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 Impros vs. Joes improv comedy showcase at the Gordon Best Theatre, New Stages’ season-opening production of What’s In Your Songbook at Market Hall, the return of The Wizard of Oz to Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, former Prairie Oyster frontman Russell deCarle with his trio at the Gordon Best, the Capitol Theatre’s beloved festive season panto in Port Hope, and Raven Mother at Market Hall featuring the Dancers of Damelahamid.
Improv comedy hilarity returns courtesy of the klusterfork gang
Even when she’s not trying to be funny, Linda Kash is, well, funny.
Each time we’ve chatted, I’ve come away with a smile on my face, her exuberance and zest for life as clear as her conviction that anyone, with guidance, can be funny in his or her own.
It’s that belief that prompted Kash, with her late husband Paul, to start the Peterborough Academy of Performing Arts in 2007 with the aim of teaching improv and acting skills to kids, teens and adults. Twelve years later, that same ambition anchored her co-founding, with Pat Maitland and Ian Burns, of klusterfork entertainment, which continues to host workshops for adults focused on various aspects of “the funny business.”
But klusterfork doesn’t stop there — from time to time, it brings the novices to a stage before an audience looking to be entertained. The result has been an evening of unscripted hilarity where anything can happen and invariably does.
On Friday (November 15) at the Gordon Best Theatre atop The Only Café on Hunter Street West, “Impros vs. Joes” will make with the funny. Uniting improv veterans Janet van de Graaf, Kerry Griffin, Kash and Maitland with a group of klusterfork workshop students, various scenarios will see offbeat, wacky, and plain entertaining insanity ensue.
At the Gordon Best a few years back, for a feature article I was writing, I immersed myself in the improv comedy experience. My fellow performers — all seasoned improv vets — were over-the-top encouraging and helpful, but it was truly one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life.
I like to think of myself as a funny guy but being spontaneously funny on cue, before people paying to be entertained, produced pressure I’ve rarely felt. I had a great time, and even got a few laughs, but I was way out of my league.
So it is that I have nothing but admiration for the improv newbies that will go toe-to-toe with the pros. Based on my experience, I know their audience will be rooting for them, and more notably, the improv pros will have their back. As Kash told me, improv comedy is a team sport in every sense of the term.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. show, with features musical accompaniment by Danny Bronson, cost $20 at www.klusterfork.com and at the door.
New Stages Theatre opens a new season that’s true to its mandate
The prospect of cold temperatures and snow on the horizon aside, I love the fall season for two reasons.
One, as a sports fan, pro hockey, basketball and football is in full swing and, two, as my profession has allowed me to do for decades, I get to share word of the new fall-winter seasons being launched by local arts groups.
Speaking to the latter, New Stages Theatre is presenting nine all-Canadian productions into next June in a determined bid to fulfill its stated mandate: bring the best of professional theatre to the region.
With artistic director Mark Wallace at the helm, New Stages is presenting the second production of its 2024-25 on Sunday (November 17) at Market Hall with What’s In Your Songbook.
Billed as “a charming and interactive evening of songs, laughs, and behind-the-scenes stories about life on stage in Canada,” it’s hosted by music director Ryan deSouza, a frequent New Stages collaborator who’s no stranger to Shaw Festival audiences, and features Hailey Gillis and Mike Nadajewski.
Gillis won acclaim as the star of the Toronto smash hit Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 while Nadajewski has headlined both the Shaw and Stratford festivals.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. performance cost $44 ($24 for students, arts workers, and the underwaged) and are available at tickets.markethall.org.
Follow the yellow brick road for a classic at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre
There are timeless classics and then there’s The Wizard of Oz.
Way back in 1900, Frank Baum’s children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published — the first of 14 books in his Oz series published over the next 20 years. Numerous film and stage adaptations followed, the most popular, of course, being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr portraying the lead characters.
The adventures of Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion, and The Tin Man were re-envisioned in 1974 in the form of The Wiz — the stage musical winning Tony Award acclaim and the film version starring Diana Ross and, in his first role, a very young Michael Jackson. If it seems like The Wizard of Oz has been with us forever, that’s because it has.
Lindsay’s Academy Theatre brain trust is certainly well aware of the story’s enduring appeal, staging The Wizard of Oz from November 22 to 24. That’s a smart move. When the name of the game is putting bums in the seats, it’s never a bad idea to present something suitable for all ages.
Directed by Beth Wilson with choreography by Alana Collver, the story follows Dorothy and her new friends as they travel down the yellow brick road in a quest to find the Wizard of Oz while they battle the Wicked Witch of the West — and discover the power of believing in themselves along the way.
No, Dorothy isn’t in Kansas anymore but Lindsay is a pretty good substitute. Performances are November 22 to 24 at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees November 23 and 24. Visit www.flatoacademytheatre.com to order tickets.
Life post-Prairie Oyster is good for Market Hall-bound Russell deCarle
VIDEO: “Mean Streak” – Russell deCarle
Blessed, and relatively rare, are those who can reflect on five decades of performing music at a high level but still be excited for what tomorrow will bring.
As the co-founder of Prairie Oyster, Russell deCarle certainly has his share of fine musical memories. The country music band had two periods of activity — from 1974 to 1978 and then from 1982 to 2014 — but it was the second coming that brought considerable commercial success in the form of eight albums, six Juno Awards, and a hay wagon full of Canadian Country Music Awards.
As deCarle told me last week, that’s all swell and dandy but he’s living in the now, and that sees him continuing his late-in-life journey as a solo performer. That’s worked out pretty well for the Janetville-area resident. He’s recorded four albums since 2012, the latest being The End of the Road, and habitually sells out any venue in which he chooses to perform.
On Saturday, November 23rd, the venue of choice will be the Gordon Best Theatre on Hunter Street West, where’s he’ll be joined by his friend and opener Lotus Wight. The 7:30 pm show marks deCarle’s first performance in the city since February 2019 when he brought his music to Market Hall.
Joining deCarle will be guitarist Steve Briggs and bassist Russ Boswell, the former by his side for some 20 years now and the latter a studio recording fixture for him. As for the music, deCarle will serve up a generous helping of his solo material — “telling my own story” as he puts it. But who knows? Maybe a Prairie Oyster song will slip into the mix.
Tickets to the show cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door, with advance tickets available at thegordonbest.com.
Popular seasonal panto returns to Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
With ho-ho-ho and all the festive hub-bub on the horizon, I putting my foot down once again: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Yes, it’s set during the Christmas season but it’s as close to being a Christmas movie as Saving Private Ryan is to being a romance.
There. I said it. Feels good. Now onto something that is overflowing with seasonal goodness.
For quite awhile now, the Christmas panto presented by Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre has been a treasured must-attend tradition for people from across the region. Now that tradition is being paid its due again with the November 22 to December 23 staging of Rapunzel: A Merry (Hairy) Panto.
Written by Second City creative director Carly Heffernan and directed by Cherissa Richards, the world premiere offers a different take on the classic fairy tale. You know the story. Bored and lonely, Rapunzel turns to her long braid as her only means of castle escape. When a dim-witted prince discovers her plight, a string of events follow that will unravel the familiar story in a surprising way.
As is common with North American pantos, there are two versions of the production: a “nice” one appropriate for families and a “naughty” one with more risqué content for adults only.
Naughty performances are at 7:30 p.m. on November 22, 23, 27 and 28, and December 1, 11 to 14, 18 to 22, with the November 29 performance at 8 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on December 10. You can bring the kids to the family version at 2 p.m. on November 23 and 24, and December 1, 7, 8, 14, 22 and 23. There’s also a 7:30 p.m. family performance on November 24 and a 3 p.m. staging on November 30.
Tickets are $48 adults, $40 for those aged 13 to 30, and $22 for children 12 and under. Visit capitoltheatre.com to order tickets.
Honouring late Elder Margaret Harris through dance at Market Hall
VIDEO: “Raven Mother” by The Dancers of Damelahamid
It seems like yesterday that Public Energy revealed its 2024-25 lineup and now here we are, on the cusp of the performing arts organization’s third show of the new season.
Set for Tuesday, November 26th at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough, Raven Mother by the Dancers of Damelahamid honours the work of late Elder Margaret Harris. A respected Cree Elder from northern Manitoba, she dedicated her life to revitalizing Indigenous dance on the northwest coast and co-founded the group Dancers of Damelahamid in 1967 with her husband Kenneth Harris, a former Gitxsan chief.
Performed by the Dancers of Damelahamid, Raven Mother is heralded “as a tangible remembrance of a woman’s spirit, marking the shift between generations that has sparked a new role for our daughters as the force to hold their grandmother’s vision.”
According to Public Energy, this is Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious work to date — the culmination of generations of artistic and cultural work in which movement, song, regalia, sculpture and design are interwoven with the narrative.
With Raven Mother, Public Energy remains true to form, not only presenting an entertaining piece but giving its audience reflective pause for thought around societal issues and the affiliated challenges faced by those they effect.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance are pay-what-you-can-priced at $5 to $50, with a suggested price of $25. Visit tickets.markethall.org to order.
Encore
- OK, it’s a bit down the road but Peterborough Performs V: Musicians United To End Homelessness is a go for March 26, 2025, 7 to 11 p.m., at Showplace. Featuring 14 Peterborough music acts performing on two stages, the event remains an important fundraiser for United Way partner agencies that provide shelter and relief for the homeless. To date, close to $110,000 has been raised for just that. More details will follow as they pertain to who’s performing and the affiliated virtual auction. In the meantime, monitor the United Way’s social media pages for ticket information, with tickets set to go on sale soon — just in time for the perfect Christmas stocking stuffer for the live music lover in your midst.
- It’s great to see that the Peterborough Arts Awards presentation is returning, set for February 13, 2025 as the highlight of the Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts at the Canadian Canoe Museum. The awards were halted for five years due to the pandemic and its subsequent hangover. Nominations are open until December 16 for five categories: Outstanding Emerging Artist, Outstanding Mid-Career Artist, Outstanding Senior Artists, Outstanding Achievement by an Indigenous Artist, Arts Champion and Arts Catalyst. Presented by the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), each award comes with a cash prize. Nomination guidelines and forms are available at ecthree.org/peterborough-arts-awards-2024/.
