On the Patricia Neal Stage

Musical polymath Matt Nakoa is an award-winning composer and performer who The Boston Globe has called “a hot-handed phenom who can go from Chopin to beer-drenched honky-tonk in one set.” Born on a small goat farm in central New York, he trained as a concert pianist before accepting a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music as a vocalist. There, with his band The Fens, he developed a dramatic songwriting style. After college, he landed in NYC, and it was in Manhattan’s all-night piano bars that he developed his ability to command virtually any audience.

Nakoa was a 2014 winner of the Grassy Hill New Folk Song Competition in Kerrville, Texas, which helped launch a vibrant touring career and a decade-long stint as sidekick to folk music legend Tom Rush. During the 2020 Covid lockdown, Nakoa rededicated himself to classical piano studies and composition. His concert works are performed around the world and have been featured by Disney and The New York Times.

When not playing his original music, he can be found fronting the nationally touring classic rock act The Brit Pack or giving recitals of the classical masters. Currently, he is workshopping a new musical based on Oscar Hijuelos’s 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

On the Patricia Neal Stage

Led by Chappaquiddick-based composer, singer, and harpist Thistle Jemison, THISTLE creates atmospheric chamber-folk music at the intersection of South Indian classical, Western classical, jazz, and folk traditions. Described by Chamber Music America as “beautiful, unique, and hypnotic,” the trio’s music seeks to evoke mystery, wonder, and a sense of the spiritual world beyond the veil. 

Jemison is accompanied by percussionist Roxan Jurkevich and flutist Dominique Gagné, and Vineyard singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nina Violet will join on viola, as a special guest. The evening will feature music from THISTLE’s Mysterious Star: A Tribute to Poe, a 2024 album inspired by the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Weaving harp, voice, flute, percussion, and orchestral instrumentation into Jemison’s original compositions, the group will transform Poe’s works, including “The Raven” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” into a mesmerizing musical experience perfect for a spooky night in late October.

There have been many storied nights in Hotel Le Grangé’s Orchid Ballroom. Vivienne Vale intends to add another.

A celebrated star of stage and screen, and a fixture at the country’s grandest hotels and supper clubs, Miss Vale has handpicked a curious lineup of vaudeville performers for the occasion. Expect an evening of music, comedy, dance, specialty acts, and slightly strange delights, all presented under the watchful eye of Miss Vale herself.

An evening in the Orchid Ballroom calls for a little flair. Vintage finery, cocktail attire, costumes, and other imaginative interpretations are warmly encouraged. Miss Vale appreciates a guest who knows how to make an entrance, provided it doesn’t outshine her own.

The Afterlight Lounge will once again be offering light snacks, drinks, and alcoholic beverages for guests ages 21+.

Know Before You Go:
​Doors to the house and bar open one hour before the ticketed showtime, except for Saturday’s 8:30 PM performance, when doors open at 7:45 PM. Come early for a drink in the Afterlight Lounge and settle in. Seating is by general admission and is first-come, first-served. Late admission will not be permitted once the revue begins.

Written by: Shelagh Hackett

Do you bag or do you shovel? Harness or collar? Kibble or farm-grown? Who is the Poopman? How do YOU handle the Cone of Shame? All these questions and more may be answered at this workshop production of the brand-new musical DOG PARK! (A four-legged musical in one act).

DOG PARK! is a whimsical musical journey into the life of dogs, and their humans, at the local dog park. Full of colorful, lovable characters and ten original songs, it explores the nature of love, companionship, and attraction. With humor and song, it tells the tale of Twyla, a young Rhodesian Ridgeback whose reclusive owner, Mabel, is recovering from heartbreak, both literal and figurative. She can no longer walk on the beach and has been taking Twyla to the dog park for exercise. Twyla has made some friends, but will she be accepted by the pack or remain on the outside? With the help of a motley crew of canines and the humans who love them, we are all welcomed to the dog park to feel the love and learn that you just have to be yourself, to fit in.

With a brilliant cast of local celebrities and ten all-original tunes, this musical will have you dancing and singing all year round!