The Music Hall Adds Six Shows in 2014-15, Including Pink Martini, Sean Hayes, Skyler and More

The Music Hall has announced seven new shows coming to its already robust and diverse 2014-2015 season of performances, cinema, and literary events on stage and on screen in two theaters. Tickets for the season go on sale first to Music Hall members Saturday, August 7 and are on sale to non-members starting Saturday August 16.

"Pink Martini brings to town their sophisticated and charming sound that combines rhumba with lounge music and calls to mind a time before the days of rock and roll. You won't want to miss their Portsmouth debut!" commented Thérèse LaGamma Deputy Director of Programming/Performing Arts Curator. "Look to the Loft for the return of a few favorites and the introduction of Sean Hayes. Hayes has a unique sound that will leave listeners in their tracks!"

Monte Bohanan, Director of Marketing said, "Billy Collins is one of my all-time favorite poets. His accessible verse and wit reminiscent of Twain, has enraptured and inspired me for years."

Tuesday, September 23, 2014: Intimately Yours: Pink Martini at the Historic Theater. Featuring 10-12 musicians, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras around the globe. The band has played with more than 50 orchestras, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Boston Pops. Pink Martini's debut album Sympathique was released independently in 1997, and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for "Song of the Year" and "Best New Artist" in France's Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000. The band's eighth studio album, Dream a Little Dream, featuring Sofia, Melanie, Amanda and August von Trapp, the actual great-grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp, made famous by the movie The Sound of Music was released this year.

Thursday, October 9, 2014: The District Singer Songwriter Series: Sean Hayes. There is something raw and down-home about this simple and straightforward music. The piano, guitar, drums, bass, occasional horns and back-up singing surround Hayes' warm, vibrato laden voice that leads the way down "side street alleys" or to "that spot with the jukebox where we can sing your favorite tune." Hayes succeeds on the tension between warm, resonant soul and dirt-road folk, all laced with a wandering troubadour's coo.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014: Writers in the Loft: Poet Billy Collins. One of America's most celebrated and popular poets, the former U.S. Poet Laureate, visits with his first volume of new and selected poems in 12+ years, the New York Times bestseller Aimless Love just out in paperback. Don't miss this intimate Loft evening with "America's favorite poet" (The Wall Street Journal).

Friday, November 28, 2014: The District Singer Songwriter Series: The Sweetback Sisters. The rollicking country swing of the Sweetback Sisters is as infectious as it is heartbreaking. Their charismatic charm harkens back to the golden era of both the silver screen cowgirl and the cowboy stars of TV kiddie shows. That whimsical exterior is wrapped around a core of deeply felt love for traditional country music styles and a palpable joy in playing and singing together. Like their pseudo sister role models, the Davis Sisters, The Sweetback Sisters sing country songs in close, surrogate sister harmony and of course their signature matching dresses. Their repertoire combines several of the Sisters' passions -- country music from before they were born and new interpretations of those traditions -- to create a fresh take on what it means to be country.

Saturday, November 29, 2014: The District Singer Songwriter Series: Skyler. Skyler never seems to stop working. In the past four years, since leaving his hometown of York, ME, he has attended Berklee College of Music, released one album and multiple EPs, and was voted 2014's "Best Small Venue Artist" by Campus Activities Magazine. Whether solo or with some variation of his exciting live band, Skyler has performed over 600 shows in venues of all sizes and has shared the stage with the Goo Goo Dolls, Band Perry, and Daughtry (to name a few). In 2012, he appeared on the X Factor, was the national spokesperson for Safe Teen Driving for the AllState Foundation, and had his song, "Stephanie," used in a Supercuts commercial. Of course, as with any good artist, it begins and ends with the song. When he's not performing, he's writing or recording in the studio in LA or Nashville. Although he now calls Boston home, keep an eye out for Skyler anywhere across the country!

Saturday, January 17, 2015: Hilarity at The Music Hall: Jimmy Tingle at the Loft. Jimmy Tingle was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The social, political and economic diversity of that city laid the groundwork for his development as a performer and satirist. He started performing in 1980 during the early stand up comedy scene in Boston and quickly rose through the ranks from open-mic performer to paid engagements, headlining at comedy clubs, theaters and colleges nationwide. He is now regarded as one of the top social commentators and humorists in the country.

Already on sale for the 2014/2015 season (starting July 1) are novelist Anne Rice with her new book Prince Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles, a Writers on a New England Stage event on Tuesday, November 4th; Breakout Star Jackie Evancho with the PARMA Orchestra, an Intimately Yours performance on Wednesday, August 6th; and Colbie Caillat, Monday September 1st.

As well, the wildly popular Met @ The Music Hall returns with an exciting and diverse lineup of operas for the 2014-2015 season, broadcast live in spectacular HD in the historic theater on Chestnut Street. Tickets are onsale now Visit www.themusichall.org/calendar/program/met_at_the_music_hall for the all the events in the series.

Add to these, a weekly roster of hot new films; our annual Gala on Saturday, November 15th; the 10th anniversary of Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth all December-long; a high-flying family musical in December as The Ogunquit Playhouse at The Music Hall series continues; The Portsmouth Singer Songwriter Festival in April; and our 24th annual Kitchen Tour in May. For more information on all shows, films, and events, go to www.TheMusicHall.org/calendar.

First Saturdays for Members - Special ticket on-sales, early-bird box office hours, and merchandise discounts are on tap the first Saturday of every month! On Saturday August 2, the Box Office at the Historic Theater will open at 10am. At noon, online and phone sales begin. Tickets go on sale to non-members at noon, Saturday, August 16.

About Membership and Early Purchasing - To become a member today and enjoy early ticket purchasing, call our Membership Coordinator, Lorianne, at 603-766-2176 or go online to our membership page.

Tickets are on sale on Saturday, August 2 to members and Saturday, August 16 to non-members. Tickets can be purchased at The Music Hall box office in the Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, over the phone at (603)-436-2400, or on our website www.TheMusicHall.org.

About The Music Hall - The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence.

With acclaimed signature series like Writers on a New England Stage -- a partnership between The Music Hall and New Hampshire Public Radio -- and the Intimately Yours music series, we bring top authors and artists to both stages. Also, HD broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera and the National Theatre of London as well as extraordinary cinema fill both screens almost every night of the year.

This dynamic arts center urges patrons to Explore + Learn via master classes, post film panel discussions, and matinees for children. An anchor cultural organization in this historic working seaport, The Music Hall is one of downtown Portsmouth's biggest employers and largest contributors to the regional economy: The Music Hall and its patrons contribute $7 million annually to the local economy through show and visitor related spending.

Innovative in its outlook, the organization is community oriented and committed to making the Seacoast flourish. The Music Hall is a 501(c)3 nonprofit managed by a professional staff with the assistance of a volunteer board. Though global in the scope of its artists and programs, The Music Hall operates independently with the support of 3,000 members, 300 corporate partners and 58 community partners. Welcoming more than 100,000 patrons (including 20,000 children) each year from the tri-state area and beyond, The Music Hall is the region's center for the performing arts, literature and education...easy to get to, impossible to forget. An American Treasure celebrating 135 years.