It’s the first weekend of 2020. Here are some events to help you get the year started off right.
Art ’Round Town
The first Friday of 2020 brings the year’s first Art ’Round Town to downtown Portsmouth from 5-8 p.m. Among the highlights on Jan. 3 is an opening reception for “Hinterlands,” featuring landscape paintings by local artist Christopher Volpe (above), at the Kennedy Gallery. And the Nahcotta gallery opens “Altostratus,” featuring work by painter Melissa Ambrose, with a reception from 5-7 p.m. And don’t forget about the Dover Art Walk from 4-8 p.m., featuring a summery “staycation” theme.
A Thousand Clowns
Murray Burns is an eccentric former TV writer who lives in New York with his 12-year-old nephew. When he draws the attention of a concerned social worker, he’s forced to pursue what he most dreads: a job. That’s the premise of Herb Gardner’s “A Thousand Clowns,” which is on stage at The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth from Jan. 3-19. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16-$20. Learn more here.
Mines Falls at Buoy
Los Angeles-based band Mines Falls kicks off a spate of Northeast shows in Kittery on Friday, Jan. 3. Featuring piano ballads by New Hampshire-born brothers Carson and Erik Lund, the duo will perform new songs on their winter tour. Also on the bill are experimental trio Fiveighthirteen (who join Mines Falls again the following night in Cambridge) and Jordan Holtz of local rock group Rick Rude. The show takes place from 8-11 p.m. Learn more here.
Songs for a New World
Before delivering Broadway hits like “Parade” and “The Bridges of Madison County,” composer and playwright Jason Robert Brown wrote “Songs for a New World,” featuring his cabaret favorite, “Stars and the Moon.” The Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth is staging Brown’s first musical as part of its Red Light Series from Jan. 2-4. Show times are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-$30. Learn more here.
NHSPA Exhibit & Sale
The New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists presents its 21st annual member exhibit and sale at the Exeter Town Hall Gallery this month, beginning with an opening reception on Sunday, Jan. 5, from 12-4 p.m. Many of the photographers will be on hand to share their work, featuring both old and new methods in the field, including black-and-white silver gelatin prints, conventional color prints, hand-made contact prints, and digital images printed on archival papers. For more information, click here.
For a complete calendar of local events, click here.