The Hippo: April 6, 2017

FEATURED FOOD

Eat On Easter

Where To Go For Easter Brunch & Dinner

Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)

Images: Stock Photo

 

 

Get a big brunch or a hearty dinner without doing the cooking this Easter.

Here are some of the local restaurants offering a special meal on Sunday, April 16. Make reservations now for your Easter eats (and write food@hippopress.com if there’s a restaurant whose big meal didn’t make it on this week’s list).

• Airport Diner (2280 Brown Ave., Manchester, 623-5040, thecman.com) will serve Easter specials from 5 a.m. to midnight.

• Alan’s of Boscawen (133 N. Main St., Boscawen, 753-6631, alansofboscawen.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring an omelet station and various breakfast items; fruit, cheese, crackers and other hors d’oeuvres; vegetables, salads, mashed potatoes, shrimp, mushroom tortellini alfredo, chicken Marsala, crabmeat-stuffed haddock, carving stations and desserts. It will also serve menu specials from noon to 9 p.m., including baked ham, lamb dinner, prime rib and more.

• Alpine Grove (19 S. Depot Road, Hollis, 882-9051, alpinegrove.com) will serve a brunch buffet with seatings at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., featuring French toast, assorted pastries, quiches and other breakfast items; salads, vegetables, ham, chicken pot pie, salmon, mac and cheese, desserts, drinks and a cash bar. The cost is $26 for adults and $10 for children age 12 and under. Reservations are required.

• Atkinson Resort and Country Club (85 Country Club Drive, Atkinson, 362-8700, atkinsonresort.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with prime rib and ham carving stations, maple bourbon chicken, baked haddock, pasta pomodoro, omelet and waffle stations and other breakfast items, salads and vegetables, desserts and more. The cost is $47 for adults and $20 for children ages 3 to 10. Reservations are required.

• Auburn Tavern (346 Hooksett Road, Auburn, 587-2057, auburntavernnh.com) will serve brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with assorted breakfast pastries, quiches, salads, potatoes, spinach pies, vegetables, haddock, baked lamb, ham, turkey with stuffing and gravy, mac and cheese and desserts. The cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children.

• Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford, 472-2001, bedfordvillageinn.com) will serve a brunch buffet in the great hall from 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., featuring salads and appetizers, a carving station, omelets, waffles, desserts and drinks. The cost is $49. A four-course prix fixe Easter dinner will be served in the dining room with seatings from noon to 5:30 p.m., featuring appetizers, salads, entrees like grilled filet of beef, scallops and shrimp, leg of lamb, mushroom bolognese and more; and desserts like carrot cake, hazelnut fudge tart and more. The cost is $65.

• Birch Wood Vineyards (199 Rockingham Road, Derry, 965-7359, birchwoodvineyards.com) will serve a brunch buffet with seatings at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., featuring made-to-order omelets and traditional breakfast items; a carving station with lamb, porchetta and beef filet; entrees including baked haddock, chicken saltimbocca, pastas, vegetables and chicken fingers and fries for kids; salads, drinks and cash bar. The cost is $42 for adults and $18 for children ages 4 to 12. Reservations are required.

• Brookstone Park (14 Route 111, Derry, 328-9255, brookstone-park.com) will serve a brunch buffet between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., featuring prime rib, chicken Marsala, carved ham, haddock, mac and cheese, smoked salmon, salads, traditional breakfast items, quiche, baked brie en croute and desserts. The cost is $39 for adults and $19 for children ages 3 to 12. Reservations are required.

• Cafe on the Park (Radisson Hotel, 700 Elm St., Manchester, 206-4140, radissonmanchesternh.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring assorted breads, pastries, smoked salmon, cinnamon French toast and other breakfast items, and coffee-encrusted sirloin. The cost is $17.

• The Coach Stop Restaurant & Tavern (176 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 437-2022, coachstopnh.com) will serve a special dinner menu with seatings from noon to 2 p.m., 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and 5 to 7 p.m., featuring starters like shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, bruschetta and more, and entrees including chicken Marsala, seafood linguini alfredo, baked lamb, prime rib, lobster mac and cheese and more.

• Colby Hill Inn (33 The Oaks, Henniker, 428-3281, colbyhillinn.com) will serve a three-course Easter supper with seatings from noon to 5 p.m., featuring starters like smoked shrimp bisque, crispy pierogi, deviled eggs and more; entree options including leg of lamb, glazed ham, prime rib, scallops and carrot spatzle; and dessert options including a chocolate trio, carrot cheesecake, lemon-raspberry tart and Polish poppy seed roll. The cost is $49.95 for adults and $19.95 for kids.

• The Common Man (25 Water St., Concord, 228-3463; 304 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, 429-3463; 88 Range Road, Windham, 898-0088; 10 Pollard Road, Lincoln, 745-3463; 60 Main St., Ashland, 968-7030; 21 Water St., Claremont, 542-6171; thecman.com) will serve a special dinner menu from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at its Merrimack, Lincoln and Ashland locations, and an Easter buffet from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at its Concord, Windham and Claremont locations.

• Copper Door (15 Leavy Drive, Bedford, 488-2677, copperdoorrestaurant.com) will serve brunch specials from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., like triple berry pancakes, vegetable frittata, coffee-crusted pork loin, and more; and kids’ brunch selections. Chef specials will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., including ham dinner, leg of lamb and cod.

• Cotton Restaurant (75 Arms St., Manchester, 622-5488, cottonfood.com) will serve Easter specials from noon to 5 p.m.

• Country Tavern (452 Amherst St., Nashua, 889-5871, countrytavern.org) will serve brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring an omelet station, a carving station, breakfast and lunch items and desserts. The cost is $26.95 for adults and $15 for kids under age 12.

• The Derryfield (625 Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-2880, thederryfield.com) will serve a buffet brunch with seatings starting at 10 a.m., featuring an omelet or pasta station, carving station, bread station, salad station and dessert station, plus a main buffet line with French toast, eggs Benedict, quiches and other breakfast items; grilled sirloin, chicken dishes, seafood dishes and more. The cost is $24.95 for adults, $22.95 for seniors 65+, $16.95 for children under age 12.

• Firefly American Bistro & Bar (22 Concord St., Manchester, 935-9740, fireflynh.com) will serve brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and its regular dinner menu from 4 to 10 p.m., with specials including baked ham, roasted lamb and a seafood entree.

• The Foundry Restaurant (50 Commercial St., Manchester, 836-1925, foundrynh.com) will serve Easter brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for $25 per person.

• Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steak House (62 Lowell St., Manchester, 669-9460, gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com) will have an Easter brunch buffet with live jazz music from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with last seating at 1:30 p.m., and Easter dinner starting at 3 p.m. The cost for the brunch is $17.95 for adults and $19.95 for kids age 6 through 12, and the cost for dinner is $31.95 per person.

• Giorgio’s Ristorante (524 Nashua St., Milford, 673-3939; 270 Granite St., Manchester, 232-3323, giorgios.com) will serve brunch featuring a carving station, omelet station, breakfast items, pastries and breads, entrees, a dessert station and a bloody mary bar.

• Granite Restaurant & Bar (The Centennial Hotel, 96 Pleasant St., Concord, 227-9000, graniterestaurant.com) will have a brunch with seatings at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., featuring breakfast selections like coffee cake, brioche French toast, smoked salmon and more; dinner selections including rolls, salad, soup, vegetables, vegetarian paella, cheese tortellini and baked haddock; a carving station and a dessert and coffee station. The cost is $33 for adults, $30 for seniors 65+ and $20 for kids under age 15.

• The Homestead Restaurant & Tavern (641 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, 429-2022; 1567 Summer St., Bristol, 744-2022, homesteadnh.com) will serve a special Easter menu featuring starters like crab cakes, escargot, seafood chowder and more; and entrees including roasted lamb shank, broiled salmon, New York sirloin, chicken and broccoli alfredo and more.

• Killarney’s Irish Pub (Holiday Inn Nashua, 9 Northeastern Boulevard, Nashua, 888-1551, killarneysirishpub.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring salads, fruits, antipasto displays, bread, omelets and other breakfast items, a seafood station, a carving station, hot entrees with beef, poultry and seafood, and desserts. The cost is $24.95 for adults, $14.95 for children under age 12.

• LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinerynh.com) will serve brunch buffet in the great room from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring waffles and crepes, an omelet station and other breakfast items, a carving station, pasta, chicken, haddock, vegetables, salads, desserts and more. The cost is $49 for adults and $19 for children ages 4 to 12. The Bistro will serve an a la carte Easter menu from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with specials like eggs Benedict, smoked salmon, frittata, veal porterhouse, seared turbot, lamb chops and kids’ plates.

• Mile Away Restaurant (52 Federal Hill Road, Milford, 673-3904, mileawayrestaurant.com) will serve a prix fixe Easter dinner that includes one appetizer, such as a fresh fruit with sorbet or Swedish meatballs; a salad; an entree, with options like leg of lamb, veal Marsala, maple-glazed salmon and more; and one dessert, such as chocolate mousse cake, strawberry cheesecake or ice cream puff. The cost is $28.95 for adults and $18.95 for kids under age 12.

• MT’s Local Kitchen & Wine Bar (212 Main St., Nashua, 595-9334, mtslocal.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring salads, ham, roast beef, chicken Marsala, omelets to order, breakfast items, assorted breads and pastries, desserts and more. The cost is $26 for adults and $18 for children age 10 and under. Reservations are required.

• O Steaks & Seafood (11 S. Main St., Concord, 856-7925, magicfoodsrestaurantgroup.com/osteaks) will serve a brunch buffet. More details TBA; see website for updates.

• The Peddler’s Daughter (48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. More details TBA.

• The Red Blazer Restaurant and Pub (72 Manchester St., Concord, 224-4101, theredblazer.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring leg of lamb, baked ham, baked haddock, cheese cannelloni, salads, vegetables, breakfast items and dessert. The cost is $27.99 for adults, $12.99 for children ages 6 through 12 and $6.99 for children ages 3 through 5.

• Restaurant Tek-Nique (170 Route 101, Bedford, 488-5629, restaurantteknique.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring an omelet and carving station, dessert table and drink specials. The cost is $30 for adults and $14 for kids ages 3 through 12.

• Roots Cafe (at Robie’s Country Store, 9 Riverside St., Hooksett, 485-7761, rootsatrobies.com) will serve a brunch buffet with seatings at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:15 p.m., featuring pancakes, French toast, veggie skillet, benny’s, corned beef and pulled pork hash, eggs to order, ham, turkey, pastries and more. The cost is $18.95 for adults and $7.95 for children under age 8.

• Stonebridge Country Club (161 Gorham Pond Road, Goffstown, 497-8633, golfstonebridgecc.com) will serve a brunch buffet with seatings at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., featuring ham, roast beef, glazed chicken, breakfast strata, brioche French toast, a dessert table with mini pastries and more. The cost is $26.99 for adults, $22.99 for seniors and $12.99 for children.

• The Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery (58 Route 27, Raymond, 244-2431, thetuckaway.com) will serve a brunch buffet from noon to 3 p.m., with haddock, mini burgers, honey ham, prime rib and more. The cost is $28.95 for adults and $14.95 for kids age 12 and under.

• Tuscan Kitchen (67 Main St., Salem, 952-4875, tuscanbrands.com) will serve Easter specials with its regular dinner menu all day.

• Veranda Martini Bar & Grille (201 Hanover St., Manchester, 627-2677, verandagrille.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with various breakfast and lunch items. The cost is $14.95 for adults and $9.95 for children age 12 and under.

• The Yard (1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-3545, theyardrestaurant.com) will serve a brunch buffet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring breakfast items, seafood Newburg, rosemary chicken, barbecue kielbasa, chicken Romana, Swedish meatballs, sweet and sour pork, meat lasagna, rice and vegetables, a carving station and desserts. The cost is $24.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids under age 10.

• Zorvino Vineyards (226 Main St., Sandown, 887-8463, zorvino.com) will serve a brunch buffet with seatings at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., featuring an omelet station, crepes, pancakes, French toast, eggs, breakfast pastries, fruit, baked haddock, chicken fingers and fries for kids, salad, a carving station, drinks and a cash bar. The cost is $40 for adults and $20 for kids ages 5 to 12. Reservations are required.

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Share Your Story

Where To Hear True & Tall Tales & How To Tell Your Own

Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)

Images: Stock Photos

 

 

The Concord City Auditorium was packed on a recent Wednesday night, bustling with chatter as the crowd waited for Northwood storyteller Rebecca Rule to step onstage.

For those who don’t know about Rule’s strong local following, the size of her audience might come as a surprise. Sure, the event was free, part of the Walker Lecture series, but the auditorium seats more than 800. The event was two hours. It was a Wednesday.

When she finally did step under the light and behind the microphone, Rule told stories about a selectman at a town dump, a supervisor with a glass eyeball and a moose she chased down for its “rack.” Listeners laughed and cheered at particularly funny tales.

There’s nothing like telling stories aloud to a group of strangers, said Rule, who got into the medium while promoting a short story collection about 20 years ago.

“It’s a little bit addictive. If you’re able to make somebody laugh, you want to do it again,” Rule said via phone. “My early work was pretty serious, but as I’ve gotten more and more into storytelling, I’m looking for the laughs. I want the whole room to be laughing.”

Rule is one of New Hampshire’s best-known tellers, but she’s just one of many sharing stories the old-fashioned way — in front of people. Some, like Rule, do it professionally, while others muscle up the courage to tell personal anecdotes onstage to connect with people and feel less alone in the world.

“My stories of motherhood have connected me to other mothers in a way that made me feel like, OK, I’m not alone now,” said Erin Laplante, who recently told a story part of Long Story Short in Portsmouth. “What happens to me is that once I tell the stories out loud, I can let them go. I can forgive myself for a lot of things I have gone through.”

New Hampshirites have a multitude of avenues in which to hear and share stories. Here, a variety of tellers talk about what makes a good one and why the art form is so important.

 

Elements of a Story

Of all narrative media, oral storytelling requires its users to be the most vulnerable.

There’s no director to tell you what to do, no other actors to rely on. Screw up, and you can’t press the delete button. It requires you to not only see your audience but to interact with them, feed off them.

“Actors can be on stage in the light and do their thing, and they’re aware of the audience but they’re not feeding off the audience,” Rule said. “I need to see the audience, to have eye contact with them to do a good job.”

In that respect it’s kind of like comedy, but with one major difference — the relationship between the speaker and audience. Rule’s listeners are forgiving, and they talk to her from their seats all the time. In comedy this is heckling, but in storytelling it’s engagement.

“Comedians talk about bombing, but I’ve never really felt that experience,” Rule said. “I think with stand-up comedy, there’s a kind of adversarial relationship between the comic and the audience. The audience is kind of saying, ‘OK, funny guy, let’s see what you can do.’… But with a storyteller, it’s like we’re all in this together.”

Laughter is, of course, Rule’s favorite reaction, but silence works too.

“If people are really engaged, the room gets very quiet. There’s no fidgeting. It’s like how when little kids listen to stories,” Rule said.

Oral stories can take many shapes. They can be true. They can be fictional. They can be somebody else’s. They can be based on a true story but altered slightly for a more entertaining ending. But all have the same four elements, said New Hampshire storyteller Papa Joe Gaudet (who has a seven-minute narrative about how he got his name).

“There’s the storyteller — the person telling the story. There’s the story itself. The people listening to the story. And the environment in which you’re telling the story,” Gaudet said.

As such, the experience is different every time.

“The storyteller can adapt [the story] to the audience, whereas a movie can’t, and that’s the difference. It’s organic, and it’s alive,” he said.

Lots of storytellers, like Rule, are writers. Rule just released a children’s book, N is for New Hampshire, and New Hampshire Storytelling Alliance co-founder Lauretta Phillips is expecting to publish her latest project, Sarah’s Quilt, next year. Beth LaMontagne Hall, founder of Long Story Short, a regular Portsmouth event inspired by The Moth (which invites people to tell true tales in five minutes or less, and has become popular because of The Moth Radio Hour) is a professional journalist. But being a writer isn’t a necessity by any means.

“If you think about it, we’ve all been to a party or barbecue or something where there’s somebody who has the most amazing story to tell, and they tell it in such an entertaining way. I think it’s a skill that doesn’t really rely on how well you can write. I think about my dad, who tells great stories, but he’s not a writer by trade by any means. I’m constantly looking for those people,” Hall said.

 

Career Storytellers

Some New Hampshire storytellers get paid to tell. Gaudet is one of them; he’s been telling professionally at festivals, schools, workshops, libraries, farmers markets, senior centers, even prisons — all common venues for professional New Hampshire storytellers — for 30 years. He estimates the state is home to about 50 professionals. Of them, 12 to 15 make a (modest) living this way.

Gaudet got into storytelling as a single parent making wooden toys at Renaissance Fairs. That first year he booked 300 gigs, and today he has 200 tales in his repertoire, many of which are old tales his mother told him growing up.

Phillips, who recently won the Brother Blue and Ruth Hill Award at the Northeast Storytelling Conference, fell into the form 30 years ago. She was vacationing in Colorado when, on a whim, she decided to tag along with her sister, Cora Jo Ciampi, who was attending a storytelling conference there. She loved it. Five years later, a friend asked her to entertain with stories at a seniors’ dinner.

“I said, I’m not a storyteller. I’m a writer. ‘Nah,’ they said, ‘You’re a storyteller. We’ll pay you $50.’ And I said, ‘OK,’” Phillips said.

Most of the state’s professional storytellers are involved in the New Hampshire Storytelling Alliance, a statewide organization comprising several regional guilds. It organizes a handful of big events (the next is the Granite State Story Swap on May 6) and ongoing programs each year.

Several interviewed attended the 2017 Northeast Storytelling Conference, “Sharing the Fire,” in Plymouth, Mass., the last weekend in March, organized by the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling, or had participated in the National Storytelling Festival, which was established in 1973 and is held every fall in Tennessee.

 

Collecting Tales

Today, Phillips writes most of the stories she tells. Some are personal, and some have a vein of truth, but most are fictionalized. Other tellers, like Gaudet and Simon Brooks, retell folk and fairy tales and fables.

“Many people seem to think if the story’s not true, then it’s probably not worth knowing — that fiction and fantasies are escapism. But I think they’re metaphors, and that they’re important ways of presenting ideas and concepts,” Gaudet said.

Brooks, who first started telling stories while working at youth hostels overseas, said his narratives come from researching old texts and at libraries. It’s easier to uncover these old cultural tales than it used to be. He dreams of someday spending hours in the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Until then, there’s the internet.

“A lot of books now are being scanned and put online, which makes it a lot easier to find certain books,” Brooks said. “Before there might have only been one copy in the whole country, and I’d have to go to New York City to get it.”

Rule says her stories are like poems, free of unnecessary words. Most have plot twists at the end and are infused with Yankee humor. She collects them through observation, research and talking with locals. Generally, they’re unscripted, but she pays close attention to word choice and timing in punch lines.

“If you move one word to the wrong place or flip words, then you can lose the whole rhythm of the story. It’s not like I memorize them, but the key lines have to be told in just the right way, with the right inflection and in the right order,” Rule said.

 

Inspired by The Moth

Gaudet says most adult programming today is in The Moth style of storytelling, inviting people to tell true tales in five minutes or less, no notes allowed. The Moth was launched in

New York in 1997 but blew up when it established The Moth Radio Hour in 2009. The event travels the country, and its most recent Granite State pit stop was at The Music Hall on March 25.

You can see The Moth’s popularity reflected in New Hampshire events inspired by the form — for example, this Saturday, April 8, the New Hampshire Institute of Art hosts its first-ever Storytelling Festival, emceed by Virginia Prescott of NHPR, which will feature 10 speakers telling real stories live in front of an audience. Monica Bilson, who chairs the NHIA creative writing program, said she looked for a variety of submissions, with topics ranging from cancer to war.

“We [didn’t] just want writers submitting; we wanted immigrants, refugees, senior citizens, veterans — anyone who has a story to tell, which everyone does,” Bilson said.

In addition, the state hosts a couple ongoing events inspired by The Moth — like Tales Told in Concord and Long Story Short in Portsmouth.

 

Everyday Tellers

The latest Long Story Short on March 22 saw an especially large crowd, perhaps because the previous one had been cancelled due to weather, but more likely because this style is aimed at normal people sharing personal experiences.

“It’s been so long!” Hall said, stepping onstage that night, explaining the format and introducing the first speaker, Debbie Kane.

Kane, an Exeter writer who talked about being a soccer mom, used to hate public speaking but found this format attractive.

“There was something about this that seemed safe and fun,” said Kane, who has told live stories several times now. “Some people are professionals, but there are a couple of people who come in here and haven’t ever told stories on stage before.”

Kane told her first tale, about joining a cult in her 20s, a year ago. She practiced her story beforehand — in the shower, in the car, to her cat Chloe — before taking it to an audience. It was exhilarating.

“I was on a complete high. What’s great is that the audiences were really receptive,” she said. “I think people see themselves in the people onstage.”

Another speaker that night talked about an accidental kidnapping that turned into a therapy session, and another tapped into her experience traveling to a foreign country and ziplining for the first time. Past storytellers include bartenders, executives, newspaper reporters, marketing professionals, bloggers and city councilors. The anecdotes tend to be personal, and that’s why people connect with them.

“When you have somebody who’s not a professional radio journalist, like on This American Life or something like that, you’re going to have a story that’s a little rougher around the edges. It’s going to be more conversational, and they’re going to put in those real-life observations that I feel add so much more depth and color to the story,” Hall said.

The last speaker of the night was Laplante from Kittery, Maine, who talked about having her daughter as a single mom, and the kinds of things she struggled with in the beginning, like staying in, pregnant, when her friends went out Friday night; breastfeeding; and “constantly feeling like a failure.” After she finished, a woman she didn’t know walked up to her and expressed similar feelings and experiences — a common occurrence at these events.

“It’s just motherhood. It’s hard,” Laplante said. “I think there’s always something that you’re experiencing that someone else is experiencing. That’s why the event is so much fun.”

 

The Effects of a Good Story

Entertainment and enlightenment are two reasons people tell and listen to stories, but the art form can also have an enormous impact outside of storytelling events, which you can see when you look at some of the most successful business leaders and politicians, Gaudet said. It’s a good skill to have when pitching ideas and marketing products.

“For them to be able to get their story across, it will make it easier to get the project they want to do done, and sell it once it’s created,” said Brooks, who teaches the craft in public schools, universities, community centers and business workshops. “And that can happen with any business structure.”

Phillips said one of her most rewarding storytelling encounters happened at a preschool. One of her listeners, a 4-year-old with autism, struggled to sit still during her presentation, so she let him stand nearby and play with a puzzle as she spoke. Afterward, as she was readying to leave, he grabbed her pant leg.

He loved her story, he told her, and he recounted the entire narrative from start to finish.

“The teacher said it was the first time he had ever spoken in class,” Phillips said.

With the best stories, the teller vanishes, and the audience is transported; Brooks said it’s like falling down the rabbit hole, and you’re with the storyteller, seeing what he sees, smelling what he smells. In an age of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, it’s still the most effective form of human communication, said Wayne Burton, who performs at the Storytelling Festival in Manchester this weekend.

“It’s important we never lose sight of the emotional impact of face-to-face storytelling. That’s why I’m interested in doing this — so I can see the reactions on people’s faces, and they can see mine,” he said.

 

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Annual New Hampshire Storytelling Events

Granite State Story Swap: Saturday, May 6, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Seacoast Science Center, 570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, featuring Judith Black
White Mountain Storytelling Festival: Sept. 29 through Oct. 1, in the town square of Waterville Valley, featuring Sharon Kennedy
Tellabration! Saturday, Nov. 18 (from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the New Hampshire Technical Institute Library, 31 College Drive, Concord, produced by the Central NH Storytellers; and from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Stone Church 5 Granite St., Newmarket, produced by the Seacoast Storytellers)
Dawnland Storyfest: 2018 date TBA

Other organizations
New Hampshire Storytelling Alliance, nhstorytelling.org
League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling, lanes.org
National Storytelling Festival, storynet.org

Inspired by The Moth
Tales Told: The event occurs the first Tuesday of the month at Hatbox Theatre, 270 Loudon Road, Concord, in which audience members’ names will be drawn from the hat and called up at random to tell a true, original story onstage; the next two occur Tuesday, May 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Tuesday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m., talestoldproductions.com
Long Story Short: It occurs every other month at 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth; about four or five speakers are scheduled to go up each night, and one name is drawn from a hat; the next is Wednesday, May 10, at 7 p.m., 3sarts.org, facebook.com/LSSat3S

Ongoing Meet-Ups Storytelling guilds
Souhegan Storytelling Guild, first Tuesday of each month from 6:50 to 8:30 p.m. at the Amherst Town Library, 14 Main St., Amherst, amherstlibrary.org
Seacoast Storytelling Guild, first Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Portsmouth Public Library, 175 Parrott Ave., Portsmouth, seacoaststorytellersnh.com
Central NH Storytelling Guild, second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m., at the Horseshoe Pond Place Senior Center, 26 Commercial St., Concord, cnhsg.net
Southern NH Storytelling Guild, third Tuesday of each month from 7 to 8:50 p.m., at the Nashua Public Library’s media center, 2 Court St., Nashua, nashualibrary.org
Monadnock Storytelling Circle, third Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Peterborough Town Library, 2 Concord St., Peterborough, peterboroughtownlibrary.org
Mountain Storytellers Guild, fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Conway Public Library, 15 Greenwood Ave., Conway, conwaypubliclibrary.org
Tea & Tales, last Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m., Franklin Public Library, 310 Central St., Franklin; the next is April 25 and features Ruth Niven, cnhsg.net
Mariposa Museum, 26 Main St., Peterborough, features regular storytelling events on various topics, visit mariposamuseum.org for upcoming events

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Rinaldo Essentials

Concord Facility Presents Handel's Opera, Abbreviated

Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy  Photo

 

 

Andrea Veal is pulling out all the stops for her upcoming concert at the Concord Community Music School, “Love, War & (Black) Magic,” Friday, April 7.

The program is like an abbreviated version of Handel’s opera Rinaldo, with seven fully-staged and costumed arias from the piece. Performing are music school faculty members, including Veal (voice), Steven Lundahl (recorder), Bozena O’Brien (violin), Kate Jensik (cello) and Kathryn Southworth (harpsichord and piano), who will tell the story with the help of props and scenery, from large dragon set pieces to a mobile of paper cranes suspended across the stage.

Veal began hatching the idea two years ago when music school President Peggy Senter called out for event proposals to coincide with its Musicians of Wall Street series. Handel is one of Veal’s favorite composers, and she wanted audiences to get a good feel of a baroque opera.

It’s not all about the music.

“The orchestra plays on period instruments, so the idea is that it will sound like what Handel would have heard in his time,” Veal said via phone. “Opera is a visual medium as well as an auditory one. … If you’re doing a familiar opera aria, something by Rossini or Mozart, that music is more familiar, and maybe it’s easier to just do it in a concert setting and not stage it and costume it. But I feel like the music of Handel is a little less familiar to audience members, and I wanted it to come to life in the way it’s meant to come to life.”

The story within Rinaldo involves a king desperate to retain control of his kingdom, a commander on a quest to conquer, a knight confident in love’s power and a witch searching to belong. They live in a world of dragons, sirens, flying spirits, war and black magic. The opera is three hours long, but this one is cut to span an hour and a half with intermission.

The dramatic pieces omitted will be explained in program notes so audiences can still follow along.

“We do have some small opera companies in New Hampshire, and it’s great to have them. This is a nice opportunity to not only see some opera but to hear some baroque arias,” Southworth said. “It’s hard to see opera in New Hampshire, but it’s even harder to see baroque operas because they require certain specialized singing techniques.”

The concert required a great deal of practice and planning. Veal sent scores and performance videos to the musicians in December and has been rehearsing with them for the past five weeks.

Veal studied early music from the baroque period and sang in chamber choirs and music groups like the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. It’s important to her that audiences feel the same vitality these ideas, themes and characters had in the 1700s, when Handel wrote them.

“I want people to see how alive and important this music can be when it’s done with imagination and personality. So many of my students love musical theater, and this is just the precursor to that,” Veal said.

 

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Love, War & (Black) Magic

Where: Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall St., Concord
When: Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $15
Contact: ccmusicschool.org, 228-1196

FEATURED MUSIC

Among Friends

Def Leppard & Tesla Share More Than An Era

Written By Michael Witthaus (music@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy  Photo

 

 

Throwback package shows are the music industry’s bread and butter. Gather a few acts, put a decade on the ticket and call it a tour. On the surface, an upcoming triple bill at SNHU Arena has all the signs of this classic rock calculus. Three bands sharing a late ’80s/early ’90s heyday and an active rock sound are hitting the road for a show that seems to be the sum of its Headbanger’s Ball parts.

Two of the acts have more in common than an ability to coax soccer moms (and dads) in to the minivan and out to revisit their youth. Tesla opened for Def Leppard on tour in 1987, the moment they began winning a national audience. At one raucous club show, Leppard members Phil Collen and Steve Clark jumped on stage to jam with the group.

The connection goes back further, guitarist and cofounder Frank Hannon recalled in a recent phone interview.

“Even before Tesla, we were really huge fans,” Hannon said. “Our first band, City Kidd, would play all those songs in the bars — ‘Let It Go,’ ‘Saturday Night,’ ‘High ‘n Dry.’ Once we started writing our own songs, it became a big part of our sound.”

After they met, the two groups became close friends, and they have toured together several times over the years. In particular, Collen took a strong interest in Tesla. During a tour last year celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1986 debut, Mechanical Resonance, he stopped by the band’s dressing room and offered his services.

“Phil has always loved Tesla, and that night he just started throwing all these great ideas at us,” Hannon said.

Collen wrote and produced a song, “Save the Goodness,” which ended up as a bonus track on a live disc of the show. “He thought it sounded a lot like Tesla, and he was right,”

Hannon said. “Ronnie Montrose did that with us at the very beginning. ‘Little Suzi’ is one our biggest hits, and he brought that to us.”

Working with the Leppard guitarist was so inspiring that he returned to the helm for a new studio album, currently in development.

“It was really energizing for the band,” Hannon said. “It’s kind of like in sports — when a coach comes in from the outside, the team always plays better.”

The hard-rocking band, named after pioneering inventor Nikola Tesla, is often misunderstood. Because they had feather cuts in the days of Mötley Crüe, some critics call them hair metal. “We came out of the same era,” Hannon said with a wry laugh. “But we were always kind of good old rock ’n’ roll guys.”

To be sure, the first music Hannon ever loved was the Rolling Stones — as a toddler, no less. “I remember the first time I heard ‘Satisfaction’ on my mom’s radio in her Chevy Impala; it scared the heck out of me,” he said. “Man, that sound Keith Richards made was just mesmerizing,” he said.

In grade school, he’d sneak into neighborhood keg parties to hear local cover bands play, and decided to take up guitar after watching the documentary film Monterey Pop: “Seeing Jimi Hendrix light his guitar on fire drew me even more to rock ’n’ roll.”

Tesla blends hard rock elements with a variety of rock influences, and was one of the first bands to have a breakout hit with an “unplugged” album, 1990’s Five Man Acoustical Jam. Apart from a six-year hiatus from 1994 to 2000, they’ve been been at it for three decades.

“One of the reasons for our longevity is we’re very diverse. We didn’t just have a bland image of playing just metal,” Hannon said. “We weren’t a typical ’80s band; there are a lot of acoustic elements in our music, bluesy rock ’n’ roll, country … and we have tons of songs. I’m very diverse, and to balance it out, Jeff Keith has a really consistent voice and approach to songwriting.”

Staying power wasn’t a goal when Hannon and his mates were knocking around the bars in Sacramento, California, mixing Def Leppard covers with originals and dreaming of rock stardom.

“I always wanted to play until the day I die, but 30 years later? I never thought of that,” Hannon said. “But I will say that we always did try to write quality songs. It’s great to play something I wrote when I was 18 years old and still have it sound good.”

 

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Def Leppard, Poison & Tesla

Where: SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St., Manchester
When: Saturday, April 8, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $29.50 - $129.50 at snhuarena.com

FEATURED FILM

Film Review

The Boss Baby (PG)

Written By Amy Diaz (adiaz@hippopress.com)

Images: Movie Screenshot

 

 

Alec Baldwin is more Jack Donaghy than Donald Trump in the surprisingly fun animated movie The Boss Baby from DreamWorks Animation.

Tim (Miles Bakshi in his kid voice, Tobey Maguire in his adult narrator voice) is horrified by the arrival of the Boss Baby, the Baldwin-voiced suit-wearing adorable tyrant who takes over the house and soaks up all of his parents’ — Dad’s (Jimmy Kimmel) and Mom’s (Lisa Kudrow) — time and, Tim fears, love. But the Boss Baby is just on assignment from Baby Corp. to attempt to infiltrate Puppy Co., the company where Tim’s parents work. Babies are apparently losing ground in the “love” metric to puppies, and Baby Corp. fears that a new product launch by Puppy Co. could knock them out of the market permanently. Boss Baby must stop that product launch to save his beloved company and earn a much-longed-for promotion to a corner office with a glass-tabled high chair and a golden potty of his very own. Eventually, Boss Baby and Tim decide to work together, as Boss Baby’s promotion (and therefore departure from the household) is the only way to ensure that Tim will get his parents’ attention entirely back on him.

Or, to put it another way, Tim is scared and sad at losing his only-child status and is at odds with the natural tyrant that is any newborn baby, but slowly he learns how to live with this new housemate.

Perhaps this is because I expected this movie to be a chore or perhaps because I’ve been worn down by the tiny bosses who demand my constant attention, I was unexpectedly charmed by The Boss Baby. The movie delivers in its introduction the basic premise that Tim is a kid with a lively imagination — both during play and, we suspect, in how he deals with the world. The movie does a surprisingly good job of balancing these elements — this fanciful story of a baby corporation with baby executive-level management and the emotional reality behind Tim’s adventure. This isn’t quite Pixar-level development and execution of a theme, but it is solid throughout and the movie really holds together the different parts of what it’s doing.

My one quibble with The Boss Baby is that I can’t really figure out who this is for. I feel like much of it would sail well over the head of my young-elementary-aged movie-watcher but might approach too-young-for by late elementary. What I most enjoyed about it was Baldwin’s character, specifically his 30 Rock-CEO-like blend of Successories affirmations-style optimism and, well, baby-like selfishness. I’m not sure what aged kid will be all about that but perhaps the colorful scenes of imagined adventures and the baby-based goofy humor could be enough to entertain the intended audience.

Grade: B

FEATURED POP 

Egg-Static for Easter

Hunts, Festivities & More

Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy  Photo

 

 

From egg hunting to meeting with the Easter Bunny, there are plenty of fun family-friendly festivities in the Granite State to celebrate Easter this year.

 

Town Egg Hunts

• Bow – Saturday, April 8, at Bow Elementary School (22 Bow Center Road). Hunts begin at 10 a.m. Other festivities will include face-painting, Easter crafts, and a breakfast buffet in the school’s cafeteria from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. courtesy of the Bow Men’s Club (admission is $6 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and under). Visit bownh.gov.

• Exeter – Friday, April 14, at Swasey Parkway. Hunts start at 4:30 p.m., and the event will include light refreshments and an appearance by the Easter Bunny.

• Hooksett – Saturday, April 15, at the Hooksett Public Library (31 Mount St. Mary’s Way). Hunts start at 9:30 a.m. for babies and toddlers, 10 a.m. for preschoolers and 10:30 a.m. for ages 6 and up. There will be games, crafts, visits with the Easter Bunny and more from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Visit hooksettlibrary.org.

• Hopkinton – Saturday, April 8, at Hopkinton Middle High School (297 Park Ave., Contoocook). Hunt starts at 10 a.m. and is open to grade 3 and under. BYO basket. Photos with the Easter Bunny offered 9:30 to 10 a.m. Visit hopkintonrec.com.

• Hudson – Saturday, April 8, at Dr. H.O. Smith School (33 School St.). Hunts start at 11:30 a.m. for age 4 and under, noon for K through grade 2 and 12:30 p.m. for grades 3 through 5. BYO basket. Visit hudsonrec.com.

• Manchester – The Spring Celebration takes place on Saturday, April 8, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St.). It features stories, crafts and an egg hunt for kids ages 2 through 7. Registration is recommended. Visit manchester.lib.nh.us. The Friends of Stark Park’s Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to noon, at Stark Park (River Road, Manchester), and is open to age 8 and under. Visit starkpark.com.

• Merrimack – Saturday, April 8, at Wasserman Park (116 Naticook Road). Hunts start at 10:10 a.m. for ages 1 through 3, 10:30 a.m. for ages 4 and 5, 10:50 a.m. for ages 6 and 7 and 11:10 a.m. for ages 8 through 10, and are open to residents only. BYO basket and camera for photos with the Easter Bunny. Refreshments will be available for purchase. Visit merrimackparksandrec.org.

• Milford – Saturday, April 15, at Keyes Park (Elm Street). Hunts start at 11:15 a.m. for toddlers, 11:45 a.m. for pre-K to Grade 1, and 12:15 p.m. for grades 2 through 4, and are open to residents only. BYO basket. There will be a bake sale, raffles, photos with the Easter Bunny ($3) and field games from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit milford.nh.gov.

• New Boston – Saturday, April 8, at 10 a.m. on the town common (7 Meetinghouse Hill Road). The Easter Bunny will lead kids in an Easter bonnet parade. An egg hunt will follow. BYO basket. Prizes will be awarded for the most creative bonnets and for finding special eggs. Visit newbostonnh.gov.

• Pelham – Saturday, April 8, on the Village Green (in front of the Town Hall). Hunt begins at noon and is open to age 8 and under. There will be visits with the Easter Bunny, fun activities and prizes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The inclement weather date is April 15. Visit pelhamweb.com.

• Salem – Saturday, April 15, at Soule Elementary School (173 S. Policy St.). Hunts start at 11:30 a.m. for age 5 and under and 1 p.m. for ages 6 through 10. There will be a bounce house, face-painting, live music and balloon animals from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit rccsalem.com/egghunt.

• Windham – Saturday, April 8, at the Town Hall (3 N. Lowell Road). Hunts start at 9:45 a.m. for ages 3 through 5, 10 a.m. for age 2 and under and 10:30 a.m. for ages 6 through 9. BYO basket and camera for photos with the Easter Bunny. Visit windhamnewhampshire.com.

 

Other Egg Hunts & Events

• Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org) will hold its Easter Egg Hunt at the Museum on Saturday, April 15. Hunts begin for ages 4 and under at 10 a.m., and for ages 5 and up at 10:30 a.m. There will be crafts and treats until 1 p.m. BYO basket. It’s free with regular museum admission, which is $5 for adults, $4 for veterans and seniors 60+, $2.50 for ages 12 through 16, free for ages 11 and under and $15 maximum for a family.

• Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road, Hollis, 465-7787, beaverbrook.org) has its Easter Egg Trail Hunt on Saturday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to noon. Eggs will be hidden along the decorated trails and replenished throughout the day. It’s free and open to all ages. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St., Candia, 483-5623, visitthefarm.com) presents the Egg-Citing Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8, Sunday, April 9, and Saturday, April 15, with check-in times from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There will be visits with the Easter Bunny and live animals, horse-drawn wagon and tractor train rides, and an egg hunt for ages 2 through 10. BYO empty dozen egg carton. Tickets cost $19, free for babies under age 1.

• Concord Community TV will hold its second annual Easter Eggstravaganza on Friday, April 7, from 3 to 8 p.m., Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 9, from noon to 5 p.m. at Bektash Shrine Center (189 Pembroke Road, Concord). The fundraiser will feature more than 200 Easter gift baskets to win, in addition to kids’ activities, raffles, live entertainment and more. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and free for kids under 12. Visit yourconcordtv.org or call 226-8872 to buy tickets.

• Kimball Jenkins Estate (266 N. Main St., 225-3932, Concord, kimballjenkins.com) throws an Eggstravaganza on Saturday, April 15. The hunt begins at 10:15 a.m. and is open to ages 1 through 11. There will be a bounce house, face-painting and photos with the Easter Bunny from 10 to 11 a.m. Admission is free.

• Next Level Church presents the Helicopter Egg Drop on Sunday, April 16, in Concord, Epping, Portsmouth and Somersworth. Thousands of eggs will be dropped from a helicopter onto a grass field for kids to collect. Drops are held at 9 and 10:30 a.m., and the exact locations will be announced that weekend. To participate, register online at 2017eggdrop.com and attend an NLC service during Easter weekend. NLC in Concord meets at the Mill Brook School (53 S. Curtisville Road).

• Our Promise to Nicholas Foundation (NH Sportsplex, 68 Technology Drive, Bedford, 785-4249, ourpromisetonicholas.com/eggs2017) holds its Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 15, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. It features ongoing egg hunts, live entertainment, visits with the Easter Bunny and other special guests, a bounce house, games, raffles, a silent auction and a bake sale. Tickets cost $8 per person or $28 per family in advance, $10/$32 at the door.

• St. Joseph Hospital (172 Kinsley St., Nashua, 882-3000, stjosephhospital.com) will hold its Easter Egg-citement event on Saturday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Atrium. There will be face-painting, games, cookie-frosting, arts and crafts, photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny and more. Admission is free.