This week’s round-up of live entertainment in and around Manchester is brought to you by A. Robert Dionne of Ted Herbert Music School & Rentals. Email your entertainment events to rob@majestictheatre.net for consideration. Be sure to add your events to the InkLink community calendar for possible inclusion in the live radio report on WMNH 95.3 (The Morning Show with Peter White – “World of Entertainment” LIVE every Thursday at 8 a.m.)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22nd
- Sam Hammerman / The Foundry (Manchester) / 5pm
- Dave Clark / Homestead (Merrimack) / 5:30pm
- Rebecca Turmel / Fratello’s (Manchester) / 5:30pm
- Jordan Quinn / Elm House of Pizza (Manchester) / 6pm
- Senie Hunt / The Common Man (Windham) / 6pm
- Travis Rollo / Shorty’s (Nashua) / 6pm
- Chris Cyrus / Luk’s Bar and Grill (Hudson) / 6:30pm
- 21st & 1st / Stumble Inn (Londonderry) / 7pm
- Chad Lamarsh / Copper Door (Salem) / 7pm
- Jodee Frawlee / Copper Door (Bedford) / 7pm
- Jonny Friday / Tortilla Flat (Merrimack) / 7pm
- Pete Peterson / Telly’s (Epping) / 7pm
- Phil Jacques / City Hall Pub (Manchester) / 7pm
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23rd
- Justin Cohn / The Foundry (Manchester) / 6pm
- Charlie Chronopolous / Over The Moon Farmstead (Pittsfield) / 6pm
- April Cushman / Backyard Brewery (Manchester) / 6pm
- Jess Olson / Homestead (Merrimack) / 6pm
- John Chouinard / Fratello’s (Manchester) / 6pm
- Ralph Allen / Coach Stop (Londonderry) / 6pm
- Amanda Adams / San Francisco Kitchen (Nashua) / 6:30pm
- Dancing Madly Backwards / Derryfield (Manchester) / 8pm
- The Drift Duo / Stumble Inn (Londonderry) / 8pm
- Tim Theriault / Telly’s (Epping) / 8pm
- Off The Map / Strange Brew Tavern (Manchester) / 9pm
- Isaiah Bennett / Bonfire Country Bar (Manchester) / 9pm
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24th
- Nate Comp / Copper Door (Bedford) / 4-7pm
- Phil Jacques / Copper Door (Salem) / 4-7pm
- John Chouinard / Gaucho’s (Manchester) / 5-8pm
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25th
- One Big Soul Jam / Strange Brew Tavern (Manchester) / 7pm
Always be sure to check a venue’s website or social media for last minute changes.
Featured UPCOMING ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:
A CHRISTMAS CAROL / Palace Theatre (Manchester) / December 22 & 23 at 7:30pm
Come celebrate the holiday season as the Palace Theatre tradition continues with Charles Dickens’ classic story of Scrooge and Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. Known for his penny pinching ways, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts on a snowy Christmas Eve. These ghostly visits reveal Scrooge’s past, present and future, filling him with new found hope and joy in the Christmas season! Filled with lively song and dance, special effects, professional actors and a live orchestra, this heartwarming tale will create family memories you will cherish forever. www.palacetheatre.org or (603)668-5588
NH SCHOOL OF BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER / Palace Theatre (Manchester) / December 27 at 6pm
NH School of Ballet presents “The Nutcracker Suite”. Full ballet production with a cast of over 60 students! Come enjoy this Holiday Ballet classic and enjoy the tradition based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffman and music by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Follow Clara’s journey as she and her Nutcracker Prince travel to the land of sweets to be entertained by the Sugar Plum Fairy and friends! With falling snow and a growing Christmas tree this ballet will entertain all ages! www.palacetheatre.org or (603)668-5588
RECYCLED PERCUSSION / Palace Theatre / December 28-January 7
You may have seen them impressing the judges on America’s Got Talent, or even seen them perform in Las Vegas or maybe as they opened the 2017 Super Bowl or on their Emmy Award Winning TV show “Chaos & Kindness”! Maybe, just maybe, you are one of the few that have not seen this amazing show. Whether it is your first time or your tenth, a Recycled Percussion show always rocks! Don’t miss this show packed full of surprises and crowd favorites in an incredible turbo-charged performance. Be part of a one-of-a-kind show that took these guys all the way to the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas! www.palacetheatre.org or (603)668-5588
JUSTON McKINNEY’S YEAR IN REVIEW 2022 / Rex Theatre (Manchester) / December 30 & 31
End the year with laughter as NH’s Juston McKinney brings his one of a kind must-see show to the Rex Theater! Using multi-media Juston dishes on his New England life and looks back at the year that was! Juston has multiple appearances on the Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien, both a half-hour special and a one-hour special on Comedy Central. He also has two one-hour specials you can currently see right now on Amazon Prime! Throw in some appearances at the TD Garden for Comics Come Home, a Showtime special with Rob Gronkowski, and you can see why NH Magazine named him “Best of New Hampshire” and the New York Times called him “destined for stardom.” Have the last laugh of 2021 with Juston at the Rex!
SCENE CHANGES / Hatbox Theatre (Concord) / January 6-22, 2023
Written by local playwright Don Tongue and Produced by New World Theatre.
“It’s a Broadway traveling show, a theatrical purgatory, and the only reason any of us are here is because we failed to land a role in a production without wheels!” So explains Samantha Wheelwright, ex-Brit, star of stage and film, but whose faltering career has landed her in the role of Mrs. Cratchit in a traveling production of A Christmas Carol. Her co-star playing Bob Cratchit has taken ill and is in hospital in Burlington, VT. When the show arrives in Concord NH the producer is forced to hire a young local actor. Enter Matthew Simmons, whose presence creates an unlikely pairing that immediately erupts into a colossal clash of wills as star-struck youthful enthusiasm slams headlong into mid-life cynical realism — and the scene changes. This play contains adult language.
CATS: YOUNG ACTOR’S EDITION / Majestic Theatre (Derry) / January 27-29, 2023
A brief adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, specially tailored for young actors. Based on Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot / CATS is set amongst a larger-than-life junkyard playground and is alive with purr-fect felines, including Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees, Macavity, Jennyanydots, Old Deuteronomy, Skimbleshanks and Grizabella. The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year—the night of the Jellicle Ball. One by one, they tell their stories for the amusement of Old Deuteronomy, their wise and benevolent leader, who must choose one of the Cats to ascend to The Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a whole new Jellicle life. Presented by The Majestic Academy Youth & Teens. www.majestictheatre.net or (603)669-7469