NH Unscripted with Ray Dudley for the NH Arts Community!

My friends Kat A’wahid and Laura Hoglund from the nomadic theatre troupe Lend Me A Theater came by to chat about their history as well as their upcoming projects. I was particularly interested in hearing about their expertise providing the entertainment portion of dinner theatre at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH. The amount of work that goes into mounting those productions is quite remarkable and...

The term “entertainment” covers a wide spectrum of options and today we explore one of my favorites: BBQ. In particular the bbq that comes from the hands and heart of Joe Bernier of Angry Hog BBQ in Meredith, NH. Joe began his BBQ journey over ten years ago, creating new and exciting award winning sauces that are designed to complement any meal. After appearing on the Travel Channel with Adam Rich...

Another good friend of mine, Jim Rogato (aka the voice of God), stopped by to talk about his recent role in the Traditional English Panto that played at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. He’s been seen by thousands of theater goers over the years and Jim is a founding member of the Rockin’ Daddios as well. The Rockin’ Daddios bring back some of the best loved songs from the 50’s and 60’s sung in a doo-...

Doo Wop DJ to the gods! That’s how I refer to him. Among his many talents, Joe is a DJ for WMWM 91.7 and northofbostonradio.com and spins his best Doo Wop on Uncle Henry’s Basement and Uncle Henry’s Folk show. Sometimes that’s usually followed up playing DJ’s picks on Heart of Saturday Night where you can expect a mixture of Psychedelic, Folk, Deep Tracks, Jazz. Questions, questions, questions! Wh...

Emmy award winner Marc Murai dropped by to chat about what he’s up to lately and brought a guest with him: Andrew Pinard of the Hatbox Theatre . I was interested to discuss his attempt to purchase the Ioka theatre in Exeter NH and what the final result was of the attempted purchase. I also wanted to pick his brain about two of his productions that took place in the Hatbox, “Barnum” and “1776”. “Ba...

My guest today was friend, director and author George Kelly ! I asked George to stop by so that I could pick his brain about his group Granite Playwrights , his various plays that have been performed outside NH, how he decides which topics to write about, the impact of the closing of the Hatbox Theatre on is group and finally I grabbed some ideas of what to do in NYC based on his many visits. www....

Irreverent, provocateur, out-out-out of the box thinker, not one to shy away from controversy and a definite envelope pusher is how I would describe Angelica Rosenthal and she totally brings her sassy ways to this interview. She loves theater that brings her audiences to some kind, any kind of reaction, doesn’t hesitate to stage it and is almost disappointed if it doesn’t happen. A great interview...

Today’s episode starts with a quick nod to  thecastingconnection.net  (a website designed by Jeremiah Smith strictly for theatre actors to aid in finding work). We then speak with Donald Tongue, of Tongue Mountain Productions, about the making of his short film “Home Burial” starring Michael Cobb and Kate Gilbert. The film is Donalds first attempt at creating a short film and was accepted at the C...

Bolt Cutter Productions begins a two week run of another play I’ve never heard of, Lungs, which opens this Friday at the  Hatbox Theatre  in Concord. It’s a two person play and I wanted to get the skinny on it so I had Glenn Provost, co-star and producer, come by and fill us in. Glenn gives us some introductory background about himself and then talks about this wonderful play and the challenges it...

I’ve been looking forward to sitting with Andrew Gibson, for quite some time and today was the day! If you’ve been to a play in NH recently you’ve probably seen Andrew. Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch, but, honestly, the guy has been on a tear lately! Pittsfield, the Majestic, the Colonial Theatre, Jean’s Playhouse, etc. he’s everywhere! And he freely talks about playing Spiderman for Marvel...

Michael Cobb, of Truepenny Arts stopped by to talk mechanics! As in the “mechanics of good acting”. Why do some people care to get better at the craft of performing while others could care less? What does he mean by helping actors be “in the moment”? Has he seen anything, performance-wise, that’s really impressed him? *Hint: yes, and it was a musical!* We also discussed his love for the “classics”...

Nancy Barry, Producing Director for the Interlakes Theatre in Meredith, stopped by WKXL and NH Unscripted to discuss the history of the group, her time under the mentorship of Norman Leger at the New London Barn Playhouse, what it’s like to herd 30-50 summer actors/staff each year, the process of learning to cater to her paying demographic and sooooo much more.

CCA Executive Director Sal Prizio dropped by to talk the Bank of NH Stage venue. I was able to get him to discuss his own humble beginnings which included stories of him playing in a band when he was younger, his time as a restaurant owner and how he eventually came to overseeing the Capitol Center for the Arts and the Bank of NH Stage. They’re upped their community outreach programs as well and S...

We at WKXL in Concord, NH have reached Nirvana, found Shambala, we have been handed the holy Grail! Todays’ guests, Don Lincoln (owner) and Andrew Gilman (GM), from the  Axe & Ale  in Gilford stopped by to talk about their new restaurant/pub. And man oh man did we have blast! Whose idea was it to combine having a few drinks with throwing axes? How hard was it to get insurance? What is the typi...

It’s December and that means Christmas! And Christmas means tradition! And tradition means taking in a holiday show and today we invited Andrew Pinard and Erik Hodges to stop by and talk about Hatbox Theatre’s annual production of “ A Christmas Carol ”. Erik plays Scrooge in this version which was adapted and directed by Jill Pinard. Topics today were: the use of modern technology in the classic D...

NH Unscripted and WKXL hosted Glynn Cosker from the Creative Ambitions Performance Studio of NH ( CAPS-NH ) to discuss the creation of the studio. We talked about the timing of its ambitious beginnings and the unfortunate deflating of the group due to the COVID pandemic. Then we discuss his 3 previous productions at the Hatbox Theatre : “Vanities”, “Education Rita” and “Masked”. “Masked” was a per...

We get to take a look at the 7 Day Plays event from backstage, sort of. Meredith Compagna shared the stage managing activities and, along with her insight as being the spouse to Aaron, shares her experiences from her privileged angle. Helping to choose the props, getting to view the scripts early, helping to manage Aaron (just joking!), etc. all are on the table!

Ok, the truth is that Jennifer and I start off our chat a little off track. She brings up D&D and I see the shining object and chase. But, eventually we get back to discussing her role as an actor in the 7 Day Plays event and how she viewed the productions and the process. Jennifer also brings up some topics related to the event that I hadn't really considered before, towards the end.

Valerie Kehr had the unenviable task of playing the straight guy, er, woman to a cigarette smoking stuffed bear and a fellow actor that seemed to be channeling Chris Farley. So, she rolled up her sleeves and more than held her own in a delightful comedy that captured the audience from "lights up". A thoroughly engaging discussion that felt like two old friends have a summers chat. Enjoy.

Well, it took a while to get around to discussing Karielle's script writing, but, we eventually do it! Two comedies beautifully bookended the 7 Day Plays production.  For second comedy Karielle Silk took on the role of a first time author and produced a hilarious play that ended the 7 Day Plays event on a wonderful upbeat. I'm sorry that more people couldn't have seen it and I was determined to fi...

The 7 Day Plays event featured two volunteers, who had never directed before, offered to try their hands at directing plays that hadn't been written yet with casts yet to be picked and to be performed in 7 days before a paying audience at the Hatbox Theatre in Concord NH. Mary Fraser is the second "newbie" director and it was a great pleasure to speak with her about what would possess a person to...

Laura Hoglund volunteered to direct a play that had yet to be written and using a cast that will be assigned to her AND she has only 7 days to make the whole show ready to be seen by a paying audience. Challenge accepted! Great chat with Laura about how she got to the point of doing the 7 Day Plays production as well as whether the task was a failure or a success.

Dwight Stearns was of the two actors in the first of the four plays presented on May 24th in the 7 Day Plays Production held @ the Hatbox Theatre in Concord NH. Dwight spends some time speaking about what it was like to take on 4 different roles, wrestle a Teddy Bear that smokes and much more.

After the final production hit the Hatbox Theatre stage and the curtain came down I talked with Aaron about he felt the whole shebang went. We started at day one and briefly went through each stage of the entire project.

4 playwrights (2 seasoned, 2 newbies) are given 24hrs to write a script, hand them over to 4 directors (2 seasoned, 2 newbies) who each choose a cast and have one week to put the play into a production worthy of an audience to see. Can it be done? Why would it be done? And who would conceive of the idea? Aaron Compagna that's who and he sits down with me to tell the story. Inspired by the Play in...