November 2020 Magazine

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KEEPING YOU SAFE DURING COVID-19

What We’re Doing to Keep You and Our Staff Safe:

• We are following guidance issued by the Governor’s task force and CDC, as well as adding other safety measures.

• Staff and volunteers will be wearing masks and have been trained on the proper measures for use of PPE.

• Our new and upgraded HVAC system is installed with medical-grade filtration and iWave ionization. We increased the circulation rates on a 24-hour cycle.

• We created order from your seat, contactless concessions! You can order your snacks and beverages before the show at musichallnh.square.site.

• Seats have been spaced with 6 feet of distance between groups—please socially distance in common areas where possible.

What We’re Asking You to Do When You Visit:

• If you are feeling sick, have symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, loss of smell or taste, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, chills, headache, gastrointestinal issues), or if you have been exposed to someone who has tested positive to COVID-19, please stay home!

• We’re asking you to protect yourself, our staff, and our community by wearing a mask in all communal areas. You may remove your mask while sitting in your seat, but please wear your mask while entering, exiting, and if you visit concessions or the restrooms.

For the most up-to-date information visit: TheMusicHall.org/Reopening

The Music Hall Needs Your Help

Thank you to all of you who have continued to support us through this time. The arts face an existential crisis. We were among the first to close and we’ll be the last to open fully. If you are able, please consider a financial gift or membership. We know that it is a very uncertain time for many people, so if a financial gift isn’t in your budget, help spread the word. Ask your local representatives to cosponsor the HEROES Act incorporating the Save Our Stages Act (we recently turned the theater red to participate in #RedAlertRESTART in support of these acts). Please join us—saving arts and cultural organizations means saving downtowns and cities, as well as 12 million jobs nationwide.

To donate, or for more information on membership: TheMusicHall.org/donate

CURATOR’S CORNER

A MEDLEY OF HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING ON THE HORIZON

Thérèse LaGamma, Director of Programming

Every year, we here at The Music Hall and our friends at Ogunquit Playhouse make a mad dash at Thanksgiving week, when we open our much anticipated musical with gusto. This year, thanks to the unique challenges this pandemic creates, we are not able to stage the production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas the Musical. While we are disappointed, we are excited to announce that we have secured the rights for next year. White Christmas will be returning to Portsmouth in 2021!

With these challenges, we found that the best way to offer a holiday experience that is accessible to nearly everyone is to offer a wide assortment of programming. We think we can better suit your needs and wants by offering a mix of live entertainment and classic cinema at a range of price points. Our holiday medley of live events and treasured films will run from November to New Year’s Eve!

We’re excited for the return of local and beloved comedian Juston McKinney whose Last Laugh shows are selling out fast (I think we all need a laugh). Since the calendar is a bit more open this year, we can fit in more of the films that folks have been asking for. And stay tuned as more live acts and films are being booked as we speak/as you’re reading! Sign up for our e-news and follow us on social media for the latest and greatest.

COMMUNITY

‘Tis the Season for Gratitude and Giving!

Giving feels good. It’s science! Medical research reveals that giving stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, the “reward center” in the brain, releasing those delicious endorphins we all seek. That’s what makes Giving Tuesday, December 1, such a delightful event.

Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement, an effort to create an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the holiday season. The goal is to flip the focus back to giving, rather than getting. It all starts with Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26 and Native American Heritage Day on Friday the 27th. Shoppers kick into high gear that same day, also known as Black Friday, and then ride the commerce wave through Small Business Saturday on the 28th and the surge of internet shopping on Cyber Monday, the 30th. Giving Tuesday, on Tuesday, December 1, provides a fitting bookend to a week that features both gratitude and gluttony.

We are so grateful to have you as part of our family. We hope you will have an opportunity to pass some gratitude round the Thanksgiving table, and if you’re in a position to do so, please consider contributing to The Music Hall’s Giving Tuesday campaign. We’ve always relied on your support to keep us going; never has that been more true than today. Call the Box Office at 603.436.2400 or visit us online at TheMusicHall.org/donate to make a gift. We thank you, and so does your mesolimbic pathway!

ON STAGE

LIVE AT THE HISTORIC THEATER SERIES SPONSORS:

HILARITY BEST OF BOSTON COMEDY

Fri., November 6 • 8:30pm • Historic Theater

For over 20 years, The Boston Comedy Festival has been one of the most prestigious comedy events in America. The Music Hall is bringing the very best of the festival to Portsmouth!

LIVE AT THE HISTORIC THEATER COMBO SABROSO QUARTET

Fri., November 13 • 8pm • Historic Theater

Combo Sabroso presents a much needed uplifting mix of Latin and Reggae-Jazz from the likes of Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and Bill Withers.

HILARITY SERIES SPONSORS:

LIVE AT THE HISTORIC THEATER NELLIE MCKAY

Sat., November 7 8pm Historic Theater

Singer-songwriter Nellie McKay’s music—ever hard to categorize— features everything from vaudevillian ukulele to jazz piano to pop. Nellie has appeared on TV and radio far and wide.

LIVE AT THE HISTORIC THEATER PATTY LARKIN

Sat., November 14 • 8pm • Historic Theater

Larkin redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics.

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON OUR HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING!

Live entertainment is back on at the Historic Theater! Like Santa’s elves, we are working hard booking music, comedy, and films for you and your loved ones to enjoy together this holiday season.

Step away from the screens and come down to the theater to spend quality time together. All CDC and state guidelines are in place at The Music Hall for a COVID-safe, social distancing environment.

ON SCREEN

PRESENTING

CINEMA SPONSOR:

EXTRAORDINARY CINEMA

SERIES SPONSOR:

HALLOWEEN WILDCARD

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993) PG • 1h 16m • US

Wed., October 28 • 7pm

Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion. In partnership with, and a fundraiser for, Portsmouth Halloween Parade.

EXTRAORDINARY CINEMA

JIMMY CARTER: ROCK & ROLL PRESIDENT NR • 1h 35m • US

Tue., November 17 • 2pm & 7pm

If it hadn’t been for a bottle of scotch and a late-night visit from musician Gregg Allman, Jimmy Carter might never have been elected the 39th President of the United States. The documentary charts the mostly forgotten story of how Carter, a lover of all types of music, forged a tight bond with musicians Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, and others.

WILDCARD SERIES SPONSORS: Cocked Hat Ventures; The Hippo; RAM Printing

EXTRAORDINARY CINEMA ON THE ROCKS R • 1h 36m • US

Tue., November 10 • 2pm & 7pm

A young New York mother (Rashida Jones) faced with sudden doubts about her marriage teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father (Bill Murray) to tail her husband (Marlon Wayans). What follows is a sparkling comic adventure across the city—drawing father and daughter closer together despite one detour after another. Directed by Sofia Coppola.

EXTRAORDINARY CINEMA OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE NR • 1h 51m • US

Tue., November 25 • 2pm & 7pm

A month after receiving a fatal diagnosis in January 2015, Oliver Sacks sat down for a series of filmed interviews in his apartment in New York City. For eighty hours, surrounded by family, friends, and notebooks from six decades of thinking and writing about the brain, he talked about his life and work, his abiding sense of wonder at the natural world, and the place of human beings within it.

NOVEMBER 2020

Schedule subject to change, please check our TheMusicHall.org for updated calendar

Music Will Dailey 6pm & 8pm

At the Historic Theater At the Loft

Offsite/Online

2pm & 7pm Livestream Creative Mornings PKX 9am Movie Great Art On Screen: Secret Impressionists 2pm & 7pm

ONLINE HOLIDAY AUCTION STARTS NOVEMBER 8

Going live on November 8, bid on this year’s unique gift offerings in our annual holiday online Auction.