It’s impossible to tell all the stories there are to tell over the 50 years that Trent University has been a part of the Peterborough community, but writer Beth McMaster and director Gillian Wilson are going to make a handful of these stories come alive on Saturday, October 18th at Showplace Performance Centre.
As part of the continuing celebration of Trent University’s 50th anniversary, Beth and Gillian are the masterminds behind “Trent @ 50: In Story and Song”, a multimedia program bringing together many of Peterborough’s outstanding performers in a celebration of a beloved institution.
Both have a strong connection to Trent University: Beth is a Trent alum and Gillian is an honourary alum (and her husband, Paul Wilson, was Trent University’s first athletic director). They are bringing together a group of local performers, dignitaries, Trent alumni, and community members for an evening of stories and music that will look at the history of Trent University over the decades.
“You cannot cover everything,” Beth agrees. “You know there are going to be people who will ask “Why didn’t they say this or why wasn’t that mentioned?'”
Beth used a variety of different sources to create the script for the show, but much it was based on Trent: The Making of a University, 1957-1987 by Alfred “Alf” O.C. Cole, who played a major role in Trent’s life and history as Registrar from 1966 to 1987 and as a member of the Department of History.
“When we were in the Dominican Republic, we were reading Alf Cole’s book,” Gillian recalls. “Beth kept asking my husband Paul — who had been there from the beginning of Trent — lots of questions.”
“I’d read out a passage and Paul would say ‘Let me tell you the real story’,” Beth adds.
Former Peterborough mayor Sylvia Sutherland will play host for the evening, narrating the history of Trent University between musical and dramatic performances and literary readings. A number of local performers have been recruited to perform songs, including Wayne Robinson, Bob Trennum, Dane Shumak, Kate Suhr, Cheryl Davies, and Jessica Rustage-Johnston. The songs selected by Beth and Gillian reflect both the era in time as well as what was going on in Trent’s history.
Beth explains how they used the Paul Anka song “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” (written for and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958 shortly before he died) to illustrate Peterborough’s failed attempt to establish a college in the city in 1962.
“The song connects with Trent’s first try to get a college in Peterborough,” she says. “The request was turned down by William Dunlop who was the minister of education. Everyone was very discouraged.”
There’ll also be tunes by Ian and Sylvia, who visited and performed at Trent in the early sixties, and by Gordon Lightfoot, who was given an honorary degree from Trent in 1977.
The show will also pay tribute to a number of writers who have had a strong connection with Trent. Dramatic readings of the works of Timothy Findley, Margret Laurence, W.O. Mitchell, and Yann Martel will be given by Randy Read, Orm Mitchell, Linwood Barclay, and Rob Fortin. Trent’s new President and Vice-Chancellor Leo Groarke will read from Dr. Seuss’s Oh the Places You’ll Go.
“He’s only been here for a few weeks,” Gillian laughs. “But Beth and I met with him and we wooed him.”
There are a few further musical surprises scheduled from the evening, including a reunion of one of Trent’s earliest garage bands, The Boys in the Band, featuring Trent Chancellor Don Tapscott who is currently a member of the local band Men in Suits.
“They are all coming back and Don’s daughter is going to sing with them, so it should be very interesting,” Beth says.
Former Trent professor David Gallop will also be travelling from is current residence in England to perform an original song written by himself called “The Professors of Trent”. Unity will be performing a piece called “Ghost Dancer”.
A sneak peek of one of the many original songs written by Professor Emeritus Gordon Johnston exclusively for Trent @ 50: In Story and Song
Perhaps the biggest moment of the evening will be the reveal of Trent University’s first official school song. It’ll be especially memorable because Tom Symons — Trent’s founding president, who is now in his eighties — is scheduled to be at the show.
“Tom mentioned to somebody that he thought there should be a school song,” Gillian explains. “It got back to us and eventually to Gordon Johnson, who has written a school song that’s quite wonderful. It’s about Trent and the river and the drumlin. This will be a big surprise for Tom when he comes to the show.”
“It’s one of those rousing school songs”, Beth adds. “I think that it’ll be memorable.”
Fifty years in the making, “Trent @ 50: In Story and Song” is a one-night only performance that will be remembered for decades to come.
The show takes place at Showplace Performance Centre on Saturday, October 18th at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 or $20 for students and are available at Showplace.
