Getting to chat with friends makes for some of the best WKXL NH Unscripted episodes and this one with Deirdre Bridge is a great example of that. This get together was supposed to happen earlier, but, got delayed. (Okay, I forgot about it and was cutting my grass! There, you happy?) I was curious about her role in the tKapow production of Paradise Now! as well as what it was like to work at the Bank of NH Stage, but, as the conversation continued things just kept going off the rails!! Deirdre cracked me up and then tossed me under the bus a couple of (well deserved) times. I really enjoy our theater community and chats like this one are big reasons why. Enjoy.

Co-star in Donald Tongue’s award winning short film “Home Burial”, Michael Cobb from “truepenny arts” dropped in the WKXL NH Unscripted studio and gave me a captivating hour talking about his upcoming workshops. Stage actors looking for an edge should lend an ear to today’s episode. Here is just a sample of his pedigree: “…movement improv in Boston, onstage at Trinity (including study and casting and advice by/from Richard Jenkins, some other names), including three-hander with another Tony nominee/Olympic Speed skater/Renfield to Frank Langella’s Dracula on Broadway, Dallas Theatre Center lead, crashing Emmy-winning choreographer’s audition and getting national broadcast on PBS out of it, year as leadership in the now Gamm Theater there, M.A. at Brown, years in the Adirondacks doing theatre, training at A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre School to be voice/speech/text coach, STUDYING ACTING WITH MOSCOW ART THEATRE FACULTY, going to Moscow to study/teach/see theatre for three months, getting hired as Head of Voice, Speech, and Text (including teaching Shakespeare) at National Theatre Conservatory in Denver (including coaching at Denver Center Theater)…” Well worth the listen.

Franklin Footlight Theatre showed up to chat about their upcoming production of SPAMALOT. We had actors, an assistant director, a choreographer, one person just hanging out and taking pictures (I’m looking at you Olivia Martenson!). And talked about classic Monty Python gags, laughs, audience expectations, crappy accents (except my Inspector Clouseau French one was spot on), and thanks to Hayley de Sousa we even (gingerly) threw in some info on their NEXT show TWISTED. SPAMALOT has all of the characters that you would expect including King Arthur, Lancelot (the homicidally brave), Lady of the Lake (complete with Laker Girls), Sir Robin (the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot), Sir Galahad, Sir Bedevere, Patsy, Prince Herbert, Concorde and many more. I’m breakin’ a sweat just typing it all!! Show dates and tickets: Aug 1-4 at the Hamilton Hall, Tilton School.