Event Details
Southern New Hampshire audiences have a rare chance to witness an award-winning work that is as timely as it is timeless. Different Ships, Same Boat is an interactive, multidisciplinary performance weaving together powerful spoken word, original music, and song to explore the multifaceted ways Americans risk, live, love, and laugh.
As our nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of its Independence, along with the annual observance of Juneteenth, Former NH State Senator, Melanie Levesque, in partnership with the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, Open Democracy, are thrilled to be able to bring this world-class ensemble to perform this moving work to the Amato Center for the Performing Arts.
Unfolding through a series of chapters — each drawing from real-world stories — the show invites audiences into the full, complicated beauty of American life. Guiding the evening are two extraordinary co-hosts: Regie Gibson, Massachusetts Poet Laureate and former National Poetry Slam Champion, and Guy Mendilow, composer and storycatcher, whose podcast-like narration carries audiences from small towns and cities to historic ports of entry. Their banter is by turns humorous, poignant, and poetic — always alive. Joined by violinist Chris Baum and vocalist and keyboardist Courtney Swain, the ensemble performs a score spanning lyrical American Blues to songs carried across oceans — including Ottoman Jewish melodies from present-day Greece and Hungary. Together, they illuminate stories that often fly under the radar of history books: the Chinese Americans of Angel Island, immigrant communities who built this nation, and ordinary people living extraordinary lives. The result is a stirring anthology that connects audiences to American histories, perspectives, and experiences both familiar and entirely new.
For a brief video overview: vimeo.com/952498596?fl=pl&fe=sh
Tickets are: $35 for Adults, $25 for Students, and $10 for Children 14 and under. Sponsorships are warmly welcomed. Sponsorships run from $100 – $1,000 and come with tickets. All ticket and sponsorship purchases are fully tax deductible and all profits will be donated to local charities. This show is for one night only and seating is limited, so get your tickets as soon as you can.