On December 13th, a collection of Peterborough’s biggest talent will be reproducing the experience of Christmas pageants of days gone at the Historic Red Dog Tavern in Peterborough.
The Red Dog Olde Christmas Pageant is being held as a fundraiser for Homegrown Homes, which provides affordable housing to Peterborough residents.
“I can’t really take credit for the original idea of the show,” says Sam Tweedle, the show’s producer. “The idea came from a show I went to about seven years ago that was put together by Charlie Glasspool. Charlie got a group of his musician friends together to do a festive night of stripped-down acoustic acts with a holiday twist. It was a simple show, but one of the nicest holiday shows I have ever attended, and became the inspiration for this show.”
Sam says that the evening’s performers will be doing short three-song sets of approximately 15 minutes each.
“Bob Geldof only gave the musicians two songs at Live Aid — I am giving them an extra song,” Sam jokes. The result is a huge line-up of talented musicians who will be performing both traditional Christmas songs and their own originals.
“While I obviously encourage performers to engage in the holiday spirit, I recognize that Christmas music isn’t everybody’s thing,” Sam says. “I’m not concerned over the content as much as just having an incredible group of performers together for one huge variety show.”
“I’ve heard chatter over on our Facebook group about what some of the performers are going to be doing,” he adds. “It’ll be a combination of their own music, holiday favorites and — in at least two cases — original Christmas compositions.”
Scheduled to perform at the show are Union City, Chelsey Bennett, Missy Knott and Brian Melenbacher, Kate Suhr, Caitlin Currie, Scarlett Grace, Kevin Siena, Carling Stephen, Your Friends, Ryan Hancock and Bronte Germain, Steve Peconi, Meg O’Sullivan and Hannah Bailey, Bloody Boy Blue and Avery Cantello.
“The performers include a lot of people who I just met over the past year,” Sam says. “When I look at the list of people involved, it kind of blows my mind. I started off as a fan of these people, and some of them have gradually turned into friends of mine. These people are amongst some of my very favorite musicians, and many of them have never appeared on the same stage together. It really is a powerhouse line-up.”
All money raised at the concert will go to Homegrown Homes, a local non-profit housing provider for low-income families.
“Affordable and quality housing is still a huge issue that often goes unnoticed in our community,” Sam notes. “Homegrown Homes provides safe and affordable housing for families and other individuals in need, and is doing its part in trying to solve the housing problem one success story at a time.”
The Red Dog Olde Fashioned Christmas Pageant is on Saturday, December 13th at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door.
