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 5th annual Cancer Takedown fundraiser at Peterborough’s Market Hall, Dreamer – The Supertramp Experience at Lindsay’s FLATO Academy Theatre, the Lakefield Literary Festival’s welcoming of stories and songs from Natalie MacMaster, The Bowie Lives at Bancroft Village Playhouse, and Public Energy’s presentation of Bodies Under Siege at the Market Hall.
Cancer Takedown in Peterborough set to wrestle a stubborn foe to its knees for the fifth time
VIDEO: Cancer Takedown (2023)
For far too many, cancer in all its forms remains a formidable and unforgiving foe that has wrought despair, sadness, and anger.
Diagnosed with two separate cancers, Rick Kemp’s cancer journey has seen him undergo, since 2018, radiation, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and a stem cell transplant. He hasn’t faced this trial alone, with his wife Amy right by his side.
But instead of retreating, which no one could have criticized them for doing, the couple founded Cancer Takedown which, since 2022, has raised funds for cancer care at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
More vitally, the event has served as a “spirit-raiser” for those touched by cancer, saying in one clear and unified voice “You are not alone — we’ve got you.”
Cancer Takedown returns to Peterborough’s Market Hall for a fifth time on Thursday (November 5), with two of the most upbeat people you’ll find in these parts — Megan Murphy and Linda Kash — again co-hosting the live music-heavy affair. Together, they’ll wrestle cancer into submission, with Murphy as The Mauler and Kash as The Liquidator.
Melissa Payne, Kate Suhr, and Kate Brioux — known collectively as The Hicks — will perform, as will Beau Dixon, The Weber Brothers, Nichols Campbell, Brandon Munroe and Ian McKeown, Anthony Bastianon, Good Medicine. and Kim Dafoe.
Particularly poignant is Brioux’s performance — her first since undergoing her own cancer journey over the past year.
Cancer needs to know we’re not happy with its continued presence in the lives of so many and, more than that, will stare it down anytime at anyplace. Cancer Takedown checks those boxes in a very effective way that is as uplifting as it is entertaining.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. event cost $40 — $50 for cabaret seating — and are available at markethall.org.
Supertramp’s hit music paid its rightful due by Dreamer at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre
VIDEO: Dreamer – The Supertramp Experience
Back in 1974, third time’s a charm proved to be true for Supertramp.
After the British rock band’s first two albums failed to impress, Crime of the Century was a huge commercial success that seemed destined to be Supertramp’s pièce de résistance. But five years later, Breakfast in America gave us the chart-topping singles “Goodbye Stranger,” “The Logical Song,” “Take The Long Way Home,” and the title track.
With its keyboards-heavy progressive rock/pop sound, the band founded in London by Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies attained its highest album sale levels in Canada, with both Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America diamond-certified — that’s 10 times platinum. It was near impossible to escape Supertramp’s sound from the mid-1970s into the following decade.
On Saturday (November 7) at Lindsay’s FLATO Academy Theatre, Dreamer – The Supertramp Experience will perform, recreating a sound that was near impossible to escape from the mid 1970s into the next decade. Fans of the unique sound of one of Britain’s finest musical exports will be thrilled.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert cost $52 at www.flatoacademytheatre.com.
Music of yesteryear from the Peterborough Pop Ensemble
VIDEO: “Sentimental Journey” – Peterborough Pop Ensemble (2015)
One of Peterborough’s most beloved choral groups is returning to the stage, bringing the music of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s to its audience.
On Sunday (November 8) at Westdale United Church on Sherbrooke Street West, the Peterborough Pop Ensemble headlines As Time Goes By, a musical reflection of eras when jazz standards, syncopated rhythms, wartime ballads, and early rock ‘n’ roll stylings were all the rage.
The Peterborough Pop Ensemble began in the spring of 2000 under the name The Peterborough Singers Pop Ensemble under the leadership of the late Barb Monahan. The choral group became The Peterborough Pop Ensemble on January 1, 2009.
When Monahan passed away 10 years later, Maureen Harris-Lowe was named director, continuing the ensemble’s storied tradition of performing seasonal concerts, singing at community events, and representing Peterborough at points outside of the city.
Admission to the 2 p.m. concert is by cash donation at the door, with all proceeds supporting the ensemble.
Lakefield Literary Festival sit-down features Natalie MacMaster
VIDEO: The MacMaster Leahy Family at Bluesfest Ottawa (2026)
Peterborough’s Megan Murphy is one busy lady, going from co-hosting Cancer Takedown to chatting with Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster at an event presented by Lakefield Literary Festival.
On Saturday, November 14 at Lakefield United Church on Regent Street, “An Evening of Songs and Stories with Natalie MacMaster” will see the presentation of stories, insight, and music inspired by MacMaster’s memoir I Have A Love Story.
Published in August 2025, the book traces the author’s journey from humble roots on Cape Breton Island to the world’s biggest stages, as well as recounts her relationship with fellow fiddler and husband Donnell Leahy of Lakefield’s famous musical family.
The result is an intimate look at the balance of career and motherhood, and her navigation of the triumphs and challenges of raising seven children — most of whom are also musicians, with MacMaster’s oldest daughter Mary Frances now pursuing her own solo music career.
With Murphy serving as moderator, MacMaster will delve into her songwriting process, with time allotted for questions from the audience.
Tickets to 7 p.m. event cost $30 at lakefieldliteraryfestival.com.
The Bowie Lives returns to Bancroft Village Playhouse with a new show
VIDEO: The Bowie Lives featuring Michael Bell
David Bowie sent Major Tom into orbit with “Space Oddity” in 1969, then spent the better part of the next half-century keeping record-store clerks guessing which bin to file him in. He moved from the glam rock of 1972’s Ziggy Stardust, to Philadelphia soul with Young Americans in 1975, to the dance floor with Let’s Dance in 1983, releasing a total of 29 studio albums before his death.
Peterborough’s Michael Bell has spent a good portion of his musical life figuring out how to cover all that ground in a single evening. On Saturday, November 14, he’ll bring The Bowie Lives back to the Bancroft Village Playhouse, where he and his band played to a sold-out house in 2024.
“Bancroft gave us such an incredible response last time,” Bell says. “Selling out the theatre was a huge honour, and we knew right away we wanted to come back with something new. This show will have fresh songs, new looks, and a few surprises for Bowie fans.”
Bell’s musical fascination with Bowie began when he was a teenager, and he performed the English musician’s songs with a number of his early bands. In the 1980s, he toured his first theatrical production dedicated to Bowie, before hanging up his “Ziggy” in the early ’90s.
Following Bowie’s death from cancer at the age of 69 on January 10, 2016 — a diagnosis he had kept hidden from the public for 18 months — Bell decided to resurrect his tribute by launching The Bowie Lives.
Bell has been praised for his ability to emulate Bowie’s vocal style and stage presence with precision, also incorporating flamboyant costumes, intricate arrangements, and multimedia visuals to capture the essence of Bowie’s legendary performances.
Expect to hear classics including “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Rebel Rebel,” “Let’s Dance,” “Heroes,” “Fame,” “Modern Love,” and more, along with new additions to the setlist for the returning Bancroft performance.
For Bell, The Bowie Lives isn’t just a tribute concert — it’s an experience for fans of all ages. As always, there will be a pre-show including the Bowie Bazaar, featuring T-shirts, collectibles, LPs and DVDs, and more. Fans are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite Bowie.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert cost $45 (plus tax) and are available at www.villageplayhouse.ca.
Public Energy double bill highlights resilience to cancer’s scourge
Cancer survival, and resilience to its diagnosis, is again the theme of an upcoming production, this time in the form of a double bill being staged on Thursday, November 19 at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough.
Presented by Public Energy Performing Arts, Bodies Under Siege features two very different but complementary new works dealing with reactions to cancer diagnoses based on lived experience.
First up is Peterborough multi-disciplinary artist and writer Kate Story’s humourous, erudite, and poignant work “Hysterical,” which uses movement and storytelling to explore their experience with cancer, as well as broader questions around people with uteruses and their relationship with the medical establishment.
Then, Toronto artist Allison Cummings’ dance work “Opponent” will draw on the shared experiences of both her and locally born dancer Christy Stoeten, who performs the work that explores their treatment and diagnosis experiences, and the lasting effects that breast cancer has had on their loves, bodies, and creativity.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. performance cost $20 to $50, plus fees, at markethall.org.
Cummings and Stoeten are also planning to offer a creation workshop for members of the community, with details to be announced.
Encore
Al Black
It’s so gratifying when one of the truly good guys is recognized for being just that.
I know I’m far from being the only who was thrilled when longtime local musician Al Black was presented with the President’s Award at the recent Business Excellence Awards hosted by the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce.
Few have done as much as Al to promote local musicians on the up-and-up, be it by organizing and hosting regular music jams at initially Jethro’s, and now Eldorado, on Hunter Street West, or by simply showing up at their gigs. When Al says “I love this town” — as he did in a Facebook post after the awards — we can’t help but believe him. He’s proven that for years now through his actions.
Peterborough Performs VII
It’s a ways off yet, but Peterborough Performs VII: Artists United Against Homelessness is taking shape, with local performers for the March 4, 2027 event at Showplace confirmed, and listed here for the first time.
Tickets go on sale in December at Showplace box office and website, but to whet your appetite now, consider the main stage lineup: The Weber Brothers, Tristan Konkle, Crooked Archers (with Bridget Foley), Bread and Soul, The Ball Pit Improv (featuring Linda Kash), and Rick and Gailie’s Peterborough All-Star Band.
Meanwhile, in the downstairs Cogeco Studio, Dan Hick and Lucy Ferrill, Tami J Wilde and Friends, Georgia Rose and Carter Frizzle, Lagan and Derelict, Chris Collins, Pat Rees, and Ollie Mae will take a turn.
Founded by David Goyette and first held in March 2020, Peterborough Performs has raised closed to $186,000 for United Way-supported shelters and local homelessness relief agencies.
