NH Unscripted with Ray Dudley

Continuing with a little bit of an insight into my life (and I do mean a little insight) I took the time today to showcase some very interesting songs that popped up in the 60’s & 70’s. Think Allan Sherman (Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh), Ray Stevens (The Streak), Jimmy Dean (Big Bad John), Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon (Way Down Yonder in New Orleans) and even The Archies (Sugar, Sugar). Plus One Tin Soldier, Clap for the Wolfman and a few more. I toss in some background info for most of them and get slightly nostalgic.

Bond. Jane Bond. Yup it’s time for WKXL and NH Unscripted to have a return visit with my good friend Daniel Siletti. This episode was a hoot to do! Daniel and his crew have been crazy busy with their projects and I wanted to get caught up to speed on them. They’re in the 5th season of their series Doctor Who School Daze and 2nd season of their Jane Bond series. Seriously? 5 seasons of one and 2 seasons of the other? And that doesn’t count the CTV projects that they’re knee deep in! This turned out to be a hilarious episode (with special thanks to Andrew Gibson) and the time just flew by. Enjoy!

Time to get personal. Well, a little personal anyway. Today on WKXL's NH Unscripted we take a trip in the wayback machine to my high school years and a couple of songs that had an impact on me. I especially focus on two musical groups: Procol Harum and Marmalade. The 60’s and 70’s were both great times and brutal times socially. The Vietnam war, forced school integration, the Kent State shootings, Woodstock, etc. combined to produce a snapshot of life never to be reproduced. Enjoy.

WKXL & NH Unscripted question of the day: Can you imagine attempting a brand new career at the same time that most of us would just retire and walk off into the sunset? And what if that new field you’re jumping into is standup comedy? I have an incredible amount of respect for Doris Ballard who’s decided to do that very thing. Honestly, I don’t think I could handle the rejection, but, she’s out there hitting the circuit making folks laugh. God knows we need it lately. And, just because that doesn’t keep her busy enough she’s working on writing her memoirs. AND she’s wanting to produce a project that’s she’s secretly working on. Really Doris? I’m tired just writing up this blurb!!

Today’s WKXL NH Unscripted interview was with Paul Lussier and it’s one of those interviews that I enjoy to do so much. Paul has had an interesting (though late start) career and has managed to do what a lot of us try do. And that is work in multiple mediums. His resume is impressively full of work in film/video, television, commercials, theatre and now he’s touring venues as a one man musical band! Yeah, I’m jealous. Another great inspiring interview.

Today at WKXL and NH Unscripted it’s Shaheen & Gordon law day and that brings Jared O’Connor in to talk about his field of expertise: Workers Compensation. And before your eyes roll back into your head consider the following. The Federal Gov’t has cannabis listed as a schedule one drug, but, what if you use it medically in your state for say PTSD? Can you be arrested? Can your prescriber or the dispensary be considered as aiding and abetting? Workers Comp has taken on a new challenge and twist with the advent of medical cannabis on the scene. See? Not as boring as you thought, is it?

Next up at the plate is Brendon Fox the new Artistic Director for the Peterborough Players! We talk about his background, love for theater, how he came to be the AD for the players, their upcoming season and their very diverse production offerings. Think cabarets, opera from the MET and England, fund raisers. We also get into how they make casting choices and decide about their seasons choices some of which are Dial M for Murder, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Boeing Boeing. And of course....much, much more!

Well, we at WKXL and NH Unscripted knew the day had to come at some point and this is that day. Today we’re talking Big Foot. You read that correctly. Matt Arsenault and Mike Tinsley from Chaos Theater Productions stop by to talk about their new YT streaming series “Man Ape Among Us”. “Man Ape Among Us follows the adventures of Mike Tinsley of The New Hampshire Bigfoot Society in his search for answers of Bigfoot and other cryptids in the Northeast United States. Speaking with experts and joining them on expeditions, this documentary joins Mike as he dives deep down the cryptozoology rabbit hole to find out if there are man apes living among us in secret.”

Some interviews are longgggggg overdue and this WKXL NH Unscripted episode with Emily Karel (Glass Dove Productions) is one such interview. How I went so long with having her into the studio I’ll never know. Amazingly talented and brilliant she absolutely gives us a masterclass on how to provide a backstory for a character using Lady Macbeth as her example. We also talk about the pressure of performing solo on stage and a heckuva lot more!

Part II of the WKXL NH Unscripted Spring gardening prep series with Ethan & Amy Sager from the Again & Again Farmstead (againfarmstead.com) in Tamworth. Topics covered today were soil prep, worm castings and worm tea, biochar, companion planting, succession planting, square foot gardening, their tremendous newsletter, and, as always, soooo much more!

What makes for a great garden? Were you thinking fertilizer pellets made from wool? How about biochar inoculated with worm casting tea? No? Perhaps tree sprays made from fermented fruit droppings plus a few other ingredients? Well, today we at WKXL NH Unscripted talk with Ethan and Amy Sagar from the Again & Again Farmstead in Tamworth about their innovative techniques being used on their farm. Unfortunately I talk wayyyyyy too much and so had to bring them back later for a part 2. Plus we toss in a quick chat about their recent visit from the folks from NH Chronicle!

What makes for a great garden? Were you thinking fertilizer pellets made from wool? How about biochar inoculated with worm casting tea? No? Perhaps tree sprays made from fermented fruit droppings plus a few other ingredients? Well, today we at WKXL NH Unscripted talk with Ethan and Amy Sagar from the Again & Again Farmstead in Tamworth about their innovative techniques being used on their farm. Plus we toss in a quick chat about their recent visit from the folks from NH Chronicle!

Well it was apparently “take a friend to work day” today at WKXL's NH Unscripted as I had the privilege of sitting with Gary Locke and Greg Gaskell. Topics covered ranged from the tv show “Severance” to a fundraiser for the Hatbox Theatre happening in April to Gary trying to convince us he was once a body double for Roger Moore. (We had a hard time believing it as well.) Greg is a crazy talented writer, especially comedic, and we talked a lot about what he’s currently invested in and then he asks Gary and I what roles or types of roles we still be interested in taking on. Some other friends get honorably mentioned as well: Aaron Compagna, Alex Picard, Wayne Asbury, Emily Karel and more!

Time to talk magic at WKXL and NH Unscripted! More specifically the upcoming show “Jokers of Magic” hitting the Rex Theater stage in Manchester on March 13. Matt Donnelly, The Mind Noodler, and recently named “Las Vegas’ Best Up and Coming Comedy Magician” by the Review Journal phones in to talk about the project. Four performers, Matt, Eric Dittleman (a guest on Ellen, Live with Kelly & Ryan and appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us), Michael Mills (has appeared at The Chicago Magic Lounge, Carnival of Illusion in Phoenix and his one man showFool Me Once tours the country) and Nick Diffatte (has performed at nearly every property up and down the Las Vegas strip, including the New York, New York Hotel & Casino where he is currently starring in Cirque du Soleil’s hit residency Mad Apple), “…are armed with credits ranging from America’s Got Talent to Penn & Teller’s Fool Us and have entertained audiences around the world…”. “The Jokers Of Magic is like SNL and Whose Line is it Anyway? had a love child and sent it to Hogwarts!”

It’s S&G Friday at WKXL and NH Unscripted where we dedicate the last Friday of every month to chat with our sponsor! Today Bill Christie, partner at Shaheen & Gordon, steps up to the plate to discuss some of the highlights and strengths of their law firm. He’s a famous lawyer that successfully sued the federal government for leaking information to Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang that they then used to murder informants against them. Then he speaks of the time they had a case which dealt with copyrighted material that even involved a representative from Apple Records (think the Beatles) stepping in to assess the case. We are so proud to have them sponsoring NH Unscripted!

God I love my job! Willie Armstrong from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (yes pipers) takes some time from their busy schedule to call in to the WKXL/NH Unscripted studios and talk about this high octane musical group. From the early days of winning a talent contest to playing before 85,000 fans Willie covers it all. For the past two decades, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers have taken the world by storm with their infectious blend of groundbreaking fusion of traditional Scottish music with rock and pop anthems which they proudly call ‘Bagrock.’ And you can tell by the way Willie talks that RHCP have a deep love and respect for their fans. Song selection, fan engagement, the structure of each event and hint that they’re dropping a new album are all on the table. They’re playing March 2nd at the Colonial Theater in Laconia. Get a ticket soon because there can’t be many left!

I recently came across a theatre company that somehow I hadn’t heard about before and wondered “When did they pop up”? Sooooo I put my feelers out and finally got them into the WKXL NH Unscripted studio for a great chat. Meg Gore, Artistic Director/Manager and Katy Gore, Choreographer of Ovation TC in Londonderry, NH dropped all the details of this, somewhat-ish, new group. They pulled in 8 awards at the recently held NHTA’s, have summer workshops and classes and tell the tale of performing Mama Mia! outdoors. Welcome aboard folks!

If you have never been to one of the Studio Lab's industry nights you are sorely missing out! The first Thursday of every month they hold a free open house and invite any in the entertainment industry to attend. Today on WKXL and NH Unscripted Andrew and I discuss the efforts by the Studio Lab in Derry to help attract more of the film industry to New Hampshire with the creation of the NHEA (New Hampshire Entertainment Alliance) and the introduction of a bill to our state congress to create a New Film Office and offer some type of tax incentives. We also go around the state chatting up some of the auditions coming up for several of the community theatre groups

One of my favorite theaters to perform at (not to mention see great shows) has always been the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, NH. And I was looking over their upcoming season and knew I just had to get someone from there in to chat it up! Today WKXL and NH Unscripted welcomed in Cory Lawson, Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Winni. And man did we have a blast. One of the most fascinating stories was about their collaboration with the Meredith Historical Society, and Mount Washington Cruises to have a dinner and show on the Mt. Washington for a play written by NH’s own Bob Montana, the genius behind the Archie comics!!! Say whatttttttt?? I know right? Enjoy!!

WKXL and NH Unscripted drop part two of our interview with Angèlica Rosenthal and Mackenzie Goodwin and it picks up where we left off with both talking about their thoughts on how the NHTA’s went on Saturday night. We also delve deeper into what the show The Prom is about (as well as some of the controversy it has sparked). We end this second episode with thoughts about American Idiot (with audition dates) and how it, and The Prom, are suitable for the current political and social environments.