NH Unscripted with Ray Dudley

My wife and I have questions about putting our garden beds to rest now that it’s the end of the growing season and that means it’s time to bring on Ethan and Amy Sager from the Again & Again Farmstead in Tamsworth, NH. What I prize about talking with them is that they are live in a rarified world known as “permaculture”. And when I say they live in that world I mean exactly that. Soil preservation, water capture, wool pelletizing, worm castings and biochar are just some of the techniques employed on their farm. Every chat them delivers an education in how to garden the right way. It’s never, ever boring spending time with these two friends. Their respect and knowledge for proper land use absolutely amazes me. And their newsletter is like an encyclopedia. In this episode they’ve even kindly provided a coupon code for free shipping on anything from their website. Luv these guys!!!

God knows I love bbq and today Dan Lloyd, Founder and CEO of Big Dog Sauce Company, and Brian Bowman of Hot Mess BBQ NH stop by the WKXL NH Unscripted studio to chat about their latest bbq news updates. Dan let’s us in on a little secret concerning Big Dog’s website upgrade and where the company is headed (and believe me, it’s great to hear). Hot Mess BBQ, voted Northeast Barbecue Society’s “Rookie Team of the Year”, shares some year end team updates and tells us what it’s like to be in these competitions. Meat selection, sauce and rub use, presenting to the judges, team placement, etc are on the menu. See what I did there?

In the first half of this episode of WXXL's NH Unscripted The Players Ring, and more specifically the production of “The Man Who Laughs”, takes center stage in this interview with Kevin Collins. Kevin and I saw a matinee of the show recently and wanted to give our take on it. I know several of the cast members (Wayne Asbury Emily Karel and Leslie Pasternack) and was intrigued and excited to see them perform again. Toss in actors Ben Bagley Kevin Baringer and we were off to the races! Only six words are spoken in the whole show and it attempts to transfer a black and white silent movie to the stage. It was the perfect use of the Players Ring theater and it drew a truly appreciative crowd. Niche? Yup. Risky? Yup. Did they pull it off? Heck Yup. I loved the show, loved the cast and loved the venue. This was/is a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Portsmouth. Kudos to the Ring for letting this show see the light of day. I never doubted that they could deliver. Oh BTW, the music was haunting and perfect. In the second half of the show Kevin and I get into television shows we feel are and aren't worth watching lately.

Marek Bennett, New Hampshire cartoonist, musician and educator drops in to talk about his graphic novel series “The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby”. Marek is the recipient of the New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Art Education “...His work is brilliant, playful, relevant and infused with compassion and deep understanding of the world as it is, was and might be.” This interview was absolutely fascinating to me! It was intriguing, at times riveting and absolutely rich with information. I fell in love with his artistic style and his love for bringing subjects to light that I had never considered.

Here at WKXL's NH Unscripted mention the movie “Jaws” and adrenaline instantly pours into my veins! It’s an iconic movie with a crazy amount of adrenaline pumping scenes (especially that opening one jeeze). It was released 50yrs ago this year. The @nhtheatreproject is showcasing the stage production of “The Shark is Broken”. Directed by Todd Hunter and starring Jeff Ripley as Robert Shaw, Dan Kelly as Roy Scheider, and Aaron Bencks as Richard Dreyfuss, this spectacular comedy co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, the short tempers of Jaws stars Robert Shaw (father of co-writer Ian), Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider take center stage as they bond, argue, drink, gamble, and pray for an end to the shoot, not knowing it will change their lives forever. October 17- Nov 2nd in Portsmouth.

I absolutely LOVE Rubin's Spicy BBQ Hot Sauce. If it's a meat it gets the sauce! Ever been to The Big E in West Springfield MA? WKXL's NH Unscripted has (that was another life ago) and so has our friend Rubin Lichtenstein of Rubins Hot Sauce and he’s come by the studio to tell us what his experience was as a vendor for 18 days as over a million visitors filter on through. As a bonus for our NH Unscripted listeners Rubin drops some inside info about an upcoming cooking show (thank you CTV and the 90 Low restaurant) AND a cookbook that he’s working on. Oh and wait until you hear his story about fairgoers putting his hot sauce on their ice cream!! Yup you read that right.

In our WKXL's NH Unscripted continuing mini-series chatting about the New Hampshire Film Festival happening Oct. 16-19 in Portsmouth with spend some time with Ian McCarthy, Lead Programmer for the Festival. Ian talks to us about the film selection process for him and his team and gives a couple of film titles that he’s excited about and why. Toss in a little chatter about the various ticket levels (and trust me they’re a bargain) plus a lot more and we’re off and running!

CABA returns!! At WKXL's NH Unscripted we really love honey and so Jamie Jobin and Heather Moynihan from the Capital Area Beekeepers Association swing by to answer some questions I’ve had about the various types of honey (dark, types of infused, seasonal, creamed, psychedelic, etc) and help me to understand certain terminology that I’ve come across while traveling down some rabbit holes doing research. They even brought some samples for us to try!!! Oh yeah, daddy’s a happy camper.

We all know that there are many types of art. And truthfully, I’ve never thought much about furniture as art and had no idea that a group of furniture makers fall in a category called “Fine Furniture Masters”. But they exist and not only exist, but, will have some of their works on display at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester from October 9th through February 8th. Today with the help of Richard Oedel, Fine Furniture Master from Wolfeboro, we take a little detour into some of the most incredible pieces of furniture that I’ve ever seen. We talk about the exhibit called “Joined Together: 30 years of the Furniture Masters”, the accompanying book, other Furniture Masters around the country, the Prison Outreach Program they’ve created and, as always, much, much more.

One of the most popular Stephen Sondheim musicals, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", will be hitting the stage of The Village Players of Wolfeboro for two weekends beginning (quite appropriately) October 31st. And we at WKXL's NH Unscripted just happen to get the director Paul Stewart (yes I get his name wrong during our interview! Sue me.) and several of the cast members to break down the progress of this tremendous show. Andrew Gibson (Sweeney himself), Erin Balestrieri (Mrs. Lovett), Louis Laurendeau (Anthony Hope) and Janice Knepp (Ensemble member) give us all the details. Synopsis for those who aren’t familiar with it: “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is a dark musical about a barber named Sweeney Todd who returns to London after being wrongfully imprisoned. He seeks revenge on the corrupt Judge Turpin, who framed him, and teams up with Mrs. Lovett, who runs a failing pie shop, leading to a series of gruesome events as Todd’s thirst for vengeance escalates.”

It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again. One of NH’s premier events is happening right around the corner. The 23rd Annual New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth is October 16th – 19th and here at WKXL's NH Unscripted we’re having a small mini series talking with some of the folks involved. First up is Mark Pruett, Cinema Curator for the festival, and he’s kind enough to answer my questions about how films get selected, which films may be the highlights of the festival, about the connection between the NHFF and the Academy Awards. International films, animated films, films with a NH connection are all in our chat. The topic of the use A.I. in film making is particularly interesting. Great first episode to kick off our series!

So many great things take place in our state which many us never know about. One of those is the film: "Granite Orpheus". My WKXL NH Unscripted guest for today was Rick Broussard of Resurrection Films in to talk about the film which will be showing at the Colonial Theater in Laconia, NH Sept 26th at 7pm. What makes this film kind of special is that we here at NH Unscripted know a few of the folks starring in the film! Bryan Halperin, Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, and Gina Carballo (former President of the New Hampshire Theater Awards) have the leads! Rick brings us up to date on what is now a project that’s 10yrs in the making. It’s history, creation and why it’s taken so long is a fascinating tale! Come on out tonight and join us in the screening!!!

Daniel Llyod, CEO of Big Dog BBQ Sauce makes a return visit to WKXL's NH Unscripted and brings with him his latest additions to his line of sauces and rubs. We talked about his new “finishing rub” (and why it works so well), his hard to keep on the shelf Caribbean Rub and his cutting edge line of freeze dried sauces. Some talk about the bbq competition circuit and his invitation to the 2025 Jack Daniels BBQ World Championship rounds out the episode! All talk today was a bbq enthusiast’s dream!

Today’s show includes “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray, mentions of the following upcoming productions: “Ghostlight” at Jean’s Playhouse, “Mutiny on the Mount” a Winni Community Theater production, “A Clockwork Orange” – Actors Coop, “The Importance of Being Earnest” – M&D, Andrew Lippa’s “Wild Party” – Seacoast Rep, “Journey Through Neverland” & “Granite Orpheus” – Powerhouse Theatre, “Company” – Actorsingers, “The Rocky Horror Show” – Divein Productions, “Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons” -tKapow. I toss in some tv shows I’m following (I know nobody asked!) as well as start some chatter about the New Hampshire Film Festival. Phew.

It’s time for WKXL's NH Unscripted to take a stroll around the state and see what’s a happenin’. This state is still just chock full of theater activity and so Andrew and I chat about upcoming auditions, summer shows that are still being produced AND we toss in some fun tunes for folks that can’t stand our chatter!!!

Culture has been thrust upon us here at the WKXL NH Unscripted studio! Callum O’Neill, dancer with the now touring production of “A Taste of Ireland” calls in to give us all the deets on their US tour. Currently in Maine, but, coming to Concord on Sept. 14th at the CCA, Callum goes into tremendous detail about the cast, musicians and crowd reactions. From the press release: “Combining traditional Irish music given a modern twist with jaw-dropping dance performances, and vibrant storytelling. This high-octane show features stars from Lord of the Dance and Riverdance as well as other World Champions, plus live musicians, to transport audiences through the heart and soul of Ireland’s culture and history.”

Part 2 of my WKXL NH Unscripted trip out to Tamworth chatting with the Barnstormer Theatre folks. And on this episode I wanted to chat with Jordan Ahnquist the new Artistic Director for them. I thought it would be great to look back at his first year as the AD and see what he thought about the season. We start with the seasons opening gala (what an event!) and talk through the seasons productions. I pick his brain about the upcoming season, possible plays he’s thinking about and what the future might look like for the Barnstormers. Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/yefsdh53

Ernest Thompson, Oscar winning playwright, director, actor, teacher, mentor and author drops by the WKXL NH Unscripted studio to chat about some of his latest projects. His one man play “Archie Parish’s Parting Words” at the REX Theatre Sept.7th, his sequel to “On Golden Pond”, his latest film “The Constituent” (w/costar Gordon Clapp) plus a heck of a lot of name dropping were all on the table during this wonderful interview. More info about Ernest and his projects can be found here: Ernest Thompson and tickets for the REX https://palacetheatre.org/venues/rex-theatre/ Otherwise, listen here: https://bit.ly/4m28Fz2

Sometimes the stars just align correctly and this past weekend WKXL's NH Unscripted had a chance to head out to The Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth got a chance to speak with some of the cast members (Sara Coombs and Lee Hollis Bussie) out there about their upcoming production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". And I’ll tell you what, after seeing the show it is hysterical, absolutely hysterical. By the time you hear this interview, they’ll have already finished their first weekend but their second weekend is coming up. You really should get out there if you get a chance to see this production. Hey, you know what is a good idea? Go to the matinee on Saturday after you check out the Tamworth farmers market first. It’s a beautiful, beautiful setting for day out and then go on over to the matinee and enjoy yourself. You’ll laugh like you haven’t laughed in years. It’s just tremendous.

Today WKXL's NH Unscripted finishes up my on site interview with the Peterborough Players with an absolutely great chat that I had with Brendon Fox about their production of Noel Cowards “Hay Fever”. Just a one on one with an AD that loves what he does and shares that passion, especially concerning “Hay Fever”. It was a fantastic trip to Peterborough and a wonderful interview to wrap-up that refreshing visit.