December '13 NOW

NOW The Music Hall’s Monthly Magazine

December 2013

Plus!

Two shows: Leahy Family christmas One stop shopping: Music hall gift guide Just Announced:

Chris Botti•Tony Bennett Season sponsorS

Creole Christmas!

New shows on sale!

Tickets make great gifts!

This month, our “First Saturday” on sale event for members is Saturday, December 7. The following NEW shows go on sale to members at 10am for walk-up, at noon for phone and internet sales. Get your tickets and enjoy refreshments! Tickets on sale to non-members Wednesday, December 18 at noon.

Intimately Yours: Tony Bennett Sun., March 9, 2014 • 4pm Historic Theater • $176, $140, $71 Pop, jazz, and standards legend Tony Bennett has won 17 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and two Emmy Awards, and has sold over 50-million records worldwide. He has recorded four Platinum and eight Gold albums. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see him in our exquisite small opera house!

Intimately Yours:

Intimately Yours:

Sun., June 1, 2014 • 7:30pm Historic Theater • $78; $64 The multi-Grammy Awardwinning iconic voice on over 53 million records sold, with hits like “When a Man Loves a Woman”, “How am I Supposed to Live Without You”, “How Can We be Lovers”, “Georgia on my Mind” and many more!

Sun., March 16, 2014 • 4pm Historic Theater $80, $72; $58; $32 A Music Hall favorite returns with all new guest musicians and a brand new show. Botti is the world's top-selling jazz instrumentalist. Don't miss him!

Michael Bolton

Chris Botti

Intimately Yours:

The Lone Bellow

Thurs., Feb. 27, 2014 • 7:30pm Historic Theater • $30 Voted "Best Album of the Year"

by People Magazine, this trio is in the limelight of the Americana music scene like the Civil Wars before them.

Martingale Wharf Singer Songwriter Series: Meklit Fri., Jan. 17 • 8pm • Loft • $18 Known for the soulful combination of jazz, folk and East African influences in her music.

She is "an artistic giant in the early stages," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hilarity @ The Music Hall

Darwin's Waiting Room

Sat., Jan. 25 • 8pm • Loft • $18 This family-friendly sketch comedy group is back with a brand new hour-long show!

135th Anniversary Community Open House!

Sun., Jan. 26 • 1pm • Free & open to the public National Theater of London HD Broadast: Coriolanus Sat., Feb. 22 • 1pm • Loft • $27.50; $15 students Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, with Tom Hiddleston in the title role and Mark Gatiss as Menenius, directed by the Donmar's Artistic Director Josie Rourke.

HD Broadcast: Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along Sat., Jan. 25 • 1pm • Historic Theater • $18 A powerful and moving story of friendship set over three decades, featuring some of Sondheim's most beautiful songs including "Good Thing Going," "Not a Day Goes By" and "Old Friends."

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The Music Hall Board of Trustees and staff invite you to join them in celebrating The Music Hall’s 135th anniversary! Attendees will be treated to free popcorn and cookies while supplies last; and, they can enter a raffle to win a pair of tickets to an upcoming Music Hall performance.

Plus, Historic Tours, photo booth, tech tour, family classic movie & more!

National Theater of London HD Broadast: War Horse Sat., March 22 • 1pm • Historic Theater • $27.50; $15 students From London’s West End, this extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France features astonishing life-sized puppets who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.

Get more with e-news - new shows, special deals, and updates!

1. Gift memberships are a great way to share your passion for the arts.

Starting at $50, memberships come with many benefits, including discounts at downtown restaurants and retailers! New this year — give your literary friends and family a gift membership at the Contributor level ($150) and they'll enjoy the added benefit of our Book Club, which meets several times a year to discuss books from our two writers series. For access to our popular social meet-up, the Directors Club, give a membership at the Patron level ($500).

2. Tickets or gift certificates, available in any amount, will give

everyone on your list an unforgettable experience. The recipient can choose from our eclectic, exciting programming, from Guitar Passion (2/6) to Chris Botti (3/16) or our new multi-media Historic Tours!

Guitar Passion's Sharon Isbin

3. The Music Hall Wine Club has just launched, and makes the perfect gift for the gourmand on your list. Door-to door delivery of high-quality, boutique wines from around the world shipped every three months in collections of six bottles. Wine Club membership starts at $90 — visit www.tmhwineclub.com to enroll.

(Please note, federal and state laws exclude certain states for distribution.)

5. Autographed books

from authors in our two literary series, such as Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bill Bryson, Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood and many more are available for purchase at the Box Office!

4. Movie passes are the

perfect stocking stuffer for the film buff in your life, available in packs of one, two, or six.

6. Name a seat in the Historic Theater for a loved one. An unforgettable gift

that helps advance The Music Hall as a performing arts center for the 21st century, starting at $500. Call (603) 766-2171.

7. Look for Pickwick’s Mercantile Vintage Christmas cart — on the

street and at The Music Hall — filled with all things magical and nostalgic!

8. Complete your gift purchase with Music Hall merchandise — from stickers

to tote bags to greeting cards. Show your love for your local, independent theater!

Like us on Facebook & follow us Twitter!

ays Happy Holid sic Hall! from The Mu TheMusicHall.org

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The Music Hall & Strawbery Banke Museum Present

Join us this December in Portsmouth!

"Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Christmas Capital of America" — Travel and Leisure

Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth returns for its ninth year this December with candlelight strolls & holiday shows. The City of Portsmouth will again provide the free Vintage Christmas Trolley. Join us downtown and enjoy tax free shopping, galleries, restaurants, and the Market Square Carolers!

New this year...Strawbery Banke Museum’s White Apron Café is open...Gingerbread House Contest moves to Discover Portsmouth...

Pickwick’s Mercantile Vintage Christmas cart — on the street and at The Music Hall — filled with all things magical and nostalgic!

Presenting Sponsors

A partnership between

Lead Sponsors

Community Partners

Construction Services of NH; Discover Portsmouth; J. Hilburn Men’s Custom Shirts & Apparel; The Port Inn; Riverwoods at Exeter; TMS Architects; Troiano Wealth Advisory; Seacoast Local; 107.1 WERZ – Weather Partner

Writers on a new england stage.

PresentedbybyThe Presented The Music & Music HallHall & NH NH Public Radio Public Radio

The Music Hall

Book

Club Join us for our book club discussion Wed., Jan. 8!

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Wednesday, December 4 • 7:30pm • Historic Theater • $13.25 Book: The Bully Pulpit ($40) For each 1-2 tickets sold, the purchase of a book voucher is required.

Tickets not available online, please call or visit the Box Office.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such masterwork bestsellers as Team of Rivals, No Ordinary Time, and The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys takes the stage with her latest work, bringing to life Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, the muckraking journalists of their day, and the Progressive Era. “Evocative…smart and engaging”— Washington Post “Sheds light on the birth of the modern political world” — Wall Street Journal Writers on a New England Stage is a partnership between

Presenting Sponsor: Series Sponsors: Auger Building Company, Inc.; Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service;

RMC Research; Calypso Communications; New England Audio Tech

Evening Sponsors: Jenn Madden Realtors; Seacoast Area Libraries Media Partner:

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Companion Bookstore: RiverRun Bookstore

Get more with e-news - new shows, special deals, and updates!

Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth Vintage Christmas:

Leahy Family Christmas Saturday, December 7 • 2pm & 7pm Historic Theater $40.25; $32.25 Swing into the true spirit of the season! Bring the family to see the eight remarkable Leahy siblings in their unique musical performance of Christmas favorites — from sacred hymns to fiery Celtic tunes – it’s a holiday journey of song, dance, and stories.

Don’t miss this magical, uplifting holiday adventure!

“Leahy makes Christmas a true family affair!”

– The Calgary Herald

Directors Club Holiday Party!

3:30-5:30pm @ the Loft Directors Club Sponsor: Bosen & Associates, PLLC

Sponsoring all of our holiday shows

EVENING SPONSORS: D.F. Richard Energy; Northeast Delta Dental; Optima Bank & Trust; Whole Life Health Care; Willis Programs

Singer Songwriter

Series

Vintage Christmas: Ragpicker’s Dream

ARC IRIS

Friday, December 6 • 8pm • $10 Arc Iris is the orchestral pop project of Jocie Adams, best known for her work with The Low Anthem. The singer and multi-instrumentalist formed this collective to present her ambitious new songs with cello, trumpet, pedal steel, piano, guitar and much more. NPR All Songs Considered calls the music “Somewhat cabaret, somewhat orchestral folk, a bit of show tune and jazz band.” Arc Iris has already played shows with Calexico, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Diego Garcia, and Justin Townes Earle. The debut album will be released in early 2014.

Like us on Facebook & follow us Twitter!

Saturday, December 14 • 8pm • Loft • $18.25 Sunday, December 15 • 7pm • Loft • $18.25 Includes a house beverage Get in the spirit of the season with Kent Stephens’ STAGE FORCE’s holiday celebration of stories, laughter, poetry, and song - featuring new material and old favorites from a wide array of both classic and contemporary sources. Audiences will love the intimate feeling of this readers’ theatre.

“The excellent Kent Stephens directs a scintillating cast.”

– The Portland Phoenix

TheMusicHall.org

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Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth Vintage Christmas:

Messiah Sing Friday, December 20 • 7:30pm Historic Theater • $16.25 Grab your score and join best-loved area choruses and conductors in a transcendent community sing in our glorious hall. It’s a “happening” - great fun and one of the best ways to celebrate the true meaning of the holidays.

“The audience members were the stars.”

– Portsmouth Herald

EVENING SPONSOR: Beswick Engineering Company

Vintage Christmas: Creole Christmas with Preservation Hall Jazz Band Saturday, December 21 • 8pm • Historic Theater • $40.25; $34.25 Celebrate the season as this “quintessential New Orleans institution” (NY Times) brings its wildly popular, hot and spicy New Orleans show to our stage. The band struts its stuff and sprinkles the evening with its most requested, timeless, holiday classics with a New Orleans twist.

“It only takes a few opening notes to transport listeners to 1950’s New Orleans.” – NY Times EVENING SPONSOR: D.F. Richard Energy; Wells Fargo Advisors

Juston McKinney's Last Laugh 2013!

Saturday, December 28 • 8pm Historic Theater • $24.25 End the year with laughter as the Seacoast’s own Juston McKinney performs one night only at The Music Hall. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and has two Comedy Central specials including his own one-hour special. He was recently named Best Comedian of NH by New Hampshire Magazine. Have the last laugh of 2013 as Juston reflects on his New England life and looks back at the year that was.

SERIES SPONSORS: Chase Construction; Kennebunk Savings; WHEB EVENING SPONSORS: Beswick Engineering Company; The Provident Bank 5

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on sCREEN

Presented by

THE SUMMIT PG13 • 120min • US Dec. 1, 3 @ 7pm • Historic Theater

K2, in the Himalayas, takes the lives of one in four climbers.

In 2008, 11 international climbers vanished into thin air. Watch for the climbers' firsthand footage, interviews and reenactments.

extraordinary cinema

In A World R • 93min • US Dec. 4 @ 7:30pm • Dec. 5, 10, 12 @ 7pm • Loft A hilarious romantic comedy about a struggling vocal coach who strikes it big in the cutthroat world of movie-trailer voiceovers, only to find herself in competition with the industry's reigning king—her father. Starring, written, and directed by Lake Bell, who won the Sundance 2013 Screenwriting Award for the script.

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR Dec. 8 @ 7pm • Historic Theater

NC17 • 187min • France

Cannes' Palme d’Or winner. 15-year-old Adèle dreams of experiencing her first love when she meets a blue-haired girl, making way for an intense love story that spans a decade and is touchingly universal in its depiction. (Subtitled. Sexually explicit content.)

DECEPTIVE PRACTICE PG • 111min • US Dec. 20 @ 7pm • Dec. 21 @ 3pm & 7pm • Loft

Tues., Dec. 17 @ 7pm • Historic Theater

Ricky Jay is a world-renowned magician who astonishes even the most jaded audiences. The film traces his achievements in this remarkable journey inside the secretive world of magic and the small circle of eccentrics who are its perpetual devotees.

the spectacular now Dec. 22 & 26 @ 7pm • Historic Theater

MUSCLE SHOALS

R • 90min • US

R • 95min • US

The Special Jury Prize-winner at Sundance. A vivid portrait of youth confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love and adulthood. A high school senior and effortless charmer unexpectedly falls in love with "the good girl."

All Is Lost PG13 • 106min • US Dec. 27 & 29, Jan. 1 & 2 @ 7pm • Dec. 29 @ 3pm • Historic Theater Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, an unnamed man (Robert Redford) wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas. With his navigation equipment and radio disabled, the man sails unknowingly into the path of a violent storm.

A documentary about a place filled with magic and music, legend and folklore, where the river is inhabited by a Native American spirit who has lured some of the greatest Rock and Soul legends of all time, and drawn from them some of the most important music ever created. In Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music runs through the hills, the river, and the spirit of the people. It is a place where, even before the Civil Rights Movement, the color of your skin didn't matter inside the studio. Featuring Gregg Allman, Bob Dylan, Bono, Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin.

SERIES SPONSORS: Cocked Hat Ventures; RAM Printing; The Wire; WSCA Portsmouth Community Radio EVENING SPONSOR: Neoscope Technology Solutions

hd broadcasts

the met @ the music hall FALSTAFF (VERDI)

Sun., Dec. 22 @ 12pm • Historic Theater • $27.50; $15 students Verdi’s brilliant final masterpiece has its first new Met production in nearly 50 years, conducted by James Levine and directed by Robert Carsen. Ambrogio Maestri sings the iconic basso buffo role of boorish, blustery Sir John Falstaff.

Angela Meade is Alice Ford, one of many objects of Falstaff’s affection, and Stephanie Blythe is the sharptongued Mistress Quickly.

OPERA CONNECTION Sun., Dec. 22 @ 10:30am Loft • $14 includes admission & light breakfast fare SERIES SPONSORS: Tate and Foss Sotheby’s International Realty; New Hampshire Public Television

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See Calendar on page 6 for Show & Tell Discussions

Opera expert/writer-producer Dennis Neil Kleinman will lead a lively discussion on Falstaff. Doors open an hour before – come early for coffee and pastries!

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Happy Holidays & thank you to all of our Corporate Partners!

This holiday season, please consider supporting the businesses that support The Music Hall.

2013-2014 Season Sponsors

$25,000

$15,000 to $24,999

$10,000 to $14,999

New England Audio Tech 7

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Get more with e-news - new shows, special deals, and updates!

$5,000 to $9,999 Auger Building Company, Inc.** Avery Insurance* B2W Software, Inc. Beswick Engineering** Bosen & Associates British Beer Company Carpe Diem Coffee Roasting Company** Chase Construction Churchill’s Garden Center Comcast* D.F. Richard **

The District Freedom Boat Club Kennebunk Savings* Leone, McDonnell & Roberts, P.A.* The Lighting Center at Rockingham Electric** Martin’s Point Healthcare Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Pickwick’s Mercantile Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service*

Allergy Associates of NH Barbara Henry, Hampton, NH Bottomline Technologies* Calvert Investments** Cocked Hat Ventures* Conservation Law Foundation Dr. Daniel H. De Tolla, D.D.S., M.D. Dowling Corporation* Green Horizon Landscaping IOS Business Centers* Isles of Shoals Steamship Company**

Jenn Madden Realtors Mad*Pow Middle Street Capital Northeast Delta Dental* Optima Bank & Trust* Pax World Investments** People’s United Bank** Piscataqua Savings Bank** Popovers on the Square* The Port Inn* Prime, Buchholz & Associates, Inc.*

A+C Outfitters Anneke Jans* Blue Mermaid Island Grill Digital Prospectors DTC Lawyers** Harbour Women’s Health**

Homewood Suites by Hilton in Portsmouth, NH* Jackson Lewis, LLP** Jardiniere** Leddy Group Radici*

Barndollar Real Estate LLC** Black Trumpet Bistro Blue Water Mortgage Construction Services of NH Ellis Insurance Agency J. Hilburn Men’s Custom Shirts & Apparel

Neoscope Technology Solutions Oak Point Associates* Olde Port Properties PixelMEDIA, Inc. Portsmouth Gaslight Co. Portsmouth Regional Hospital**

$2,500 to $4,999

$1,500 to $2,499

PlaneSense, Inc. Planet Fitness Franchise Sales Portsmouth Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics RMC Research Corporation** Secure Planning, Inc.** Tate and Foss Sotheby’s International Realty** The Thomas W. Haas Fund of the NH Charitable Foundation Wells Fargo Advisors*

The Provident Bank* Regal Limousine Service** Rudi's Portsmouth SIS Bank Surf Restaurant

Veris Wealth Partners*

Weyland Capital Management Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. Whole Life Health Care** Willis Programs

Robert’s Maine Grill* Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors Strawbery Banke Museum* Vigilant Capital Management LLC

$1,000 to $1,499

Supporters

Ceres Street Wine Merchants The Flower Kiosk*

Joya Beauty Puttin’ on the Glitz

92.5 FM The River City of Portsmouth Clear Channel Clear Eye Photo Foster’s Daily Democrat Great Bay Community College Haunted Milk Design Homes + Land Magazine

Infinite Imaging Keystone Press Live Free Photography New Hampshire Public Radio New Hampshire Public Television New Hampshire Gazette PortsmouthNH.com RAM Printing

Ristorante Massimo* RiverWoods at Exeter** TMS Architects Treehouse Toys Troiano Wealth Advisory Group

Sierra Designs**

Media Sponsors

*Sponsor of 5 years or more **Sponsor of 10 years or more

Seacoast Local Seacoast Media Group The Wire 107.1 WERZ WHOM WSCA 106.1FM Portsmouth Community Radio Yankee Magazine TheMusicHall.org

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1,000 @ $135

In honor of our 135th Anniversary Season!

Celebrate The Music Hall's birthday by helping us reach 1,000 gifts at $135.

Help us preserve and protect our Historic Theater for future generations.

Every donation puts a

candle on the cake!

'Tis the season for year-end giving!

Make a tax deductible donation to celebrate The Music Hall's 135th Anniversary Season.

Please consider giving above and beyond your annual membership to preserve our American Treasure — thank you so much for your support!

To make your gift please visit http://bit.ly/TMH135 or call (603) 766-2176.

Make your gift today and you'll receive a voucher in the mail good for a celebratory piece of birthday cake from our friends at Popovers on the Square!

POPOVERS ON THE SQUARE P O R T S M O U T H

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E P P I N G

explore + Learn On October 29, The Music Hall's Film Matters series presented the film Bully in affiliation with New Heights Adventures for Teens as part of National Bullying Awareness and Prevention Month.

Post-film panel (left to right): (moderator) Jeff Frigon, Tracey Tucker, Anne Ellis and Malcolm Smith.

Watch for more exciting Explore + Learn events in the New Year!

Made possible with support from Jane’s Trust.

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Get more with e-news - new shows, special deals, and updates!

DEC @ The Music hall Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth all month!

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday

Friday

Saturday

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Extraordinary Cinema The Summit 7pm

No Film Tonight

Extraordinary Cinema The Summit 7pm

Extraordinary Cinema In a World 7:30pm

Extraordinary Cinema In a World 7pm

Rental Partner Home for the Holidays: A Seacoast Musical Celebration 7pm

Leahy Family Christmas 2pm & 7pm

Writers on a New England Stage Doris Kearns Goodwin 7:30pm

Martingale Wharf Singer Songwriter Series Arc Iris 8pm

(Music Hall Book Club selection: Wed., Jan. 8)

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Extraordinary Cinema Blue is the Warmest Color 7pm

No Film Tonight

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Extraordinary Cinema In a World 7pm

No Film Tonight

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Extraordinary Cinema In a World 7pm

Community Partner Great Bay Academy of Dance An 1836 Portsmouth Nutcracker 7pm

This Holiday Season, the Hall wil be more beautifully decorated than ever before. With the new chandelier in place, it is without a doubt one of the prettiest small opera houses in the country!

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Community Partner No Film Tonight Great Bay Academy of Dance An 1836 Portsmouth Nutcracker 11:30am, 2:30pm Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth: Ragpicker's Dream 7pm

22 Opera Connection 10:30am

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The Met @ The Music Hall Falstaff 12pm

Box Office opens at 10am for member walk-up...

Directors Club Holiday Party!

3:30-5:30pm @ the Loft

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Community Partner Great Bay Academy of Dance An 1836 Portsmouth Nutcracker 10am*, 2pm, 7pm * Nutshell Ragpicker's Dream 8pm

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Wildcard Movie Muscle Shoals 7pm

Community Partner Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra Family Holiday Pops with the Sandpipers Children's Chorus 7:30pm

Community Partner Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra Family Holiday Pops with York High School Chamber Singers 7:30pm

Extraordinary Cinema Deceptive Practice 7pm

Extraordinary Cinema Deceptive Practice 3pm & 7pm

Messiah Sing 7:30pm

Creole Christmas with Preservation Hall Jazz Band 8pm

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Extraordinary Cinema All Is Lost 7pm

Hilarity @ The Music Hall Juston McKinney's Last Laugh 2013 8pm

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Merry Christmas!

Box Office closes at 4pm

Box Office closed

Extraordinary Cinema The Spectacular Now 7pm

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Extraordinary Cinema The Spectacular Now 7pm

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Extraordinary Cinema All Is Lost 3pm & 7pm

No Film Tonight

31 New Year's Eve

Extraordinary Cinema All Is Lost 7pm Happy New Year!

Box Office closed

Box Office/Historic Theater: 28 Chestnut Street The Loft: 131 Congress Street Like us on Facebook & follow us Twitter!

Extraordinary Cinema All Is Lost 7pm Event Key: @ Music @ Historic hall Loft Theater

Historic Theater Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday, noon - 6pm

Film tickets: $10 Adults; $8 Seniors 60+, Students & Military

Show & Tell discussion follows the film TheMusicHall.org

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Friends of The Music Hall 28 Chestnut Street Portsmouth, NH 03801

TheMusicHall.org • (603) 436-2400

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portsmouth, nh permit no. 202

HISTORIC THEATER/BOX OFFICE: 28 Chestnut St. LOFT: 131 Congress St. Volume 1 Issue 4

We’re looking forward to...

the lone bellow thurs., feb. 27

thank you to our season sponsors! proud supporters of the Music hall

bringing the arts home...

The ArTs Are The Answer to vibrant and prosperous communities where we treasure our heritage, celebrate our diversity and nurture our ingenuity.