Having completed its 25th anniversary season earlier in June, Peterborough’s New Stages Theatre Company has already announced its next season — and it’s the biggest one yet, with eight productions taking place from October 2023 to June 2024.

Established in 1997, New Stages Theatre is a not-for-profit charitable organization with a mission is to bring the best of contemporary professional theatre to Peterborough-Nogojiwanong.

The 2023-2024 season includes New Stages Theatre’s very popular staged reading series, an outrageous cabaret tribute to founding artistic director Randy Read, a week-long festival of exciting new work (appropriately entitled “Brand New Stages”) and, for the first time in the theatre company’s history, a joyous holiday production in December.

While individual tickets are not yet available, you can now purchase one of two early-bird subscription packages at www.newstages.ca.

The 2023-2024 season kicks off at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 1st at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre with a staged reading of This Is How We Got Here, Keith Barker’s heartbreaking yet heartwarming play following a close-knit family as they deal with an unexpected loss. Nominated in 2018 for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the play won the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Carol Bolt Award in 2020.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 17th, New Stages Theatre will be honouring founding artistic director Randy Read with Let’s Get Randy, an outrageously fun cabaret tribute with all-star performers gathering from near and far to sing and sling stories. Read stepped down as artistic director at the end of 2022, passing the reins to Mark Wallace, although he has continued to be involved in the theatre company, including performing in The Secret Mask this past May after recovering from a serious injury.

New Stages Theatre will celebrate the holiday season from Wednesday, December 13th to Sunday, December 17th with It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry. This unique production of the beloved classic is set in a 1940s radio studio, with five actors playing all the roles and creating all the sound effects in front of the live “studio” audience.

From Tuesday, February 27th to Sunday, March 3th, New Stages Theatre is presenting Brand New Stages, a festival of exciting new work including from local artists:

Looking for Lear by Dreda Blow and Brad Brackenridge is a workshop production at Market Hall arising from their acclaimed puppetry and dance production The Lear Project presented at Erring at King George in May 2022.

Life Without by Steve Ross, the Stratford actor who is well known to New Stages Theatre audiences, will be presented as a staged reading at Market Hall. The play, about the journey of a close-knit family moving forward after a tragedy, will premiere in August at the 2023 Here For Now open-air festival behind the Stratford Perth Museum.

Tussaud/Antoinette, written and directed by New York-based artist Jody Christopherson, will be presented as a staged reading at The Theatre On King. The solo performance is a gothic horror re-imagining of the historical fantasy of Madame Marie Tussaud’s relationship with one of her most famous subjects, Marie Antoinette. Before Tussaud achieved wax museum fame, she was a sculptor who was nearly guillotined during the French Revolution but escaped the Reign of Terror by using her talents and went on to not only document history but to become it.

On Mother’s Day weekend (Saturday, May 11th and Sunday, May 12th), New Stages Theatre will present a staged reading of Love, Loss, and What I Wore by the late Nora Ephron (Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally) and her sister and screenwriting collaborator Delia Ephron (Mixed Nuts, You’ve Got Mail). Based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman, the play is an intimate collection of monologues by women about pivotal moments in their lives and how they were shaped by the clothes that they wore. Linda Kash will direct the staged reading at Market Hall.

The season will wrap up at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 9th with a staged reading at Market Hall of Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang. The semi-autobiographical play satirizes the once-common practice of casting White actors to play Asian roles on stage and screen.

Two early bird subscription packages are now available for New Stages Theatre’s 2023-24 season. The regular package includes all five mainstage shows and one of the Brand New Stages shows for $150 plus venue fees. The limited-quantity premium package includes all eight shows for $170 plus venue fees.

Subscription packages are available online now at www.newstages.ca.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of New Stages Theatre Company’s 2023-24 season.

More than a few families are well acquainted with the day-to-day challenges presented when both parents work outside the home.

Juggling schedules is an art form that calls upon the dexterity of a seasoned circus performer while simply being there for the kids is a task in itself.

When Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy married in 2002, each brought a busy and successful musical career to the union. Over the years that followed, they also brought seven children to the mix — all while touring and recording as Canada’s reigning power couple of fiddle-infused Celtic music, often with their very musical children in tow.

While the couple has no doubt sacrificed, passing on gigs and other professional obligations with the family front of mind, such will not be the case on Saturday, July 1st when MacMaster and Leahy open the 36th season of Peterborough Musicfest at Del Crary Park.

As has been the case since the late Moe Koffman headlined on Canada Day in 1987, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is free. The concert will run until around 9:30 p.m., with the City of Peterborough providing a Canada Day fireworks display over Little Lake following the concert.

MacMaster and Leahy arrive in Peterborough just a few months removed from the release of their third album together. Canvas is aptly titled, with its addition of rock, pop, Latin and classical influences to their trademark Celtic sound.

VIDEO: “The Chase” – Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy

The duo’s latest studio collaboration comes eight years after the release of their million-selling debut album One, which was followed by 2016’s A Celtic Family Christmas.

Nova Scotia born, MacMaster picked up a fiddle at age nine and never put it down, no doubt influenced at the time by her uncle Buddy MacMaster, a Cape Breton fiddler of considerable renown.

“I never intended to make a career out of it (music), mostly because I didn’t think it was possible,” says MacMaster in an interview provided by their management.

“Even the most adored fiddlers in Cape Breton had day jobs. And yet, here I am. I’m continually amazed by what the fiddle has brought to my life It has carried me through my childhood, through my teens, my young adult life, my married life and now motherhood. And I still love it as much as ever. Same with Donnell. It’s unexpected and awesome.”

Leahy, meanwhile, cut his musical chops as a fiddler with the much-loved Lakefield family band of the same name.

“The fiddle was definitely common ground for us when we first got together,” recalls MacMaster.

“I was so in awe of Donnell’s family; of 11 siblings who could play and had a family band. And here I am now doing almost exactly the same thing. Well, kind of.”

Early on, the couple realized being on the road without their kids was more difficult than touring with them by their side. The fact that they were already being homeschooled by MacMaster, who has a teaching degree, made that decision all the more palatable.

VIDEO: A Celtic Family Christmas with Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy

“Initially, we were reluctant to let the kids perform; we worried the expectations might be too much,” adds Leahy.

“But then one night, we put Mary Frances on stage. Soon after that, Michael wanted to play. And you must reward practice.”

And practice brings rewards, as both parents well know.

MacMaster’s resumé is peppered with a number of Canadian music awards, including several Artist of the Year nods from the East Coast Music Association and two Juno Awards for Best Instrumental Album. Fourteen years after she made a member of the Order of Canada, her home province named her a member of the Order of Nova Scotia in 2020.

Meanwhile, Leahy shared in the family’s musical success of the late 1990s — a period which saw three Juno Awards come their way as Canadians fell in love with the siblings’ step-dancing ways and fiddle-heavy musicianship.

As central to the family’s dynamic as the stage is the 120-acre farm that dates back through generations of Leahys. It too has played a key role in their children’s development and education.

“Running the farm is a great counterpoint to life on the road,” says Leahy, adding “We believe in work and the farm is a wonderful place for the kids to learn through their chores.”

VIDEO: “Colour Theory” – Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy featuring Brian Finnegan

With their Musicfest appearance marking the start of a busy summer ahead, the family continues to do what it has done so very well to date — be together, whether that’s at the farm or on the road or any point in between.

“This whole thing — first playing music by myself, then playing music with Donnell, then touring with Donnell and the children and all of us playing music together — has evolved in a very natural way,” says MacMaster. “We feel incredibly lucky to be together as a family and to be letting our children develop their musical talent.”

“The only downside is that we can’t do all we’re asked to do and might like to do in other circumstances because we are parents first,” adds Leahy. “You think about touring Australia and Ireland and The Netherland. But then you remember the kids’ math homework has to get done.”

Peterborough Musicfest is presenting 15 free-admission concerts during its 36th season, each staged on Wednesday and Saturday nights until August 19th, and supported by more than 100 sponsors, kawarthaNOW among them.

Overseen by general manager Tracey Randall and staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers, Peterborough Musicfest’s stated mission remains “to provide diverse, affordable live music to enrich cultural and economic prosperity in our community.”

For more information on this concert or the entire 2023 season, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca or phone the Peterborough Musicfest office at 705-755-1111.

VIDEO: “Fiddler’s Despair” – Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a headline sponsor of Peterborough Musicfest’s 2023 season.

Anything can happen with improv. One minute you’re hosting an interview and the next, you’re breaking up with your boyfriend Joe because his Rottweiler ate your daughter.

That’s the sort of chaos and hilarity that’s sure to ensue on Thursday, June 29th when klusterfork entertainment brings a star-studded cast to Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough for an evening of improv comedy.

“School’s Out!” will see klusterfork co-founder Linda Kash welcome comedy duo Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram back to Peterborough for the first time in years. The couple first met while working at Second City Toronto before starting not-for-profit theatre company The National Theatre of the World. They’ve since spent more than 10 years doing improvised shows through their company and have travelled extensively for international festivals.

Also joining the line-up are performers local audiences will be familiar with from klusterfork’s “Impros vs Joes” series at the Gordon Best Theatre, including Janet Van De Graaff, Mark Rostrup, and Kerry Griffin (who also appeared in “April Fool’s Gold,” klusterfork’s improv comedy show at the Market Hall last spring).

A portion of the ticket proceeds from “School’s Out!” will go to the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge’s Change the Cycle campaign to raise funds for its Garden Homes project, which aims to will provide affordable small homes for vulnerable people at risk of homelessness. On June 24, the organization is hosting a cycling fundraising event beginning in Nicholls Oval and proceeding along the Rotary Trail.

Advance general admission tickets to the June 29th “School’s Out!” show at 8 p.m. cost $30, with assigned cabaret table seats going for $40, available in person at the Market Hall box office at 140 Charlotte Street from 12 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday or online anytime at tickets.markethall.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $35.

Like klusterfork’s previous Market Hall shows, including last year’s “April Fool’s Gold” and 2020’s “It’s Winter! Still,” this year’s production is a celebration of a time of year.

“June always felt like the beginning of summer to me,” Linda Kash tells kawarthaNOW during an interview where she was joined by Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus. “All of our classes have stopped, so School’s Out! just feels like a celebration of a few amazing semesters at klusterfork.”

“But also parents and people are done with the routine of school, and it’s time to have a glass of wine and laugh and just celebrate the beginning of summer break.”

Kash, who just finished a production of Casey and Diana in Stratford, co-founded klusterfork alongside Pat Maitland and Ian Burns in 2019. In addition to live performances, klusterfork produces entertainment industry workshops led by other Second City alumni and local comedians.

One such instructor and “School’s Out!” performer, Janet Van De Graaf will be playing bass beside Blair Packham (lead vocalist and guitarist of 1980s Toronto rock band The Jitters) as he makes his klusterfork debut with a special half-time show. Peterborough musician Danny Bronson will provide the improvised score for the evening.

Kash explains that “School’s Out!” will kick off with some warm-up games to “demystify the audience,” before heading into long-form improv for the second half of the show.

“It sort of makes them feel at ease, while giving them a taste of what it is like to think on your feet so that, when they see the long form, they’re like ‘oh my God, how do they do that?'”

An example Kash provides is the word-by-word game, wherein each participant says one word, building on the last, until a story is created. Anything can happen — like losing both your daughter and your boyfriend because of his man-eating Rottweiler … apparently.

For his part, Matt Baram says these games not only help the audience understand the spontaneity of improv, but they symbolize how the performers must work together to make engaging comedy.

“It shows that spontaneity can happen with togetherness, and we call that ‘Bringing a brick, Not a cathedral.'”

Baram explains that improv performers must bring only a piece of the comedy and trust their fellow performers will feed off of it. “You don’t have to carry the whole story by yourself.”

Kash adds that a main rule to think about when performing improv is that “improvisers don’t lie.”

“Everything you say to another character is the truth,” she explains. “I can’t block your lie because if you say there is a unicorn flying around, then that’s the truth. The best improv allows for the truth to be told, however crazy the logic is. So every offer is welcome, and that just makes for considerate improv.”

After the warm-up comes the main act. During the long-form feature, the performers will improvise storytelling based on pieces of information provided by the audience. Audience members will be rolling in hysterics, as nobody can really predict the sort of antics that will ensue.

The last time Baram and Snieckus performed in Peterborough was at a fundraiser in honour of Kash’s late husband Paul O’Sullivan, a highly respected and accomplished actor and improv performer. In 2009, O’Sullivan and Kash founded the Peterborough Academy of Performing Arts, where Kash continues to teach young children the art of improv.

Though Baram and Snieckus often frequent their cottage in Apsley, the Toronto-based duo has never performed at the Peterborough’s Market Hall. Kash assures them Peterborough has a “great” and “comfortable” audience for improv.

“Anything can work if it’s a supportive environment, and if (audience members) know their job is to not only support but to engage and to give good, positive suggestions,” Baram notes.

Kash adds that an ability to adapt to the audience is the beauty of improv.

“It’s different from a play or stand-up because if (we) read the audience and sense they are smarter than we thought — or maybe they’re here because they want to talk about racy things, or they’re political — then we can change the show and tailor it to them. For a play, you’ve already set your course — you have to say the lines and follow the material — but we’re adaptable.”

Naomi Snieckus, in comedic style, compares improv to running a buffet.

“If we gave you a buffet of different food and notice you really like Szechuan chicken, we can serve that up,” she says. “We can get some Szechuan going because we know you like that. And if you say ‘I’m not keen on the bean sprout’ then, okay, let’s not do any more bean sprout tonight because she’s not into it.”

“We will do whatever you want,” adds Kash. “We will serve up whatever you want, because maybe we’ve never tried that and we’re all really greedy for that laughter.”

Snieckus agrees entirely.

“I feel like the laughter that brings us together is like my religion,” she says, adding she wants to share her religion.

For more information about klusterfork, visit www.klusterfork.com or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of klusterfork entertainment’s “School’s Out!”.