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 I’m Every Woman: The Whitney Houston Songbook at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, the Northumberland Players production of Kristen Da Silva’s comedy Hurry Hard at the Best Western in Cobourg, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening Strength + Sparkle concert at Peterborough’s Showplace Performance Centre, Public Energy’s presentation of Sara Porter’s Bad Poetry at Peterborough’s The Theatre on King, the Peterborough Theatre Guild production of the First World War drama Bluebirds at The Guild Hall in Peterborough’s East City, and Roch Voisine’s tribute to the legendary Gordon Lightfoot at Showplace.
Taylor Lovelace brings “The Voice” to Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
When you’re paying musical tribute to an iconic singer who was, and still is, commonly referred to as “The Voice,” the pressure to get it right is immense.
From the moment Whitney Houston sang her first solo at Manhattan’s Town Hall in February 1978, it was clear she had that special something that would take her as far as she wanted to go.
Signed by Arista Records at age 19, the Newark, New Jersey native rewarded the label with two back-to-back Billboard 200-topping albums — the former, Whitney Houston, remaining the best-selling debut album by a solo artist.
From 1985 well into the next decade, it was impossible to escape Houston’s voice, be it recorded, captured on video, or live. Not even movie audiences were immune to Whitney-mania, as her starring role in The Bodyguard not only brought her critical acclaim as an actress but also a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. When she died at age 48 in February 2012, Houston’s musical career was well in decline but her legacy was secure.
VIDEO: Taylor Lovelace talks about “I’m Every Woman: The Whitney Houston Songbook”
From October 22 to 25 at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, Canadian singer and actor Taylor Lovelace will pay tribute to that legacy in I’m Every Woman: The Whitney Houston Songbook. Told through personal anecdotes, family stories, and her own voice, Lovelace will share what it means to find strength in the dark times and celebrate one of the most defining artists of the 20th century.
Lovelace — who has appeared in past Capitol productions of Waitress, Little Shop of Horrors, A Year with Frog & Toad, and Billboard in Concert — will deliver Houston’s hit songs including “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “I’m Every Woman,” “I Will Always Love You,” and many more.
Created in the Capitol Theatre’s 2025 Creators’ Unit and written by Lovelace, I’m Every Woman: The Whitney Houston Songbook is directed by the Capitol’s artistic director Rob Kempson with musical supervision by Jeff Newberry.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. from October 22 to 24, with 2 p.m. matinee performances on October 24 and 25. Tickets cost $55 plus fees ($45 for those under 30 years old) and are available at capitoltheatre.com.
Curling rink is the setting for Kristen Da Silva’s comedic play ‘Hurry Hard’ in Cobourg
During a time when it seems we’re all looking for something uniquely Canadian to grasp onto, the Northumberland Players have stepped up to the plate with a hilarious comedy centred around one of our favourite recreational pursuits.
Written by award-winning Canadian playwright, director, and actor Kristen Da Silva, Hurry Hard relates what happens seven years after Bill and Sandy’s divorce forced the fracture of their tight-knit curling team into separate men’s and women’s teams.
When the men’s team loses a player just before the major regional bonspiel, the reunion of the single coed team is forced, resulting in the estranged exes and their teammates having to navigate years of lingering personal baggage and deep-seated rivalries.
Directed by Jeremy Henson and produced by Terri Bicknell-Potts, the play stars Hank Murray as Bill, Jeremy Brans as Johnny, Nikki Parks as Darlene, Susie Macdonald as Sandy, and — new to the Northumberland Players stage — Michael Henderson as Terry.
The dinner theatre production runs for nine performances from October 23 to November 8 at the Best Western Plus Cobourg Inn and Convention Centre. Dinner is at 5:30 p.m., followed by the show at 7:30 p.m. on October 23 and 24, 30 and 31, and November 6 and 7, with dinner at 5 p.m. and the show at 7 p.m. for Sunday performances on October 25, November 1, and November 8.
Tickets cost $85 (including a three-course dinner, the show, and gratuity). To purchase tickets, call the Best Western at 905-372-2105.
Peterborough Symphony Orchestra marking two milestones with its 2026-27 season
VIDEO: Prokofiev’s “Violin Concerto No. 1” – Hilary Hahn with RTVE Symphony Orchestra
If one milestone wasn’t enough, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra will celebrate two at its season-opening concert on Saturday (October 24).
Not only will the 7:30 p.m. concert at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough kick-off the orchestra’s 60th season, it will also mark Michael Newnham’s 25th year as the orchestra’s conductor and music director. For a community the size of Peterborough to have a world-class orchestra, led by someone of Newnham’s stature, is well worth celebrating.
Titled “Strength + Sparkle,” the concert will feature Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (featuring violinist Erika Raum), and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”).
As always, Newnham will give a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m. which will no doubt include some reflections on 25 years at the orchestra’s helm.
Tickets are $42, $56, or $63 depending on seating, with all student tickets priced at $20, and are available at www.showplace.org.
Public Energy welcomes a unique take on the creative process
Continuing to push the envelope when it comes to presenting cutting-edge, and very different, theatre art productions is Peterborough’s Public Energy Performing Arts, with Bad Poetry: Live in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough set for two performances at The Theatre on King.
Toronto-based writer, educator, and performer Sara Porter’s work was inspired by Tristane Connolly’s article “Falling in Love with Bad Poetry,” which is an ode to the absurdity of creative process.
During the pandemic, Porter invited her friends and colleagues to join The Bad Poetry Drinking Group online, inviting them to share their bad poetry as a means of self-expression, release, relief (often comic), and connection during trying times.
That led to a live show that has been performed in Toronto, Montreal, Kitchener, Stratford, Halifax and, now, Peterborough.
Part lecture, part dance performance, and part queer clown turn, the show highlights Porter’s daring imagination and sense of humour, both of which have brought her work at theatres and festivals across Canada, the United States, Scotland, and the UK.
Of note, Porter’s performance will be musically accompanied by Peterborough’s own Benj Rowland, with both performances including an audience-interactive poetry creation workshop.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on October 30 and 4 p.m. on October 31. Tickets cost $20 to $50 on a sliding scale at publicenergy.ca.
“Bluebirds” at the Peterborough Theatre Guild shows us war through the eyes of Canadian nurses
As the thoughts of many (but not nearly enough) turn to the annual remembrance of those Canadians who fought and died for our freedom, we’ll no doubt hear of a few music concerts and theatre productions that have a wartime-theme at their centre.
One that we know of now is Bluebirds, the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s second of six productions being staged during its 2026-27 season.
Written by acclaimed and much-awarded Canadian playwright Vern Thiessen and directed by longtime Guild member and supporter Bea Quarrie, Bluebirds is set in Étaples, France where the final year of World War One, 1918, finds three Canadian nurses serving on the front lines, tending to wounded soldiers while navigating the horrors of war.
VIDEO: “Bluebirds” promo
Amid the urgency and strain of their work, the women form deep connections, finding moments of humour and relief in one another. Through conversations, letters home and quiet reflection, their inner lives begin to surface as Bluebirds explores the toll of war and the emotional lives of the women who endured it.
As November 11 approaches, Bluebirds is a reminder that many who gave so much were armed with compassion as opposed to guns.
Bluebirds runs for 10 performances with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. on October 30, November 5 to 7, and November 12 to 14, and 1:30 p.m. matinee shows on October 31 and November 1 and 8. Tickets are $30 ($27 for seniors and $20 for students) and are available at www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com/upcoming-plays/bluebirds.
Roch Voisine pays tribute to a Canadian musical icon
VIDEO: “The Lightfoot Sessions” – Roch Voisine
With a career spanning more than three decades, Canadian singer-songwriter Roch Voisine has sold millions of albums worldwide and remains one of Canada’s most beloved artists, known for his distinctive voice and ability to connect across generations and languages.
Now the New Brunswick native, who was just inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in September, is paying tribute to a famous fellow inductee — the late Gordon Lightfoot.
When Voisine brings “The Lightfoot Sessions” to Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough on Wednesday, November 4, he will reimagine Lightfoot’s classic songs, including “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
Voisine will also perform favourite songs from his own catalogue, such as “With These Eyes,” “Kissing Rain,” and “I’ll Always Be There.”.
To keep the focus on the songwriting, the show will be presented in an intimate acoustic format, with Voisine bringing the songs to life through personal anecdotes and reflections from the stage.
Whether you’re a Lightfoot fan, a Voisine fan, or both — or just appreciate the depth and subtlety of a well-crafted song delivered without all the fuss — this is a show you won’t want to miss.
Tickets are $79.50 plus fee and are available at showplace.org.
Encore
Like many who followed her career and loved her music, I was terribly saddened to hear of Sass Jordan’s passing on October 2 at the way-too-young age of 63, and just a few months after she headlined at Peterborough Musicfest.
Back in the fall of 2017, kawarthaNOW asked me to get in touch with Jordan and write an article previewing her Market Hall show that was billed as a 25th anniversary celebration of the release of her 1992 groundbreaking album, Racine.
Jordan and I had never chatted before but I came away feeling I had known her for years. When I read, following her passing, of how sincere, down-to-earth and funny she was, I immediately understood as I harkened back to my memory of that chat close to 10 years ago but still fresh in my mind.
I’ve been privileged to interview thousands of people over 46 years, from all walks of life, but few can lay claim to the simple enjoyment I experienced chatting with Jordan. She was the real deal, with a wicked sense of humour and a penchant for not taking herself all that seriously. That’s missed in a world where cynicism gets way more attention than it deserves.
