Wintery weather returns this weekend, but you can keep warm with live music and theater, and start planning your spring garden. Check out some highlights of this weekend’s local happenings below.
Jazz Night turns 10
Taylor O’Donnell and Matt Langley performing at Jazz Night 2016. courtesy photo
For 10 years, the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center has presented an annual celebration of jazz. Faculty from The Jazz Institute at PMAC will mark the 10th anniversary with four performances over two nights at The Music Hall Loft. The event, titled “10 years of Jazz Night, 100 Years of Jazz,” includes shows on Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, at 7 and 9 p.m. The Friday night performances showcase the origins of jazz from 1917 to 1967, while the Saturday night shows explore the music from 1967 to the present. Tickets are $25-$30, available here.
“Hurlyburly” at the Ring
The cast of Hurlyburly. photo by Jasmin Hunter
David Rabe’s dark comedy “Hurlyburly” began captivating audiences on stage in 1984 and on the big screen in 1998, featuring many Hollywood A-listers along the way. Oz Productions’ version, opening tonight (March 10) and running through March 26 at The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth, is directed by Todd Hunter and features a cast of local A-listers. The plot follows a group of low- to mid-level Hollywood players fueled by drugs and searching for meaning in their often twisted lives and careers. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15, available here.
“Violet” at the Rep
Alyssa Dumas (right) and Caroline Shaheen portray Violet at different ages. photo by Jasmin Hunter
The Seacoast Repertory Theatre is inviting audiences to take a musical pilgrimage through the American South. The Portsmouth theater’s production of Doris Betts’ “Violet” opens tonight (March 10) and runs through April 2, coming 20 years after its off-Broadway debut in 1997. Taryn Herman directs the local production, which stars Alyssa Dumas as a mountain girl who boards a Greyhound bus in search of a miracle. Show times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. (with a special showing on March 24 at 10 a.m.). For more information, click here.
Seed to Soil Conference
Slow Food Seacoast and Seacoast Permaculture are joining forces to present the third annual Seed to Soil Garden Conference on Saturday, March 11, at the Seacoast Waldorf School in Eliot, Maine. The daylong event, taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., aims to bring together a community of gardeners to preserve our agricultural heritage and share a love of gardening with all generations. The program features demonstrations, discussions, workshops, a potluck lunch, a seed swap, and more. Tickets are $25; for more information, click here.
Notches tour kicks off
Local alt-rockers Notches, who last fall released their five-song “Change My Mind” EP, are joining excellent Ohio-born band Narrow/Arrow on a tour of the Northeast this month, and they’ll get it started with what’s bound to be a boisterous show at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on Saturday, March 11, at 8 p.m. The 11-show tour continues into April with gigs in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, and Washington, D.C. Also on the bill in Portsmouth are regional bands Badfellows and Second Becky. Tickets to the all-ages show are $10, available here.