It’s always interesting to learn the backstories of great works of art, and to experience those “aha” moments of connection between history and the present day.Read More
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Jacques Offenbach became rich and famous as a composer of operettas full of witty topical references and irresistible tunes that would come to signify the joie de vivre of 19th-century Paris. But as he neared the end of his life, he craved more: acceptance as a “serious” composer. He decided to write an opera based on the dark, enigmatic stories of the most popular fantasy write of the day, E.T.A. Hoffmann.Read More
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Choosing which movie to see is often vexing. There are just more releases every month than an ordinary human being with an actual life can see. It’s a shame, but there it is. But sometimes it’s harder than usual.
A month or so ago, as I was facing the task of choosing which movies to discuss in May, I had a couple of real posers. Last week, my choices were either Catherine Deneuve in On My Way or Nymphomaniac Vol. I. I chose the one with all the naked people in it because I wanted to keep up with what Lars von Trier is up to. But I knew that the Deneuve film would also be good.
The choice for this week was equally difficult, given that I would rather watch movies in The Historic Theater. The Big Room was playing Enemy, an intellectually challenging thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal. I like Jake, and I like thrillers.
And yet, despite all that, I chose to head to The Loft to watch and discuss Particle Fever, a documentary about the Large Hadron Collider, the extremely large machine built in France and Switzerland to shoot very small bits of matter at one another at unimaginably high speeds in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Higgs Boson.Read More
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Bestselling author and physician Deepak Chopra visited The Music Hall Thursday December 6, 2012 to discuss his latest work, Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness and Spiritual Well-Being, co-authored by Harvard Medical School Professor Rudolph E. Tanzi. The first ever Innovation and Leadership Forum in the Historic Theater was presented in collaboration Writers on a New England Stage, The Music Hall-New Hampshire Public Radio series of bestselling authors. The transformational evening included a discussion with Executive Producer/Moderator Patricia Lynch, and closed with Dr. Chopra leading the sold-out audience of 900 in a meditation in the landmark 1878 theater.Read More
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No sooner had we opened the Music Hall Loft Center for Performing Arts, Literature and Education then we had a full slate of Explore & Learn programs the space was designed for: We kicked off with a master class with members of the “comedy empire” (New York Times) Second City and 18 students and two teachers from Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy (CATA) on April 15. According to Deb Pickett, House Manager/Coordinator of Volunteers, “the room was alive with creativity.”Read More
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