Whether we’re athletes or just regular people working out to stay healthy and in shape, we all need some sort of encouragement now and then. Should we ever fail to find it within us, it’s good to know we could always rely on the Power Balance silicone wristbands that claim to tap into our bodies’ natural energy and balance it according to our needs – for just $29.95.
Power Balance boasts that it doesn’t make promises, it just delivers results. From the countless testimonials from professional athletes and celebrities listed on the official website, it actually sounds like the rubber wristband can perform miracles in terms of boosting the energy levels and improving balance, thus making us faster, leaner and overall better. The science behind the product is not even something new, Power Balance says, the same concept having been used for many years in practices such as acupuncture and acupressure.
“Optimal health and peak performance occur when your body maintains ionic balance (the exchange between negative and positive charges) and free flowing energy pathways (harmony) at the optimum frequency. […] Power Balance, after years of research and development, has produced a system to safely restore and optimize the electro-magnetic balance within the human body… immediately. Power Balance’s Mylar Holographic Disk (the same substance used to keep static electricity from damaging electrical components) has been imbedded with an electrical frequency that restores your body’s electrical balance, promoting a free exchange of positive and negative ions and align your body’s energy pathways.” Power Balance says of the product.
Apparently, the Disk acts like a “switch” that adapts to each body and its corresponding energy field. “When the static Power Balance Hologram comes in contact with your body’s energy field, it begins to resonate in accordance with each individual’s biological, creating a harmonic loop that optimizes your energy field and maintains maximum energy flow while clearing the pathways so the electro-chemical exchange functions like the well-tuned generator it was meant to be.” it is also said on the same website.
As also noted above, the testimonials claim that, once this product tried, one simply can’t part with it because it works in such perfect accordance with the body. However, there are also those reviewers who say the entire tapping of the energy field and improving it when the body lacks the means and strength to do so could very well be a case of wishful-thinking or what one can accomplish solely on the power of the human mind.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Jimmy Fallon auto-tune skit at 2009 Emmy awards draws gut-busting laughs from some
Jimmy Fallon did a funny auto-tune skit on the 2009 Emmy awards that made me look up from my laptop.
With a headset wrapped around his ears, mic at mouth, Jimmy Fallon got the Emmy crowd to clap their hands along with him -- then did a pratfall slip so slickly, it made me wonder if it was planned or not.
Pretty soon, everyone discovered it was, with Fallon's "Roll clip" command.
It's fun to get a real-time reaction from Twitter to see how Jane and Joe Public reacted to Jimmy Fallon's routine:
lindaphantastic: Only watching the Emmys for NPH, but... Jimmy Fallon falling down in autotune is the funniest thing I've seen in awhile. 3 minutes ago
Lesley9492: Jimmy fallon presenting with autotune was great haha n_n 8 minutes ago
esgiii: @uteragogo is still laughing at the jimmy fallon autotune gag. #emmys 9 minutes ago
hrtvsmind: RT @PasteMagazine Emmy grades so far: Host Neil Patrick Harris - B. Jimmy Fallon with AutoTune A+. AGREE. 14 minutes ago
jhgrant: RT @chanelonline: Jimmy Fallon's use of autotune is like when your mom started saying OMG. It's dead people. #Emmys / *snort* 15 minutes ago
So 4 positive out of 5 total real-time Twitter reviews ain't bad.
Jay-Z pronounced auto-tune dead.
Kanye resurrected it nicely.
And now Jimmy Fallon brings it to the Emmy masses.
Runestone featured Sunday on History Channel
A new angle on the Runestone hits national airwaves this weekend, putting Kensington on the map for history buffs.
“The Holy Grail in America” is scheduled to air on The History Channel this Sunday, September 20 at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.
The two-hour documentary, produced by Maria Awes, a former WCCO producer, and her husband, Andy Awes, investigates a story that begins in medieval Europe and culminates in a present day search for answers.
Local footage includes a reenactment of the discovery of the stone at the Kensington Runestone Park with Corey Okonek playing the role of Olaf Ohman and Michael O’Loughlin playing the role of Ohman’s neighbor.
In addition, footage was shot in the Olaf Ohman home located at the park. Filming also took place at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria and of the actual Kensington Runestone.
The story, according to The History Channel, begs the question: “Is it possible the Templars were leaving clues to an incredible journey to the New World?”
History indicates that the Templars were massacred after King Philip IV of France ordered their arrests on Friday the 13th, 1307, but that a Templar fleet allegedly containing treasure was last seen off Scotland in the late 1300s. Stones with similar markings as the Kensington Runestone have been found on islands across the Atlantic Ocean – and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
According to Maria Awes, the Templar angle of the story is new and that it stems from erosion studies conducted on the Runestone. The symbols on the Runestone reportedly match Templar runes all over Europe.
“The Holy Grail in America” is scheduled to air on The History Channel this Sunday, September 20 at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.
The two-hour documentary, produced by Maria Awes, a former WCCO producer, and her husband, Andy Awes, investigates a story that begins in medieval Europe and culminates in a present day search for answers.
Local footage includes a reenactment of the discovery of the stone at the Kensington Runestone Park with Corey Okonek playing the role of Olaf Ohman and Michael O’Loughlin playing the role of Ohman’s neighbor.
In addition, footage was shot in the Olaf Ohman home located at the park. Filming also took place at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria and of the actual Kensington Runestone.
The story, according to The History Channel, begs the question: “Is it possible the Templars were leaving clues to an incredible journey to the New World?”
History indicates that the Templars were massacred after King Philip IV of France ordered their arrests on Friday the 13th, 1307, but that a Templar fleet allegedly containing treasure was last seen off Scotland in the late 1300s. Stones with similar markings as the Kensington Runestone have been found on islands across the Atlantic Ocean – and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
According to Maria Awes, the Templar angle of the story is new and that it stems from erosion studies conducted on the Runestone. The symbols on the Runestone reportedly match Templar runes all over Europe.
Kristin Chenoweth surviving in style
Kristin Chenoweth wasn't the only one shocked by her win for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her portrayal of Olive on ABC's short-lived "Pushing Daisies." Considering her competition included "Saturday Night Live" star Amy Poehler and "30 Rock's" Jane Krakowski, it's a safe bet that not many people picked Chenoweth in their office Emmy pool.
It is not unprecedented for an award to go to a canceled show or an actor from a defunct series, but it is unusual. Tony Randall won after "The Odd Couple" was canceled. And "Pushing Daisies" won three others at last week's Creative Arts ceremony: for costumes, makeup and art direction.
"Pushing Daisies" was a whimsical hourlong program about a man who has the power to bring the dead back to life with just one touch. Problem is, once he does that he can't touch them again or they're dead forever. It was never a huge ratings success in the two seasons it ran, but what little following it had vanished after the writers strike.
Chenoweth, best known for her stage work, was visibly stunned and cried through her acceptance speech.
But she was composed enough to use the moment in the spotlight to network.
"I'm unemployed now, so I'd like to be on 'Mad Men.' And I'd also like to be on 'The Office' and '24,' " she cracked. Then she thanked the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for "recognizing a show that is no longer on the air."
Actually, she is appearing on an upcoming episode of Fox's "Glee" and has done two movies since "Pushing Daisies" was buried.
Backstage, Chenoweth said she wasn't angry about her show's short life span. "More sweet than bitter," she said when asked if the win was bittersweet.
It is not unprecedented for an award to go to a canceled show or an actor from a defunct series, but it is unusual. Tony Randall won after "The Odd Couple" was canceled. And "Pushing Daisies" won three others at last week's Creative Arts ceremony: for costumes, makeup and art direction.
"Pushing Daisies" was a whimsical hourlong program about a man who has the power to bring the dead back to life with just one touch. Problem is, once he does that he can't touch them again or they're dead forever. It was never a huge ratings success in the two seasons it ran, but what little following it had vanished after the writers strike.
Chenoweth, best known for her stage work, was visibly stunned and cried through her acceptance speech.
But she was composed enough to use the moment in the spotlight to network.
"I'm unemployed now, so I'd like to be on 'Mad Men.' And I'd also like to be on 'The Office' and '24,' " she cracked. Then she thanked the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for "recognizing a show that is no longer on the air."
Actually, she is appearing on an upcoming episode of Fox's "Glee" and has done two movies since "Pushing Daisies" was buried.
Backstage, Chenoweth said she wasn't angry about her show's short life span. "More sweet than bitter," she said when asked if the win was bittersweet.
Mad Men: Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency
(S03E06) What do disappointment, opportunities and snakes have in common? They're all themes in this episode of Mad Men. The British, in the form of Powell, Ford and Mackendrick came to Sterling Cooper for a visit, but what that visit meant was anybody's guess. The visit wrecking holiday plans for the staff -- no Independence Day for you, colonists -- was obvious irony and true nonetheless. And the Guy walking into the ad agency, well, it would be a hollow joke after this tragedy. More after the jump.
While Harry, Pete and the others seemed concerned, Don was intrigued, especially when Bert theorized a position that might have genius Don living in New York and London. Don shared the possibility of London with Betty, and he was so happy about it, he was even smiling in bed before sleep. While he couldn't sleep with excitement, Sally couldn't sleep because Grandpa Gene, seeing the new baby as carrying his spirit, his name and even looking like the old man, haunted her.
Continuing the bonding they shared last week, Don was able to get through to Sally when Betty's proffering a Barbie -- a gift from the baby -- didn't do the trick. Proving to be a better father than he ever had, Don brokered a peace between baby Gene and Sally, telling her that the newborn was still unformed, still open to become whatever he might choose to be. Much like Dick Whitman became Don Draper.
The disappointment Don felt when the London appointment turned out to be just another Brit supplanting Pryce in the Sterling Cooper offices was eased by a surprise call from Conrad Hilton. Connie was the old guy Don met at the country club during Roger's derby party. A call from Hilton opened the door to a world of opportunity, at least in Hilton view. After getting Don's opinion on some ads -- "I want you to give me one for free" -- Hilton expected Don to ask for the moon. Don asked for his business, making a snake allusion and proving he can hold his own with the big boys.
The snake bit harkened back to Pryce getting the boot to Bombay in the form of a gift from his British masters, a stuffed cobra in a basket. They admire him so much for squeezing the fat out of Sterling Cooper that they wanted to replace him with Guy. "You always do as you're told," they tell Pryce, and he didn't disagree.
You want more disappointment still? Roger wasn't included in the flow chart for the company that bears his name. At least Bert was able to set him straight; Roger took the money, he had no right to complain.
But Joan had disappointment coming and going. Greg failed to get the chief residency and may never become a New York surgeon. Greg, the rapist with low self-esteem, told her, "I have no brains in my fingers." To her credit, Joan comforted him when she needed it herself. She appeared the next day for the office party -- not a surprise party as planned by the secretaries thanks to Hooker's big mouth -- even though she had nowhere to go and needed to stay at Sterling Cooper. At least Peggy and Don cared enough to give Joan her props.
Thankfully, Joan was there. After Lois's wild ride on the John Deere severed most of Mackendrick's foot, only Joan's quick actions saved him from bleeding to death. In the hospital, Don and Joan, the two most valuable members of Sterling Cooper shared a moment before Powell and Ford came with Pryce, basically to make sure that Guy was alive, even though he was out of his new job. He couldn't play golf anymore, not without a foot, so he was useless to them. Pryce was reinstated. Snakes all around.
Roger had the best/funniest observation of the night, pointing out that Guy might lose his foot when he just got it in the door.
Watch Entourage season 6 episode 10 live
New Delhi, Sept 21, 2009: Watch Entourage season 6 episode 10 live. Entourage season six continues to keep people glued to their television sets. The 10th episode of the sixth season was as enchanting as previous episodes.
The tenth episode of the sixth season was titled “Berried Alive”.
In the tenth episode Ari goes to war with Lloyd when Drama wants out of his contract on Five Towns to get a part on the new Melrose 2009 series, but regardless of the outcome.
Drama has to decide who will be his real agent.
Ashley asks Eric to read his emails so they can have an open and honest relationship, but it becomes clear to Eric that Ashley has major trust issues. Turtle is caught in a psuedo love triangle with Jamie-Lynn and a UCLA co-ed.
Earlier the sixth season beganwith Vince getting his driver's license, by bribing the driving instructor. Vince is preparing for his next role, starring in a biopic of Enzo Ferrari directed by Frank Darabont.
The buzz on Gatsby has restored Vince to the "A"-list. "Line 'em up," he commands Ari, indicating that he's now focusing his priorities on maintaining a steady stream of work and will be less precious about each individual project.
Vince and the boys attend the premiere of his film Gatsby, directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric and Sloan renew the friendship, with Eric wanting to be a little more than friends. However, Eric is truly 'playing the field' as the boys often refer to his many different girls.
The tenth episode of the sixth season was titled “Berried Alive”.
In the tenth episode Ari goes to war with Lloyd when Drama wants out of his contract on Five Towns to get a part on the new Melrose 2009 series, but regardless of the outcome.
Drama has to decide who will be his real agent.
Ashley asks Eric to read his emails so they can have an open and honest relationship, but it becomes clear to Eric that Ashley has major trust issues. Turtle is caught in a psuedo love triangle with Jamie-Lynn and a UCLA co-ed.
Earlier the sixth season beganwith Vince getting his driver's license, by bribing the driving instructor. Vince is preparing for his next role, starring in a biopic of Enzo Ferrari directed by Frank Darabont.
The buzz on Gatsby has restored Vince to the "A"-list. "Line 'em up," he commands Ari, indicating that he's now focusing his priorities on maintaining a steady stream of work and will be less precious about each individual project.
Vince and the boys attend the premiere of his film Gatsby, directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric and Sloan renew the friendship, with Eric wanting to be a little more than friends. However, Eric is truly 'playing the field' as the boys often refer to his many different girls.
The tenth episode of the sixth season was titled “Berried Alive”.
In the tenth episode Ari goes to war with Lloyd when Drama wants out of his contract on Five Towns to get a part on the new Melrose 2009 series, but regardless of the outcome.
Drama has to decide who will be his real agent.
Ashley asks Eric to read his emails so they can have an open and honest relationship, but it becomes clear to Eric that Ashley has major trust issues. Turtle is caught in a psuedo love triangle with Jamie-Lynn and a UCLA co-ed.
Earlier the sixth season beganwith Vince getting his driver's license, by bribing the driving instructor. Vince is preparing for his next role, starring in a biopic of Enzo Ferrari directed by Frank Darabont.
The buzz on Gatsby has restored Vince to the "A"-list. "Line 'em up," he commands Ari, indicating that he's now focusing his priorities on maintaining a steady stream of work and will be less precious about each individual project.
Vince and the boys attend the premiere of his film Gatsby, directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric and Sloan renew the friendship, with Eric wanting to be a little more than friends. However, Eric is truly 'playing the field' as the boys often refer to his many different girls.
The tenth episode of the sixth season was titled “Berried Alive”.
In the tenth episode Ari goes to war with Lloyd when Drama wants out of his contract on Five Towns to get a part on the new Melrose 2009 series, but regardless of the outcome.
Drama has to decide who will be his real agent.
Ashley asks Eric to read his emails so they can have an open and honest relationship, but it becomes clear to Eric that Ashley has major trust issues. Turtle is caught in a psuedo love triangle with Jamie-Lynn and a UCLA co-ed.
Earlier the sixth season beganwith Vince getting his driver's license, by bribing the driving instructor. Vince is preparing for his next role, starring in a biopic of Enzo Ferrari directed by Frank Darabont.
The buzz on Gatsby has restored Vince to the "A"-list. "Line 'em up," he commands Ari, indicating that he's now focusing his priorities on maintaining a steady stream of work and will be less precious about each individual project.
Vince and the boys attend the premiere of his film Gatsby, directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric and Sloan renew the friendship, with Eric wanting to be a little more than friends. However, Eric is truly 'playing the field' as the boys often refer to his many different girls.
'Mad Men' among Emmy Awards' repeat drama winners
Just like the Emmy Awards' drama series champ "Mad Men," both of last year's drama series lead acting winners repeated for the second seasons of their shows – Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") and Glenn Close ("Damages").
However, the supporting winners on the drama series side were new to the Emmy Awards stage this year. Michael Emerson prevailed on his third consecutive bid for "Lost" and now has a bookend for the guest actor Emmy he won in 2001 for "The Practice." His win in this race means that you still have to go back to 1995/1996 for the most recent repeat champ: Ray Walston ("Picket Fences"). On the female side, two-time lead actress Tony winner Cherry Jones ("The Heiress," "Doubt") took home her first Emmy for her work on "24" as the strong-willed president.
The series finale of "ER" finally won the directing award for Rod Holcomb, who was a nominee for helming the 1994 pilot of this one-time ratings powerhouse. Back then, he lost to Mimi Leder, who directed the gripping "Love's Labor Lost" episode. And Matthew Weiner repeated as drama series scripter for one of his four bids for "Mad Men." Last year he won for a solo credit while he shared this year's Emmy Award with Kater Gordon
Eli Manning Wife is his sweetheart Abby McGrew
New Delhi, Sept 21, 2009: Eli Manning Wife is his sweetheart Abby McGrew. Eli Manning’s marriage with his long time sweetheart is making waves across the nation. The two were dating for years.
Eighty eight year old Elisha Nelson Manning a renowned American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of Peyton Manning and Cooper Manning and the son of Archie Manning and Olivia Manning.
He played college football at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) after attending prep school at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
He was drafted as the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but immediately traded to the New York Giants, who traded 4th overall pick Phillip Rivers. Manning won the most valuable player award in Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.
Prior to deciding which college to attend, Manning received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee.
Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped Eli's older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his father’s footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.
During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 45 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7.
Manning also led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2003. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play.
Eighty eight year old Elisha Nelson Manning a renowned American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of Peyton Manning and Cooper Manning and the son of Archie Manning and Olivia Manning.
He played college football at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) after attending prep school at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
He was drafted as the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but immediately traded to the New York Giants, who traded 4th overall pick Phillip Rivers. Manning won the most valuable player award in Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.
Prior to deciding which college to attend, Manning received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee.
Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped Eli's older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his father’s footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.
During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 45 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7.
Manning also led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2003. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play.
Shohreh Aghdashloo - Emmy Awards 2009
Shohreh Aghdashloo proudly holds up her Emmy statue for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for House of Saddam at the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre on Sunday (September 20) in Los Angeles.
The 57-year-old Iranian actress wore a gorgeous floor-grazing Lorena Sarbu gown, Cartier jewels, Stuart Weitzman shoes and Swarovski clutch. She also wore a green wristband in support of the “Green Movement” - Iran’s fight for democracy!
Congrats, Shohreh!!!
Twisted History
Making fun of history has been a good gig for quite a while. I grew up reading Richard Armour’s fractured retellings of history-book standards, such as It All Started with Columbus, and of course Mad Magazine was a reliable source of misinformation. (The Marx/Marx Brothers and Lenin/Lennon confusion lingered for an embarrassingly long time, thanks to them.) And then there is Blackadder, a show whose humor content scales directly with the viewer’s knowledge of British history.
Mock history has proven to be a fertile vein on the web as well. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t love Kate Beaton’s Hark, A Vagrant. Reading her irreverent takes on historical topics is sort of like sitting in the back of class drawing moustaches on the Founding Fathers.
Beaton’s comics are pretty minimalist. Her style is deliberately loose, each comic is a single-page gag, and the gags reliably turn popular concepts of history on their head, mostly showing iconic figures acting in ignoble (but funny!) ways. Her brand of humor, of course, depends on the reader understanding the setup instantly, so she generally sticks with recognizable characters (although we south-of-the-border types appreciate her explanatory notes on Canadian history).
Not so with Sydney Padua; the title characters in her loose series of comics, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, are not household names in most homes. Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Byron and is regarded by historians as the first computer programmer; Charles Babbage designed, but never built, the first programmable computer. Both lived in Victorian times and were quirky but somewhat less exciting than Padua makes them seem in her action-packed steampunk comic.
In Padua's fevered imagination, the pipe-smoking Ada and rather more diffident Charles do build a Difference Machine, a steampunk version of a computer, and they use it to resolve the financial crisis of 1837 and impress Queen Victoria. The comics are funny in an escalating-chaos kind of way with some computer humor on the side that most peopel will get, and Padua’s confident style works well with her complicated subject matter. One of the things I like the best about this comic, though, is her extensive historical notes and her delight in finding new and odd facts about Babbage and Lovelace (who certainly do offer plenty of scope for that sort of thing). I do wish that she would take all this a bit more seriously as a webcomic and introduce such modern conveniences as a “next” button, but I guess I’m happy that someone is doing this at all.
Dylan Meconis’s Bite Me is a vampire comedy set in the French Revolution. I’m already on record as being a fan of Meconis’s more serious historical comic Family Man. Bite Me, is an earlier comic, and although some characters overlap, the feel is totally different—it’s a comedy drawn in a loose, comic-book style. Think rollicking, bawdy 18th-century humor, with vampires thrown in. The story is pretty straightforward: Claire, a serving wench in a French inn, takes a liking to Lucien, a mysterious visitor who sleeps all day—in the wine cellar. When Lucien’s desire for a snack overtakes him, he brings Claire over to the dark side and she leaves her dead-end job to help Lucien and the abrasive Ginevra free their vampire castle from a rapacious noble. The story moves slowly at first, but Meconis tosses in plenty of gags and side trips to keep the readers entertained. The humor is witty and knowingly anachronistic, and like most real historical figures, Meconis’s vivid characters are more interested in their own preoccupations than in the events swirling around them.
Each of these comics is a nudge to the ribs of the educated reader. They puncture the iconic images we were presented with in school, reimagining historical figures as actual human beings and acknowledging that we look back at the past with modern eyes, and therefore with imperfect understanding. At the same time, all three cartoonists clearly enjoy researching their topics and turning up odd bits of historical trivia. That affection for their subject matter, I think, is what sets these comics above your standard gag comic—when you're done laughing, you know a little bit more than you did before, which is more than I can say about any history class I ever took.
First recorded instance of "It's not a bug, it's a feature."
Mock history has proven to be a fertile vein on the web as well. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t love Kate Beaton’s Hark, A Vagrant. Reading her irreverent takes on historical topics is sort of like sitting in the back of class drawing moustaches on the Founding Fathers.
Beaton’s comics are pretty minimalist. Her style is deliberately loose, each comic is a single-page gag, and the gags reliably turn popular concepts of history on their head, mostly showing iconic figures acting in ignoble (but funny!) ways. Her brand of humor, of course, depends on the reader understanding the setup instantly, so she generally sticks with recognizable characters (although we south-of-the-border types appreciate her explanatory notes on Canadian history).
Not so with Sydney Padua; the title characters in her loose series of comics, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, are not household names in most homes. Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Byron and is regarded by historians as the first computer programmer; Charles Babbage designed, but never built, the first programmable computer. Both lived in Victorian times and were quirky but somewhat less exciting than Padua makes them seem in her action-packed steampunk comic.
In Padua's fevered imagination, the pipe-smoking Ada and rather more diffident Charles do build a Difference Machine, a steampunk version of a computer, and they use it to resolve the financial crisis of 1837 and impress Queen Victoria. The comics are funny in an escalating-chaos kind of way with some computer humor on the side that most peopel will get, and Padua’s confident style works well with her complicated subject matter. One of the things I like the best about this comic, though, is her extensive historical notes and her delight in finding new and odd facts about Babbage and Lovelace (who certainly do offer plenty of scope for that sort of thing). I do wish that she would take all this a bit more seriously as a webcomic and introduce such modern conveniences as a “next” button, but I guess I’m happy that someone is doing this at all.
Dylan Meconis’s Bite Me is a vampire comedy set in the French Revolution. I’m already on record as being a fan of Meconis’s more serious historical comic Family Man. Bite Me, is an earlier comic, and although some characters overlap, the feel is totally different—it’s a comedy drawn in a loose, comic-book style. Think rollicking, bawdy 18th-century humor, with vampires thrown in. The story is pretty straightforward: Claire, a serving wench in a French inn, takes a liking to Lucien, a mysterious visitor who sleeps all day—in the wine cellar. When Lucien’s desire for a snack overtakes him, he brings Claire over to the dark side and she leaves her dead-end job to help Lucien and the abrasive Ginevra free their vampire castle from a rapacious noble. The story moves slowly at first, but Meconis tosses in plenty of gags and side trips to keep the readers entertained. The humor is witty and knowingly anachronistic, and like most real historical figures, Meconis’s vivid characters are more interested in their own preoccupations than in the events swirling around them.
Each of these comics is a nudge to the ribs of the educated reader. They puncture the iconic images we were presented with in school, reimagining historical figures as actual human beings and acknowledging that we look back at the past with modern eyes, and therefore with imperfect understanding. At the same time, all three cartoonists clearly enjoy researching their topics and turning up odd bits of historical trivia. That affection for their subject matter, I think, is what sets these comics above your standard gag comic—when you're done laughing, you know a little bit more than you did before, which is more than I can say about any history class I ever took.
First recorded instance of "It's not a bug, it's a feature."
Biggest Emmy surprises: Ken Howard, Cherry Jones and . . . ?
The two biggest Emmy Award upsets of the night came in supporting categories. No pundit on the planet picked Ken Howard for his featherweight role as the tycoon who ditches Jessica Lange in "Grey Gardens." He beat big grandstanding performances by "Little Dorrit" stars Tom Courtenay and Andy Serkis. Makes me wonder if the voters in this category actually watched all eight hours of "Dorrit." Easily, Courtenay gave the best dramatic performance in this race, but his big scenes came near the end of the mini.
I'm glad "Dorrit" won best mini. I'm a sucker for Charles Dickens adaptations, but I had suspected that most Emmy voters wouldn't watch it so therefore would be tempted to pick "Generation Kill" instead because of its political relevance, being about U.S. combat in Iraq. Maybe voters in this category actually watched "Dorrit" because there were only two nominees in this race — instead of five like supporting actor. There are different judges deciding each category.
Cherry Jones wasn't expected to win supporting drama series actress as for her role as the U.S. president in "24," but her victory is sweet kudos recompense considering the poor dear recently lost out on an Oscar nomination when Meryl Streep stole her role in "Doubt," which earned Jones a Tony when she performed the role on Broadway. But how the heck did Jones beat both Rose Byrne ("Damages") and last year's champ (and double Oscar winner), Dianne Wiest ("In Treatment")?
Jon Cryer's win was a bit of a surprise, but we knew he was in the running. He submitted a good episode of "Two and a Half Men" to Emmy judges, and his silly, slapstick character is in the tradition of past wins by David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") as a put-upon TV brother.
Ian McKellan ("King Lear") was picked by most pundits to win lead actor in a TV movie/miniseries, but the victory by Brendan Gleeson ("Into the Storm") makes sense considering Albert Finney ("The Gathering Storm") won this category in 2002 for taking on the same role as Winston Churchill during World War II. Over the last 20 years, most winners here portrayed real-life people.
Most pundits were picking Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad") to win supporting drama actor, but we all had Michael Emerson ("Lost") in second place. Paul probably lost because voters held his character's backstory (he peddles drugs to kids) against him.
No, no, Kristin Chenoweth's victory for "Pushing Daisies" isn't a surprise. I had predicted she'd win.
Obviously, voters are Oscar snobs too. Two-time champ Jessica Lange won for lead actress for a TV role in "Grey Gardens" for a role that most of us defined as supporting. Thus, many of us predicted that Sigourney Weaver ("Prayers for Bobby") would win instead, but we're not surprised by Lange's win. Because we know how Emmy voters think.
'Little Dorrit' comes up big
It was the little engine that could.
After staying off the radar with little marketing push, the BBC/PBS production of "Little Dorrit" surprisingly became the most honored program of the night with seven Emmys, including best miniseries.
It was a come-from-behind win. At the nomination stage, "Dorrit" was tied with its competitor in the best miniseries category, HBO's "Generation Kill," for sixth place, behind such heavy hitters as series "30 Rock," "Mad Men" and movies "Grey Gardens" and "Into the Storm." But in the end, the Charles Dickens adaptation squeaked past the dominant player in the longform space, HBO. The cabler's "Gardens" was second in the program tally with six Emmys.
"This is a fantastic win that Dickens would be proud of," said BBC Worldwide exec vp programming and production Jane Tranter, who commissioned the mini at the BBC. "If he was around today, he would undoubtedly be writing for television."
After staying off the radar with little marketing push, the BBC/PBS production of "Little Dorrit" surprisingly became the most honored program of the night with seven Emmys, including best miniseries.
It was a come-from-behind win. At the nomination stage, "Dorrit" was tied with its competitor in the best miniseries category, HBO's "Generation Kill," for sixth place, behind such heavy hitters as series "30 Rock," "Mad Men" and movies "Grey Gardens" and "Into the Storm." But in the end, the Charles Dickens adaptation squeaked past the dominant player in the longform space, HBO. The cabler's "Gardens" was second in the program tally with six Emmys.
"This is a fantastic win that Dickens would be proud of," said BBC Worldwide exec vp programming and production Jane Tranter, who commissioned the mini at the BBC. "If he was around today, he would undoubtedly be writing for television."
Eli Manning Wife is his sweetheart Abby McGrew
New Delhi, Sept 21, 2009: Eli Manning Wife is his sweetheart Abby McGrew. Eli Manning’s marriage with his long time sweetheart is making waves across the nation. The two were dating for years.Eighty eight year old Elisha Nelson Manning a renowned American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of Peyton Manning and Cooper Manning and the son of Archie Manning and Olivia Manning.
He played college football at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) after attending prep school at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
He was drafted as the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but immediately traded to the New York Giants, who traded 4th overall pick Phillip Rivers. Manning won the most valuable player award in Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.
Prior to deciding which college to attend, Manning received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee.
Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped Eli's older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his father’s footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.
During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 45 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7.
Manning also led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2003. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play.
He played college football at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) after attending prep school at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
He was drafted as the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but immediately traded to the New York Giants, who traded 4th overall pick Phillip Rivers. Manning won the most valuable player award in Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.
Prior to deciding which college to attend, Manning received a call from David Cutcliffe, formerly the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee.
Cutcliffe had been hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and had previously helped Eli's older brother Peyton improve his game. Upon learning Cutcliffe was now in charge of the Rebel program, the 18-year-old followed his father’s footsteps, and made his way to Oxford, Mississippi.
During his football career at Ole Miss, Eli set or tied 45 single-game, season, and career records. His career numbers include 10,119 passing yards (fifth on the SEC career list), 81 touchdown passes (third on the SEC career list), and a passer rating of 137.7.
Manning also led the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a 31-28 SBC Cotton Bowl victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2003. He was invited to play in the 2004 Senior Bowl, but chose not to play.
'30 Rock,' 'Mad Men' winners again
The Emmys kept up their tradition of few surprises last night as NBC's 30 Rock was named best comedy for the third consecutive year at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards and AMC's stylish Mad Men took down its second straight best-drama Emmy.
Including Emmys presented at last weekend's so-called creative arts awards ceremony, PBS's Little Dorrit and HBO's Grey Gardens tied for most Emmys: seven. And, as usual, HBO led the Emmy parade with 21. NBC was second with 16; ABC had 11; Fox, 10; CBS, 9.
Not a lot of suspense with the best-comedy award, as a confused Bob Newhart gave away the winner at the beginning of his rambling comments, confirming it as he looked at an already-opened envelope at the end.
Referring to NBC's new five-night-a-week Jay Leno Show, 30 Rock star and executive producer Tina Fey thanked the folks at NBC for "keeping us on the air even though we are so much more expensive than a talk show."
For the second consecutive year, Glenn Close got the Emmy for best actress in a drama for FX's riveting Damages, where she plays cutthroat lawyer Patty Hewes. Bryan Cranston, the desperate, dying drug dealer in AMC's Breaking Bad kept up, grabbing his second best-dramatic-actor award.
Even though she won a creative-arts award for her Sarah Palin impressions on Saturday Night Live, Fey did not win as best comedy actress for 30 Rock. The audience was shocked - "Whoa!" said presenter Justin Timberlake - when Toni Collette, spectacular as the star of Showtime's United States of Tara, took the Emmy for her role as a woman with multiple personalities.
Alec Baldwin, Fey's 30 Rock costar, made up for Fey's failure, winning as best actor in a comedy for the second straight year.
Michael Emerson took home his second Emmy as best supporting actor in a drama as the enigmatic Ben Linus, arguably the center of ABC's Lost despite his category designation. "One day I flew to Hawaii to do a guest spot," he said, "and it has become the role of a lifetime."
Cherry Jones, who played the latest U.S. president on Fox's 24, was named best supporting actress in a drama.
Little Kristin Chenoweth seemed to break down in tears as she took the traditional first Emmy, for best supporting actress in a comedy, as the lovelorn waitress in ABC's dear, departed Pushing Daisies.
Jon Cryer won the supporting actor prize in the category, after four nominations for CBS's Two and a Half Men.
The Daily Show continued its string, nabbing its seventh straight best music, variety or comedy show Emmy. And The Amazing Race kept pace, winning its seventh consecutive Emmy as best competition reality show. Do you still wonder why so many people don't bother to tune in?
Named best reality show host, Jeff Probst, so much more to Survivor than just a host, said he was living his dream. "The adventure you're ready for is the one you get," he said, quoting Joseph Campbell. "Life is short. Go for it."
PBS's delectable Little Dorrit was named best mini-series and earned two more awards, best director (Irishwoman Dearbhla Walsh) and writer (Andrew Davies, master Dickens adapter).
HBO cleaned up, as usual, in the realm of TV movies, grabbing five Emmys. Grey Gardens, about recluse mother and daughter Big and Little Edie Beale, was named best one. Jessica Lange, rightfully, beat out her co-star, Drew Barrymore, as best actress. Brendan Gleeson was named best actor for Into the Storm. He only played Winston Churchill.
Iranian-born Shohreh Aghdashloo was named best supporting actress in a movie or mini-series for HBO's House of Sadam. Best supporting actor in the category: Grey Gardens' Ken Howard. "I'll make my speech as brief as possible in the hopes that it won't be interrupted by a congressman or a rapper," he quipped.
Emmy made things a little more fun this year by shaking up the order of the awards, handing out all the prizes in one genre before moving to the next: Comedy, reality (weren't those clips inspiring?), movies and mini-series, variety, drama. Best drama and comedy series were held till the end, and who could stand the suspense?
Neil Patrick Harris, from CBS's How I Met Your Mother, a Broadway star who brought panache and fun to this year's Tony Awards, emceed in a white dinner jacket, just two days under the traditional end-of-summer deadline.
The usual remembrance of stars passed in the previous year dripped with class as executive producer Don Mischer got Sarah McLaughlin to sing "I Will Remember You," and clips of the departed flashed, including: Walter Cronklite, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Eartha Kitt, Van Johnson, Ron Silver, Bea Arthur, Karl Malden, Dom DeLuise, David Carradine, Ricardo Montalban, Ed McMahon.
It was Emmy's second year at downtown L.A.'s 2,200-seat Nokia Theater, in a neighborhood where the city is trying to establish an attractive entertainment complex, after a long run at the cavernous Shrine Auditorium, about a mile away.
Blake Lively Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl gave out the award for best director of a comedy to Jeff Blitz of NBC's The Office. It was as close as the CW got to an Emmy.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Cherry Jones wins Emmy for her role as 24's President Allison Taylor
Cherry Jones is known for her role as President Allison Taylor on the Fox series 24, for which she won an Emmy.
Jones has done extensive stage work, including her Tony-winning lead performances in Lincoln Center's 1995 production of The Heiress and John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt, a role which earned her the 2005 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.
Cherry Jones is considered to be one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States. She also narrated the audiobook adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series including, "Little House in the Big Woods", "Little House on the Prairie" , "Farmer Boy","On the Banks of Plum Creek" , "By the Shores of Silver Lake" , "The Long Winter" and "Little Town on the Prairie"
In the film industry Jones has played mostly supporting roles. Her screen credits include Cradle Will Rock, The Perfect Storm, Ocean's Twelve, Signs, and The Village.
Jones role of President Allison Taylor on the seventh season of the Fox series 24 is one of which she won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Jones will reprise her role as President Allison Taylor during the 2010 season, currently in planning stages.
BBC drama Little Dorrit sweeps the Emmy awards
The BBC's Dickensian adaptation Little Dorrit has outshone the best of US broadcasting to pick up seven Emmy awards, beating the advertising drama Mad Men and the sitcom 30 Rock to win more gongs than any other television series.
Little Dorrit, starring Matthew Macfadyen, Pam Ferris and Sir Tom Courtenay, was the surprise star of a glitzy show at Hollywood's Nokia Theatre, named as best mini-series and snapping up a brace of awards including outstanding writing, directing, art direction, costumes and cinematography.
Regarded as a neglected Charles Dickens work, Little Dorrit aired last year in Britain, recounting the changing fortunes of the Dorrit family, who emerge from Marshelsea prison for debtors to discover that they are heirs to a great deal of money. Executive producer Anne Pivcevic said: "We're thrilled that Little Dorrit has gone down so well this side of the Atlantic."
The costume drama's victories were not the BBC's only successes. The broadcaster won an Emmy for its Iraq war drama House of Saddam, which was a co-production with HBO, while the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson took home an Emmy as best lead actor in a miniseries for his role as Winston Churchill in Into The Storm.
In an emotional speech, Gleeson thanked Into The Storm's producers for allowing his mother to see a first cut of his performance before her recent death: "It meant a huge amount to me."
The BBC's awards were bright spots in a ceremony where many of the headline-grabbing top categories went to the same winners as last year.
The antics of an office full of chain-smoking 1960s advertising executives proved successful as Mad Men was named best drama for the second consecutive year, seeing off Hugh Laurie's portrayal as an eccentric doctor in House, the plane crash survivors of Lost and the polygamy chronicles of Big Love. Although critically acclaimed in the US, Mad Men has struggled to command an audience in Britain and has been tipped as a possible candidate for the axe as BBC4 cuts costs.
In the comedy stakes, 30 Rock, the sitcom starring Alec Baldwin as a spectacularly arrogant television executive, topped the charts with five Emmys, having chalked up a total of 30 nominations.
There were frequent references during the show to Kanye West's bizarre interruption of proceedings at last week's MTV Video Awards. Accepting an award for his role in the aristocratic drama Grey Gardens, actor Ken Howard also referenced President Obama's recent healthcare address to Congress: "I'll make my speech as brief as possible in the hope it won't be interrupted by a congressman or a rapper."
Other winners included Glenn Close for her role as a ruthless lawyer in the drama Damages and the Australian actress Toni Collette, who was rewarded for her performances as a housewife with an identity disorder in the comedy The United States of Tara.
American actress Kirsten Chenoweth provided the obligatory weepy speech as she struggled to articulate herself after winning an Emmy for Pushing Daisies. The Amazing Race was named best reality show and the satirical news program The Daily Show took an award as best variety program.
Presenting the Daily Show's award to host Jon Stewart, the comedian Ricky Gervais declared the audience to be a motley crowd.
"The thing about the Golden Globes and the Oscars is that they have film stars with their jaw lines and chiseled looks," said Gervais. "But in this room, I'm probably above average."
Live Updates: Giants 33, Dallas 31, final
11:52 p.m. In a game that had multiple lead changes in the second half, it helps to have the ball last. The Giants benefited from more late-game heroics from Eli Manning, helping offset an awful performance from the run defense and a questionable effort from the backfield. Nevertheless, any win over a divisional opponent is meaningful, and this victory — elevated by the setting — is bigger than most. Some questions must be addressed, but enjoy this one.
11:48 p.m. This one is going to come down to Lawrence Tynes. The Giants have moved into Dallas territory — now at the 41 with 45 seconds to play — and will look to get another 10 to 15 yards before calling on its kicker. Update: The Giants complete two straight passes — to Manningham for eight on third and four, and to Smith for 12. This puts the Giants at the Dallas 21. With a timeout still remaining, Manning wisely takes a knee in the middle of the field, lining up Tynes with an easy 37-yard try. The kick is up and good, but won’t count: Wade Phillips called a timeout before the snap. Doesn’t matter for Tynes, who was able to line up his kick. After drifting left on his first try, his second kick splits the uprights, and the Giants beat the Cowboys, 33-31.
Andy: “Correction: story of the game is Eli Manning and that Giants passing attack.”
11:32 p.m. This is turning into a great game — kudos to Andy, who predicted this one to go to the wire earlier this evening. Dallas punched this one into the end zone to reclaim the lead, 31-30, with less than four minutes to play. As has been the case nearly all game, Dallas dominated the line of scrimmage. This latest drive was defined by a 35-yard rumble by Barber, who had a clear line to the end zone before suffering what looked like either a cramp or muscle pull that severely hampered his stride, allowing Bruce Johnson to track him down at the Giants’s seven. No matter: The next play was an inside draw to Felix Jones, who stormed into the end zone for the score. The Cowboys have 251 yards rushing on the day, 178 in the second half. Quite a dominating performance by the offensive line.
Andy: “Story of this game… Dallas rushing for the most yards in the franchise’s history since 1993. The front five has absolutely obliterated New York’s defensive line.”
11:25 p.m. The Giants add a field goal, pushing their lead to six. With less than eight minutes to play, it’s a 30-24 game. This try came from 36 yards out, a harder kick than the attempt Tynes missed earlier in the half. As Andy pointed out, Tynes does occasionally suffer a brain lapse; let’s hope he’s back on track. The drive was helped out by great field position: New York opened the drive at its own 42, and despite earning only 40 yards — 25 on the first play, a pass to Manningham — was able to double its lead. Big drive coming up for the Cowboys. Could they possibly lose their opening game in the new stadium?
11:16 p.m. Andy: “Anyone else sick of these super low budget Geico commercials?” They could be worse: Some of our readers from the Baltimore area may recall the famous Gebco (not a misprint) commercials, which featured, among other things, former Ravens tackle Jonathan Ogden dancing in a field, surrounded by scantily clad cheerleaders. A true classic of the insurance genre.
11:10 p.m. Touchdown, Giants! Manning hits a shockingly wide open Steve Smith for the go-ahead score, and it’s a 27-24 game. How could Dallas allow Smith to find such a hole? My only guess, having not yet seen a replay, is that Dallas had a player neglect his responsibility in a zone look; that would account for why there was no one with eight yards of Smith when he made the grab inside the five. As Andy astutely pointed out a moment ago, Manningham and Smith have been nothing short of superb. While Dallas’s receivers have not given Romo much help, this young duo has moved the chains, stretched the defense, and got into the end zone. No, I’ll follow Andy’s lead and fall short of proclaiming Smith and Manningham capable of completely replacing Plaxico, but they’ve played well, obviously.
11:02 p.m. Where Romo misread the defense on his play action pass, Manning threads the needle on the deep post. First, Romo. As mentioned, Dallas has been very successful on the ground; obviously, such success allows the offense to go with play action, potentially opening a deep third down field. However, the Giants did not bite on Romo’s play fake, and instead of having a receiver running deep over the middle field in single coverage, the Dallas receiver was blanketed underneath by the cornerback and over the top by Kenny Phillips. Romo put plenty of air under the ball — meaning his intended receiver could have, if there wasn’t a safety over the top, caught the ball in stride — but Philips was playing center field, and made an easy pick.
Now, Manning’s pass. The Giants went with a very similar look: play fake, step up in the pocket, deliver on the deep post. However, Dallas did not have a safety deep, and Manningham (yes, again) was able to get behind the coverage and make a tough grab. The former Michigan Wolverine is having a breakout game.
Andy: “This game has a classic feel to it. An epic ending just feels inevitable. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are both over 100 yards receiving. That means we’re required to make a generic ‘guess they don’t miss Plaxico that much after all’ statement, right?”
10:52 p.m. Dallas retakes the lead thanks to, of all things, a touchdown run from its quarterback. Not that it was especially long, only three yards, but it obviously caught the Giants off guard.
Andy: “Gotta admit, Al Michaels made a compelling quick case for the N.F.L.’s return to Los Angeles.
New York’s defense doesn’t have a player more important than Justin Tuck. The loss of his versatility is enormous. GREAT play call by Jason Garrett on the quarterback draw. Arguably the smartest redhead in the game.”
Smarter than Washington long snapper Ethan Albright? Garrett called up all the right plays on this drive, which began at Dallas’s own 17. Of course, it helps to get 56 yards on the second play from scrimmage, as Dallas did from Felix Jones. That long run — which came off the left side — was followed by 25 yards on two carries by Marion Barber, and ended with Romo’s three-yard scamper. Still surprised by Dallas’s ability to control the line of scrimmage on offense. Any ideas as to how its offensive front has been so successful?
11:48 p.m. This one is going to come down to Lawrence Tynes. The Giants have moved into Dallas territory — now at the 41 with 45 seconds to play — and will look to get another 10 to 15 yards before calling on its kicker. Update: The Giants complete two straight passes — to Manningham for eight on third and four, and to Smith for 12. This puts the Giants at the Dallas 21. With a timeout still remaining, Manning wisely takes a knee in the middle of the field, lining up Tynes with an easy 37-yard try. The kick is up and good, but won’t count: Wade Phillips called a timeout before the snap. Doesn’t matter for Tynes, who was able to line up his kick. After drifting left on his first try, his second kick splits the uprights, and the Giants beat the Cowboys, 33-31.
Andy: “Correction: story of the game is Eli Manning and that Giants passing attack.”
11:32 p.m. This is turning into a great game — kudos to Andy, who predicted this one to go to the wire earlier this evening. Dallas punched this one into the end zone to reclaim the lead, 31-30, with less than four minutes to play. As has been the case nearly all game, Dallas dominated the line of scrimmage. This latest drive was defined by a 35-yard rumble by Barber, who had a clear line to the end zone before suffering what looked like either a cramp or muscle pull that severely hampered his stride, allowing Bruce Johnson to track him down at the Giants’s seven. No matter: The next play was an inside draw to Felix Jones, who stormed into the end zone for the score. The Cowboys have 251 yards rushing on the day, 178 in the second half. Quite a dominating performance by the offensive line.
Andy: “Story of this game… Dallas rushing for the most yards in the franchise’s history since 1993. The front five has absolutely obliterated New York’s defensive line.”
11:25 p.m. The Giants add a field goal, pushing their lead to six. With less than eight minutes to play, it’s a 30-24 game. This try came from 36 yards out, a harder kick than the attempt Tynes missed earlier in the half. As Andy pointed out, Tynes does occasionally suffer a brain lapse; let’s hope he’s back on track. The drive was helped out by great field position: New York opened the drive at its own 42, and despite earning only 40 yards — 25 on the first play, a pass to Manningham — was able to double its lead. Big drive coming up for the Cowboys. Could they possibly lose their opening game in the new stadium?
11:16 p.m. Andy: “Anyone else sick of these super low budget Geico commercials?” They could be worse: Some of our readers from the Baltimore area may recall the famous Gebco (not a misprint) commercials, which featured, among other things, former Ravens tackle Jonathan Ogden dancing in a field, surrounded by scantily clad cheerleaders. A true classic of the insurance genre.
11:10 p.m. Touchdown, Giants! Manning hits a shockingly wide open Steve Smith for the go-ahead score, and it’s a 27-24 game. How could Dallas allow Smith to find such a hole? My only guess, having not yet seen a replay, is that Dallas had a player neglect his responsibility in a zone look; that would account for why there was no one with eight yards of Smith when he made the grab inside the five. As Andy astutely pointed out a moment ago, Manningham and Smith have been nothing short of superb. While Dallas’s receivers have not given Romo much help, this young duo has moved the chains, stretched the defense, and got into the end zone. No, I’ll follow Andy’s lead and fall short of proclaiming Smith and Manningham capable of completely replacing Plaxico, but they’ve played well, obviously.
11:02 p.m. Where Romo misread the defense on his play action pass, Manning threads the needle on the deep post. First, Romo. As mentioned, Dallas has been very successful on the ground; obviously, such success allows the offense to go with play action, potentially opening a deep third down field. However, the Giants did not bite on Romo’s play fake, and instead of having a receiver running deep over the middle field in single coverage, the Dallas receiver was blanketed underneath by the cornerback and over the top by Kenny Phillips. Romo put plenty of air under the ball — meaning his intended receiver could have, if there wasn’t a safety over the top, caught the ball in stride — but Philips was playing center field, and made an easy pick.
Now, Manning’s pass. The Giants went with a very similar look: play fake, step up in the pocket, deliver on the deep post. However, Dallas did not have a safety deep, and Manningham (yes, again) was able to get behind the coverage and make a tough grab. The former Michigan Wolverine is having a breakout game.
Andy: “This game has a classic feel to it. An epic ending just feels inevitable. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are both over 100 yards receiving. That means we’re required to make a generic ‘guess they don’t miss Plaxico that much after all’ statement, right?”
10:52 p.m. Dallas retakes the lead thanks to, of all things, a touchdown run from its quarterback. Not that it was especially long, only three yards, but it obviously caught the Giants off guard.
Andy: “Gotta admit, Al Michaels made a compelling quick case for the N.F.L.’s return to Los Angeles.
New York’s defense doesn’t have a player more important than Justin Tuck. The loss of his versatility is enormous. GREAT play call by Jason Garrett on the quarterback draw. Arguably the smartest redhead in the game.”
Smarter than Washington long snapper Ethan Albright? Garrett called up all the right plays on this drive, which began at Dallas’s own 17. Of course, it helps to get 56 yards on the second play from scrimmage, as Dallas did from Felix Jones. That long run — which came off the left side — was followed by 25 yards on two carries by Marion Barber, and ended with Romo’s three-yard scamper. Still surprised by Dallas’s ability to control the line of scrimmage on offense. Any ideas as to how its offensive front has been so successful?
Jessica Lange in 'Grey Gardens': HBO's big
Jessica Lange won her first Emmy Sunday for her performance in HBO's movie "Grey Gardens," playing a fictionalized version of the real-life Edith Bouvier Beale.
The film is based on Albert and David Maysles' 1975 documentary about "Big Edie" and her daughter, "Little Edie," relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis who were discovered living in squalor on Long Island in the early 1970s. The documentary chronicles the conditions in which they lived and the heavily codepedent relationship between mother and daughter.
The HBO movie goes deeper into the the Beales' lives, using Little Edie's diaries to dramatize their earlier lives as members of Manhattan's high society and their gradual retreat from the world at their summer home in the Hamptons. In addition to Lange's victory, "Grey Gardens" won the Emmy for best made-for-TV movie, and Ken Howard won best supporting actor in a movie or miniseries. Drew Barrymore, who played Little Edie, and Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Jackie, were also nominated.
The 60-year-old Lange has been nominated for Emmys twice in the past. She's also won two Oscars.
Here's a look at some scenes from "Grey Gardens" and the stars talking about inhabiting their characters.
The Sketchy History of Sketch Comedy Movies
Monty Python's 1983 film "The Meaning of Life" effortlessly set the gold standard in sketch comedy movies -- which, for clarification, we'll define here as feature-length anthologies of stand-alone comic bits that don't serve to push along any overarching storyline. But while the Pythons' greatest film (gauntlet thrown down!) omitted a plot, their skits were still tied together by the most timeless of through lines: the trials of human life, presented in chapters like "The Miracle of Birth," "Middle Age" and "Death." Furthermore, 1971's "And Now For Something Completely Different," a re-filmed compilation of greatest hits from the first two pioneering seasons of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," is arguably the silver medalist of its kind, and good luck coming up with a third film that actually deserves the bronze.
The cold, hard truth is that sketch comedy movies are nearly impossible to pull off, and most are doomed to fail the test of time. Even with noteworthy players, such stuck-in-their-moment forgettables as 1976's "Tunnel Vision" (featuring John Candy, a pre-senatorial Al Franken and Ron Silver's screen debut), 1977's "American Raspberry" (with Harry Shearer, Warren Oates and Kinky Friedman) and 1980's "Loose Shoes" (Bill Murray, Buddy Hackett, and, strangely, Kinky Friedman again) are irrelevant to 2009 society's collective funny bone. Since snack-sized portions don't allow for deeply developed characterizations, sketch comedy's weapon of choice is usually pop-cultural satire -- which, at its most trenchant, shoves its whoopee cushion right up under the zeitgeist's ass.
The cold, hard truth is that sketch comedy movies are nearly impossible to pull off, and most are doomed to fail the test of time.
Five Rules for Great DVD Commentaries
The Five Worst Films Based on Comedy Sketches
However, this only works in the present tense, since cultural trends move to the fickle rhythms of American taste. "Tunnel Vision" and "American Raspberry" spoofed their era's TV programming (as did the more significant, if equally outmoded and tamely scatological "The Groove Tube," which introduced audiences to Chevy Chase in '74), and "Loose Shoes" played off movie trailers that have since evolved dramatically.
1977's "The Kentucky Fried Movie" (directed by John Landis, and written by the trio behind "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun") and its 1987 quasi-sequel "Amazon Women on the Moon" fare better, if only because their jokes about lowbrow multiplex product and '50s sci-fi camp were eccentric and occasionally clever enough to earn nostalgic followings. Even if they were prescient (and they weren't), the absurdities of genre conventions are hardly a dangerous or evergreen topic.
But are their failings really about banal thematic fodder? Hands down, what's still the most esoteric American sketch comedy movie to date is "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video," the late Michael O'Donoghue's bizarre, low-budget 1979 send-up of sensational shockumentaries like "Mondo Cane." Originally set to be broken up as a series of "Saturday Night Live" video segments, the studio execs dismissed it as too racy, but even as a feature, it's more of a cult curiosity than a rewatchable gut-buster. And if sex sold as often as the commercial chestnut dictated, it wouldn't matter that such naughtily suggestive, skin-baring '70s sketch comedies like "The Boob Tube," "If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind!!!", "Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?" and schlockmeister Herschell Gordon Lewis' little-known perversion "Miss Nymphet's Zap-In" were all painfully unfunny, too.
Since, technically, Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* (*but were afraid to ask)" proves an exception to the rule (though it is a rare breed: an adaptation of a non-fiction book), perhaps we should be discussing the genre's largely unchanged form. It's easy to dismiss any omnibus film as inconsistent by its very nature, especially when there are multiple creative collaborators to spoil the proverbial broth. But when it comes to sketch comedy -- whose roots expand from American vaudeville, British music hall and the improv scene made popular by such troupes as Second City and the Groundlings -- it really comes down to whether it makes us laugh or not, right?
Not quite. As even a well-regarded "SNL" classic illustrates, there's frontloaded A-material and there's plenty of crap sketches that run in the final minutes after the Nielsen ratings have been safely recorded. Extended to a feature format, sketch comedy has only one "episode" to nail it and a lot more screen time to fill. Even if we all had mutually agreeable tastes and senses of humor, it's their patchwork structure that interrupts the momentum of what can keep us enthralled for an hour-and-a-half at a time.
Segues between skits are often perfunctory (David Wain's 2007 "The Ten," based on the Ten Commandments, comes to a dead halt whenever Paul Rudd addresses the camera between scenes), and when there's little to build upon with the start-and-stop of each new sketch, these movies are only as good as their worst bits. We're not far past 2008's "The Onion Movie," probably the most recent comic anthology of this very rigid configuration, and even with its modern takes on race, politics and corporate tyranny, it's still as toe-curlingly awful as its long-buried ancestors.
College Football Scores for 2009 Have More Surprises in Week 3
College football scores for 2009 week 3 featured a lot of tests at the top. College football scores in 2009 haven't been safe for top teams, and yesterday's college football scores were no
College Football Scores for 2009 Have More Surprises in Week 3 different. At least one powerhouse fell, while an upstart was destroyed, and the top two college football teams were severely tested. The 2009 college football scores are beginning to look a little more topsy-turvy, as the early part of the season ends and conference play nears.
The college football scores for 2009 were highlight by some upsets in the first two weeks. For week 3, the trend continued, and was led this time by USC's shocking loss at Washington. The Trojans went from being a solid third in the polls to being nearly out of the BCS race altogether, by losing to a team that went 0-12 last year. But the 16-13 score in favor of the Huskies signaled that this isn't last year's Washington.
2009 college football scores this week also had scares in Florida and Texas. The Gators were tested more than they ever expected from the Tennessee Volunteers, but Florida was still in control through much of the game. Nevertheless, the 23-13 score was the Gators first true test against real competition this season.
The college football scores for 2008 were highlighted by the classic Texas-Texas Tech showdown last season. For 2009, the Red Raiders didn't have the same magic, but they didn't go down easily against the Longhorns. Texas and Texas Tech took a while to light up the scoreboard, but when they did, the Longhorns pulled away to a 34-24 win.
The team that pulled off the first shocking 2009 college football score, BYU, was on the losing end of a surprise this week. Florida State, after losing to Miami and nearly getting shocked by Jacksonville State, utterly destroyed BYU on the road, 54-28. Now all talk of BYU being a possible BCS title contender is gone - and with Utah's loss to Oregon, Boise State and TCU are the last mid-major BCS threats left.
College Football Scores for 2009 Have More Surprises in Week 3 different. At least one powerhouse fell, while an upstart was destroyed, and the top two college football teams were severely tested. The 2009 college football scores are beginning to look a little more topsy-turvy, as the early part of the season ends and conference play nears.
The college football scores for 2009 were highlight by some upsets in the first two weeks. For week 3, the trend continued, and was led this time by USC's shocking loss at Washington. The Trojans went from being a solid third in the polls to being nearly out of the BCS race altogether, by losing to a team that went 0-12 last year. But the 16-13 score in favor of the Huskies signaled that this isn't last year's Washington.
2009 college football scores this week also had scares in Florida and Texas. The Gators were tested more than they ever expected from the Tennessee Volunteers, but Florida was still in control through much of the game. Nevertheless, the 23-13 score was the Gators first true test against real competition this season.
The college football scores for 2008 were highlighted by the classic Texas-Texas Tech showdown last season. For 2009, the Red Raiders didn't have the same magic, but they didn't go down easily against the Longhorns. Texas and Texas Tech took a while to light up the scoreboard, but when they did, the Longhorns pulled away to a 34-24 win.
The team that pulled off the first shocking 2009 college football score, BYU, was on the losing end of a surprise this week. Florida State, after losing to Miami and nearly getting shocked by Jacksonville State, utterly destroyed BYU on the road, 54-28. Now all talk of BYU being a possible BCS title contender is gone - and with Utah's loss to Oregon, Boise State and TCU are the last mid-major BCS threats left.
botanical vitality
Belly Dance The Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department will present the Khahari Belly Dance Collaborative today at 3 p.m. in the Carrboro Branch Library inside McDougle Middle School, 900 Old Fayetteville Road. Free. 918-7364.
Field of Dreams
Benefits for Juma Ventures. $75-$200; $500 family. 11 a.m. today. AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, S.F. www.juma.org
UFC 103 Video: Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin, 1 Day Before
The latest UFC 103 video blog previews the Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort fight by giving us an inside look at how Belfort spent his last day before the fight.Among the highlights:
-- Belfort looked very relaxed in his hotel room prior to the weigh-in, lounging around and gently kicking the air to keep his legs loose.
-- Belfort had to lose an extra quarter pound after coming in at 196.25 pounds at the weigh-in, but he didn't look overly drained from the weight cut when it was all said and done.
-- UFC President Dana White implored the fighters to give the fans a good show, told them that they'd get $65,000 for Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night or Submission of the Night and reminded them that it was possible to get a double bonus of $130,000 for both the best fight and the best submission or knockout
-- Belfort looked very relaxed in his hotel room prior to the weigh-in, lounging around and gently kicking the air to keep his legs loose.
-- Belfort had to lose an extra quarter pound after coming in at 196.25 pounds at the weigh-in, but he didn't look overly drained from the weight cut when it was all said and done.
-- UFC President Dana White implored the fighters to give the fans a good show, told them that they'd get $65,000 for Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night or Submission of the Night and reminded them that it was possible to get a double bonus of $130,000 for both the best fight and the best submission or knockout
Blue Ribbon Season
Fairs, food, art, theater and more — your guide to fall 2009 prize-worthy arts and entertainment
By Hippo Staff letters@hippopress.com
From livestock competitions to art walks, fall is jam packed with events.
Consider yourself a foodie? Lobster, chili and Oktoberfests are on the menu. Always in the front row of the theater? Check out the big musicals like Cats and Chicago or the edgier productions like The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. Looking for stuff to do with the family? Festivals celebrating the change of season fill the calendar and the agricultural and county fairs offer a chance for your kids to see farm animals without having to visit the farm. And the Tupelo, Music Hall and Capitol Center for the Arts have a full section of music, comedy and more.
Feeling a little sad over the end of summer? Don’t retreat to the barn for the season. Here are all the events that will have you psyched about fall.
Art
Take in the works of many artists at once at these events:
• Find work from about 30 artists and artisans at the Concord Arts Market, in Eagle Square near North Main Street Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., from Sept. 12 through Oct. 31 this fall (www.concordartsmarket.com).
• Take a free trolley between galleries, studios and museums during Open Doors Manchester, a quarterly downtown event going on Thursdays, Sept. 17 and Nov. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. Framers Market (1301 Elm St., 668-6989), Art 3 Gallery (44 W. Brook St., Manchester, 668-6650, www.art3gallery.com); Manchester Artists Association’s Gallery (1528 Elm St., Manchester, 785-6437, manchester-artists.org); The Art on the Wall at City Hall Gallery in Manchester’s City Hall (1 City Hall Plaza, 624-6455); creative tenants in Langer Place (55 South Commercial St., www.langerplace.com), including East Colony Fine Arts (624-8833, www.eastcolony.com) and Hatfield Gallery (627-7560, www.hatfieldart.com); majestictheatre.net/opendoors.php.
• The Craftworkers’ Guild Harvest Fair is Oct. 2-11, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., with crafts from 50 juried regional artisans with selections changing daily at Kendall House, (behind the Bedford Library, 5 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford, 472-8109).
• Galleries around Portsmouth hold receptions during the monthly “Art ’Round Town.” The next is Friday, Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. Visit artroundtown.org for participating venues, which often includes the New Hampshire Art Association’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., 431-4230, www.nhartassociation.org). An NHAA juried exhibit, “The Evolution of Photography,” their 30th annual Parfitt Exhibition, runs through Sept. 25.
• Art Walk Nashua now happens once a year, for two days, and provides a tour of galleries, studios and other venues downtown and in Nashua’s millyard. It’s Saturday, Oct. 3, noon-6 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 4, noon-4 p.m. A map is at www.cityartsnashua.org. Previous Art Walks have included Gallery One, the Nashua Area Artists Association gallery space (5 Pine St. Extension, 883-0603, www.naaasite.org); Maison de L’Art (57 East Pearl St., 879-9888, www.moniquesakellarios.com); the Image Gallery at the Nashua Library (2 Court St., www.nashualibrary.org, 589-4610); and several tenants in the Picker Building (99 Factory St. Extension, thepickerbuilding.wordpress.com) including Out on a Limb Pottery Studio (882-8180); Renaissance Glassworks (www.renaissanceglass.com), Art Clay Studios (www.artclaystudio.com); A.W. Emboss; River Art Studio (www.riverartstudios.com); Chimera Gallery (www.chimeragallery.net); Ceasar Fine Art (www.ceaserphotography.com); Sara Prindiville Photography (www.saraprindiville.com) and Warm Stone Studio (www.warmstonestudio.com).
• Visit various show openings during the Art Concord gallery walks Saturday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and Thursday, Dec. 3, 5-8 p.m. (concordnhchamber.com, 224-2508). Participating venues may include Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road); Franklin Pierce Law Center Gallery (2 White St.); Kimball Jenkins School of Art (266 North Main St., 255-3932, www.kimballjenkins.com), which hosts a Wine Tasting Celebration benefit for the school Oct. 1, 5-7 p.m. ($35); League of NH Craftsmen (205 North Main St., 224-3375, www.nhcrafts.org); Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture Garden (236 Hopkinton Road, 226-2046. www.themillbrookgallery.com), which hosts an outdoor sculpture exhibit through Oct. 18; NHTI-Concord’s Community College (31 Institute Drive, 271-7186, www.nhti.edu/library); Red River Theatres (11 South Main St., 224-4600, www.redrivertheatres.org); Sulloway Gallery (19 School St.), and Verdigris Artisans (88 N. Main St., Suite 205, www.verdigrisartisans.com).
• “ART in ACTION” is Oct. 10-11, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., in Londonderry, where artists will be demonstrating in locations including Grange Hall No. 44, at 260 Mammoth Road, and White Birch Fine Art. Nutfield Sessions musicians perform at the Grange Hall on both days 1 to 3 p.m. Visit www.LondonderryCulture.org or call 434-0399.
• The Hollis Fine Art Festival usually features about 80 artists, who work in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, graphics and photography, Oct. 17-Oct. 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Nichols Field on Depot Road in Hollis. Contact Steve Previte at slpaint@charter.net.
• The Deerfield Arts Tour Oct. 17-18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., is a self-guided tour of studios of more than 15 artists and artisans. Visit www.deerfieldartstour.com or a local business for a map.
• While headquartered in Concord, League of NH Craftsmen members statewide are participating in NH Open Doors, Nov. 7 and 8 during Veterans Day weekend. Find a map at www.nhopendoors.com.
• The new Crafts at the Capitol features fine art and craft from more than 20 artists Sat., Nov. 21, and Sun., Nov. 22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 South Main St., Concord).
Check out these exhibits now:
• Birds of A Feather – The French Connection, an exhibit of photo and oils created by Lloyd Behrendt, is at the Beliveau Gallery in the Franco-American Centre (52 Concord St., 669-4045, www.francoamericancentrenh.com).
• The New Hampshire Institute of Art faculty exhibit is in their main building and French Building galleries (77 Amherst St. and 148 Concord St., Manchester, 836-2573, nhia.edu) through Oct. 2. Their Art Ex Libris - Artists Book Extravaganza is in their Fuller Hall and Vault Gallery in October with an opening Thursday, Oct. 7, 5-7 p.m. Other events there include an “FBI Art Theft Program” presentation Sept. 17, 5:30- 7 p.m. See drawings by Jerome Witkin Oct. 7-Nov. 6 with a reception Oct. 7, 5-7 p.m., Contemporary American Ceramics Oct. 7-Nov. 6 (reception Oct. 14, 5-7 p.m.), with their Biennial 2009 Nov. 9-Dec. 4, with a reception Nov. 18, 5-7 p.m., or Cape Breton: A Visual Diary, by Gary Samson Nov. 9–Dec. 4, with a reception Nov. 18, 5–7 p.m. Other presentations are from Jerome Witkin on Oct. 28, 5:30-7 p.m.; Gary Kelley on Nov. 5, 5:30-7 p.m.; and Paint Caesar Dead on Nov. 19, 5:30-7 p.m.
• UMass-Lowell assistant professor Jim Jeffers’s intermedia exhibit, “Genii Loci (Ghosts of Protection),” runs through Sept. 25 at the University Gallery at UMass-Lowell, 71 Wilder St., Lowell, Mass. (978-934-3491, www.uml.edu/Dept/Art/galleries). “Lauren Kalman, Blooms, Efflorescences and other Dermatological Embellishments, Installation of Photographs and Objects” is Oct. 5–30, with a reception Oct. 7, 3–5 p.m. Exhibits rotate mainly monthly.
• Watercolors by New Hampshire artists Bill Childs, Becky Darling, Ethel Hills and Fran Mallon at UNH Manchester (400 Commercial St., 641-4306, www.unhm.unh.edu) this semester, with a reception Sept. 17, 5-6 p.m.
• New Hampshire Furniture Masters, their 14th annual auction is Sunday, Sept. 20, with a gala reception and silent auction of smaller works at 6 p.m., and a live auction at 7:30 p.m., at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St., Manchester) Tickets cost $75 in advance and $82.50 at the door (www.furnituremasters.org, 898-0242). View the auction pieces at the Currier and see lectures and demonstrations from the Masters starting Sept. 18. See a free preview exhibit of the work at New Hampshire Historical Society Library (30 Park St., Concord, 228-6688, www.nhhistory.org) through Sept. 16.
Put these exhibits on the calendar (some future exhibits are also listed with exhibits and receptions going on this weekend):
• The Alva deMars Megan Chapel Art Center hosts “A Figural Presence” Sept. 24-Nov. 25 (100 Saint Anselm Drive, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, 641-7470, www.anselm.edu/chapelart). An opening reception is Thursday, Sept. 24, 4 – 7 p.m. Related events include four panel discussions, a talk from “Visiting Artist: Michael Bergt, Painter and Sculptor” Thursday, Oct. 1, noon-3 p.m.; “Premiere Performance: Sonata No. 5 by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee and George Lopez, piano,” Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m.; and “The Night of the Poet F.D. Reeve, Poet, Novelist, and Critic” Thursday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. (Gallery closed Oct. 10-13)
• The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester, www.currier.org, 669-6144, closed Tuesdays), along with exhibiting American and European works, is featuring a “Spotlight New England” series exhibit of sculpture, paintings and drawings by New Hampshire-based artists Gary Haven Smith and Gerald Auten through Sept. 13 and special exhibit “Turning Wood Into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection” through Sept. 27. “Evolution of a Shared Vision: The David and Barbara Stahl Collection,” is Sept. 26–Jan. 3, 2010, and features prints and drawings collected over 50 years by these New Hampshire residents. “Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow” is Oct. 10–Jan. 3, 2010, with work by the 20th-century photographer organized by the Phillips Collection. Guided gallery tours are included with admission, such as “Focus Tour – Art and Poetry: The Longevity Tour,” Fri., Sept. 25, at noon, and Sun., Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. Call or see the Web site for others.
The Currier also runs tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Zimmerman House Call 669-6144, ext. 108 for schedule and tickets or visit currier.org. “Zimmerman House Focus Tour – Why Does the Music Sound So Good? An Engineer’s Point of View on Acoustics” is Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m.
• The Beaver Brook “Designs of Nature” art show is Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 2-4, noon-5 p.m., at Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road, Hollis, 465-7787, www.beaverbrook.org).
• The McIninch Art Gallery at Southern New Hampshire University (2500 N. River Road, Manchester, /www.snhu.edu/908.asp, 629-4622) opens “Visage: Portraits by Chris Bartlett and Daniel Heyman” Sept. 24 to Oct. 24 (Closed Oct. 12) with a reception Thursday, Sept. 30, 5-7 p.m. with music from a SNHU student ensemble. “Notes from the Field: Learning Through Service” is Nov. 5 - Dec. 12
(closed Nov. 22-28) with a reception Thursday, Nov. 5, 5-7 p.m.
• Along with classes, Sharon Arts Center (30 Grove St., Peterborough, 924-2787, www.sharonarts.org) holds exhibits. “Heaven and Earth,” multimedia art by Humberto Ramirez of Chile (www.humbertoramirez.net), is there through Oct. 31. “Painting Now: From Periphery to Proliferation,” artists’ forum with Ramirez is Friday, Oct. 2, 5-7 p.m. “Storytime in the Gallery (for Families) is Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 10:30 a.m. The Sharon Arts Downtown Galleries in Depot Square, Peterborough, feature artists monthly (924-2787, sharonarts.org).
Books
Here are some of the places hosting bookish events open to the public this fall. Events are free unless otherwise noted.
• The seventh annual Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program is reading Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian, who will speak about how he wrote the book and will take audience questions on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Rivier College Dion Center. Copies of his books will be available for purchase and signing. A private wine-and-cheese reception with the author, limited to 50 people, will be held before the presentation at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for the presentation and book signing. Attendance at the private reception, which supports the work of the Friends of the Library, costs $25 and includes admission to the presentation and signing. Tickets are available (cash or check only) at NPL; also see order form at the library’s Web site, www.nashua.lib.nh.us.
• The eighth annual Concord Reads is focused on two books, one fiction — Pay it Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde — and one nonfiction — The Soloist, by Steve Lopez. There are book discussions scheduled for the fall as well as one showing of each film (both books were made into films) at Red River Theatres in Concord ($5), and several related lectures, programs and panel-audience discussions. See www.onconcord.com/Library for a schedule.
• Toadstool Bookshop in Milford (Lorden Plaza, Route 101A, 673-1734, toadbooks.com) has several author events scheduled, including Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks & Gaming Geeks) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m.; John Clayton (Remembering Manchester) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.; Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (The Hidden Life of Deer) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m.; Katrina Kenison (The Gift of an Ordinary Day) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m.; poet Martha Hall (My Side of the Street) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m.; and romance writers Roxanne Dent (American Heiress) and Gregory L. Norris (writing as Jo Atkinson, Twilight’s Edge) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. The Toadstool shops in Peterborough and Keene also have many author visits scheduled; see the list online.
• The New Hampshire Humanities Council co-sponsors In Character, a series of living history portrayals at the Nashua Public Library theater. Richard A. Hesse brings Chief Justice John Marshall to life, circa 1835, on Monday, Sept. 14, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Abraham and Mary Lincoln are portrayed by Steve and Sharon Wood on Monday, Sept. 21, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and Gwedolyn Quezaire-Presulti portrays Sarah Harris, A Woman of Color struggling to reach her goal of opening a school for Africa-American children, on Mon., Sept. 28, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
• Gibson’s Bookstore (27 South Main St. in Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) has several author visits lined up for the fall, including Katrina Kenison (The Gift of an Ordinary Day) on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m.; Howard Dean (Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform) on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m.; Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (The Hidden Life of Deer) on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.; Andre Dubus III (The House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days) on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m.; Archer Mayor (The Price of Malice) on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., and several children’s authors. See the full list online.
• Learn about Old and Rare Books with Ken Gloss, owner of Brattle Book Shop in Boston (brattlebookshop.com), the nation’s oldest continuously operated bookshop. He’ll give a talk on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Pembroke public library, 313 Pembroke St. in Pembroke. The public is invited to bring old books for a free verbal appraisal.
• Ponder the History of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with Gary Hildreth on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Milford Town Hall’s banquet hall (1 Union Square), sponsored by the Milford Historical Society.
• The American History Guys of BackStory Radio (backstoryradio.org) present a discussion of Star Quality: Celebrity in America at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 11:45 a.m. Cost is $30 including lunch; reserve tickets at concordnhchamber or call 224-2508 for info. Sponsored by NH Humanities Council.
• Time magazine columnist Joe Klein presents the Voices from the Stage lecture on Friday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. at Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord (44 S. Main St., 225-1111, ccanh.com). Klein is the author of Primary Colors; The Running Mate; The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton; and Politics Lost: How American Politics was Trivialized by People Who Think You’re Stupid. Ticket prices are $12.50, $30, $60.
• The Manchester City Library holds a big Book Sale at its main branch (405 Pine St., 624-6550) on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Pay $5 to fill one a library-provided bag with books. Then, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., another sale will offer uncommon books and other unique materials. Updates on plans for that sale will be posted at manchesterlibrary.org.
• Writers on a New England Stage returns for another season at The Music Hall in Portsmouth (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org). The series features artists interviewed on stage, with an audience q&a session following. The season begins with a visit from E.L. Doctorow on Wed., Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Subsequent shows are Tracy Kidder on Mon., Oct. 19; Barbara Kingsolver on Tues., Nov. 3; Stephen King on Tues., Dec. 1; Greg Mortenson on Fri., Dec. 4, and Jodi Picoult on Wed., March 31, 2010. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. and cost $13 ($11 for Music Hall or NHPR members).
• The Fall 2009 Books in the Mill series at UNH at Manchester (400 Commercial St., Manchester, unhm.unh.edu) focuses on works by authors from around the world. Monthly book discussions are held in the library mezzanine conference room at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Oct. 1: Sarajevo Marlboro by Miljenko Jergovic. Nov. 5: The Circle of Karma, by Kunzang Chodhen. Dec. 10: Yoruba Girl Dancing, by Simi Bedford.
• Salman Rushdie will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Humanities Council’s 20th annual dinner gala Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. Tickets to the gala cost $100. See nhhc.org or call 224-4071.
• Area Barnes & Noble (bn.com) stores have some author events planned as well. In Manchester (1741 South Willow St., 668-5557), Elizabeth Marshall Thomas signs The Hidden Life of Deer: Lessons from the Natural World, on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. In Portsmouth (Fox Run Crossings, 45 Gosling Road, Newington, 422-7733), Dennis Lehane signs The Given Day on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.
• The Tucker Free Library Bookfest is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donations of books in saleable condition are being accepted at the library during regular business hours. No textbooks, encyclopedias, Reader’s Digest Condensed Books or magazines will be accepted. You may reserve a flea market space for $10 to sell your goods by calling the library (428-3471); payment must be received at time of reservation, space is limited .
• Marianne O’Connor presents a slide show of Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire on Tuesday, Oct, 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St., Nashua, 883-0015. She’ll also be at the Barnes & Noble in Nashua (235 DW Highway, 888-0533) on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. to sign books.
• The New Hampshire Writers’ Project presents the 2009 New Hampshire Literary Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 14, hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio’s Virginia Prescott, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. Awards are given for outstanding children’s literature, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, lifetime achievement, and poetry. See nhwritersproject.org.
• Steve and Sharon Wood perform Our National Thanksgiving, a first-person historical presentation in which Sarah Hale tells of her 30-year effort to have Thanksgiving made a national holiday, then President Lincoln reads the official proclamation, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St., Nashua, 883-0015.
• There’s plenty of poetry to be had in the area this fall. Hyla Brook Poets Workshops meet on the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m.; meetings are at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry (122 Rockingham Road, Route 28) through September, then return to the Coffee Factory in Derry. The Poetry Society of New Hampshire meets regularly at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord; they’ll have a reading featuring Martha Donovan, followed by an open mike, on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. The Bridge Café in Manchester (1117 Elm St., 647-9991) hosts the Slam Free or Die open-mike poetry slam many Friday nights ($3 cover charge); for exact dates visit myspace.com/bridgepoetryopenmic. And the Stone Church (5 Granite St.) in Newmarket offers Zion Hill Poetry Readings, hosted by poets Beau Williams and Ari Cameron of Dover, on the second Tuesday of every month, with an open mike from 7 to 8 p.m. and a full bar and menu until 11 p.m.
Comedy
• The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St. in Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com, will host Bob Marley (Oct. 3), Justin McKinney (Oct. 24), Loretta LaRoche (Oct. 30) and Paula Poundstone (Nov. 13). Justin McKinney will also be at the Music Hall in Portsmouth and the Colonial Theatre in Keene.
• Bill Cosby will perform two shows at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass., www.lowellauditorium.com, on Saturday, Dec. 5.
• The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St. in Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org, will feature Justin McKinney (Sept. 12), The Second City (Sept. 25), Stephen Lynch (Nov. 13) and Chipper Lowell (Nov. 27-28; kids’ comedy & magic).
• The Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, will feature performances from Karen Morgan (Oct. 10), The News in Revue (Oct. 12), Lenny Clarke (Oct. 16) and Jimmy Dunn’s Comedy (Nov. 21).
• The Shaskeen, 909 Elm St. in Manchester, 625-0246, www.theshaskeen.com, hosts an open-mike comedy night on Wednesdays.
• The Tupelo Music Hall, 2 Young Road in Londonderry, tupelohall.com, 437-5100, will feature George Hamm, Joe Wong and Ryan Gartley for a night of comedy on Oct. 23.
Fairs & Festivals
• The Rochester Fair is at the Rochester Fairgrounds from Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 27. General admission is $7 for adults weekdays and $8 for adults weekends; children under 10 years old free with an adult, seniors (over 60) $5. Tuesdays are kids’ days and admission between noon and 3 p.m. is $2. Wednesday is Rochester day and ticket prices are $4 all day. Parking costs $2 (except for cars with disabled plates). Call 332-6585 or see www.rochesterfair.com.
• The Auburn Town Fair is Saturday, Sept. 19, featuring a duck race, pony rides, face painting, clowns making balloon animals, live music, a barnyard petting zoo, hot air balloon rides, bounce houses and evening fireworks. Tickets cost $5.
• Litchfield’s 275th Anniversary celebration is Saturday, Sept. 19. The morning’s activities kick off with a parade, followed by historical programming and entertainment at notable town buildings such as the Aaron Cutler Memorial Library (269 Charles Bancroft Hwy), Litchfield Community Church Presbyterian, and the Old Meeting House, which currently is the home of the Litchfield Historical Society. The celebration moves to the elementary school grounds (229 Charles Bancroft Hwy) in the early afternoon, and will feature games, refreshments, music, demonstrations and much more. Visit litchfield-nh.gov.
• The Laconia Athletic & Swim Club (North Main Street, Laconia) hosts the WOW Festival (Winnipesauke-Opechee-Winnisquam) on Saturday, Sept. 19, with bicycle rides (a 67.2-mile ride around “The Big Lake” starts at 7:30 a.m. and costs $50; a 15-mile ride around Paugus Bay starts at 10 a.m. and costs $50), a fun walk (2.5 miles at 11:30 a.m.; $20), live music, barbecue, kids’ activities and more. The barbecue and activities only run from noon to 3 p.m. and costs $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. Register at www.wowtrail.com.
• The Canterbury Shaker Village, 288 Shaker Road in Canterbury, shakers.org, will hold a variety of events this fall (including their schedule of cooking classes). Special events include the 23rd Annual Wood Day Festival on Sept. 26 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) featuring textile demonstrations, hands-on activities, a look at fiber producing animals and more, and an Antique Show on Sept. 27 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m).
• Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Education and Cultural Center (18 Highland Road, Warner, 456-2600, www.indianmuseum.org) will hold its 18th annual Harvest Moon Festival on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with games, kids’ activities, craft demonstrations, entertainment and food. Grace’s Kitchen will sell lunch featuring popular Native foods. Admission costs $7 for adults, $4 for children ages 6 to 12 and $20 for a family (museum members receive discounts). A museum tour is included in the price of an admission.
• The 133rd Deerfield Fair, held at the Deerfield Fairgrounds, runs from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Sunday, Oct. 4. General admission is $8 for adults, free for children under 12 years old. Seniors (over 60) are $5 on Thursday and Friday. Bracelet days are Friday and Sunday, offering unlimited rides for $20. Call the Derrfield Fair Association at 463-7421 or see www.deerfieldfair.com for a map and detailed schedule of events.
• Apple Harvest Day in Dover is Saturday, Oct. 3, hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Dover. The day includes a pancake breakfast, music, dancers, carnival games and rides, a petting zoo, raffles, pony rides and an apple pie baking contest. On Friday, Oct. 2, there is an evening concert by Don Campbell Band. The Apple Harvest Day 5K Road Race begins Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Dover on First Stree; registration costs $17 for adults, $12 for children 15 and under, and registration closes Wednesday, Sept. 30, at noon. Call 742-2218. See www.dovernh.org.
• The Warner Fall Foliage Festival is Columbus Day weekend, Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 11. Enjoying autumn colors plus food, entertainment, carnival rides and fine crafts along the main streets of Warner. Visit wfff.org.
• Concord holds a “Scarecow on Main” contest on Main Street on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. The cost to enter is $5, due before Sept. 15. Build your own scarecrow with provided materials; awards will be given in different categories. See www.mainstreetconcord.com or call 226-2150.
• The Children’s Museum of NH (6 Washington St., Dover, 742-2002, www.childrens-museum.org) hosts a Not-So-Spooky Spectacular event Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including a bat cave from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; science experiences with the Wacky Scientist at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.; non-food trick-or-treating; costumes; face painting, and art projects. Admission costs $8 per person ($7 for seniors; free for museum members and children under age one).
• Bring the kids in costume to downtown Concord for the Halloween Howl on Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Statehouse plaza. There will be trick-or-treating, horse-drawn wagon rides (beginning and ending at the corner of Capitol and Main streets, $2 per person) and a costume parade (line up at 6 p.m.). Visit www.mainstreetconcord.com.
Food & Drink
Here are some of the groups hosting delicious events this fall.
• The Alphorn Bistro at the Inn at Danbury offers special meals throughout the season. Next up is the Oktoberfest beer dinner on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 5:30 p.m. The evening will feature five courses paired with beers. On Sunday, Oct. 25, the Inn will host a 6th Annual Oktoberfest Wine Dinner — five courses paired with wines. Holiday bakers can get a jump on cookie making at the 4th Annual German Cookie Making Classes, Nov. 22 through Dec. 13 (noon to 2 p.m., $25 per person). See www.innatdanbury.com.
• Keep an eye on the Bedford Village Inn, 2 Olde Bedford Road off Route 101 in Bedford, 472-2001, www.bedfordvillageinn.com, which regularly features special wine dinners (Thursday, Sept. 10, for example will feature a Sopranos Dinner featuring The Sopranos label Italian wines and Italian dishes as well as a chance to meet Vincent Pastore and John Ventimiglia, who played Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero and Artie Bucco on The Sopranos). The Inn will have more details in the coming weeks about its holiday dinners. See the sample menu and reservation information for its Thanksgiving dinner (noon to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26) online.
• Area farmers’ markets usually run through mid-October. See the list weekly in Hippo’s food section or at www.nhfma.org.
• Great American Downtown (greatamericandowntown.org) will see Nashua’s two downtown farmers’ markets continue into October. The Friday market is in the School Street Parking Lot (see a map online) from 2 to 6 p.m. and runs until Oct. 30. The Main Street Bridge market is on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and runs through Oct. 18. (Nashua has a third farmers market on Tuesdays, 2 to 6 p.m., at 48 W. Hollis St.). Fall Feast Week, similar to the Spring Feast where restaurants offered special menus and deals, is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 23.
• IncrediBREW, 112 DW Hwy., Nashua, 891-2477, www.incredibrew.com, will give beer- and wine-lovers a chance to taste and make drinks that go with seasonal foods. Events on the schedule so-far include the Amber Alefest on Sept. 17, Oktoberfest (featuring the pretzels of German John from Hillsborough) on Oct. 7, Red Red Wine Fest on Sept. 18 and a night dedicated to Italian white wines on Sept. 23. Call to reserve a spot at events.
• The Quill is the new name for the restaurant run by Southern New Hampshire University’s culinary students. Head to the university (2500 N. River Road in Manchester) for lunch on Tuesdays and Fridays or dinner on Thursdays, starting Sept. 17. Dinner costs $25 per person for a multi-course meal to which you can BYO beer or wine. See the menu schedule at www.snhu.edu/restaurant.
• The Wine Society (18 Pondview Place in Tyngsboro, Mass., 978-649-8993; 650 Amherst St. #9 in Nashua, 883-4114; www.winesociety.us) has several upcoming events for your wine-tasting pleasure. Blind @ UnWine’d starts up again for the season on Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at UnWine’d, 865 Second St. in Manchester, www.unwined.net. The cost is $25; call 625-9463 to RSVP. The Connoisseur Workshop (a six-week session for wine lovers who want to advance their knowledge) starts Thursday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. The cost is $225 for the workshop ($200 for Society members), which is held at the Tyngsboro store. Call 883-4114 to RSVP. The Society will also start monthly book club meetings in September where a wine-related book will be discussed along with a tasting of related wines. The schedule of books includes The House of Mondavi by Julia Flynn Siler on Sept. 17, Romancing the Vine by Alan Tardi on Oct. 8; Wine & War by Donald Kladstrup & Petie Kladstrup on Nov. 12. For more information and to RSVP, call 883-4114 or e-mail info@winesociety.us. And check with the society for regular tastings and flight nights.
Here are some more food events to keep your tummy full this fall.
• Glendi! The annual food festival at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 650 Hanover St. in Manchester, will run Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20. Come early to stock up on pastries or (and?) come for the dinner plate or the gyros. Admission is free but bring cash for the food.
• New Hampshire Fish & Lobster Festival in Portsmouth will run Saturday, Sept. 19, from noon to 4 p.m. in Prescott Park. The event will celebrate fishing in the state and offer a taste of fresh seafood prepared by local chefs. Admission will be free with seafood tasting for $3 per sample. See www.prescottpark.org.
• The Bow Community Men’s Club will hold its annual Lobst’a Fest on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bow Community Building, 2 Knox Road in Bow. Tickets for a meal cost $22 and include a lobster, a bowl of fresh steamers, clam chowder, corn on the cob, gingerbread cake and lemonade. To purchase tickets, call Paul Hammond at 225-4225, Charlie Griswold at 228-9621, Dick Welch at 225-5862 or Kirk Hemphill at 731-8392. Purchase tickets on or before Sept. 24.
• The annual Empty Bowls event to benefit New Horizons for New Hampshire is Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Brookside Church, 2013 Elm St. in Manchester, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests choose and buy a bowl of soup for $20 (lower price for kids.) See www.newhorizonsfornh.org.
• Apple Harvest Day in Dover will be Saturday, Oct. 3, and hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Dover. The day includes a pancake breakfast, music, dancers, carnival games and rides, a petting zoo, raffles, pony rides and an apple pie baking contest. 742-2218. See www.dovernh.org.
• Prescott Park Arts Festival will hold the New Hampshire Brew Fest 2009 on Oct. 3, noon to 3 p.m. or 5 to 8 p.m. (entrants must choose one session) at Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth. Tickets cost $25 in advance, $35 on the day of the event. Sample a variety of brews and listen to live music. See www.brewnh.com.
• On Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11:30 a.m., it’s the WHEB Chili Cook-Off & Fall Festival at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. The cost is $15 for adults, $6 for children 12 and under. Sample the chili of several area restaurants competing to have their chili named the best. See www.prescottpark.org.
• Oktoberfest: A Taste of Germany will be held at Rivier College in the Dion Center on Clement Street in Nashua, Oct. 10, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Enjoy German-style food paired with German beers and wines. Tickets cost $50 per person. Call 897-8521 or e-mail mbollinger@rivier.edu.
• Taste of Concord will be Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center. Area restaurants will give out samples of their best menu items, with proceeds to benefit the Boy & Girls Club. Plus, the night will feature the second annual Granite State Throw Down competition, when the Granite Restaurant and Bar competes against the Barley House to see who can one-up the other’s signature dish. Tickets are $30. Call 224-1061 or go to www.tasteofconcord.com.
• The 14th Annual New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair Nov. 13-15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. is at Rockingham Park Racetrack (79 Rockingham Park Blvd., Salem). Call 332-2616 or see www.castleberryfairs.com, $5 per adult, under 14 admitted free.
Music
Here’s a look at some of the nationally touring musicians headed to southern New Hampshire in the fall. Go online for complete schedules and ticket information. Look for musical performances at clubs, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and more in the Music This Week listing in Hippo’s Nite section.
• The Dana Center, Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester, www.anselm.edu/dana, will feature musical performances including The Gleason-Brown Quintet (Oct. 3), Chic Gamine & DeTemps Antan (Oct. 16), The Barra MacNeils (Dec. 4), DecemberSong (Dec. 5) and Ying Quartet (Dec. 8).
• The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St. in Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com, will host the Indigo Girls (Oct. 4), Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Oct. 9), Brian Wilson (Nov. 3) and Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson (Oct. 23).
• Colonial Theatre, 95 Main St. in Keene, 352-2033, www.thecolonial.org, will host the Blues Blowout with Johnny Winter Band, The James Montgomery Blues Band featuring J. Geils and the Uptown Horns on Sept. 25. Other shows include Manhattan Transfer (Oct. 9), Keene Chamber Orchestra (Oct. 11) and ABBAMania (Nov. 5).
• The Granite State Symphony Orchestra will play two shows before the holiday season at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St., Concord, www.gsso.org, 226-4776. On Oct. 10, it’s “Old World and the New” featuring works from Mozart and Copland. On Nov. 7, “The Winds of November” will feature works of Mozart, Strauss, Stravinsky and Dvorak.
• Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, 169 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton Beach, 929-4100, www.casinoballroom.com, continues through the fall with Eddie Money, Ernie & The Automatics (Sept. 18), The Disco Biscuits with The Brew (Oct. 8), Social Distortion (Oct. 15), Emmylou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys with Buddy Miller (Oct. 16), A.F.I. with Gallows (Oct. 17) and Gov’t Mule with Jackie Green (Oct. 30).
• Lakes Region Opera Company (www.lakesregionopera.com) will present New Hampshire Opera Idol, Nov. 6-8, at Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord. The final round is Nov. 8, at the Concord City Auditorium.
• Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass., www.lowellauditorium.com, will feature Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur (Oct. 2); Newsboys with special guests Seventh Day Slumber and Bread of Stone (Oct. 9); Foreigner (Oct. 17); Michael W. Smith with Matt Maher, Phil Stacey and Meredith Andrews (Nov. 1); Brian Wilson (Nov. 12); Jim Brickman (Nov. 14); and Dark Star Orchestra (Nov. 21).
• The Middle NH Arts & Entertainment Center, located in the Franklin Opera House, 316 Central St. in Franklin, 934-1901, www.themiddlenh.org, will feature the ArtsFest Showcase (musicians Qwill, Revelation, Justin Jaymes and Manchuka) on Sept. 19, Latin American and Spanish guitar and wine on Oct. 17, North Sea Gas on Oct. 2 and Don Watson & Friends on Dec. 5.
• The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St. in Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org, will feature musical performers including Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (Sept. 29), Rufus Wainwright (Oct. 2), Keb Mo (Oct. 14), Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (Nov. 10), Neko Case (Nov. 12), and The Event (downtown dance party) on Nov. 20.
• The Nashua Chamber Orchestra will present “Windswept” on Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., at the Nashua Senior Activity Center, 70 Temple St. in Nashua, and Nov. 15, at 3 p.m., at Milford Town Hall, 1 Union Square in Milford, $8-$15, children under 12 admitted for free. Call 554-6164 or see nco-music.org.
• Nashua Symphony Orchestra (www.nashuasymphony.org) has concerts this fall including “Uncommon Folk” featuring cellist Sergey Antonov Oct. 17, at 8 p.m., at the Keefe Auditorium, Elm Street Middle School, 117 Elm St., Nashua, 595-9156, and “Awake, My Soul” featuring the symphony and chorus on Nov. 21, at 8 p.m., also at the Keefe Auditorium. “Majesty of Brass” will feature the Nashua Symphony Brass Quintet, on Oct. 18, at 3 p.m., at First Church of Nashua, 1 Concord St. in Nashua, www.firstchurchnashua.org. A Concertmaster Trio of the Nashua Symphony Orchestra will play Nov. 15, at 3 p.m., also at First Church of Nashua.
• New Hampshire Philharmonic (www.nhphil.org) will offer shows this season including Sunday Classics with Beethoven and more (featuring violinist Esther Kim) on Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Palace Theatre.
• The Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, will feature Los Lonely Boys, Alejandro Escovedo and special guest (Oct. 14), The Kingston Trio (Oct. 17), and Stayin’ Alive — One Night of the Bee Gees (Oct. 23).
• The Tsongas Arena, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Lowell, Mass., 978-848-6900, www.paultsongasarena.com, will Tiësto In Concert — Kaleidoscope World Tour on Oct. 1.
• The Tupelo Music Hall, 2 Young Road in Londonderry, tupelohall.com, 437-5100, has dozens of shows scheduled for the next few months. Highlights include Al Kooper Rockabilly Trio (Sept. 19), Marcy Playground (Sept. 23), Shemeika Copeland (Sept. 27), (Nick Lowe (Oct. 9), Blues Harmonica Blowout (Oct. 10), Johnny A (Oct. 17), Dar Williams (Oct. 18), Cheryl Wheeler (Oct. 30), Willy Porter (Nov. 8), The Fools (Nov. 14), Enter the Haggis (Nov. 20), Shawn Colvin (Nov. 21), Tom Rush (Dec. 4), John Oates with Pete Huttlinger (Dec. 5) and The Subdudes (Dec. 6).
• Verizon Wireless Arena, 555 Elm St. in downtown Manchester, www.verizonwirelessarena.com, will feature American Idol top 10 finalists (Sept. 15), So You Think You Can Dance (Sept. 20), Australian Pink Floyd (Oct. 25) Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Nov. 15) and Mannheim Steamroller (Dec. 7).
Theater
Find work from local and visiting professional companies:
• Merrimack Repertory Theatre opens their season of professional work with a world premiere of Flings & Eros, “a new vaudevillian romp” by the Flying Karamazov Brothers. The four brothers play all the parts, “as they rehearse scenes from their reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” according to a Merrimack Rep press release. Previews ($23-$31) continue through Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. Flings & Eros continues Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. (opening night – there’s a champagne toast) through Sept. 30 ($34-$56), with performances Wednesday through Sunday at 50 East Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass. (978-654-4678, www.merrimackrep.org). Student tickets cost $15. Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, a story of Ireland, the sea and redemption via an all-night poker game involving plenty of drinking, was nominated for four Tony awards. Merrimack Rep presents it Oct. 15 through Nov. 8. Heroes, by Gerald Sibleyras, adapted by Tom Stoppard ,is a regional premiere of a story about World War I veterans 40 years later in a veterans’ home Nov. 19 through Dec. 13.
• The ACT ONE “Festival of Fun” includes concerts and performances such as Susan Poulin’s Shutting Up Peggy Lee through Oct. 3 at the West End Studio Theatre, 959 Islington St., Portsmouth ($17-$19). See the schedule at www.actonenh.org or call 300-2986.
• The summer stock company Peterborough Players (founded in 1933) finishes a run of Copenhagen, a drama by Michael Frayn, Sept. 13. They close their season with the The SantaLand Diaries, a comedy by David Sedaris adapted by Joe Montello Sept. 16 through Sept. 27. Performances are mostly Tuesday or Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m., at 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, 924-7585, www.peterboroughplayers.org ($38-$45. Student rush $15. “Rush for all” $15 on the first Thursday of each show).
• Manchester’s historic Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, hosts music, comedy, dance and presents their own professional musical season. Forever Plaid, a 1950s revue runs Sept. 18 through Oct. 3 at the Palace ($15-$45), part of the Citizens Bank Performing Arts Series. Next in that season is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, from Oct. 30 through Nov. 14. In between, there’s the Palace’s third annual Wine Tasting & Live Auction Thursday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m.
• Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents Altar Boyz, a recent off-Broadway favorite, from Sept. 18 through Oct. 11. Ken Ludwig farce, Lend Me a Tenor, runs from Oct. 23 through Nov. 15 at 125 Bow St., Portsmouth, ($15-$42, www.seacoastrep.org, 433-4472).
• The Dana Center at Saint Anselm College hosts visiting and college performances on the campus at 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, 641-7700, www.anselm.edu/dana. The Martha Graham Dance Company (Graham was known for her impact on modern dance) performs there Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. (with an information session on “Contemporary Dance in America and the History of Martha Graham Dance Company” at 3 p.m., call 641-7710) ($6-$34.50). New Art Theatre/Living Classics Series presents the world’s great plays under the artistic direction of Robert Shea (also the Dana Center director), normally for educational institutions. See a public New Art performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. ($6-$23.50). The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats perform Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. ($6-$27.50). The college’s Anselmian Abbey Players produce As You Like It, by William Shakespeare Thursday, Nov. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ($6-$12).
• The national Broadway tour of Camelot comes to the Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 South Main St., Concord, ccanh.com, 225-1111, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m. The musical “follows the love triangle of King Arthur, his queen, Guenevere, and the young Lancelot,” ($12.50-$75). The Stepcrew, Celtic-inspired music and dance, visits Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. ($12.50-$45). Cirque Mechanics Birdhouse Factory includes former Cirque Du Soleil and Pickle Family Circus members Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
Ghostlight Theatre Co. of New England presents Psycho Beach Party, in which a perky teenage surfer-wannabee suffers from multiple personality disorder, as part of the Capitol Center’s Spotlight Café series. See performances Nov. 14, at 7 or 10 p.m., or Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. ($15-$20). There’s a cash bar and concessions at this show.
• The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later is an epilogue to The Laramie Project focusing on the long-term effect of the murder of Matthew Shepard. The professional Yellow Taxi Productions is one theater in more than 100 cities premiering this play Oct. 12 (see www.tectonictheaterproject.org). YTP’s performance is Monday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m., at the Hunt Building, 6 Main St., Nashua, www.yellowtaxiproductions.org. Suzanne Delle directs. YTP is also offering their Lunch Box Series of free workshops one Tuesday per month, from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m., at the Nashua Library, 2 Court St. “Opera vs. Theatre” is led by Josiah George Sept. 22. “Staging the New Play” is led by Suzanne Delle Oct. 13.
• Houston Ballet II visits the Johnson Theatre, at the UNH Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 Academic Way, Durham, 862-2290, www.unh.edu/celebrity, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., as part of the UNH Celebrity Series ($10-$30).
• Professionals New Hampshire Theatre Project produce Edward Albee’s surreal Seascape Nov. 13 through Nov. 29, at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth, www.nhtheatreproject.org, 431-6644 ($15-$22). Blair Hundertmark directs.
Some companies or venues are dedicated to local original work:
• Catch a Prairie Home Companion-ish live Frost Heaves performance. Fred Marple is your guide to the rural New Hampshire town of Frost Heaves in these comic variety shows. A special “An Evening with Fred Marple” event is Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Merrimack Library. It’s free, but call 424-5021 to reserve a seat. The fall shows are Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m. Visit frostheaves.com for updates or to see video from Fred Marple.
• Image Theater produces original plays by New England writers. They premiere a preview of Impasto, an insider look at art commerce, by Regina Eliot Ramsey, in collaboration with the Whistler House Museum of Art, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m., at the Whistler, 243 Worthen St., Lowell, Mass. Visit www.whistlerhouse.org or call 978-452-7641 to reserve seats; $20 suggested donation. Image Theater’s popular “Keep Your Kids at Home Naughty Readings” is scheduled for Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. upstairs at The Old Court in Lowell, with tickets available soon at www.imagetheater.com.
• Specializing in providing a venue for original work and local theater companies, the Players’ Ring, 105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, 436-8123, www.playersring.org, closes a thriller set on a submarine, Crush Depth, written and directed by Jacquelyn Benson, Sept. 20. Darwin’s Waiting Room presents “Night of Comedy,” sketch comedy written and directed by Eric Doucet, from Sept. 25 through Oct. 11. Rolling Die Productions presents Serving His Master, by Players’ Ring founder, F. Gary Newton, directed by Todd Hunter, from Oct. 16 through Nov. 1. Phylloxera Productions presents Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, directed by Gary Locke, from Nov. 6 through Nov. 22. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m. ($8-$12).
Several community companies offer fall productions:
• Nashua Theatre Guild presents Steel Magnolias, set in a Louisiana beauty salon, Sept. 24, through Sept. 26, at 8 p.m., and Sept. 27, at 2 p.m., at the Jan Streeter Theater at 14 Court St., Nashua, www.nashuatheatreguild.org, 320-2530 ($10-$12).
• Bedford Off Broadway is scheduled to produce the Larry Shue comedy about that painfully awkward friend, The Nerd, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 24, at the Bedford Old Town Hall, Meetinghouse and Bedford Center roads in Bedford (www.bedfordoffbroadway.com).
• Charlie overhears plenty when fellow guests at a Georgia fishing lodge are told he doesn’t speak English in Larry Shue’s The Foreigner. Milford Area Players presents this at the Amato Center, 56 Mont Vernon Road, Milford, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 25 ($7-$12, www.milfordareaplayers.org).
• The Manchester Community Theatre Players produce The King and I, by Rodgers & Hammerstein Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 18, at 2 p.m.; Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m.; and Oct. 25, at 2 p.m., directed by Alan Kaplan, at the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire Theatre, 698 Beech St., Manchester (800-838-3006, manchestercommunitytheatre.com).
• The Peacock Players youth educational company produce James & the Giant Peach from Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee from Nov. 13 through Nov. 22 at the 14 Court St. Theater in Nashua (886-7000, peacockplayers.org). They host a “Taste of Broadway” benefit auction and dinner, Friday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m., featuring a Broadway Idol contest at the Courtyard Marriott in Nashua ($25-$45).
• StageCoach Productions, presents the true story of a Kentucky man, Floyd Collins, a musical by Adam Guettel, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m., Oct. 24, at 8 p.m., and Oct. 25, at 2 p.m., at 14 Court St., Nashua (www.stagecoachproductions.org, 320-3780, $15-$18).
• In their second season, Theatre KAPOW presents Alone: Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, an adaptation of Poe’s work, written and newly revised by founding tKAPOW member Brian Kennedy. It includes The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado, and poems The Raven and Annabel Lee. See it Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dana Center or Oct. 29 or Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. at the Stockbridge Theatre, at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. Visit www.tkapow.com for details or call 437-5210.
• Best Foot Forward Productions is scheduled to present Chicago from Nov. 12 through Nov. 15 at Central High School, 207 Lowell Road, Manchester (bestfootforwardproductions.org, bffproductions@comcast.net, 641-6066). Their offshoot, Dark Side Productions, is scheduled to produce Isles in the Moon, by Jeff Symes, from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1 at Central High.
• The Leddy Center (30C Ladd’s Lane, Epping, leddycenter.org, 679-2781) produces Charlie & the Chocolate Factory from Oct. 30 through Nov. 15 ($18).
• See Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf when M&M Productions produces it Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., from Nov. 6 through Nov. 14 at Bedford Old Town Hall (www.mandmp.com, 320-1431). Deb Shaw directs.
• The Actorsingers of Nashua have been producing musicals since 1955. Their fall show this year is Anything Goes, with music by Cole Porter, Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at the Keefe Auditorium, 117 Elm St. in Nashua (www.actorsingers.org, 889-9691).
• The Acting Loft has a performance of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s musical A Man Of No Importance, scheduled for Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at 516 Pine St., Manchester, 666-5999, www.actingloft.org. Alfie Byrne, a bus driver in 1964 Dublin, is harboring a secret. Acting Loft’s new Grooing the Doop sketch comedy troupe performs Sept. 18 and Sept. 19.
• The Majestic Theatre performs the musical adaption of Charles Dickens’ Oliver! from Nov. 13 through Nov. 22 at 281 Cartier St., Manchester, 669-7469, www.majestictheatre.net ($12-$16)
Find out what’s going on at these local venues:
• The Greater Derry Arts Council at the Adams Memorial Opera House, 29 West Broadway, Derry, DerryArts.TicketLeap.com, 437-0505, kicks of Derryfest weekend with “Derry’s Got Talent,” Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. ($5-$7). Band showcases “Jam Night” are Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. ($10), Oct. 23 and Nov. 20. The new Theatre Sports Comedy Improv series in which the audience provides material for improv teams start Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., and continue Oct. 3, Nov. 11 and Nov. 21 ($10-$12). The Opera House will be used as a radio sound stage to re-create the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. ($10-$12).
• Now known as the Middle New Hampshire Arts & Entertainment Center, the Franklin Opera House at 16 Central St., Franklin, themiddlenh.org, 934-1901, is kicking off the season with their ArtsFest Showcase of theater, dance and music Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. ($13-$17). Franklin Footlight Theatre presents musical Sweet Charity there Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. from Nov. 13 through Nov. 21 plus 3 p.m. on Nov. 21.
• The Concord City Auditorium serves as a stage for a number of local performers and events. The theatrical ones include the 1944 Big Band Comedy Canteen, sponsored by Walker Lecture Series. Betty Thomson directs the Community Players of Concord in this musical revue of a World War II radio show, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m., and Sept. 27 at 9:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. Admission is free (225-9004).
Check out a staged reading of Less Rosenthal of Goffstown’s new play Gideon, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m., at the start of the Audi’s second season of Page to Stage. The new monthly series is supported by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and admission is free (225-2164 or 225-6497).
The Community Players of Concord’s Children’s Theatre Project presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., and Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. ($8, 224-4905, www.communityplayersofconcord.org).
Catch the farce Noises Off which runs Oct. 22 through Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., presented by local company R.B. Productions ($12-$15, www.rbproductions.org, 225-7779, cklose63@comcast.net).
The Miss Capital Area scholarship pageant is Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. ($10, 622-5405, misscapitalarea@comcast.net).
The Walker Lecture Series sponsors Tim Sample’s “Maine Humor” Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., with free admission.
Community Players of Concord present the Stephen Schwartz musical, Godspell, Nov. 20, and Nov. 21 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. ($12-$17, 224-4905, greymurf@aol.com).
By Hippo Staff letters@hippopress.com
From livestock competitions to art walks, fall is jam packed with events.
Consider yourself a foodie? Lobster, chili and Oktoberfests are on the menu. Always in the front row of the theater? Check out the big musicals like Cats and Chicago or the edgier productions like The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. Looking for stuff to do with the family? Festivals celebrating the change of season fill the calendar and the agricultural and county fairs offer a chance for your kids to see farm animals without having to visit the farm. And the Tupelo, Music Hall and Capitol Center for the Arts have a full section of music, comedy and more.
Feeling a little sad over the end of summer? Don’t retreat to the barn for the season. Here are all the events that will have you psyched about fall.
Art
Take in the works of many artists at once at these events:
• Find work from about 30 artists and artisans at the Concord Arts Market, in Eagle Square near North Main Street Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., from Sept. 12 through Oct. 31 this fall (www.concordartsmarket.com).
• Take a free trolley between galleries, studios and museums during Open Doors Manchester, a quarterly downtown event going on Thursdays, Sept. 17 and Nov. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. Framers Market (1301 Elm St., 668-6989), Art 3 Gallery (44 W. Brook St., Manchester, 668-6650, www.art3gallery.com); Manchester Artists Association’s Gallery (1528 Elm St., Manchester, 785-6437, manchester-artists.org); The Art on the Wall at City Hall Gallery in Manchester’s City Hall (1 City Hall Plaza, 624-6455); creative tenants in Langer Place (55 South Commercial St., www.langerplace.com), including East Colony Fine Arts (624-8833, www.eastcolony.com) and Hatfield Gallery (627-7560, www.hatfieldart.com); majestictheatre.net/opendoors.php.
• The Craftworkers’ Guild Harvest Fair is Oct. 2-11, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., with crafts from 50 juried regional artisans with selections changing daily at Kendall House, (behind the Bedford Library, 5 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford, 472-8109).
• Galleries around Portsmouth hold receptions during the monthly “Art ’Round Town.” The next is Friday, Oct. 2, 5-8 p.m. Visit artroundtown.org for participating venues, which often includes the New Hampshire Art Association’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., 431-4230, www.nhartassociation.org). An NHAA juried exhibit, “The Evolution of Photography,” their 30th annual Parfitt Exhibition, runs through Sept. 25.
• Art Walk Nashua now happens once a year, for two days, and provides a tour of galleries, studios and other venues downtown and in Nashua’s millyard. It’s Saturday, Oct. 3, noon-6 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 4, noon-4 p.m. A map is at www.cityartsnashua.org. Previous Art Walks have included Gallery One, the Nashua Area Artists Association gallery space (5 Pine St. Extension, 883-0603, www.naaasite.org); Maison de L’Art (57 East Pearl St., 879-9888, www.moniquesakellarios.com); the Image Gallery at the Nashua Library (2 Court St., www.nashualibrary.org, 589-4610); and several tenants in the Picker Building (99 Factory St. Extension, thepickerbuilding.wordpress.com) including Out on a Limb Pottery Studio (882-8180); Renaissance Glassworks (www.renaissanceglass.com), Art Clay Studios (www.artclaystudio.com); A.W. Emboss; River Art Studio (www.riverartstudios.com); Chimera Gallery (www.chimeragallery.net); Ceasar Fine Art (www.ceaserphotography.com); Sara Prindiville Photography (www.saraprindiville.com) and Warm Stone Studio (www.warmstonestudio.com).
• Visit various show openings during the Art Concord gallery walks Saturday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and Thursday, Dec. 3, 5-8 p.m. (concordnhchamber.com, 224-2508). Participating venues may include Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road); Franklin Pierce Law Center Gallery (2 White St.); Kimball Jenkins School of Art (266 North Main St., 255-3932, www.kimballjenkins.com), which hosts a Wine Tasting Celebration benefit for the school Oct. 1, 5-7 p.m. ($35); League of NH Craftsmen (205 North Main St., 224-3375, www.nhcrafts.org); Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture Garden (236 Hopkinton Road, 226-2046. www.themillbrookgallery.com), which hosts an outdoor sculpture exhibit through Oct. 18; NHTI-Concord’s Community College (31 Institute Drive, 271-7186, www.nhti.edu/library); Red River Theatres (11 South Main St., 224-4600, www.redrivertheatres.org); Sulloway Gallery (19 School St.), and Verdigris Artisans (88 N. Main St., Suite 205, www.verdigrisartisans.com).
• “ART in ACTION” is Oct. 10-11, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., in Londonderry, where artists will be demonstrating in locations including Grange Hall No. 44, at 260 Mammoth Road, and White Birch Fine Art. Nutfield Sessions musicians perform at the Grange Hall on both days 1 to 3 p.m. Visit www.LondonderryCulture.org or call 434-0399.
• The Hollis Fine Art Festival usually features about 80 artists, who work in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, graphics and photography, Oct. 17-Oct. 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Nichols Field on Depot Road in Hollis. Contact Steve Previte at slpaint@charter.net.
• The Deerfield Arts Tour Oct. 17-18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., is a self-guided tour of studios of more than 15 artists and artisans. Visit www.deerfieldartstour.com or a local business for a map.
• While headquartered in Concord, League of NH Craftsmen members statewide are participating in NH Open Doors, Nov. 7 and 8 during Veterans Day weekend. Find a map at www.nhopendoors.com.
• The new Crafts at the Capitol features fine art and craft from more than 20 artists Sat., Nov. 21, and Sun., Nov. 22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 South Main St., Concord).
Check out these exhibits now:
• Birds of A Feather – The French Connection, an exhibit of photo and oils created by Lloyd Behrendt, is at the Beliveau Gallery in the Franco-American Centre (52 Concord St., 669-4045, www.francoamericancentrenh.com).
• The New Hampshire Institute of Art faculty exhibit is in their main building and French Building galleries (77 Amherst St. and 148 Concord St., Manchester, 836-2573, nhia.edu) through Oct. 2. Their Art Ex Libris - Artists Book Extravaganza is in their Fuller Hall and Vault Gallery in October with an opening Thursday, Oct. 7, 5-7 p.m. Other events there include an “FBI Art Theft Program” presentation Sept. 17, 5:30- 7 p.m. See drawings by Jerome Witkin Oct. 7-Nov. 6 with a reception Oct. 7, 5-7 p.m., Contemporary American Ceramics Oct. 7-Nov. 6 (reception Oct. 14, 5-7 p.m.), with their Biennial 2009 Nov. 9-Dec. 4, with a reception Nov. 18, 5-7 p.m., or Cape Breton: A Visual Diary, by Gary Samson Nov. 9–Dec. 4, with a reception Nov. 18, 5–7 p.m. Other presentations are from Jerome Witkin on Oct. 28, 5:30-7 p.m.; Gary Kelley on Nov. 5, 5:30-7 p.m.; and Paint Caesar Dead on Nov. 19, 5:30-7 p.m.
• UMass-Lowell assistant professor Jim Jeffers’s intermedia exhibit, “Genii Loci (Ghosts of Protection),” runs through Sept. 25 at the University Gallery at UMass-Lowell, 71 Wilder St., Lowell, Mass. (978-934-3491, www.uml.edu/Dept/Art/galleries). “Lauren Kalman, Blooms, Efflorescences and other Dermatological Embellishments, Installation of Photographs and Objects” is Oct. 5–30, with a reception Oct. 7, 3–5 p.m. Exhibits rotate mainly monthly.
• Watercolors by New Hampshire artists Bill Childs, Becky Darling, Ethel Hills and Fran Mallon at UNH Manchester (400 Commercial St., 641-4306, www.unhm.unh.edu) this semester, with a reception Sept. 17, 5-6 p.m.
• New Hampshire Furniture Masters, their 14th annual auction is Sunday, Sept. 20, with a gala reception and silent auction of smaller works at 6 p.m., and a live auction at 7:30 p.m., at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St., Manchester) Tickets cost $75 in advance and $82.50 at the door (www.furnituremasters.org, 898-0242). View the auction pieces at the Currier and see lectures and demonstrations from the Masters starting Sept. 18. See a free preview exhibit of the work at New Hampshire Historical Society Library (30 Park St., Concord, 228-6688, www.nhhistory.org) through Sept. 16.
Put these exhibits on the calendar (some future exhibits are also listed with exhibits and receptions going on this weekend):
• The Alva deMars Megan Chapel Art Center hosts “A Figural Presence” Sept. 24-Nov. 25 (100 Saint Anselm Drive, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, 641-7470, www.anselm.edu/chapelart). An opening reception is Thursday, Sept. 24, 4 – 7 p.m. Related events include four panel discussions, a talk from “Visiting Artist: Michael Bergt, Painter and Sculptor” Thursday, Oct. 1, noon-3 p.m.; “Premiere Performance: Sonata No. 5 by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee and George Lopez, piano,” Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m.; and “The Night of the Poet F.D. Reeve, Poet, Novelist, and Critic” Thursday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. (Gallery closed Oct. 10-13)
• The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester, www.currier.org, 669-6144, closed Tuesdays), along with exhibiting American and European works, is featuring a “Spotlight New England” series exhibit of sculpture, paintings and drawings by New Hampshire-based artists Gary Haven Smith and Gerald Auten through Sept. 13 and special exhibit “Turning Wood Into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection” through Sept. 27. “Evolution of a Shared Vision: The David and Barbara Stahl Collection,” is Sept. 26–Jan. 3, 2010, and features prints and drawings collected over 50 years by these New Hampshire residents. “Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow” is Oct. 10–Jan. 3, 2010, with work by the 20th-century photographer organized by the Phillips Collection. Guided gallery tours are included with admission, such as “Focus Tour – Art and Poetry: The Longevity Tour,” Fri., Sept. 25, at noon, and Sun., Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. Call or see the Web site for others.
The Currier also runs tours of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Zimmerman House Call 669-6144, ext. 108 for schedule and tickets or visit currier.org. “Zimmerman House Focus Tour – Why Does the Music Sound So Good? An Engineer’s Point of View on Acoustics” is Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m.
• The Beaver Brook “Designs of Nature” art show is Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 2-4, noon-5 p.m., at Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road, Hollis, 465-7787, www.beaverbrook.org).
• The McIninch Art Gallery at Southern New Hampshire University (2500 N. River Road, Manchester, /www.snhu.edu/908.asp, 629-4622) opens “Visage: Portraits by Chris Bartlett and Daniel Heyman” Sept. 24 to Oct. 24 (Closed Oct. 12) with a reception Thursday, Sept. 30, 5-7 p.m. with music from a SNHU student ensemble. “Notes from the Field: Learning Through Service” is Nov. 5 - Dec. 12
(closed Nov. 22-28) with a reception Thursday, Nov. 5, 5-7 p.m.
• Along with classes, Sharon Arts Center (30 Grove St., Peterborough, 924-2787, www.sharonarts.org) holds exhibits. “Heaven and Earth,” multimedia art by Humberto Ramirez of Chile (www.humbertoramirez.net), is there through Oct. 31. “Painting Now: From Periphery to Proliferation,” artists’ forum with Ramirez is Friday, Oct. 2, 5-7 p.m. “Storytime in the Gallery (for Families) is Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 10:30 a.m. The Sharon Arts Downtown Galleries in Depot Square, Peterborough, feature artists monthly (924-2787, sharonarts.org).
Books
Here are some of the places hosting bookish events open to the public this fall. Events are free unless otherwise noted.
• The seventh annual Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program is reading Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian, who will speak about how he wrote the book and will take audience questions on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Rivier College Dion Center. Copies of his books will be available for purchase and signing. A private wine-and-cheese reception with the author, limited to 50 people, will be held before the presentation at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for the presentation and book signing. Attendance at the private reception, which supports the work of the Friends of the Library, costs $25 and includes admission to the presentation and signing. Tickets are available (cash or check only) at NPL; also see order form at the library’s Web site, www.nashua.lib.nh.us.
• The eighth annual Concord Reads is focused on two books, one fiction — Pay it Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde — and one nonfiction — The Soloist, by Steve Lopez. There are book discussions scheduled for the fall as well as one showing of each film (both books were made into films) at Red River Theatres in Concord ($5), and several related lectures, programs and panel-audience discussions. See www.onconcord.com/Library for a schedule.
• Toadstool Bookshop in Milford (Lorden Plaza, Route 101A, 673-1734, toadbooks.com) has several author events scheduled, including Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks & Gaming Geeks) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m.; John Clayton (Remembering Manchester) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.; Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (The Hidden Life of Deer) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m.; Katrina Kenison (The Gift of an Ordinary Day) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m.; poet Martha Hall (My Side of the Street) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m.; and romance writers Roxanne Dent (American Heiress) and Gregory L. Norris (writing as Jo Atkinson, Twilight’s Edge) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. The Toadstool shops in Peterborough and Keene also have many author visits scheduled; see the list online.
• The New Hampshire Humanities Council co-sponsors In Character, a series of living history portrayals at the Nashua Public Library theater. Richard A. Hesse brings Chief Justice John Marshall to life, circa 1835, on Monday, Sept. 14, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Abraham and Mary Lincoln are portrayed by Steve and Sharon Wood on Monday, Sept. 21, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and Gwedolyn Quezaire-Presulti portrays Sarah Harris, A Woman of Color struggling to reach her goal of opening a school for Africa-American children, on Mon., Sept. 28, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
• Gibson’s Bookstore (27 South Main St. in Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) has several author visits lined up for the fall, including Katrina Kenison (The Gift of an Ordinary Day) on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m.; Howard Dean (Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform) on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m.; Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (The Hidden Life of Deer) on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.; Andre Dubus III (The House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days) on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m.; Archer Mayor (The Price of Malice) on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., and several children’s authors. See the full list online.
• Learn about Old and Rare Books with Ken Gloss, owner of Brattle Book Shop in Boston (brattlebookshop.com), the nation’s oldest continuously operated bookshop. He’ll give a talk on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Pembroke public library, 313 Pembroke St. in Pembroke. The public is invited to bring old books for a free verbal appraisal.
• Ponder the History of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with Gary Hildreth on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Milford Town Hall’s banquet hall (1 Union Square), sponsored by the Milford Historical Society.
• The American History Guys of BackStory Radio (backstoryradio.org) present a discussion of Star Quality: Celebrity in America at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 11:45 a.m. Cost is $30 including lunch; reserve tickets at concordnhchamber or call 224-2508 for info. Sponsored by NH Humanities Council.
• Time magazine columnist Joe Klein presents the Voices from the Stage lecture on Friday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. at Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord (44 S. Main St., 225-1111, ccanh.com). Klein is the author of Primary Colors; The Running Mate; The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton; and Politics Lost: How American Politics was Trivialized by People Who Think You’re Stupid. Ticket prices are $12.50, $30, $60.
• The Manchester City Library holds a big Book Sale at its main branch (405 Pine St., 624-6550) on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Pay $5 to fill one a library-provided bag with books. Then, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., another sale will offer uncommon books and other unique materials. Updates on plans for that sale will be posted at manchesterlibrary.org.
• Writers on a New England Stage returns for another season at The Music Hall in Portsmouth (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org). The series features artists interviewed on stage, with an audience q&a session following. The season begins with a visit from E.L. Doctorow on Wed., Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Subsequent shows are Tracy Kidder on Mon., Oct. 19; Barbara Kingsolver on Tues., Nov. 3; Stephen King on Tues., Dec. 1; Greg Mortenson on Fri., Dec. 4, and Jodi Picoult on Wed., March 31, 2010. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. and cost $13 ($11 for Music Hall or NHPR members).
• The Fall 2009 Books in the Mill series at UNH at Manchester (400 Commercial St., Manchester, unhm.unh.edu) focuses on works by authors from around the world. Monthly book discussions are held in the library mezzanine conference room at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Oct. 1: Sarajevo Marlboro by Miljenko Jergovic. Nov. 5: The Circle of Karma, by Kunzang Chodhen. Dec. 10: Yoruba Girl Dancing, by Simi Bedford.
• Salman Rushdie will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Humanities Council’s 20th annual dinner gala Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. Tickets to the gala cost $100. See nhhc.org or call 224-4071.
• Area Barnes & Noble (bn.com) stores have some author events planned as well. In Manchester (1741 South Willow St., 668-5557), Elizabeth Marshall Thomas signs The Hidden Life of Deer: Lessons from the Natural World, on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. In Portsmouth (Fox Run Crossings, 45 Gosling Road, Newington, 422-7733), Dennis Lehane signs The Given Day on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.
• The Tucker Free Library Bookfest is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donations of books in saleable condition are being accepted at the library during regular business hours. No textbooks, encyclopedias, Reader’s Digest Condensed Books or magazines will be accepted. You may reserve a flea market space for $10 to sell your goods by calling the library (428-3471); payment must be received at time of reservation, space is limited .
• Marianne O’Connor presents a slide show of Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire on Tuesday, Oct, 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St., Nashua, 883-0015. She’ll also be at the Barnes & Noble in Nashua (235 DW Highway, 888-0533) on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. to sign books.
• The New Hampshire Writers’ Project presents the 2009 New Hampshire Literary Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 14, hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio’s Virginia Prescott, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. Awards are given for outstanding children’s literature, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, lifetime achievement, and poetry. See nhwritersproject.org.
• Steve and Sharon Wood perform Our National Thanksgiving, a first-person historical presentation in which Sarah Hale tells of her 30-year effort to have Thanksgiving made a national holiday, then President Lincoln reads the official proclamation, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St., Nashua, 883-0015.
• There’s plenty of poetry to be had in the area this fall. Hyla Brook Poets Workshops meet on the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m.; meetings are at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry (122 Rockingham Road, Route 28) through September, then return to the Coffee Factory in Derry. The Poetry Society of New Hampshire meets regularly at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord; they’ll have a reading featuring Martha Donovan, followed by an open mike, on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. The Bridge Café in Manchester (1117 Elm St., 647-9991) hosts the Slam Free or Die open-mike poetry slam many Friday nights ($3 cover charge); for exact dates visit myspace.com/bridgepoetryopenmic. And the Stone Church (5 Granite St.) in Newmarket offers Zion Hill Poetry Readings, hosted by poets Beau Williams and Ari Cameron of Dover, on the second Tuesday of every month, with an open mike from 7 to 8 p.m. and a full bar and menu until 11 p.m.
Comedy
• The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St. in Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com, will host Bob Marley (Oct. 3), Justin McKinney (Oct. 24), Loretta LaRoche (Oct. 30) and Paula Poundstone (Nov. 13). Justin McKinney will also be at the Music Hall in Portsmouth and the Colonial Theatre in Keene.
• Bill Cosby will perform two shows at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass., www.lowellauditorium.com, on Saturday, Dec. 5.
• The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St. in Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org, will feature Justin McKinney (Sept. 12), The Second City (Sept. 25), Stephen Lynch (Nov. 13) and Chipper Lowell (Nov. 27-28; kids’ comedy & magic).
• The Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, will feature performances from Karen Morgan (Oct. 10), The News in Revue (Oct. 12), Lenny Clarke (Oct. 16) and Jimmy Dunn’s Comedy (Nov. 21).
• The Shaskeen, 909 Elm St. in Manchester, 625-0246, www.theshaskeen.com, hosts an open-mike comedy night on Wednesdays.
• The Tupelo Music Hall, 2 Young Road in Londonderry, tupelohall.com, 437-5100, will feature George Hamm, Joe Wong and Ryan Gartley for a night of comedy on Oct. 23.
Fairs & Festivals
• The Rochester Fair is at the Rochester Fairgrounds from Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 27. General admission is $7 for adults weekdays and $8 for adults weekends; children under 10 years old free with an adult, seniors (over 60) $5. Tuesdays are kids’ days and admission between noon and 3 p.m. is $2. Wednesday is Rochester day and ticket prices are $4 all day. Parking costs $2 (except for cars with disabled plates). Call 332-6585 or see www.rochesterfair.com.
• The Auburn Town Fair is Saturday, Sept. 19, featuring a duck race, pony rides, face painting, clowns making balloon animals, live music, a barnyard petting zoo, hot air balloon rides, bounce houses and evening fireworks. Tickets cost $5.
• Litchfield’s 275th Anniversary celebration is Saturday, Sept. 19. The morning’s activities kick off with a parade, followed by historical programming and entertainment at notable town buildings such as the Aaron Cutler Memorial Library (269 Charles Bancroft Hwy), Litchfield Community Church Presbyterian, and the Old Meeting House, which currently is the home of the Litchfield Historical Society. The celebration moves to the elementary school grounds (229 Charles Bancroft Hwy) in the early afternoon, and will feature games, refreshments, music, demonstrations and much more. Visit litchfield-nh.gov.
• The Laconia Athletic & Swim Club (North Main Street, Laconia) hosts the WOW Festival (Winnipesauke-Opechee-Winnisquam) on Saturday, Sept. 19, with bicycle rides (a 67.2-mile ride around “The Big Lake” starts at 7:30 a.m. and costs $50; a 15-mile ride around Paugus Bay starts at 10 a.m. and costs $50), a fun walk (2.5 miles at 11:30 a.m.; $20), live music, barbecue, kids’ activities and more. The barbecue and activities only run from noon to 3 p.m. and costs $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. Register at www.wowtrail.com.
• The Canterbury Shaker Village, 288 Shaker Road in Canterbury, shakers.org, will hold a variety of events this fall (including their schedule of cooking classes). Special events include the 23rd Annual Wood Day Festival on Sept. 26 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) featuring textile demonstrations, hands-on activities, a look at fiber producing animals and more, and an Antique Show on Sept. 27 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m).
• Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Education and Cultural Center (18 Highland Road, Warner, 456-2600, www.indianmuseum.org) will hold its 18th annual Harvest Moon Festival on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with games, kids’ activities, craft demonstrations, entertainment and food. Grace’s Kitchen will sell lunch featuring popular Native foods. Admission costs $7 for adults, $4 for children ages 6 to 12 and $20 for a family (museum members receive discounts). A museum tour is included in the price of an admission.
• The 133rd Deerfield Fair, held at the Deerfield Fairgrounds, runs from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Sunday, Oct. 4. General admission is $8 for adults, free for children under 12 years old. Seniors (over 60) are $5 on Thursday and Friday. Bracelet days are Friday and Sunday, offering unlimited rides for $20. Call the Derrfield Fair Association at 463-7421 or see www.deerfieldfair.com for a map and detailed schedule of events.
• Apple Harvest Day in Dover is Saturday, Oct. 3, hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Dover. The day includes a pancake breakfast, music, dancers, carnival games and rides, a petting zoo, raffles, pony rides and an apple pie baking contest. On Friday, Oct. 2, there is an evening concert by Don Campbell Band. The Apple Harvest Day 5K Road Race begins Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Dover on First Stree; registration costs $17 for adults, $12 for children 15 and under, and registration closes Wednesday, Sept. 30, at noon. Call 742-2218. See www.dovernh.org.
• The Warner Fall Foliage Festival is Columbus Day weekend, Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 11. Enjoying autumn colors plus food, entertainment, carnival rides and fine crafts along the main streets of Warner. Visit wfff.org.
• Concord holds a “Scarecow on Main” contest on Main Street on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. The cost to enter is $5, due before Sept. 15. Build your own scarecrow with provided materials; awards will be given in different categories. See www.mainstreetconcord.com or call 226-2150.
• The Children’s Museum of NH (6 Washington St., Dover, 742-2002, www.childrens-museum.org) hosts a Not-So-Spooky Spectacular event Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including a bat cave from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; science experiences with the Wacky Scientist at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.; non-food trick-or-treating; costumes; face painting, and art projects. Admission costs $8 per person ($7 for seniors; free for museum members and children under age one).
• Bring the kids in costume to downtown Concord for the Halloween Howl on Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Statehouse plaza. There will be trick-or-treating, horse-drawn wagon rides (beginning and ending at the corner of Capitol and Main streets, $2 per person) and a costume parade (line up at 6 p.m.). Visit www.mainstreetconcord.com.
Food & Drink
Here are some of the groups hosting delicious events this fall.
• The Alphorn Bistro at the Inn at Danbury offers special meals throughout the season. Next up is the Oktoberfest beer dinner on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 5:30 p.m. The evening will feature five courses paired with beers. On Sunday, Oct. 25, the Inn will host a 6th Annual Oktoberfest Wine Dinner — five courses paired with wines. Holiday bakers can get a jump on cookie making at the 4th Annual German Cookie Making Classes, Nov. 22 through Dec. 13 (noon to 2 p.m., $25 per person). See www.innatdanbury.com.
• Keep an eye on the Bedford Village Inn, 2 Olde Bedford Road off Route 101 in Bedford, 472-2001, www.bedfordvillageinn.com, which regularly features special wine dinners (Thursday, Sept. 10, for example will feature a Sopranos Dinner featuring The Sopranos label Italian wines and Italian dishes as well as a chance to meet Vincent Pastore and John Ventimiglia, who played Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero and Artie Bucco on The Sopranos). The Inn will have more details in the coming weeks about its holiday dinners. See the sample menu and reservation information for its Thanksgiving dinner (noon to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26) online.
• Area farmers’ markets usually run through mid-October. See the list weekly in Hippo’s food section or at www.nhfma.org.
• Great American Downtown (greatamericandowntown.org) will see Nashua’s two downtown farmers’ markets continue into October. The Friday market is in the School Street Parking Lot (see a map online) from 2 to 6 p.m. and runs until Oct. 30. The Main Street Bridge market is on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and runs through Oct. 18. (Nashua has a third farmers market on Tuesdays, 2 to 6 p.m., at 48 W. Hollis St.). Fall Feast Week, similar to the Spring Feast where restaurants offered special menus and deals, is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 23.
• IncrediBREW, 112 DW Hwy., Nashua, 891-2477, www.incredibrew.com, will give beer- and wine-lovers a chance to taste and make drinks that go with seasonal foods. Events on the schedule so-far include the Amber Alefest on Sept. 17, Oktoberfest (featuring the pretzels of German John from Hillsborough) on Oct. 7, Red Red Wine Fest on Sept. 18 and a night dedicated to Italian white wines on Sept. 23. Call to reserve a spot at events.
• The Quill is the new name for the restaurant run by Southern New Hampshire University’s culinary students. Head to the university (2500 N. River Road in Manchester) for lunch on Tuesdays and Fridays or dinner on Thursdays, starting Sept. 17. Dinner costs $25 per person for a multi-course meal to which you can BYO beer or wine. See the menu schedule at www.snhu.edu/restaurant.
• The Wine Society (18 Pondview Place in Tyngsboro, Mass., 978-649-8993; 650 Amherst St. #9 in Nashua, 883-4114; www.winesociety.us) has several upcoming events for your wine-tasting pleasure. Blind @ UnWine’d starts up again for the season on Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at UnWine’d, 865 Second St. in Manchester, www.unwined.net. The cost is $25; call 625-9463 to RSVP. The Connoisseur Workshop (a six-week session for wine lovers who want to advance their knowledge) starts Thursday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. The cost is $225 for the workshop ($200 for Society members), which is held at the Tyngsboro store. Call 883-4114 to RSVP. The Society will also start monthly book club meetings in September where a wine-related book will be discussed along with a tasting of related wines. The schedule of books includes The House of Mondavi by Julia Flynn Siler on Sept. 17, Romancing the Vine by Alan Tardi on Oct. 8; Wine & War by Donald Kladstrup & Petie Kladstrup on Nov. 12. For more information and to RSVP, call 883-4114 or e-mail info@winesociety.us. And check with the society for regular tastings and flight nights.
Here are some more food events to keep your tummy full this fall.
• Glendi! The annual food festival at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 650 Hanover St. in Manchester, will run Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20. Come early to stock up on pastries or (and?) come for the dinner plate or the gyros. Admission is free but bring cash for the food.
• New Hampshire Fish & Lobster Festival in Portsmouth will run Saturday, Sept. 19, from noon to 4 p.m. in Prescott Park. The event will celebrate fishing in the state and offer a taste of fresh seafood prepared by local chefs. Admission will be free with seafood tasting for $3 per sample. See www.prescottpark.org.
• The Bow Community Men’s Club will hold its annual Lobst’a Fest on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bow Community Building, 2 Knox Road in Bow. Tickets for a meal cost $22 and include a lobster, a bowl of fresh steamers, clam chowder, corn on the cob, gingerbread cake and lemonade. To purchase tickets, call Paul Hammond at 225-4225, Charlie Griswold at 228-9621, Dick Welch at 225-5862 or Kirk Hemphill at 731-8392. Purchase tickets on or before Sept. 24.
• The annual Empty Bowls event to benefit New Horizons for New Hampshire is Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Brookside Church, 2013 Elm St. in Manchester, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests choose and buy a bowl of soup for $20 (lower price for kids.) See www.newhorizonsfornh.org.
• Apple Harvest Day in Dover will be Saturday, Oct. 3, and hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Dover. The day includes a pancake breakfast, music, dancers, carnival games and rides, a petting zoo, raffles, pony rides and an apple pie baking contest. 742-2218. See www.dovernh.org.
• Prescott Park Arts Festival will hold the New Hampshire Brew Fest 2009 on Oct. 3, noon to 3 p.m. or 5 to 8 p.m. (entrants must choose one session) at Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth. Tickets cost $25 in advance, $35 on the day of the event. Sample a variety of brews and listen to live music. See www.brewnh.com.
• On Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11:30 a.m., it’s the WHEB Chili Cook-Off & Fall Festival at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. The cost is $15 for adults, $6 for children 12 and under. Sample the chili of several area restaurants competing to have their chili named the best. See www.prescottpark.org.
• Oktoberfest: A Taste of Germany will be held at Rivier College in the Dion Center on Clement Street in Nashua, Oct. 10, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Enjoy German-style food paired with German beers and wines. Tickets cost $50 per person. Call 897-8521 or e-mail mbollinger@rivier.edu.
• Taste of Concord will be Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center. Area restaurants will give out samples of their best menu items, with proceeds to benefit the Boy & Girls Club. Plus, the night will feature the second annual Granite State Throw Down competition, when the Granite Restaurant and Bar competes against the Barley House to see who can one-up the other’s signature dish. Tickets are $30. Call 224-1061 or go to www.tasteofconcord.com.
• The 14th Annual New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair Nov. 13-15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. is at Rockingham Park Racetrack (79 Rockingham Park Blvd., Salem). Call 332-2616 or see www.castleberryfairs.com, $5 per adult, under 14 admitted free.
Music
Here’s a look at some of the nationally touring musicians headed to southern New Hampshire in the fall. Go online for complete schedules and ticket information. Look for musical performances at clubs, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and more in the Music This Week listing in Hippo’s Nite section.
• The Dana Center, Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester, www.anselm.edu/dana, will feature musical performances including The Gleason-Brown Quintet (Oct. 3), Chic Gamine & DeTemps Antan (Oct. 16), The Barra MacNeils (Dec. 4), DecemberSong (Dec. 5) and Ying Quartet (Dec. 8).
• The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St. in Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com, will host the Indigo Girls (Oct. 4), Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Oct. 9), Brian Wilson (Nov. 3) and Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson (Oct. 23).
• Colonial Theatre, 95 Main St. in Keene, 352-2033, www.thecolonial.org, will host the Blues Blowout with Johnny Winter Band, The James Montgomery Blues Band featuring J. Geils and the Uptown Horns on Sept. 25. Other shows include Manhattan Transfer (Oct. 9), Keene Chamber Orchestra (Oct. 11) and ABBAMania (Nov. 5).
• The Granite State Symphony Orchestra will play two shows before the holiday season at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St., Concord, www.gsso.org, 226-4776. On Oct. 10, it’s “Old World and the New” featuring works from Mozart and Copland. On Nov. 7, “The Winds of November” will feature works of Mozart, Strauss, Stravinsky and Dvorak.
• Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, 169 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton Beach, 929-4100, www.casinoballroom.com, continues through the fall with Eddie Money, Ernie & The Automatics (Sept. 18), The Disco Biscuits with The Brew (Oct. 8), Social Distortion (Oct. 15), Emmylou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys with Buddy Miller (Oct. 16), A.F.I. with Gallows (Oct. 17) and Gov’t Mule with Jackie Green (Oct. 30).
• Lakes Region Opera Company (www.lakesregionopera.com) will present New Hampshire Opera Idol, Nov. 6-8, at Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord. The final round is Nov. 8, at the Concord City Auditorium.
• Lowell Memorial Auditorium, 50 Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass., www.lowellauditorium.com, will feature Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur (Oct. 2); Newsboys with special guests Seventh Day Slumber and Bread of Stone (Oct. 9); Foreigner (Oct. 17); Michael W. Smith with Matt Maher, Phil Stacey and Meredith Andrews (Nov. 1); Brian Wilson (Nov. 12); Jim Brickman (Nov. 14); and Dark Star Orchestra (Nov. 21).
• The Middle NH Arts & Entertainment Center, located in the Franklin Opera House, 316 Central St. in Franklin, 934-1901, www.themiddlenh.org, will feature the ArtsFest Showcase (musicians Qwill, Revelation, Justin Jaymes and Manchuka) on Sept. 19, Latin American and Spanish guitar and wine on Oct. 17, North Sea Gas on Oct. 2 and Don Watson & Friends on Dec. 5.
• The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St. in Portsmouth, 436-2400, www.themusichall.org, will feature musical performers including Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (Sept. 29), Rufus Wainwright (Oct. 2), Keb Mo (Oct. 14), Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (Nov. 10), Neko Case (Nov. 12), and The Event (downtown dance party) on Nov. 20.
• The Nashua Chamber Orchestra will present “Windswept” on Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., at the Nashua Senior Activity Center, 70 Temple St. in Nashua, and Nov. 15, at 3 p.m., at Milford Town Hall, 1 Union Square in Milford, $8-$15, children under 12 admitted for free. Call 554-6164 or see nco-music.org.
• Nashua Symphony Orchestra (www.nashuasymphony.org) has concerts this fall including “Uncommon Folk” featuring cellist Sergey Antonov Oct. 17, at 8 p.m., at the Keefe Auditorium, Elm Street Middle School, 117 Elm St., Nashua, 595-9156, and “Awake, My Soul” featuring the symphony and chorus on Nov. 21, at 8 p.m., also at the Keefe Auditorium. “Majesty of Brass” will feature the Nashua Symphony Brass Quintet, on Oct. 18, at 3 p.m., at First Church of Nashua, 1 Concord St. in Nashua, www.firstchurchnashua.org. A Concertmaster Trio of the Nashua Symphony Orchestra will play Nov. 15, at 3 p.m., also at First Church of Nashua.
• New Hampshire Philharmonic (www.nhphil.org) will offer shows this season including Sunday Classics with Beethoven and more (featuring violinist Esther Kim) on Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Palace Theatre.
• The Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, will feature Los Lonely Boys, Alejandro Escovedo and special guest (Oct. 14), The Kingston Trio (Oct. 17), and Stayin’ Alive — One Night of the Bee Gees (Oct. 23).
• The Tsongas Arena, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Lowell, Mass., 978-848-6900, www.paultsongasarena.com, will Tiësto In Concert — Kaleidoscope World Tour on Oct. 1.
• The Tupelo Music Hall, 2 Young Road in Londonderry, tupelohall.com, 437-5100, has dozens of shows scheduled for the next few months. Highlights include Al Kooper Rockabilly Trio (Sept. 19), Marcy Playground (Sept. 23), Shemeika Copeland (Sept. 27), (Nick Lowe (Oct. 9), Blues Harmonica Blowout (Oct. 10), Johnny A (Oct. 17), Dar Williams (Oct. 18), Cheryl Wheeler (Oct. 30), Willy Porter (Nov. 8), The Fools (Nov. 14), Enter the Haggis (Nov. 20), Shawn Colvin (Nov. 21), Tom Rush (Dec. 4), John Oates with Pete Huttlinger (Dec. 5) and The Subdudes (Dec. 6).
• Verizon Wireless Arena, 555 Elm St. in downtown Manchester, www.verizonwirelessarena.com, will feature American Idol top 10 finalists (Sept. 15), So You Think You Can Dance (Sept. 20), Australian Pink Floyd (Oct. 25) Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Nov. 15) and Mannheim Steamroller (Dec. 7).
Theater
Find work from local and visiting professional companies:
• Merrimack Repertory Theatre opens their season of professional work with a world premiere of Flings & Eros, “a new vaudevillian romp” by the Flying Karamazov Brothers. The four brothers play all the parts, “as they rehearse scenes from their reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” according to a Merrimack Rep press release. Previews ($23-$31) continue through Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. Flings & Eros continues Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. (opening night – there’s a champagne toast) through Sept. 30 ($34-$56), with performances Wednesday through Sunday at 50 East Merrimack St. in Lowell, Mass. (978-654-4678, www.merrimackrep.org). Student tickets cost $15. Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer, a story of Ireland, the sea and redemption via an all-night poker game involving plenty of drinking, was nominated for four Tony awards. Merrimack Rep presents it Oct. 15 through Nov. 8. Heroes, by Gerald Sibleyras, adapted by Tom Stoppard ,is a regional premiere of a story about World War I veterans 40 years later in a veterans’ home Nov. 19 through Dec. 13.
• The ACT ONE “Festival of Fun” includes concerts and performances such as Susan Poulin’s Shutting Up Peggy Lee through Oct. 3 at the West End Studio Theatre, 959 Islington St., Portsmouth ($17-$19). See the schedule at www.actonenh.org or call 300-2986.
• The summer stock company Peterborough Players (founded in 1933) finishes a run of Copenhagen, a drama by Michael Frayn, Sept. 13. They close their season with the The SantaLand Diaries, a comedy by David Sedaris adapted by Joe Montello Sept. 16 through Sept. 27. Performances are mostly Tuesday or Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 4 p.m., at 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, 924-7585, www.peterboroughplayers.org ($38-$45. Student rush $15. “Rush for all” $15 on the first Thursday of each show).
• Manchester’s historic Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, www.palacetheatre.org, hosts music, comedy, dance and presents their own professional musical season. Forever Plaid, a 1950s revue runs Sept. 18 through Oct. 3 at the Palace ($15-$45), part of the Citizens Bank Performing Arts Series. Next in that season is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, from Oct. 30 through Nov. 14. In between, there’s the Palace’s third annual Wine Tasting & Live Auction Thursday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m.
• Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents Altar Boyz, a recent off-Broadway favorite, from Sept. 18 through Oct. 11. Ken Ludwig farce, Lend Me a Tenor, runs from Oct. 23 through Nov. 15 at 125 Bow St., Portsmouth, ($15-$42, www.seacoastrep.org, 433-4472).
• The Dana Center at Saint Anselm College hosts visiting and college performances on the campus at 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, 641-7700, www.anselm.edu/dana. The Martha Graham Dance Company (Graham was known for her impact on modern dance) performs there Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. (with an information session on “Contemporary Dance in America and the History of Martha Graham Dance Company” at 3 p.m., call 641-7710) ($6-$34.50). New Art Theatre/Living Classics Series presents the world’s great plays under the artistic direction of Robert Shea (also the Dana Center director), normally for educational institutions. See a public New Art performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. ($6-$23.50). The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats perform Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. ($6-$27.50). The college’s Anselmian Abbey Players produce As You Like It, by William Shakespeare Thursday, Nov. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ($6-$12).
• The national Broadway tour of Camelot comes to the Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 South Main St., Concord, ccanh.com, 225-1111, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m. The musical “follows the love triangle of King Arthur, his queen, Guenevere, and the young Lancelot,” ($12.50-$75). The Stepcrew, Celtic-inspired music and dance, visits Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. ($12.50-$45). Cirque Mechanics Birdhouse Factory includes former Cirque Du Soleil and Pickle Family Circus members Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
Ghostlight Theatre Co. of New England presents Psycho Beach Party, in which a perky teenage surfer-wannabee suffers from multiple personality disorder, as part of the Capitol Center’s Spotlight Café series. See performances Nov. 14, at 7 or 10 p.m., or Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. ($15-$20). There’s a cash bar and concessions at this show.
• The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later is an epilogue to The Laramie Project focusing on the long-term effect of the murder of Matthew Shepard. The professional Yellow Taxi Productions is one theater in more than 100 cities premiering this play Oct. 12 (see www.tectonictheaterproject.org). YTP’s performance is Monday, Oct. 12, at 8 p.m., at the Hunt Building, 6 Main St., Nashua, www.yellowtaxiproductions.org. Suzanne Delle directs. YTP is also offering their Lunch Box Series of free workshops one Tuesday per month, from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m., at the Nashua Library, 2 Court St. “Opera vs. Theatre” is led by Josiah George Sept. 22. “Staging the New Play” is led by Suzanne Delle Oct. 13.
• Houston Ballet II visits the Johnson Theatre, at the UNH Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 Academic Way, Durham, 862-2290, www.unh.edu/celebrity, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., as part of the UNH Celebrity Series ($10-$30).
• Professionals New Hampshire Theatre Project produce Edward Albee’s surreal Seascape Nov. 13 through Nov. 29, at 959 Islington St., Portsmouth, www.nhtheatreproject.org, 431-6644 ($15-$22). Blair Hundertmark directs.
Some companies or venues are dedicated to local original work:
• Catch a Prairie Home Companion-ish live Frost Heaves performance. Fred Marple is your guide to the rural New Hampshire town of Frost Heaves in these comic variety shows. A special “An Evening with Fred Marple” event is Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Merrimack Library. It’s free, but call 424-5021 to reserve a seat. The fall shows are Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m. Visit frostheaves.com for updates or to see video from Fred Marple.
• Image Theater produces original plays by New England writers. They premiere a preview of Impasto, an insider look at art commerce, by Regina Eliot Ramsey, in collaboration with the Whistler House Museum of Art, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m., at the Whistler, 243 Worthen St., Lowell, Mass. Visit www.whistlerhouse.org or call 978-452-7641 to reserve seats; $20 suggested donation. Image Theater’s popular “Keep Your Kids at Home Naughty Readings” is scheduled for Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. upstairs at The Old Court in Lowell, with tickets available soon at www.imagetheater.com.
• Specializing in providing a venue for original work and local theater companies, the Players’ Ring, 105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, 436-8123, www.playersring.org, closes a thriller set on a submarine, Crush Depth, written and directed by Jacquelyn Benson, Sept. 20. Darwin’s Waiting Room presents “Night of Comedy,” sketch comedy written and directed by Eric Doucet, from Sept. 25 through Oct. 11. Rolling Die Productions presents Serving His Master, by Players’ Ring founder, F. Gary Newton, directed by Todd Hunter, from Oct. 16 through Nov. 1. Phylloxera Productions presents Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, directed by Gary Locke, from Nov. 6 through Nov. 22. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m. ($8-$12).
Several community companies offer fall productions:
• Nashua Theatre Guild presents Steel Magnolias, set in a Louisiana beauty salon, Sept. 24, through Sept. 26, at 8 p.m., and Sept. 27, at 2 p.m., at the Jan Streeter Theater at 14 Court St., Nashua, www.nashuatheatreguild.org, 320-2530 ($10-$12).
• Bedford Off Broadway is scheduled to produce the Larry Shue comedy about that painfully awkward friend, The Nerd, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 24, at the Bedford Old Town Hall, Meetinghouse and Bedford Center roads in Bedford (www.bedfordoffbroadway.com).
• Charlie overhears plenty when fellow guests at a Georgia fishing lodge are told he doesn’t speak English in Larry Shue’s The Foreigner. Milford Area Players presents this at the Amato Center, 56 Mont Vernon Road, Milford, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 25 ($7-$12, www.milfordareaplayers.org).
• The Manchester Community Theatre Players produce The King and I, by Rodgers & Hammerstein Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 18, at 2 p.m.; Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m.; and Oct. 25, at 2 p.m., directed by Alan Kaplan, at the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire Theatre, 698 Beech St., Manchester (800-838-3006, manchestercommunitytheatre.com).
• The Peacock Players youth educational company produce James & the Giant Peach from Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee from Nov. 13 through Nov. 22 at the 14 Court St. Theater in Nashua (886-7000, peacockplayers.org). They host a “Taste of Broadway” benefit auction and dinner, Friday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m., featuring a Broadway Idol contest at the Courtyard Marriott in Nashua ($25-$45).
• StageCoach Productions, presents the true story of a Kentucky man, Floyd Collins, a musical by Adam Guettel, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m., Oct. 24, at 8 p.m., and Oct. 25, at 2 p.m., at 14 Court St., Nashua (www.stagecoachproductions.org, 320-3780, $15-$18).
• In their second season, Theatre KAPOW presents Alone: Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, an adaptation of Poe’s work, written and newly revised by founding tKAPOW member Brian Kennedy. It includes The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado, and poems The Raven and Annabel Lee. See it Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dana Center or Oct. 29 or Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. at the Stockbridge Theatre, at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. Visit www.tkapow.com for details or call 437-5210.
• Best Foot Forward Productions is scheduled to present Chicago from Nov. 12 through Nov. 15 at Central High School, 207 Lowell Road, Manchester (bestfootforwardproductions.org, bffproductions@comcast.net, 641-6066). Their offshoot, Dark Side Productions, is scheduled to produce Isles in the Moon, by Jeff Symes, from Oct. 29 through Nov. 1 at Central High.
• The Leddy Center (30C Ladd’s Lane, Epping, leddycenter.org, 679-2781) produces Charlie & the Chocolate Factory from Oct. 30 through Nov. 15 ($18).
• See Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf when M&M Productions produces it Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., from Nov. 6 through Nov. 14 at Bedford Old Town Hall (www.mandmp.com, 320-1431). Deb Shaw directs.
• The Actorsingers of Nashua have been producing musicals since 1955. Their fall show this year is Anything Goes, with music by Cole Porter, Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at the Keefe Auditorium, 117 Elm St. in Nashua (www.actorsingers.org, 889-9691).
• The Acting Loft has a performance of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s musical A Man Of No Importance, scheduled for Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at 516 Pine St., Manchester, 666-5999, www.actingloft.org. Alfie Byrne, a bus driver in 1964 Dublin, is harboring a secret. Acting Loft’s new Grooing the Doop sketch comedy troupe performs Sept. 18 and Sept. 19.
• The Majestic Theatre performs the musical adaption of Charles Dickens’ Oliver! from Nov. 13 through Nov. 22 at 281 Cartier St., Manchester, 669-7469, www.majestictheatre.net ($12-$16)
Find out what’s going on at these local venues:
• The Greater Derry Arts Council at the Adams Memorial Opera House, 29 West Broadway, Derry, DerryArts.TicketLeap.com, 437-0505, kicks of Derryfest weekend with “Derry’s Got Talent,” Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. ($5-$7). Band showcases “Jam Night” are Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. ($10), Oct. 23 and Nov. 20. The new Theatre Sports Comedy Improv series in which the audience provides material for improv teams start Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., and continue Oct. 3, Nov. 11 and Nov. 21 ($10-$12). The Opera House will be used as a radio sound stage to re-create the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. ($10-$12).
• Now known as the Middle New Hampshire Arts & Entertainment Center, the Franklin Opera House at 16 Central St., Franklin, themiddlenh.org, 934-1901, is kicking off the season with their ArtsFest Showcase of theater, dance and music Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. ($13-$17). Franklin Footlight Theatre presents musical Sweet Charity there Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. from Nov. 13 through Nov. 21 plus 3 p.m. on Nov. 21.
• The Concord City Auditorium serves as a stage for a number of local performers and events. The theatrical ones include the 1944 Big Band Comedy Canteen, sponsored by Walker Lecture Series. Betty Thomson directs the Community Players of Concord in this musical revue of a World War II radio show, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m., and Sept. 27 at 9:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. Admission is free (225-9004).
Check out a staged reading of Less Rosenthal of Goffstown’s new play Gideon, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m., at the start of the Audi’s second season of Page to Stage. The new monthly series is supported by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and admission is free (225-2164 or 225-6497).
The Community Players of Concord’s Children’s Theatre Project presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., and Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. ($8, 224-4905, www.communityplayersofconcord.org).
Catch the farce Noises Off which runs Oct. 22 through Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., presented by local company R.B. Productions ($12-$15, www.rbproductions.org, 225-7779, cklose63@comcast.net).
The Miss Capital Area scholarship pageant is Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. ($10, 622-5405, misscapitalarea@comcast.net).
The Walker Lecture Series sponsors Tim Sample’s “Maine Humor” Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., with free admission.
Community Players of Concord present the Stephen Schwartz musical, Godspell, Nov. 20, and Nov. 21 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. ($12-$17, 224-4905, greymurf@aol.com).
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