MUSIC HALL
How a City Built a Theater and a Theater Shaped a City
This fully researched, color illustrated history traces the cultural development of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from the arrival of its first settlers. The Music Hall was built in 1878 and expanded by “ale tycoon” Frank Jones in 1901. Within these brick walls generations have watched America evolve from minstrel shows to musicals and Hollywood blockbusters, from animal acts to symphony orchestras, and from vaudeville to TEDx talks.
HOLY SMOKE: See my EIGHT SHORT MUSIC HALL VIDEOS for free right now
Shuttered and decaying during World War II, New Hampshire’s vintage venue went on the auction block in 1945. It served as a movie house for the next four decades. Saved from demolition by a grassroots team of volunteers in the 1980s and gradually restored to its Victorian splendor, it has been pivotal in revitalizing the city’s downtown. Signature programs like the “Telluride by the Sea Film Festival” and “Writers on a New England Stage” put this historic theater on the national map. A must-read for anyone who cherishes the performing arts.
."I'm so glad they saved the hall. For me, oh God, this is one of the greatest places I could play, and I've played all the great halls."
-- Jazz Legend Dave Brubeck after a sold-out Music Hall performance
"Loving history as I do, it is a special pleasure to be speaking in a place that has such a treasured past."
-- Author Doris Kearns Goodwin during her appearance for "Writers on a New England Stage"
HISTORY / THEATER/ ARTS
256 pages, 288 illustrations / Great Life Press
Hardcover
HOLY SMOKE: See my EIGHT SHORT MUSIC HALL VIDEOS for free right now
Shuttered and decaying during World War II, New Hampshire’s vintage venue went on the auction block in 1945. It served as a movie house for the next four decades. Saved from demolition by a grassroots team of volunteers in the 1980s and gradually restored to its Victorian splendor, it has been pivotal in revitalizing the city’s downtown. Signature programs like the “Telluride by the Sea Film Festival” and “Writers on a New England Stage” put this historic theater on the national map. A must-read for anyone who cherishes the performing arts.
."I'm so glad they saved the hall. For me, oh God, this is one of the greatest places I could play, and I've played all the great halls."
-- Jazz Legend Dave Brubeck after a sold-out Music Hall performance
"Loving history as I do, it is a special pleasure to be speaking in a place that has such a treasured past."
-- Author Doris Kearns Goodwin during her appearance for "Writers on a New England Stage"
HISTORY / THEATER/ ARTS
256 pages, 288 illustrations / Great Life Press
Hardcover
AUTHOR NOTES
Another three-year project in which I got to dig deep into local archives. My goal was to put the arrival and survival of the MUSIC HALL into the evolution of performing arts in Portsmouth. It was thrilling to discover the lost "Cameneum" theater, to explore itinerant acts in the late 1700s, to watch churches evolve into theaters, explore the Lyceum Movement, tie in local Black History, and dig through the record books of the Hartford family. Once again pulling together almost 300 illustrations and co-designing every page with Grace Peirce knocked the stuffing out of me. But the result is perhpas the best book yet in full color and a fitting companion to the Strawbery Banke and Wentworth Hotel volumes. Without Music Hall historian Zhana Morris this never would have been possible. Hoping it becomes a local classic.
With videography Jay Childs, I also created EIGHT SHORT EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS capturing the essence of the chapters in the book.
You can see them all RIGHT NOW for free.
Back to MY BOOKS
Another three-year project in which I got to dig deep into local archives. My goal was to put the arrival and survival of the MUSIC HALL into the evolution of performing arts in Portsmouth. It was thrilling to discover the lost "Cameneum" theater, to explore itinerant acts in the late 1700s, to watch churches evolve into theaters, explore the Lyceum Movement, tie in local Black History, and dig through the record books of the Hartford family. Once again pulling together almost 300 illustrations and co-designing every page with Grace Peirce knocked the stuffing out of me. But the result is perhpas the best book yet in full color and a fitting companion to the Strawbery Banke and Wentworth Hotel volumes. Without Music Hall historian Zhana Morris this never would have been possible. Hoping it becomes a local classic.
With videography Jay Childs, I also created EIGHT SHORT EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS capturing the essence of the chapters in the book.
You can see them all RIGHT NOW for free.
Back to MY BOOKS
