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 “Rough Cuts” presented by Public Energy Performing Arts, How We Got To Jersey: A Tale of Two Frankies at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, “Bright Lights” presented by the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Jazz in Peterborough’s debut featuring the Paul Novotny Trio at St. James United Church, the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s staging of 291, and a Market Hall comedy showcase in support of those without a family doctor.
New artistic work gets its due courtesy of Public Energy initiative
A trend in recent years has seen an increasing number of theatre art presenters provide more opportunities for creators to present their work in progress.
Not only does such an initiative provide a platform for artists to float a trial balloon of their work before an audience, it also provides that same audience with a preview of work that may be destined for bigger things.
On Friday (October 24) at The Theatre On King in downtown Peterborough, Public Energy Performing Arts presents “Rough Cuts,” a new initiative that offers artists the chance to present excerpts of works-in-progress in what is described as a “low tech, low stakes environment.”
Six artists chosen from those who applied will present what they’re working on now, including Angel Hamilton, Charlotte Kennedy, Georgia Fisher, Hartley Stephenson, Naomi Duvall, and Shahira the Djinn.
As an example of what to expect, Duvall is presenting Howdy, Hellmouth!. Described as “a burlesque clown act gone off the rails,” her work explores the dark side of power by blending physical theatre, sensuality, a bull whip and unsettling humour.
Hamilton, meanwhile, will present a documentary media piece that blends stand-up monologue and film as she recounts her search for her real father through true crime clues and the telling of personal stories.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. event range from $10 to $25 plus fees, with a suggested price of $20. For more information and to order tickets, visit publicenergy.ca/performance/rough-cuts/
Good on Public Energy for providing an outlet for new creative work to find its footing. Better still, another edition of Rough Cuts will be held in March, with a call for applications for that coming in early 2026.
Oh, what a night ahead at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
VIDEO: “How We Got To Jersey: A Tale of Two Frankies” trailer
When it debuted in 2004 at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse, there was little inkling that Jersey Boys would become the smash Broadway hit and worldwide sensation that it would become, right up until 2021 in London’s West End.
The story that dramatizes the formation, success, and break-up of 1960s rock ‘n’ roll group The Four Seasons clearly resonated with audiences, with the quartet’s timeless music playing a huge role in its popularity. Songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” and “Rag Doll” anchored The Four Seasons’ popularity, then and now.
Opening Friday (October 24) with four performances until Sunday, Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre presents How We Got To Jersey: A Tale of Two Frankies. Starring Adrian Marchuk and Jeff Madden, it relates how two small-town Canadian kids each grew up to portray Four Seasons’ frontman Frankie Valli on stages around the world.
The concert revue takes its audience behind the scenes of the musical that commanded Broadway from 2005 to 2017, captured four 2006 Tony Awards and, in 2014, hit the silver screen via a film of the same name. Promising all the favourite musical hits from Jersey Boys in one show, staying still in one’s seat may prove to be quite a challenge.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on October 24 and 25, with 2 p.m. matinees on October 25 and 26. Tickets cost $55 plus fees ($45 for those under 30) at capitoltheatre.com.
Bright Lights shine as the PSO opens new season at Showplace
VIDEO: Canadian Percussionists profile – Shawn Mativetsky
When you’ve been doing something very well for decades, it’s wise not to change a thing.
Founded in 1967, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has performed five main series concerts each season since, most all of them at Showplace Performance Centre since it opened in downtown Peterborough in the mid ’90s.
Buoyed by strong membership and sponsor support — kawarthaNOW is again a season sponsor — and fuelled by a consistently ambitious musical program, the orchestra remains a local cultural treasure; a gifted ensemble that few Canadian cities of Peterborough’s size can lay claim to.
On Saturday, November 1, the PSO will open its 2025-26 season, themed “Look to the Stars,” with a concert called “Bright Lights” at Showplace.
Bright Lights will feature special guest Shawn Mativetsky playing the tabla — the first time the orchestra has featured the Indian percussion instrument. He’ll join the orchestra to perform on Canadian composer’s Dinuk Wijertane’s Concerto for Tabla and Orchestra, while the concert will open with the overture to The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini and close with Mozart’s final symphony, Symphony No. 41, which is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony.
As he has been for years, front and centre will be conductor Michael Newnham, the orchestra’s music director, who will also take to the stage 45 minutes before the concert to chat with the audience about the evening’s program.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert range from $36 to $57 depending on seating ($15 for students for all seats), with $30 for day-of-concert rush seats. More informaton about the concert and tickets are available at thepso.org/bright-lights.
The Paul Novotny Trio heralds Jazz in Peterborough’s debut
VIDEO: “My Favorite Things” performed by Paul Novotny and Robi Botos
Craig Paterson’s love of jazz is surpassed only by his relentless desire to expose local audiences to the music genre whenever and wherever possible.
So it is that he’s launching the new Jazz In Peterborough concert series, to not only serve longtime fans of jazz but also entice those curious to see what all the fuss is about.
On Saturday, November 1 at St. James United Church, the first concert in the series will feature the Paul Novotny Trio, with the famed bassist joined by pianist Ewan Farncombe and drummer Norbert Botos, both of whom are among Toronto’s best young jazz musicians.
A two-time Juno nominee, Novotny is also a composer and producer who has performed alongside the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Geoff Keezer, Cedar Walton, David Clayton Thomas, and Roger Whitaker. In addition, he has created music for commercials, feature films, and television franchises. His most recent album, 2022’s Summertime in Leith, was recorded and performed live with Oscar Peterson protégé Robi Botos.
While International Jazz Day is marked annually on April 30 and celebrated in Peterborough, with this new series, Paterson is here to tell us, rightly so, that our exposure to the genre shouldn’t be restricted to but one day.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert cost $40 at eventbrite.ca/e/1554327147339.
Peterborough Theatre Guild staging local playwright’s work
VIDEO: “291” by Jade O’Keeffe
For the second production of its 2025-26 season, the Peterborough Theatre Guild is presenting an original work by local playwright Jade O’Keeffe.
Directed by Lisa Dixon (with her brother Beau on board as composer and sound designer), 291 is a familial affair of sorts — something furthered by the fact that O’Keeffe is Lisa’s daughter. It would seem the family that stays together, makes plays together.
Described as “a lyrical portrait of love, art and letters that defined a generation,” 291 invites us into the intimate world of American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and American photographer Alfred Stieglitz, played respectively by Gayle Fraser and David Russell.
One of modern art’s most iconic couples, their story unfolds not through texts or fleeting trends, but through more than 5,000 handwritten letters exchanged over three decades. The result is an evocative new play that captures the passion and complexity of their relationship, blending his revolutionary photography with her ground-breaking abstract expression. Through words, art, and longing, the result is a celebration of artistic collaboration and a meditation on the lost art of letter writing.
The play opens on Saturday, November 1 for nine performances, with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. on November 1, 6 to 8, and 13 to 15 and 1:30 p.m. matinee performances on November 2 and 9. Tickets are $30 adults, $27 seniors, and $20 students, with a special two-for-one ticket offer available for opening night. For tickets, visit www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com.
Laughter the best medicine for those without a family doctor
VIDEO: D.J. Demers on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
For thousands of local residents, being without a family doctor is no laughing matter, but the Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation (GPHSF) is turning to comedy to help ease their plight.
On Sunday, November 2 at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough, the foundation is presenting a comedy night headlined by D.J. Demers, with support from Casey Corbin and emcee Drew Behm. Event proceeds will support Peterborough Family Health Team clinics for those without a family doctor or nurse practitioner who require non-emergency care.
Demers is a funny guy who has made audiences laugh since 2009. The winner of a Canadian Comedy Award in 2015 as Best Breakout Artist, he was nominated for a 2018 Juno Award for his album Indistinct Chatter. In early 2024, CBC Television debuted the series One More Time featuring Demers as the manager of a used sporting goods store.
GPHSF has a history of hosting comedy events as fundraisers. Its “Laughter Is The Best Medicine” shows in the early 2010s were very popular. It also partnered with Just For Laughs for an early 2020 show at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. Reviving a proven winner makes good sense.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. laugh-a-thon cost $34 at markethall.org.
Encore
- I know many, myself included, were rooting for Amelia Shadgett a.k.a. Irish Millie to return from Ottawa on October 15 with the Ontario Folk Music Award for Performing Artist of the Year. Alas, that honour went to Jessica Pearson and the East Wind. Millie, however, can hold her head high. Just to be on that dance floor is quite an honour; a clear reflection of the upward trajectory her music career has taken since she took up the fiddle at a young age. Rest assured we’re going to hear more — much more — from Millie for years to come, and her just rewards will be plentiful.
- Look for tickets for Peterborough Performs VI: Musicians United to End Homelessness to go on sale at Showplace Performance Centre in November. Set for February 26, 2026, the United Way fundraiser for local shelters and homelessness relief agencies has raised closed to $150,000 since its March 2020 inception. A total of 14 acts will take to two stages this time around — that’s four hours of wall-to-wall music performed by some the best in our neck of the woods. Tickets, at $50 each, are a steal, but with the two tickets for $80 deal, that’s outright thievery. As for the cause, well, that speaks for itself.
