
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 Electric City Players’ staging of a Shakespearean romantic comedy, Terra Lightfoot’s teaming up anew with Melissa Payne in Haliburton, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s performance of hit movie music, Gowan in concert at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, acclaimed blues guitarist Jack de Keyzer’s return to Market Hall, and a tribute to country music’s Merle Haggard at Cobourg’s Victoria Hall.
Peterborough’s Electric City Players turn to The Bard once more

Lauren Yandt plays Viola/Cesario and Eddy Sweeney plays Sebastian in the Electric City Players production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” running for four performances at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre from January 30 to February 1, 2025. (Photos courtesy of Electric City Players)
If it ain’t broke, don’t even think about fixing it.
Building on the success of last year’s staging of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Peterborough’s Electric City Players are now giving The Bard’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will their full attention.
The company will stage the romantic comedy from Thursday to Saturday (January 30 to February 1) at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, continuing its mission “to create ambitious, immersive, multi-media theatre experiences” that “explore how our distant past can help us see our past and our possible futures more sharply.”
Company co-founders Jacqueline Barrow and Andrew Loeb have assembled a Shakespearean-sized cast for this production, with Viola and Sebastian played by Lauren Yandt and Eddy Sweeney. It’s a reunion of sorts for the pair, as they portrayed MacDuff and Lady MacDuff in Macbeth.
Penned by Shakespeare in and around 1601 and 1602, the first known public staging of Twelfth Night was in February 1602 at London’s Middle Temple Hall.
The play’s storyline centres on twins Viola and Sebastian who are separated in a shipwreck. Disguised as a page named Cesario, Viola enters into the service of Duke Orsino (Jason Shulha) and falls in love with him. However, Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia (Carissa Kaye), who rebuffs his advances. When Orsino sends Cesario to court the countess on his behalf, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, unaware that he is a woman. Chaos and misunderstandings ensue.
Top to bottom, the cast features actors quite familiar to local theatre buffs, several of whom having appeared in Peterborough Theatre Guild productions.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on January 30 and 31 and February 1, with an added 2 p.m. matinee on February 1. Discounted tickets are now available at a cost of $32 ($24 for students) at www.markethall.org.
Terra Lightfoot and Melissa Payne a great double bill in Haliburton
VIDEO: “The Only One Of Your Kind” – Terra Lightfoot
By all accounts, Terra Lightfoot’s performance at Market Hall back in November was terrific, the Juno Award-nominated singer-songwriter providing full evidence of why her 2023 album Healing Power was longlisted for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.
Local fiddle treasure Melissa Payne opened that show, making the night an even better experience for those who were wise enough to grab a ticket. Now the two are reprising that show, coming together for a concert on Saturday (February 1) at the Haliburton Legion.
Presented by the Haliburton County Folk Society, Payne will again open the proceedings, followed by Lightfoot with her trio. Better still for the headliner, the venue is a hop, skip, and a jump from the Hamilton native’s rural Haliburton Highlands home.
Performing in a folk/roots rock style, Lightfoot has released five albums to date, with her 2017 album New Mistakes having garnered a 2018 Juno Award nomination as Adult Alternative Album of the Year. That album was also longlisted for a Polaris Music Prize.
VIDEO: “September Skies” – Melissa Payne
When Lightfoot and I chatted prior to her Market Hall show last fall, I learned quickly that her personality and genuine love for what she does is a big part of the attraction for her fans. Like a true professional, she has no issue sharing her stage with another.
“She and I get along like a house on fire,” said Lightfoot of Payne. “She’s so much fun and so talented — a great songwriter. She’s always up for a laugh. That’s my favourite thing about her. I love playing with people who also have fun off stage.”
If you missed the two together the last time around, here’s your opportunity to make amends. Advance tickets cost $42 ($37 for Haliburton County Folk Society members and students) and can be ordered at www.haliburtonfolk.com and, if any are left, tickets will be $47 at the door.
The Lightfoot-Payne show kicks of February Folk Fest, a month-long celebration of talented musicians and community spirit taking place at venues across the Haliburton Highlands. More information is available at myhaliburtonhighlands.com/february-folk-fest/.
Famed movie music gets the full PSO treatment once again
VIDEO: “Raiders March” by John Williams with Vienna Philharmonic
Wise is the arts organization that listens to its patrons and acts accordingly.
Having heard very good things after its sold-out “Popcorn, Please!” concert during its 2023-24 season, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is reprising its performance of film-associated music, presenting “Indiana Jones Meets The Godfather” on Saturday and Sunday (February 1 and 2) at Showplace Performance Centre.
With PSO music director and conductor Michael Newnham at the helm, the orchestra’s third concert of its current season will tackle Nina Rota’s score to The Godfather as well as perform legendary composer John Williams’ signature music that added so much to the excitement of the Indiana Jones franchise. Also on the musical menu are selections from the memorable scores for Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other blockbuster films.
“I’m interested in showing an audience and an orchestra how great the music actually is, when you take away the other things like the film and the images and you just listen to the music by itself,” Newnham recently told kawarthaNOW.
If you’ve never experienced that full orchestra sound in an acoustically excellent room, this concert promises a wonderful introduction.
Performance times are 7:30 p.m. on February 1 and 3 p.m. on February 2, with tickets ranging from $33 to $55 ($12 for students) and available at showplace.org. As per usual, Newnham will deliver an insightful pre-concert talk starting 45 minutes before each show.
Lindsay’s Academy Theatre welcomes the very talented Gowan
VIDEO: “Strange Animal” – Gowan (2020)
I loved high school.
To avoid any confusion, that had nothing to do with my scholastic experience. Rather, it had everything to do with the social side of the equation — something that was furthered by my chairing the school dances as a student council member for four of five years.
So what’s that got to do with this column? Well, a student one year ahead of me was a pretty good piano player, singer, and showman all rolled into one. With two other students, he formed Rhinegold. I booked the trio regularly for school dances, mainly because they checked two very big boxes: they were good and they were cheap.
Decades on, Larry Gowan is now known by his surname only, having enjoyed a remarkable career, both as a solo recording artist and, starting in 1999, as a keyboardist and singer with Styx. Along the way, with multiple Juno Award wins and nominations to his credit, I’m sure Gowan has never referenced my giving him his first big break, but I’m laying claim to that just the same. Why? Because I can.
On February 7, Gowan will headline at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, delivering hits such as “A Criminal Mind,” “Strange Animal,” “Moonlight Desires,”” and “All The Lovers In The World,” most likely wearing his trademark kilt — a nod to his Scottish heritage. As those who have caught him in concert a few times at Peterborough Musicfest can attest too, this will be a lot of fun.
Tickets to Gowan’s 8 p.m. performance cost $70 at www.flatoacademytheatre.com. Not lost on me is that’s about what we paid Rhinegold in the mid-1970s.
Blues guitarist extraordinaire Jack de Keyzer back at Market Hall
VIDEO: “I Can’t Hold Out” performed by Jack de Keyzer
On the Canadian blues music landscape, few have, or can, emulate the powerhouse guitar skills, and resulting success, of Jack de Keyzer.
Since the 1991 release of his debut album Hard Working Man, de Keyzer has delivered as just that. Twelve albums have followed, with Juno Award wins for 2003’s 6 String Lover and 2009’s The Corktown Sessions. He has also received seven Maple Blues Awards, and was granted its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
As a sought-after session guitarist, de Keyzer has worked with Etta James, John Hammond Jr., Ronnie Hawkins, Bo Diddley, and Blue Rodeo.
Now promoting his latest album Tribute, the ever-busy de Keyzer is making the rounds, including a Saturday, February 8 stop at Peterborough’s Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. Tickets to the 8 p.m. concert, which is almost sold out, cost $32 and are available at www.markethall.org.
Country music’s Merle Haggard hailed at Cobourg’s Victoria Hall
VIDEO: “Sing Me Back Home” – Merle Haggard (2006)
Whether you’re a fan of country music or not, you have to admit the genre has gifted us with more than a handful of one-of-a-kind artists.
The late Merle Haggard certainly fits that billing.
From the 1960s into the 1980s, the California native had a remarkable 38 number one hits on the American country music charts. That body of work contributed greatly to his receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, and inductions into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Not too bad for a guy who spent his early years in San Quentin Prison before turning his life around and launching his music career.
With that body of work to draw from, it’s no surprise that Cobourg-based Sweet Water Country Music will pay tribute to Haggard’s music on Sunday, February 9 at the town’s Concert Hall at Victoria Hall. The concert is part of the Sweet Water’s 2025 music series.
Sweet Water Band members Steve Pittico, Dusty King Jr., Steve O’Connor, Doug Johnson, Tom Hall and Donny Reed are accomplished musicians in their own right, as studio or touring musicians, or both. Combined, they’ll perform a number of those 38 top hits that made Haggard a household name — even for those who aren’t fans of the genre.
Tickets to the 2 p.m. concert cost $36 at tickets.cobourg.ca.
Encore
- Peterborough city staff’s proposal to cut municipal grant funding to arts organizations mobilized hundreds to fight for its continuance. Through all that pain, we were reminded just how lean many organizations run, despite best efforts to be viable. One of the groups being proactive is the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, which is selling 50-50 draw tickets online until May 31. To be drawn on June 3, the winner gets half the pot, with the other half supporting the venue’s operation, including artist fees. Tickets are for sale at www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/mhpac.
- Registration is open Port Hope’s Camp Capitol, offered by the Capitol Theatre for youths aged nine to 15 years old. There are three options: a March Break day camp from March 10 to 15 and two summer day camps from July 21 to 25 and August 18 to 22. Theatre staff introduce camp participants to art, music, drama and dance, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse at theatre life. For more information and to register, visit capitoltheatre.com/community/.