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 venerable Lighthouse in concert at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, A Soulful Night with Beau Dixon at Peterborough’s The Theatre On King, Public Energy’s presentation of new works by two Indigenous performance artists at Trent University, the music of ABBA as only the Peterborough Singers can deliver it, an International Women’s Day-themed tribute to female singers at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, and the Anne Shirley Theatre Company’s presentation of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory at Peterborough’s Showplace.
Lighthouse remains the very definition of staying power
VIDEO: “One Fine Morning” – Lighthouse (1972)
On a May evening in 1969, jazz great Duke Ellington took to the stage at Toronto’s Rock Pile to introduce a new 13-member band, saying “I’m beginning to see the Light … house.”
More than 65 years on, Lighthouse is still at it, albeit with keyboardist Paul Hoffert and trombonist Russ Little being the only remaining founding members. Combining elements of rock, jazz, classical and swing music, the ensemble performs at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre on Friday (February 28).
Hoffert and drummer Skip Propop met on a New York City-to-Toronto flight — a chance encounter that led to their forming a band structured around rock rhythm, jazz horn, and classical string sections.
Following the addition of new lead singer Bob McBride, Lighthouse hit the mark in a big way in 1971 with release of the album One Fine Morning, the title track becoming a huge hit here in Canada and internationally on its way to a 1971 Juno Award for Song of the Year.
In the mid-1970s, you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing that song and other hits such as “Hats Off To The Stranger,” “Sunny Days,” and “Pretty Lady.” That body of work brought Lighthouse Group of the Year wins at the 1972, 1973, and 1974 Juno Awards. During that same stretch, the band annually performed some 300 dates across North America.
Prokop retired in 2012 and passed five years later, but Lighthouse has carried on, with Jamie Prokop taking his father’s seat at the drum kit until the COVID hiatus. Now, with lead singer Dan Clancy bringing McBride’s trademark vocals to bear and Hoffert at his decades-long keyboard perch, Lighthouse is still touring, bringing back memories for many and creating new ones for others.
Tickets to Lighthouse’s 8 p.m. performance cost $65 and are available at www.flatoacademytheatre.com.
Peterborough’s New Stages Theatre gets us up close and personal with Beau Dixon
VIDEO: “Your Love Will Carry Me” – Beau Dixon
For those us of who had forgotten, or simply weren’t aware, of the multi-faceted talent that Beau Dixon is abundantly gifted with, his performance last July at Peterborough Musicfest was a treat.
Dixon was born to perform, his first taste of doing just that coming at age 12 when he played piano at his Baptist minister father’s Detroit church. Later, after time in Toronto touring and recording with the band One, he made Peterborough his home in the late 1990s, and subsequently stretched his legs as a musician, actor, playwright, and director.
Dixon later co-founded Firebrand Theatre, bringing Canadian stories to life for students across Canada. Stages he has acted upon range from 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook to the Stratford Festival.
Dixon’s relentless efforts ensuring Black culture is given its proper due has seen his plays commissioned, produced, and performed across the country, earning critical acclaim and multiple awards. But, when all is said and done, the question isn’t so much “What has Beau done?” but rather “What will Beau do next?”
On Friday (February 28) at The Theatre On King in Peterborough, New Stages Theatre presents “A Soulful Night with Beau Dixon” as part of its annual Brand New Stages Festival. In honour of Black History Month, Dixon will weave music and stories as he takes the audience on a journey through the spirit and legacy of Black music, from early slave spirituals through the birth of the blues, gospel, reggae, and soul.
Admission to the 9 p.m. performance is pay what you can, with $15 to $20 suggested. Visit ttok.ca to order tickets online.
Public Energy shines a spotlight on new works by Indigenous performance artists Heryka Miranda and Norma Araiza
VIDEO: Heryka Miranda and Norma Araiza
With the Christmas break an increasingly distant memory, Public Energy Performing Arts is very much back in business, embarking on the second half of it 31st season of presenting innovative and contemporary performances.
To that end, Public Energy is partnering with Trent University’s Nozhem First Peoples Performance Space to present new works in development by two female Indigenous performance artists on Friday and Saturday (February 28 and March 1).
Norma Araiza, a Mexican of Yoema Nation and Basque heritage, will perform “Ewi, What A Dream!”, exploring the various moments of a character experiencing different emotions and sensations, all while wondering if she is dreaming or awake.
Meanwhile, Guatemalan American Heryka Miranda will perform the improvisational work “Toj,” which refers to a day in the Mayan sacred calendar associated both with the Moon and an offering for the sustenance received throughout life. In her performance, Miranda will offer an embodied prayer as she mourns the loss of loved ones who have recently passed and enters a time of rebirth.
In a release, Nozhem artistic director Jenn Cole praises Araiza and Miranda as “strong female Indigenous artists who bring deep practices of connection to cultural roots, earth and land,” adding “They both dance with fluidity between beings.”
Araiza is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Vanguardia Dance Projects, a collective supporting Canadian dance artists with Latin American and Indigenous backgrounds. Miranda’s dance training consists of ecological land dance, expressive art therapies, and sacred dance, and her work has been featured in the documentaries The Sunflower Man and Dance in the Shadow.
Tickets are priced on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale beginning at $5 and are available in advance at publicenergy.ca. As a content warning for audiences, Miranda’s work includes themes of death.
Take a chance on the Peterborough Singers performing the music of ABBA
Yes, the music of ABBA has been done to death. Prior to my epiphany of a year ago, I thought the same of Elton John’s music.
Last February saw me attend my first ever Peterborough Singers’ concert — The Music of Elton John — as a guest of season presenter and good friend David Goyette. A lifelong fan of the British rock-pop artist, I was intrigued but not expecting anything more uplifting than the 30-plus Elton John concerts I’ve attended since 1974.
Boy, was I so very wrong. The choral group’s presentation of Elton standards was superb, the terrific acoustics of Peterborough’s Emmanuel United Church only adding to the experience. I expect much the same, and you should too, when conductor Syd Birrell leads the group’s presentation of The Music of ABBA on Saturday (March 1) at the same venue.
Backed by an excellent band comprised of Barry Haggerty, Andrew Affleck, Curtis Cronkwright, and Alexia Preston, the music of the pop supergroup — “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia,” “SOS,” “Take A Chance On Me,” and many other megahits — will resound, delivered by the ensemble and by soloists. Like myself a year ago, you’re sure to find yourself singing along, during the show and on the way home too.
If you’ve never been to Peterborough Singers concert, don’t wait decades to do so like I did. Our cultural institutions are treasures for a reason. This show will undoubtedly provide evidence of why.
Tickets to the 2 p.m. concert cost $40 ($10 for students) and can be purchased online at www.peterboroughsingers.com, or in person at Pammett’s Flower Shop and Ashburnham Foot and Ankle Centre in Peterborough and Happenstance Books & Yarns in Lakefield.
The Power of Women evident in song at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
As International Women’s Day returns for another year, it shouldn’t be lost on anyone who has followed popular music that the contributions of countless exceptional female singers have been as groundbreaking as they are entertaining and memorable.
Rob Kempson, the artistic director of Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, has certainly made that connection and, better still, has acted upon it, combining the theatre’s popular Billboard In Concert series with a celebration marking International Women’s Day. The result is Billboard In Concert – The Power of Women, being staged on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9.
All who take to the stage will be very familiar to Capitol audiences, each having performed in past productions and music concerts. Backed by an all-female band comprised of Jasmine Joes Ball, Kia Rose, and Tammy Sorovaiski, and with Kelly Perras serving as host, singers Lia Luz, Yunike Soedermasto, Tahirih Vejdani, Alex Raphael, and Peterborough’s Kate Suhr will perform hit songs from a range of iconic artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Mariah Carey, Jann Arden, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and Toni Braxton. Also in the mix is Cobourg musician Lesley Lepine.
In a recent interview with kawarthaNOW’s Megan Gallant, Luz spoke to the crux of the show.
“It’s so important to show, and have people see, all of this incredible art that’s been performed, written, and created by women. Seeing that power and seeing this huge group of women on stage — and the power in their performing all of this music that was also created by women — really spotlights how amazing women are.”
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. March 8 show or the 2 p.m. March 9 matinee cost $55 ($45 for those under 30 years old) and are available at capitoltheatre.com.
A special dress rehearsal preview will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 7 following the Port Hope Chamber of Commerce’s free International Women’s Day speaker event also at the Capitol. Tickets for the preview performance are $50, which includes a pre-show catered reception, and are also available at the Capitol’s website.
Anne Shirley Theatre Company musical heads to the big stage at Peterborough’s Showplace
From the Fly Under The Radar File, let me introduce you to the Anne Shirley Theatre Company (ASTC).
You may be familiar with the troupe but, if you’re not and if you love live theatre, it’s high time you caught one of the Trent University student group’s productions. There’s no better time to do that than with the March 8 to 15 staging of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory: A New Musical at Showplace Performance Centre.
Now in its 22nd year, the company is bringing its talents to the downtown Peterborough performance venue for the first time, leaving the confines of its regular performance spaces at Trent University. That, according to company president and producer Vivien Zujko, has everyone pretty excited. A musical deserves a big stage, hence the venue choice.
Based on the 1964 novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory: A New Musical features an original score composed by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by him and Scott Wittman. The score also pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film, featuring songs such as “Candy Man,” “I’ve Got A Golden Ticket,” “Oompa Loompa Song,” and “Pure Imagination.”
Not only is this production suitable for all age, but it also furthers the company’s mission to produce and present programming that’s accessible and inclusive, all while empowering the next generation of theatre artists to grow and experience the transformative musical theatre.
Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. on March 8, 14, and 15, with 2 p.m. matinees on March 9 and 15. Tickets cost $40 ($35 for seniors and $30 for students) and are available at showplace.org.
Encore
- I’m finding it difficult to not be excited for Peterborough singer and songwriter Georgia Rose. Not only is the she performing here, there, and everywhere, but she’s now basking in the afterglow of the February 14 release of her debut single “Summer Weather.” It’s streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music and Band Camp, and you can catch her live on March 26 when she opens the lounge stage portion of Peterborough Performs: Musicians United To End Homelessness at Showplace. Georgia is one of 14 local acts featured at the fifth annual fundraiser for United Way agencies providing shelter and housing assistance for those in need in our city. Tickets are available for $50 (or two for $80) at showplace.org.
- Organizers and friends of the Peterborough Musicians Benevolent Association (PMBA) are mourning the passing of Lynn Morris, whom the PMBA described in a Facebook post as “the consummate live music fan” whose “desire to support musicians, both local and international, was dear to her heart.” You may not know Lynn by name, but if you’ve been to a PMBA fundraising concert, you very well may have met her. True to form, as acknowledged by a grateful PMBA, Lynn left a $50,000 donation that will help the organization provide support for local musicians in need.
