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 the Small Town Short Film Fest at Campbellford’s Aron Theatre, the 37th coming of The Studio Tour Haliburton Highlands, Victoria Hall’s hosting of tribute to Simon & Garfunkel, Capitol Theatre’s 2025 season reveal, the opening presentation of Public Energy’s 31 season, and a celebration of Gordon Lightfoot’s life and music at Bobcaygeon’s Lakeview Arts Barn.
Short film showcase at Campbellford’s historic Aron Theatre
VIDEO: Small Town Shorts Film Festival
If you’ve been looking for a reason to darken the door of Campbellford’s historic Aron Theatre, the Small Town Shorts Film Fest is as good as any prompting to check out what’s promoted as The People’s Theatre.
Set for 6 p.m. Thursday (October 3), the juried event will see 17 films — each less than seven minutes long — flicker across the big screen. Each film was produced and submitted by residents of Trent Hills, Marmora & Lake, Stirling, and Madoc. When the lights come back on, the “Scrappy Awards” will be given out based on age level categories.
The aim here is simple: encourage collaborative creation, provide the opportunity for each filmmaker to see his or her work presented on the theatre’s screen, and move film submitters from simply consuming content to creating it.
The venue itself is quite the attraction. Opened in November 1947, it has been home to concerts, film screenings and other events ever since. In 2010, the theatre was given a new lease on life when the Aron Theatre Co-Operative came into being and bought the theatre a year later. The volunteer-driven organization has since fundraised and overseen major renovations to the theatre, including the addition of digital projection and sound, and new seats.
Tickets to the 6 p.m. festival cost just $5 and are available at arontheatre.com.
Haliburton artists put out their studio welcome mats
With the advent of the fall season, we’re a short trek away from taking in the splendour of nature’s changing colours. To be able to do that while enjoying the work of local artists simply adds to the experience.
While the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour and the Art Gallery of Peterborough’s Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour are now in the rear-view mirror, The Studio Tour Haliburton Highlands returns for its 37th year on October 5 and 6, and again on October 12 and 13.
The self-guided tour offers the rare opportunity to visit and spend time with 36 artists working in their studio spaces in a variety of disciplines, including glass, jewelry, visual art, pottery, textiles, metal, wood, and photography.
Organizers of the tour have again made it easy to participate, providing an in-depth brochure that gives a description of each artist as well as a QR code that puts a tour map at your fingertips. Visit www.studiotour.ca to access both. Tour hours each day are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Both the Apsley and Art Gallery of Peterborough’s studio tours have been very popular year after year, and the Haliburton tour is no different. And who knows? You might just be able to put an early check mark on your Christmas gift list. That’s never a bad thing.
Tribute to Simon & Garfunkel at Cobourg’s Concert Hall at Victoria Hall
VIDEO: Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits
When the conversation turns to timeless music, how can Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel not be included? As Simon & Garfunkel, the New York City-born folk pop/rock duo — they met in elementary school — dominated radio airwaves in the 1960s before artistic differences saw them go their separate ways.
Simon & Garfunkel left behind a musical legacy that has few peers. Of their three number one hits — “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — the latter two captured Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, in 1968 and 1970 respectively. Other notable singles include “The Boxer,” “Cecilia,”” and “Homeward Bound.”
Reunited a few times since, including a 1990 performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the pair have remained an enigma of sorts, their longtime riff still a thing but their chemistry musically frozen in time.
On Sunday (October 6) at Cobourg’s Concert Hall at Victoria Hall, Homeward Bound – An Intimate Evening of Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits will see an all-star lineup of musicians pay homage to the duo.
At the helm is John Sheard who, from 1997 to 2016, served as music director of CBC Radio’s The Vinyl Café hosted by the late Stuart McLean. An accomplished musician who has produced and written music for a number of television shows, Sheard’s touch is golden and this tribute to Simon & Garfunkel will provide clear evidence of that.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. show cost $47.50 at tickets.cobourg.ca.
Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre reveals its 2025 season at gala
I’d like to provide details of the 2025 season at the Capitol Theatre but I can’t — it’s a secret of sorts that will be revealed Tuesday, October 10th at the historic Port Hope theatre.
Doing the big reveal will be Capitol Theatre artistic director Rob Kempson, who will emcee what’s being billed as “A Place To Call Home.”
Anyone who has spent any amount of time with Kempson knows he’s the right guy to get our engines running with excitement over what’s ahead. Very much at home on stage and equally engaging one-on-one, Kempson is gifted with a natural enthusiasm that’s as infectious as it is refreshing.
The season launch will also feature musical entertainment, a sneak peek of upcoming productions, and “a few special surprises.”
I’ve saved the best part for last: it’s free to attend, with attendees having access to special promotions and door prizes up for grabs. Quite the party. But you still require a ticket, which can be ordered at capitoltheatre.com.
I’ve got my ticket and can’t wait to share what’s coming. Watch kawarthaNOW for full details once the secret is out.
Season 31 of Public Energy performances takes flight October 10
Just last week, Public Energy Performing Arts revealed details of its 2024-25 season — a lineup comprised of six shows, including a season-ending on-ice dancing-and-skating extravaganza that will be presented in April 2025 at Peterborough Memorial Centre.
You can read full details of the Public Energy’s 31st season in my September 24 story for kawarthaNOW, including the October 10th season opener at Showplace Performance Centre.
Is It Tap? features Peterborough-rooted Canadian dance legend Bill Coleman. No stranger to Public Energy audiences, he has been featured in shows since 1994 when Peterborough New Dance was founded by Bill Kimball.
Joining Coleman is Edwin van der Heide, a Dutch native and accomplished multi-media artist. Billed as “an immersive theatrical experience,” the mysterious Three-Legged Man will make an appearance. At the season launch, he was there and believe me when I say it’s quite something to witness.
As an aside, this season marks Kimball’s swan song with Public Energy. He’s announced his retirement and the search is on for someone to fill his shoes. That will be no easy task, believe me.
What I love about Public Energy, and you should too, is the Kimball-led effort to make shows as accessible as they can be by having in place pay-what-you-can ticket options and tickets priced as low at $5 for some shows. Kimball believes strongly that all should have the opportunity to take in the arts and, to that end, he’s walked the walk like few others on the local cultural scene.
For more information about Public Energy, including ticket details for each upcoming show, visit publicenergy.ca.
Gordon Lightfoot’s life and music celebrated in Bobcaygeon
VIDEO: “Early Morning Rain – The Legend of Gordon Lightfoot” (2023)
In my opinion, there are but two Canadian singers-songwriters who music best epitomizes what it means to be Canadian and perfectly capture the beauty of this country’s landscape coast-to-coast-to-coast.
One is Stompin’ Tom Connors. The other is Gordon Lightfoot.
From October 15 to 19, Bobcaygeon’s Globus Theatre presents a tribute to the latter in the form of Early Morning Rain – The Legend of Gordon Lightfoot. Featuring Leisa Way and her Wayward Wind Band, this celebration of the late singer’s life and music promises to bring forth strong memories of the Orillia native’s songs and what they meant to a country that, in many ways, was searching for an identity of its own and, arguably, still is.
Expect all the classic Lightfoot hits such as “Early Morning Rain,” “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Rainy Day People,” “Carefree Highway,” and “Sundown” — which Lightfoot wrote on the shores of Stoney Lake while staying for a bit at the late Ronnie Hawkins’ home.
Performance dates at the Lakeview Arts Barn on Pigeon Lake Road are 8 p.m. on October 15 and 17 to 19, with 2 p.m. matinees on October 16, 17, and 19. Tickets are $50 for the show only, as the optional dinners before all evening performances are already sold out. For tickets, visit globustheatre.com.
Encore
- I cannot believe it has been two years since The Pig’s Ear re-opened after six years of sitting empty and desolate on Brock Street. Prior to the pub’s second coming in September 2023, owners Steve Robertson and Ashley Holmes promised much of the look and feel of the pub would be maintained. They held true to their word and here we are, with The Piggy again a favourite downtown haunt. In 2025, The Pig’s Ear will mark 50 years and the building itself will mark a mind-boggling 160 years as a pub.
- Peterborough Performs has a 2025 date, with the fifth iteration of the United Way-supported fundraiser for local shelters and homelessness initiatives returning to Showplace on Wednesday, March 26. To date, the multi-act two-stage showcase has brought in close to $110,000. Full details of the stage lineup are coming but expect the show and ticket details to be listed at the Showplace website before Christmas, providing a great opportunity for a stocking stuffer for the local live music lover in your life.
