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 highlights the return of Skydiggers to Market Hall, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s season-closing concert, a celebration of Canadian music at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, Trent Valley Archives’ staged tribute to the Peter Robinson emigrants, Globus Theatre’s premiere of one man’s infatuation with Doris Day, and Kyle Golemba’s theatre journey bared at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre.
Skydiggers staying power on full display at Market Hall
VIDEO: “A Penny More” – Skydiggers (2018)
Whether you love a band, can do without it, or are indifferent, you have to admire longevity. The music business is tough; remaining together as a unit, and staying relevant and fresh, is even tougher.
Close to 40 years after forming in Toronto, Skydiggers has checked all those boxes and more, retaining and still building on its hard-earned status as one of Canada’s most hailed and successful roots-rock bands.
Better still, singer John Maize, who co-founded the band with lead guitarist John Finlayson, are still at it and producing new music, Skydiggers’ newest release Dreams & Second Chances marking 20-plus studio albums/EPs for the band.
While the early 1990s brought Skydiggers its most commercial success — with their self-titled debut in 1990 producing the singles “Monday Morning” and “I Will Give You Everything,” 1992’s Restless spawning the band’s biggest hit in “A Penny More,” and the follow-up album Just Over This Mountain earning Maize, Finlayson, et al a Juno Award for Most Promising Group — the band never stopped recording or touring, winning new fans while satisfying the taste of fans who were hooked on day one.
Dreams & Second Chances gives full evidence that Skydiggers haven’t missed a beat. In fact, it could be argued it’s mistitled, considering the band is still making the most of its first chance.
Full evidence of that will be provided on Thursday (May 22) at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough when Skydiggers performs in concert, its blend of rock, folk and country influences, melodic songwriting, and heartfelt lyrics continuing to resonate.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. concert cost $49 at www.markethall.org.
Season finale sees the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra Step Into The Light at Emmanuel United Church
VIDEO: Mahler’s Symphony no. 4, IV featuring Sabine Devieilhe
For the finale of its 2024-25 season, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is returning to Emmanuel United Church in downtown Peterborough on Saturday (May 24) to present ” Step Into The Light,” which was also the theme of the five-concert season now winding down.
A finale deserves a rousing selection of music. To that end, the PSO is delivering Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, a widely hailed symphonic masterpiece that sees its creator take us on his personal journey, culminating in a child’s vision of heaven.
If that’s not enough, the program will also welcome back cellist Stephen Tétreault and harpist Valérie Milot as soloists in Kelly-Marie Murphy’s award-winning Double Concerto. Also featured is soprano Christina Raphaëlle Haldane, who will join the orchestra for the final movement of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.
At the conductor’s stand, as always, is maestro Michael Newnham, who will give his usual pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. performance are $33, $48, or $55, depending on the seat you choose, with student tickets costing $12 for all seats. They are available online at thepso.org/step-into-the-light.
Canadian pride a treat for the senses at the Academy Theatre
VIDEO: “Hold Me” – The Strumbellas
Hard as it may be, we have to give the 47th president of the United States — yeah, you know who I’m referring to — credit for bringing together Canadians on a scale few times seen prior.
Due to his tariff bullying and 51st state pipe dream, immense pride in all things Canadian has extended well beyond the hockey ice surface to homes, businessese, and organizations from coast to coast to coast. You can count on one hand the number of times politicians of all stripes have spoken with one voice on anything.
Our treasured Canadian identity extends well beyond maple syrup and poutine. Take, for very good example, the Canadian music industry. Long is the list of Canadian recording artists who have gifted the world with great music, and all of it tariff-free to boot.
That’s well worth celebrating at any time, but especially now, and on Sunday (May 25) at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, that’s exactly what will happen.
Billed as “a uniquely Canadian concert featuring Canadian artists celebrating Canadian music,” the aptly titled O’ Canada concert will feature a stage lineup that delivers on that promise.
Hosted by former MuchMusic VJ Erica Ehm, the celebration will bring The Strumbellas, Dwayne Gretzky members Tyler Kyte and Nick Rose, Russell deCarle of Prairie Oyster, Melissa Payne, Cassie Noble, Dale Crowe, Gamekeeper and Mis-Hap to the stage, where a house band comprised of Frazer Turk, D’Arcy Mason, Graeme Morrison, and Andy McNeilly will round things out.
Now the best part. The concert is fundraiser for BGC (Boys and Girls Club) Kawartha in support of its music and arts programs — the future of Canadian-made and supported entertainment, if you will.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. concert cost $62 (plus fees) and are available at www.flatoacademytheatre.com.
Trent Valley Archives pays homage to the Peter Robinson settlers
With this year marking the bicentennial of the Peter Robinson emigration of Irish settlers to the Kawarthas region, there’s a gold pot at the end of the rainbow, and that pot is chock full of events marking the emigrants’ arduous crossing of the Atlantic Ocean for a new life in a new land.
We’ve already heard that Peterborough Musicfest is presenting back-to-back-to-back performances in early August by U2 tribute band Acrobat, The Mudmen (with Irish Millie opening), and The Celtic Tenors. And there’s 4th Line Theatre, which is bringing the world premiere of Megan Murphy’s Wild Geese to the Winslow farm.
Add Trent Valley Archives’ original historical play Crossing Over to the commemorative mix. Being staged May 29 to 31 at Market Hall in Peterborough, it’s a fictionalized account of the six-week Atlantic voyage of the emigrant ship John Barry, which departed from Cobh Harbour in Ireland on May 25, 1825. Family surnames on the passenger list included Hagerty, Nagle, Owen, Regan, Ryan, Slattery, Sullivan, and Young.
Narrated by John Keleher, an experienced seaman and Peter Robinson settler (played by storyteller extraordinaire Hugh Foley), this is a tale of tremendous courage in the face of so very many unknowns. Just the fortitude alone it took to say goodbye forever to relatives in Ireland is quite something. This play will have an Irish music soundtrack, courtesy of music director Michael Ketemer backed by the Crossing Over Chorus.
A fundraiser for Trent Valley Archives, the play is a sequel to last year’s inaugural production Tide of Hope, which told the story of David Nagle, an Irish land agent for a wealthy British landowner who eventually fled Ireland on the John Barry after being branded a traitor by Irish rebels.
During the year when we’re all Irish, if even for a bit, we can comfort in the fact that those who really are Irish are welcoming us in with open arms. Few are more welcoming when it comes to sharing their traditions and heritage.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. from May 29 to 31, with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on May 31. Suitable for all ages 14 and up, tickets cost $30 ($40 for cabaret seating) and are available at www.markethall.org.
Globus Theatre opens its 22nd new season in spirited fashion
VIDEO: Ephraim Ellis introduces “Desperate To Be Doris” at Globus Theatre
Professional theatre is very much alive and well in Bobcaygeon, with Globus Theatre staging 10 productions this year at its home at 2300 Pigeon Lake Road.
The season lid lifter is the Canadian premiere of Desperate To Be Doris, a comedy penned by the British duo of Sue Ryding and Maggie Fox and starring professional actors Ephraim Ellis, Elana Post, and Globus Theatre’s own artistic director Sarah Quick. Quick’s husband and Globus artistic producer James Barrett is directing.
The story centres around Dean (Ellis), who spends his days working at a mail-order pajama company but, come nightfall, is a legend in his living room by singing the songs of Doris Day. When his operatic society decides to stage a theatrical version of Day’s 1953 film Calamity Jane, Dean ponders if his big moment has finally arrived. With a backdrop of some of Day’s greatest hit songs — performed by a community chorus of local residents recruited by Globus — this is a tale of self-discovery and the courage and power of following your dreams.
Now in its 22nd season, Globus Theatre was founded by Quick and Barrett to bring professional theatre to the Kawarthas, annually staging productions from May through December from a former cattle barn converted to a 150-seat theatre and attached restaurant.
Desperate to be Doris will be performed at 8 p.m. from May 29 to 31 and June 5 to 7 and a 2 p.m. matinee performance on May 31. An optional dinner is available before the evening performances.
Tickets are $50 for the show only, or $100 for dinner and the show (plus tax and fee). For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.globustheatre.com or call the Globus Theatre box office at 705-738-2037.
An actor’s journey takes centre stage at the Capitol Theatre
If turning a negative into a positive is truly a gift, Kyle Golemba is on top of his game.
After a reviewer described the actor as “handsome but charmless,” Golemba didn’t sulk. Far from it, instead penning a delightful musical that’s brimming with hilarious stories and reflections on the ups and downs of theatre life.
Handsome But Charmless opens June 3 in the intimate Sculthorpe Theatre at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre. Front-and-centre, poking good fun at himself, and no doubt his very honest reviewer, this has fun and music — never a bad combination — at its centre.
And as befitting a one-man show, it features a huge talent in Golemba, whose list of stage credits is long and impressive, including his performance as Brett in the 2024 staging of Mark Crawford’s Bed and Breakfast at the Capitol Theatre.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. June 3 to 7, with added 2 p.m. matinees on June 4, 7, and 8. Tickets cost $45, $35 for those under 30, and are available at capitoltheatre.com.
Encore
- What a difference a few months, and funding, makes. You’ll recall that during the Peterborough’s budget deliberations, a number of Peterborough groups — the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) among them — were faced with the loss of city funding. After much outcry, that funding was kept in place … for now. EC3 is now back from the brink, not only hosting and presenting the Peterborough Arts Awards’ presentation on June 12 at the Canadian Canoe Museum, but also accepting performance submissions for the biannual Artsweek arts festival in the fall. Now we get word that fusion violinist Victoria Yeh — no stranger to local audiences — has been added to EC3’s board. When we think what would have been had EC3 lost its city dollar support, this activity is all the more worth celebrating, and supporting.
- I’m wishing a number of homegrown country music artists nothing but good things when the Country Music Association of Ontario’s 2025 CMAOntario Awards are presented on June 1 at The Music Hall in Hamilton. Elyse Saunders, Tebey, Sacha, and Jesse Slack and Daryl Scott are nominated in multiple categories and hoping to hear their names called at least once. I’m also thinking good thoughts for local singer-songwriter Dan Hick who is up for a remarkable five awards at the New Music Awards being hosted by Pet Rock Radio May 24 at the 100 Acre Brewing Company. Dan will also perform at the event, which will also see Washboard Hank presented with a legacy award.
