Gossip: Updates on Kathy Fink, Anthony Alemany, Kathy Gunst and David Murray – Seacoastonline.com

‘Closer than Ever’ rescheduled

The concert version of the musical “Closer than Ever” at Rochester Performance and Arts Center is being rescheduled from early spring to the fall.

The stumbling block was scheduling conflicts with the four-person cast and Musical Director and musician Kathy Fink.

The concert is yet another organized by Fink, who has done them regularly since closing the Bell Center in Dover 12 years ago.

In addition to directing musicals throughout the region, Fink organizes concerts featuring top area singers under the umbrella of Phoenix Productions, her company. They fall into two categories, Phoenix’s formal company presentations and benefit concerts.

“I started doing themed cabaret nights a few years back at various different venues, Garrison Players, at the (former) Asia Restaurant and others. Then I did them for three years at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre … called ‘Speakeasy by the Sea.’ Those were all fundraisers for the theater,” she says. “Then I went to RPAC. … Most those are fundraisers (for the venue).”

Fink and the performers volunteer their time for all benefit shows.

The way it works is she sends a mass email out about the theme and date to singers she’s worked with. Those interested get in touch.

“Each sings one or two songs, and comes and rehearses with me at my house. For any cabaret, I might put in 10 hours of rehearsal and organizational time,” she says. “And that’s it. We put them together and they’re a blast.”

“Closer Then Ever,” “kind of a song cycle,” is a Phoenix show. The cast includes Todd Fernald, Katie Gall and Steven Dascoulias. Fink is still filling the fourth spot.

“We did have a date, but we ran into conflict with actors’ schedules and my own, and decided it was too stressful,’ she says. “So I contacted everyone, and we decided we wanted a more leisurely process.”

It’s the new Fink. The musician would do as many as a dozen major productions annually. There were high schools, main-stage theater, camps and more, “It was a little insane,” she says. After damaging her shoulder a year back, and turning 60, she decided to slow things down.

“My new normal is three to four shows a year and some personal projects. For those, I can rehearse in my home,” she says.

There’s also 30 students spread across RPAC, Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, and at her home. For more information, visit www.kathyfinkpianostudio.musicteachershelper.com. “But, I’m definitely slowing down!”

Catch Fink and friends in “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” at RPAC on Feb. 9 and at the Dover Public Library for Valentine Cabaret night on Feb. 18.

Alemany teaching at Foundry

Anthony Alemany, a sculptor for the past 15 years, has been on the Seacoast for the past 10. But it’s only been the last two years, since going full-time at his art, that he’s started to connect with the area arts community, he says.

He credits the Green Foundry at Sanctuary Arts in Eliot, Maine, for that. It started as a place to have his work cast, then just to spend time work even. Now he’s crossed the parking lot to the Sanctuary’s art institute where he’ll teach “Portrait Sculpting from Life.”

Sanctuary’s Founder and Director Christopher Gowell, an artist and a sculptor, spotted Alemany’s work at the Foundry. As she learned more about the artist and his work, she found him a perfect fit for her school’s instructor criteria; a skilled professional and a congenial artist.

“He’s astonishingly talented. I was always looking at his work at the Foundry gorgeous pieces. It piqued my interest,” Gowell says. “I got to know him. He’s an exceptionally friendly and lovely person.”

Alemany (www.anthonyalemany.com), now of South Berwick, Maine, graduated with a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and studied at the Florence Academy of Art.

This is Alemany’s first full semester gig. Until now, he’s only taught workshops. His own esthetics tends toward traditional academic sculpting.

“Christopher asked me what would be a first good class and I recommended portrait sculpting. As a subject, I usually focus on the figure, portraits, anatomy. That’s what interested me,” Alemany says.

“I’m excited. For me, it’s a chance to branch out. I’m also excited to meet new people, to share what I know and learn from other people.” (If interested in classes, see www.sanctuaryarts.org.)

Gunst on ‘Rage Baking’

“Rage Baking” created waves even before it hit the shelf. The book by Kathy Gunst and Katherine Alford, dropped Feb 4. Before hitting shelves, it made it to No. 1 in the political advocacy and baking book categories on Amazon. Yes, that’s right No. 1 in political advocacy.

“We’re very excited about it,” Gunst says. “There’s some really nice buzz.”

A big boost came when Ani DiFranco, who is one of 40 women (writers, poets, musicians) interviewed in the book, posted about “Rage” on Twitter. It was then retweeted by many followers. “So I got a really huge shout-out thanks to her,” Gunst says. “It’s unbelievable. That lasted about a week. And it was second in woman’s studies!”

The category numbers fluctuate daily depending on public coverage and comment, she says. Still its reach into multiple categories surprised her.

The book was inspired by contemporary social and political issues, “what’s going on in the country and what’s going on with women in this country,” Gunst says.

When the authors sent out emails requesting interviews for the book, “everyone we reached out to immediately wrote back ‘hell, yes,'” Gunst says. “We got so many ‘hell yeses’ within minutes, I think we touched a nerve.”

The book also features black and white photographs of 1960 and 1990 Woman’s Marches by Nancy Rudolph, Gunst’s mother-in-law, who passed away in 2017.

The book’s two authors will start a cross-country book tour in mid-February, focusing on small bookstores. In May, they’ll do a “bunch” of dates on the Seacoast. For more information, visit www.kathygunst.com.

This all comes shortly after Gunst’s return from her daughter’s wedding in India. While there, she traveled “and was blown away in a good way by colors, by the people, by the extraordinary range of flavors and food, and the originality of Indian food,” she says.”

During her visit, she took time out to take cooking lessons.

“It’s really, really interesting. We have good Indian restaurants on the Seacoast, but I was introduced to breads, curries, and vegetable dishes I’d never heard of, never imagined, never read about,” she says. “Will it influence me? I don’t see how it can’t. Certainly, my understanding of the use of Indian spices is much deeper now.”

Do you have Golden Egg photos?

Photographer and filmmaker David Murray is doing a short documentary on the Golden Egg, and looking for a specific photo of the popular breakfast spot, now nearing its fourth decade.

“I would like to get some images of people waiting in line to go into the Egg for use in a documentary,” he says. “Or if anyone has a particularly interesting story they’d like to share with me for possible use in the documentary, I would love to hear from them.”

Murray started the project in November and plans on finishing it by mid-February. So if you have something to share especially a shot of the outdoor line-up it’s “now.”

“Time is an issue,” Murray says. “People can (connect) with me through the Contact-Me link on Cleareyephoto.com.”

Jeann McCartin keeps her eyes and ears open for gossip at [email protected].

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