encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.
This week, Paul highlights a season-opening double bill at Peterborough’s Guild Hall, Carole Pope’s Market Hall appearance in support of Peterborough-Nogojiwanong Pride, Globus Theatre’s staging of Buying The Farm in Bobcaygeon, a kitchen party featuring Kate Suhr at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, New Stages Theatre’s season-debuting presentation of Vitals, and a Showplace tribute to Carole King’s monster 1971 album Tapestry.
Peterborough Theatre Guild opens new season with a double bill
With recent word that the upcoming 38th edition of Folk Under The Clock will mark the annual concert series’ final season, it’s hard to not get down over the fact that Peterborough is losing yet another longstanding arts staple.
On the other hand, we also gain a greater appreciation of those year-after-year entertainment offerings that are still very much with us, such as 1987-born Peterborough Musicfest and Public Energy Performing Arts, the roots of which go back to the late 1970s when Artspace added dance programming to its offerings.
And then there’s the Peterborough Theatre Guild (PTG).
Since 1965, the theatre company has welcomed patrons to its Guild Hall on Rogers Street in East City. Six years earlier, fire gutted what was St. Luke’s Anglican Church. The building was given vibrant new life when a dedicated group of theatre enthusiasts raised money to purchase the building and renovate it for the purpose of staging theatrical productions.
All these years later, PTG is on the cusp of debuting yet another season featuring a six-play lineup that will carry into early May of next year. ake that seven plays, considering that the season opener on September 20 is a double dose of one-act plays: Ben Muir’s How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse and Marni Walsh’s Ghost Story.
The former, directed by Margaret Monis, sees four elite members of the School of Survival lead the audience through an interactive seminar that teaches how to survive the onslaught of the undead. When all is said and done, one audience member will be deemed the ultimate survivor.
Meanwhile, the latter, directed by Lee Bolton, sees famed Frankenstein author Mary Shelley visit the grave of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, a British writer and women’s rights advocate who is still regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers.
It would seem Halloween is arriving early at the Guild Hall, a building that, depending on who you talk to, is rumoured to be home to its own resident ghosts.
Curtain for the double bill is 7:30 p.m. on September 20 and 21, September 26 to 28, and October 3 to 5, with 2 p.m. matinees on September 22 and 29. Tickets cost $30 — $27 for seniors and $20 for students — and are available at www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com.
A Market Hall date for the incomparable Carole Pope
VIDEO: “High School Confidential” – Rough Trade featuring Carole Pope
Born and raised in east-end Toronto, my home away from home from the mid to late 1970s was Yonge Street. The neon-emblazoned strip was home to Sam The Record Man, one of my favourite haunts, as well as numerous long-since-closed live music bars. I darkened the door of The Gasworks, Nickelodeon, and Le Coq d’Or on a regular basis. Yes, it was a seedy landscape but I was young and invincible, and alcohol made me more daring than I’ve ever been since.
Of all the bands I was fortunate enough to catch live on the Yonge Street strip, Rough Trade was a favourite. Led by the incomparable Carole Pope, the band never failed to disappoint. I was drawn to the leather-clad Pope and her ahead-of-its-time openness about her lesbian sexuality and lifestyle. Her music, much of it written with her longtime collaborator and guitarist Kevan Staples, was just plain good. Yeah, I was a bit of a groupie.
Close to 50 years after founding Rough Trade, the three-time Juno Award recipient is still at it, with her ongoing journey bringing her to Peterborough’s Market Hall on Sunday, September 22nd in support of Peterborough-Nogojiwanong Pride during the annual Pride Week.
Pope will no doubt deliver Rough Trade’s hit songs and that’s a really good thing. “Fashion Victim,” “High School Confidential,” “All Touch,” and “Birds of a Feather” remain as fresh and distinctive as they were upon their release. To this day, whenever I hear “Never Said I Love You” — Pope’s 1983 collaboration with Payola$ — I can’t help but revive long-dormant dance muscles.
But for all her talent, what I admired most about Pope, and still do, was her fierce advocacy for LGBTQ2+ rights and acceptance. That was a big deal in the 1970s and 1980s and Pope had few, if any, peers in that regard. She has remained true to who she is, damn the effects that may have had on her music career — courage that was no doubt a factor in her 2023 induction into the Canada Walk of Fame.
Tickets to Pope’s 7 p.m. show cost $35 at markethall.org.
Globus Theatre staging a rural romantic comedy in Bobcaygeon
There’s no rest for the weary in Bobcaygeon as Globus Theatre brings yet another theatre production to its Lakeview Arts Barn stage.
This time around, romantic comedy is in the air in form of Buying The Farm, opening September 24.
Co-written by Shelley Hoffman and Stephen Sparks, the fun begins when young real estate agent Brad Deacon arrives at the Bjornson farm determined to persuade Magnus, its 60-something bachelor owner, to sell the property, confident that he will succeed where others have previously failed. But then Brad meets the farmer’s secretive and high-spirited grand niece who cares way too much about her community to be charmed by the smooth-talking interloper.
Now in its 20th season, Globus Theatre was founded by Sarah Quick and James Barrett (who also stars in the production) “to provide Kawartha Lakes with a producing professional theatre company.” In 2006, Globus made the Lakeview Arts Barn, once a working cattle operation, its home and hasn’t looked back.
The current season, which began in late May, has already seen six productions staged, with three more to come before Christmas following this run of Buying The Farm.
Curtain is 8 p.m. September 24 to 28 and October 1 to 5 (with a pre-show dinner option available), with 2 p.m. matinees added on September 28 and October 3. Tickets are $50 for the show only, or $100 for dinner and the show. For tickets, visit globustheatre.com.
The Capitol’s intimate Sculthorpe Theatre welcomes singer-songwriter Kate Suhr
VIDEO: “Better off Together” – Kate Suhr
One of my favourite human beings amongst the local arts scene population has been, and remains, Kate Suhr.
Not only is the singer-songwriter and actor gifted with the voice of angel, she is so damn nice, with humility, selflessness and kindness at her centre. Yup, I’m a fan convinced there are two things you won’t find in Peterborough: a pothole-free road and someone with a bad word to say about Suhr.
Her personal attributes aside, Suhr is an immense talent who’s well worth catching when you have the chance. The next opportunity comes Friday, September 27th when the 2022 Peterborough Pathway of Fame inductee brightens up the intimate Sculthorpe Theatre space in Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre.
Billed as part of the Capitol Kitchen Party series, the show offers the chance to get up close and personal with a true talent.
Since she studied musical theatre at PCVS, Suhr set herself on a performance trajectory. Opera studies at Western University followed and she eventually earned a Bachelor of Contemporary Music degree from Humber College.
As an actor, lead roles with the Peterborough Theatre Guild, the St. James’ Players and New Stages Theatre dot Suhr’s resumé. For more than 10 years, she starred in Beth McMaster’s Legendary Icon Series at Showplace, helping raise thousands of dollars for performance venue. And, in 2021, when we all needed a lift, she teamed up with her good pal Megan Murphy to create The Verandah Society, subsequently bringing music and storytelling to isolated residents’ front doors.
Musically, Suhr has performed alongside Blue Rodeo, Natalie McMaster and Donnell Leahy, and more. In 2020, she released the single “Better Off Together” and is now promoting her latest release, The Verandah Sessions.
Always in demand beyond our region, Suhr’s 7:30 pm performance in Port Hope marks a relatively rare stop at a local venue. Take advantage. Tickets, at $30, are available at capitoltheatre.com.
New Stages Theatre opens its new season an edgy real-life drama
If a primary objective of theatre is to evoke strong emotions from its audience, Vitals checks that box in a very big way.
On September 27 and 28 at Peterborough’s Market Hall, New Stages Theatre launches its 2024-25 season with a stage version of Rosamund Small’s Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning drama, which was originally mounted in 2014 as an immersive experience presented to small audience groups inside a transformed Toronto home.
At the story’s centre is Anna, a no-nonsense Toronto paramedic who reaches her breaking point. Written based on interviews with EMS workers, it stars Katherine Cullen, who performed in the role of Anna in the original 2014 production.
Vitals has been widely praised by paramedics and other first responders for its offering of a no-holds-barred glimpse into the life of an EMS worker and the toll taken on those we count on to save our lives in an emergency. In its review of Vitals, The AndyGram proclaimed “This play will forever change the way you think about 9-1-1 calls.”
Since it was guided by founding artistic director Randy Read, New Stages, now under the guidance of Mark Wallace, has pushed the boundaries, habitually staging bold productions that give us pause for thought. Vitals is as good an example of that as any.
Tickets to either of the 7 p.m. performances cost $32, or $16 for EMS workers, students, arts workers and the under-employed, and are available at markethall.org.
You will feel the Earth move on September 28 at Showplace
VIDEO: “Tapestry, The Carole King Songbook” promo
The 1970s brought forth its share of monster hit albums — a happenstance for which the pace was set in 1971 upon the release of Tapestry, New York City-born Carole King’s second studio album.
There’s nary a sub-par track among the album’s 12 selections, which explains why it has been certified platinum a remarkable 14 times.
Ranked a very impressive 25 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All time, Tapestry won four 1972 Grammy Awards, its lead singles of “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel The Earth Move,” and “You’ve Got A Friend” helping earn the album 1998 induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
On Saturday, September 28th at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough, “Tapestry, The Carole King Songbook” will bring the album to new life, note for note.
Presented by Toronto’s Beaches International Jazz Festival and featuring Suzanne O Davis on vocals and piano, it’ll be a night of reminiscing for those old enough to remember and a revelation for those who think really good music is a product solely of their generation.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. performance cost $45 or $49 depending on the seat and can be ordered at showplace.org.
Encore
- There’s still time to register for Peterborough Community Sings, a free community sing-along organized and led by longtime local musician and choral director Curtis Driedger. Set for Saturday, September 20th in the sanctuary of St. James’ United Church at Romaine and Aylmer streets, those assembled will learn the song “Let’s Work Together,” a 1962 blues song that was recorded by Canned Heat in 1969 and became a notable hit. Participants will then sing the song in four-part harmony. All singing voices are welcome. There’s no prize, there’s no adulation — just the power of music’s ability to bring community together. Register at bit.ly/ptbosings_Sept2024.
- Peterborough poet PJ Thomas will release the third book of her Water Trilogy on Tuesday, September 24th at The Only Café on Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough. The 7 p.m. event will feature readings from Drifting featuring Esther Vincent, Ian McLachlan, and Thomas herself, with Justin Million serving at event emcee. Drifting was preceded by Undertow and Waves. The event is free but Thomas would love your support in the form of $15 for a copy of her latest work, signed no less.
