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Ticket Alert: The Cashore Marionettes – Simple Gifts at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH

The Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH offers a special concert series every year called the William H. Gile Concert Series. This series opened on December 16, 1960, after a legacy of more than $700,000 was left by Helen B. Gile to finance a free concerts for the residents of Concord. The bequest was made in memory of Miss Gile’s father, William H. Gile.

In the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to take Townies 1, 2, & 3 to see free performances of The Pirates of Penzance and a ballet performance of Cinderella. There’s usually at least one Gile Series performance a year that is family friendly! On Tuesday April 10th, 2018 at 7:00pm, the latest Giles series concert will be The Cashore Marionettes – Simple Gifts. From the Capitol Center for the Arts website:

Simple Gifts is a series of touching portrayals and poignant scenes from everyday life set to stunning music by such composers as Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland. Through a combination of virtuoso manipulation, beautiful music, theatrical illusion, and artistic insight, the original vignettes presented in Simple Gifts provide an entertaining and sensitive vision of what it is to be human. The performance explores a range of emotions with characters and actions that are amazingly convincing. The marionettes are engineering marvels and the quality of movement is extraordinary.

Tickets to this performance will be available online on Tuesday March 13th at 11:00am. Tickets are FREE, and there is a 4 ticket per person limit.  You do not have to be a resident of Concord, NH to attend. Make sure to mark you calendar and be logged in on the CCANH website ready to get your tickets, because the Gile Concert Series tickets can go FAST!

If you aren’t able to get tickets before the show “sells out”, check back with the Capitol Center for the Arts in the weeks leading up to the show. People’s plans often change, and tickets may become available.

For more information and to see what else is upcoming at the Capitol Center for the Arts, see their website at: www.ccanh.com

Information about the William H. Gile series can be found under Shows and Tickets/Community Events/Gile Series.  The next Gile Series Concert after the Cashore Marionettes is Tom Rush on May 20th. Those tickets will be available on April 23rd at 11:00am.

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Chris Bohjalian at Gibson’s Bookstore

I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian for years. I love the way he weaves a story together with characters so real that you could imagine bumping into them at the grocery store (or maybe General Store is a better reference, since many of his novels take place in small town New England!)

You can bump into Chris Bohjalian yourself when he visits Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH on Friday, March 16th at 7:00 PM to promote his latest novel, “The Flight Attendant”. Here’s a teaser about the novel, from its publisher, Doubleday:

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police – she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home – Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did? Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home.

This one sounds like a provocative ride!  I hope it brings the same levels of suspense and excitement found in his last novel, “The Sleepwalker”. I’m loath to admit that I didn’t really love “Close Your Eyes Hold Hands”, or “The Guest Room”, the two novels he published prior to “The Sleepwalker”, since I’ve loved so many of his other novels (as in, ALL the other books by him I’ve read!). I felt like Bohjalian hit a storytelling win with “The Sleepwalker”, and I’m anticipating this new novel, “The Flight Attendant” will continue the winning streak.

Gibson’s Bookstore does a fabulous job with author events. I’m delighted to go to Concord next Friday, hear Chris Bohjalian speak, and have a chance to meet him as well! For more information, or to pre-order a copy of “The Flight Attendant”, visit Gibson’s Bookstore’s website at: http://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/event/the-flight-attendant

One final note: If you’ve ever wondered how to pronounce Bohjalian, you can listen to the short clip on this website where Chris Bohjalian himself explains it! https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?aid=20658

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Don’t Lose Your Chance to See Toulouse!

The Currier Museum of Art’s Exhibit, “The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters From the Museum of Modern Art” is nearing its final days. This is the exclusive New England engagement for this exhibit, and it will only be on view through Sunday January 7th.  It’s definitely worth a visit Manchester, NH to see this special exhibition of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work.

I think many people can conjure up an idea of the colorful, graphic prints and posters that are iconic images of Toulouse-Lautrec. There are plenty wonderful examples of these types of prints on display, and they are both delightful and impressive. I also really enjoyed seeing the many monochromatic lithographs in the collection; to me, they have both a modern and timeless feel. The exhibit has video clips of Moulin Rouge dancers to enhance the experience, as well as interactive digital displays that allow you to browse some of the books with illustrations by Toulouse-Lautrec.

The exhibit also includes a last room full of prints from American contemporaries of Toulouse-Lautrec who were inspired by his style. Don’t write off this room because it isn’t T-L’s work; the pieces in this final gallery are exquisite examples of American advertising at its late-19th-century best. My favorites were lithographs by Edward Penfield and Will H. Bradley.

The Currier Museum of Art will be open the following hours this weekend:
Friday January 5th: 11am – 5pm
Saturday January 6th: 10am – 5pm
Sunday January 7th: 11am – 5pm

There is one remaining guided Focus Tour of the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit on Sunday, January 7th at 11:30am. Photography is allowed in the exhibit, and the museum has a beautiful catalog of the show available in their gift shop if you decide you’d like to bring the entire collection home.

Admission to the Currier Museum of Art is as follows:
Adult $15
Senior (65+) $13
Student $10
Youth (13-17) $5
Members and children younger than 13 are always free.

*There is a $5 special exhibition fee to view The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters From The Museum of Modern Art in addition to the general admission.

New Hampshire folks, check with your local library to see if they have museum passes to the Currier Museum of Art! You will still need to pay the $5 fee for the exhibit, but you can save up to $15 per person if a pass is available.

If you get hungry while you’re there, the Currier has a lovely, light-filled eatery in the museum’s center called The Winter Garden Cafe. It’s a perfect spot for a delicious lunch where you can enjoy salads, seasonal soups, sandwiches and pastries. The Winter Garden Cafe is open 11am – 3:30pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Currier has a parking lot on their property which is accessible off both Prospect and Ash streets; on street parking is also available if the lot is full.

Check out the Currier’s website for more information:
http://currier.org/