspell is one of my favorite musicals ever. The soundtrack is top rated on my ipod with my favorite song being Day by Day followed by Bless The Lord. This year my high school's musical is Gilbert and Sullivan'[s Pirates of Penzannce. I haven't heard of this play before so I look foward to seeing it. Other shows that are going to be performed at the theatre i am interning at are Jungle Book Kids in March and RENT in May. I saw RENT last year on Broadway in New York and I was blown away by it. I definitley plan on seeing it when Peacock Players does it.

I sometimes wish I had a lot of money so I could go to New York and see like four or five different Broadway Shows all in the same trip. There are so many shows I want to see.
Billy Elliot
Shrek
The 39 Steps (it's being transferred to another theatre)
9 to 5
Mamma Mia
Jersey Boys
West Side Story (when it opens in March)
Pinkalicious (offbroadway show that my friend Colleen from the Barn Playhouse is in)

I am also in the process of deciding wheather I want to go see shows at the Barn Playhouse or Interlakes Theatre this summer. It's kind of a hard decision because they both have really goood line ups.
NLBP is doing for Junior Interns: Really Rosie, Captain Bree and Her Lady Pirates, High School Musical,Pocahontas for Mainstage: Straw Hat Revue, She Loves Me, Art,Leading Ladies, South Pacific, Anything Goes ,The Producers, The Fantastiks,SUDS
Interlakes Theatre is doing: Man of La Mancha, Grease,Forever Plaid, I Love You You're Perfect Now Change and CATS.

Good variety of shows in both line ups. The Barn Playhouse has a better variety of shows I haven't heard of or seen previously. Interlakes Theatre also has a good variety though except for Man of La Mancha and Forever Plaid I've seen most of those shows done by other theatres. I wouldn't mind seeing Grease again because that is one of my favorite plays ever. I saw I Love You You're Perfect Now Change @ the Arundel Barn Playhouse in Maine about 6 summers ago when I was on vacation with my family. I enjoyed that play a lot too. However I refuse to ever see CATS again. I've seen it at three other theatres including NLBP and I have never been the hugest fan of that play. The musical score has it's good points including Memory which I have always really loved. The play itself has no real plot to it and it really bores me. Out of the three performances I have seen of it I liked the one the Barn Playhouse did because the director gave it a plot line that made at least a little bit of sense. I have a love/hate relationship with Andrew Llyod Webber musicals. While I like the music in them most of the time I find the plots really boring... though other than CATS the only other ALW play I've seen is Phantom of The Opera which I saw on a choir compettion field trip my freshman year in high school. Didn't care much for the play but love the music especially Think of Me. I think out of all the shows the Barn Playhouse is doing the shows I look the most foward to seeing are South Pacific, Anything Goes and The Fantastiks.


So much to look foward to in the upcoming year theatre wise. Also the student directed and mainstage performances at my colllege as well as thier annual movement concert the week before graduation.

Viva La Vie Boheme!
Janine