The Peterborough Folk Festival has announced its fourth annual Winter Downtown Folk Festival, running March 6th to 10th in downtown Peterborough, with headline concerts at Showplace Performance Centre featuring The Sheepdogs and Randy Bachman.

The expanded five-day winter folk festival will feature more artists and venues, to be announced in the coming months, including the lineup for Saturday, March 10th which will include free pop-up concerts at various downtown businesses.

“It’s really exciting to have two of Canada’s biggest artists perform at this year’s winter festival and support the downtown businesses at the same time,” says Ryan Kemp, organizer and artistic director of the Peterborough Folk Festival. “We are always trying to find ways to improve Peterborough culturally, economically and socially. Supporting our local musicians, music venues, restaurants, and business is very important. ”

The festival kicks off at Showplace with Juno Award winning band The Sheepdogs — featuring their newest member, Bailieboro’s own Jimmy Bowskill — on Tuesday, March 6th. Special guests will be rockers Sam Coffey and The Iron Lungs.

The Sheepdogs will be releasing their new album Changing Colours on February 2, 2018. Tickets for the all-ages show are $40 plus fees, and each ticket includes a download of the new album. Tickets for The Sheepdogs go on sale at Showplace at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 16th.

Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman will be performing at Showplace the next evening, on Wednesday, March 7th.

Few artists can claim to have made a bigger impact on popular music than Bachman, whose list of hits with Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess who include “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, “Taking Care of Business”, “Looking Out for #1”, “Let It Ride”, “American Woman”, “No Sugar Tonight”, “Undun”, and “These Eyes”.

Tickets for Randy Bachman will be $61.25 and go on sale on Friday, November 17th.

Tickets for both shows will be available in person at the Showplace box office (290 George St. N., Peterborough) or by phone at 705-742-7469 (box office hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday), or online anytime at showplace.org.

On Saturday, November 18th, join New Stages Theatre Company as they present their popular annual cabaret at Market Hall Performance Arts Centre.

Produced by Randy Read, “Hits & Misses” is hosted by Canada’s leading cabaret artist Sharron Matthews and features the talents of Kate Suhr, Shannon McCracken, Beau Dixon, Linda Kash, Deborah Kimmett, and Steve Ross in a light-hearted evening of music and comedy.

In bringing first-class performers to Peterborough, Randy’s cabarets are always a treat. With this year’s “hits and misses” theme, Randy will be featuring his performers’ favourite memorable — and not so memorable — music.

“There are always those great musical numbers that everybody knows, but every show has those great songs that don’t become hits,” Randy explains. “I’ve asked everyone to bring me some of their favourite songs they really love to sing.”

Well-connected throughout Ontario theatre circles due to his years in the business, Randy says that there is an art to choosing the right talent for his cabarets.

“I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve worked as a casting director and a director,” he says. “I’ve known these people for years. I tend to bring people who I admire, and also there are certain people that I know work well in a cabaret situation. Not every theatrical entertainer can do cabaret, because they need a role to hide behind and are extremely shy otherwise.”

Hosting the night is comedian and actress Sharron Matthews, who has been named Best Cabaret Performer by both NOW Magazine and Broadway World, and Queen of the Mash Ups by the Toronto Star.

With an impressive list of movie (including Mean Girls and Odd Squad), stage, and television credits to her name (most recently in the CBC TV original series Frankie Drake Mysteries which premiered this month), Sharron has also taken her act across Canada and throughout other parts of the world, most notably Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival where her solo show sold out three years in a row, and where she won Best of the Fest in 2011.

While in previous years Randy has brought a lot of outside talent into Peterborough for his annual cabaret, this year he has chosen performers that live in or have a strong connection with Peterborough: Linda Kash, Kate Suhr, Beau Dixon, and Shannon McCracken.

“I decided to not bring more people from out of town because we have enough material without going over two hours, and I’m really big on not going over two hours,” tells Randy.

While Kate, Linda, and Beau are still considered a strong part of our community, Randy acknowledges that their current successes have taken them away from Peterborough.

Kate has starred in the Toronto productions of The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and The Secret Garden, Linda was in Calgary for her role in the Emmy award winning series Fargo, and Beau just finished his run in Guys and Dolls at Stratford.

“I like the idea of bringing people home who have gone on to have success elsewhere,” says Randy. “It’s like we are bringing them back to celebrate their success.”

Although she’s appeared less frequently on the Peterborough stage, singer/actress Shannon McCracken has also had a successful career throughout Canada. Locally she’s become a favourite of mine for her spellbouding performance as Mimi in Art for Awareness’ 2015 production of Rent, and this summer as Shannon the bride in Globus Theatre’s immersive theatrical comedy Raising the Barn. She also played Galinda in the Toronto Fringe production of Wicked and will be appearing in the upcoming independent film For Ruthie.

Randy has brought comedian Deborah Kimmett into the show to give the audiences something more beyond the musical performances. One of Canada’s most successful female standup comics, Deborah has performed in Peterborough numerous times, most recently in June when she brought her one-woman show The Year of the Suddenly to Catalina’s. Deborah will be doing two of her stand-up routines in the first and second half of the show.

“I like to think of our cabaret as a variety show,” says Randy, “I’ve discovered that people really enjoy the comedy as much as they do the music.”

Last but not least is Randy’s husband Steve Ross, a fixture at the Stratford Festival where he has performed for an incredible 14 seasons. Most recently, Steve has just come off of Guys and Dolls, where he played Nicely Nicely Johnson.

Although reluctant to be specific about what he is performing during the cabaret, Randy has revealed Steve will be testing material for next summer’s cabaret at the Stratford Festival.

“For two years Steve has put together the Stratford cabaret and they’ve asked him to do it again this coming summer,” Randy says. “Steve will be testing that material for that cabaret, so people will be getting a sneak preview.”

While the lineup of music was not sealed at the time of my talk with Randy, he did reveal that there will be songs performed from shows such as Into the Woods, Hamilton, Baby, and The Pajama Game, as well as a performance of Gershwin standards and something called “Beauonce,” — we can make some strong guesses what that means.

One of the most fun and fabulous nights of entertainment in Peterborough, New Stages annual cabaret is always a memorable night with a touch of class. Randy has the ability to bring the best of the best to his stage, and his shows always deliver. They are a hit every time.

New Stages’ “Hits and Misses” cabaret begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 18th. Tickets are $30 ($15 for students and art workers or the underwaged) and are available at the Market Hall box office in person (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough) or by phone at 705-775-1503 (12 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday), or online anytime at markethall.org.

It would be easy to categorize Hip Hop Unlimited as just another arts-based event in a city that has been home to countless such offerings and still is.

After all, the all-ages event — beginning at 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 25th at The Venue (286 George St. N., 705-876-0008) — features all the required elements: dance and music, and the boundless creativity and enthusiasm that fuel the engines of both disciplines. Still, there is something else at play here; something bigger that sets it apart.

“I know how important it is for children to have opportunities to be actively involved in creating, composing, and choreographing in an art form,” says Peterborough LIVE founder Wendy Fischer who, along with Lindsay rapper Billy Marks of Mercenaries, is co-presenting the hip hop and rap music and dance showcase.

“My passion lies in working with Peterborough LIVE to ensure that youth don’t lose those opportunities as they grow older when it’s more difficult to keep art in their lives,” explains Fischer, whose day job is as an elementary school teacher with Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

“All day long I bring music, dance and drama to children aged five to 10. What happens when they’re older? Where are their opportunities to continue to follow their passion? We need to support youth to build community, and to support each other.”

Hip Hop Unlimited, as a live entertainment spectacle, will deliver on that goal in a very big way, bringing together a number of hip hop artists, dancers, and rappers. Among them is Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie, a hip hop artist from northern Ontario whose debut album, Round Dance & Beats, was nominated for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards.

VIDEO: “Let’s Hop To It” – Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie

“At a young age, I was singing with a drum at powwows, so I got this idea to combine my hip hop beats with a regular traditional tempo,” says Kiwenzie, noting he mixed the album entirely on his iPhone.

“Every time I do a show, I expand on what our (Indigenous) songs are. It’s all melodies and sounds. It’s expression without words. Our singing is about feeling and being positive; it’s like a form of prayer in a way. When you’re sitting at that drum singing, you’re in a good place, a very positive place, and you think about people who need extra prayers.

“I always wanted to get into the (music) business but it’s surreal that I’m living off what I love to do: singing, teaching, and working with youth. It’s a blessing … pretty awesome. I’ve been at it a long time so I know a lot of the teachings. I can’t read music, but I can create it.”

Kiwenzie’s making the long trip from his Sudbury home to Peterborough / Nogojiwanong is a testament to the persuasive powers of both Fischer and Marks, the former explaining things got started via “a conversation about youth who are very engaged with hip hop music but rarely have an opportunity to experience a live hip hop show because they’re usually in venues where they’re not all-ages events.”

With the recent closure of The Spill in downtown Peterborough, which provided a safe and welcoming environment for young performers and their fans, Fischer notes a show like this is even more vital.

Sponsored by the Peterborough DBIA, The Venue, kawarthaNOW.com, Public Energy, Peterborough Inn and Suites, and The Wire, Hip Hop Unlimited begins at 5 p.m. when Kiwenzie with DJ Hendy will host an all-ages Indigenous hip hop and dance event.

VIDEO: Borealis Soul

This will be followed at 7 p.m. by a dance battle event hosted by Borealis Soul, a Whitehorse-based dance company, and will feature dancers from the Trent African Caribbean Student Union, Peterborough Performing Arts Centre, the Thomas A. Stewart dance program, and the St. Peter’s Saints Dance Team.

Fischer notes there is plenty of room for independent dancers who are welcome to register starting at 6 p.m.

Then, at 9 p.m., Billy Marks and Eyeda Sophia will host a hip hop musical extravaganza featuring live performances by Kiwenzie, S-Ka-Paid, Maceo Moreno, Kachinga, Offficial,Notus (Chris Thomas, Rekless, and Double E), Jurazzic Darren, Danny Heights, Coco Leah, and Mr. Face, along with DJ Taktikill, Paradigm Shift, and DJ Hendy.

The event is licensed after 8 p.m., with a parental advisory that some of the music after 9 p.m. will feature explicit lyrics.

VIDEO: “To The Wall” – Billy Marks (warning: explicit lyrics)

Proceeds from the event will benefit two organizations: Youth Unlimited, a registered non-profit organization that runs a variety of programs and activities for youth in Peterborough and across the Kawarthas, and a local cultural revitalization project sponsored by Bedford House, which is dedicated to dialogue and social action involving people of all religious traditions.

Charlene Green is involved with the latter project, which takes the form of a monthly Sacred Fire held in the city.

“It’s to share food, have the fire lit and have a sacred, spiritual place for Indigenous people living in the city,” explains Green. “We start with the Sunrise Ceremony and we let the Sacred Fire burn all day long. People come and they offer tobacco and we share songs and stories.

VIDEO: “BANGARANG” – Koty Kolter x S-KA-PAID (warning: explicit lyrics)

“It has become such a beautiful place. If this can continue, it will impact the next generation. I don’t have the words to describe how beautiful it is. It’s very interactive; you’re part of a community.”

Admission to Hip Hop Unlimited is $10 for the family-friendly dance event only (from 5 to 7 p.m.), or $20 for the entire show, with reserved table seating for $25.

Tickets can be purchased at ticketscene.ca and at the door (not reserved seating is only available online).

Beginning Friday, November 10th, theatrical magic comes to Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough when St. James Players opens their 45th season with their production of Mary Poppins.

Directed by Natalie Dorsett, Mary Poppins stars Gillian Harknett as the strange and mysterious nanny, Warren Sweeting as her enigmatic friend Burt, and Macayla Vaughn and Ben Freeman as Mary’s wards Jane and Michael Banks. A favourite for generations, Mary Poppins is a continuation of St. James Players tradition of presenting high-quality theatre for the entire family.

Forget everything you remember about Mary Poppins: this show is going to turn everything you think you know on its head. While based on the books by P.L Travers and heavily influenced by the Academy Award winning 1964 Walt Disney film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, the stage version of Mary Poppins is altogether different in plot and characterization.

Developed for the London stage by Disney Theatrical in 2004, the production includes all of the memorable songs written by Robert and Richard Sherman for the film, but with additional lyrics and some brand new songs by George Styles and Anthony Drewe.

Furthermore, the new script by Julian Fellows keeps the characters, relationships, and basic plot of the original story, but creates new family dynamics within the Banks family that gives the show much more depth. In fact, some of the most interesting scenes are ones that were developed for the stage show and didn’t appear at all within the film.

The result, dare I say it, is a much more interesting and compelling version of Mary Poppins than anything we’ve seen before.

I don’t even know how to express in words just how tight the St. James Players production of Mary Poppins is. The company gels together beautifully in drama, dance and song, and the entire production is spit spot solid. Fast moving, energetic, colourful and often emotionally potent, Mary Poppins has managed to surpass my already high expectations based on a few previews I was invited to. I knew it was going to be good, but it is even better than I could have ever predicted.

Obviously it takes a special performer to play the role of Mary Poppins, and St. James Players found just the right person in Gillian Harknett. While she has been in musicals before, this is Gillian’s first starring role and she proves herself to be one of the most tremendous hidden talents in Peterborough theatre. I can’t believe that someone as incredible as Gillian has been simmering under the radar until now, but I’m glad that she has finally stepped forward to allow her talents to shine.

Poised and elegant, Gillian puts an interesting spin on Mary, who is as delightful as the character that we remember from the film, but has an odd supernatural quality to her, creating a far more mysterious character. Gillian’s Mary is also far more authoritative and arguably vain. The result is a more interesting version of Mary Poppins; even someone who has seen the film multiple times will have no idea just what she’ll do next.

I cannot praise enough the perfection of Gillian’s performance. She glides onto the stage and just seems to bring this iconic and beloved character to life before our eyes. Although she previously expressed to me her reluctance to take the lead role, Gillian is truly leading lady material, and hopefully this won’t be the last we see of her in a starring role. Audiences are going to fall in love with her.

Now I’ll admit I have a certain fondness for Warren Sweeting, who plays Burt. Being brought to St. James shows by my parents as a kid, when I first really found my love for theatre, I remember watching Warren as the romantic lead in a plethora of shows year after year. I remember being moved by his musical talent, and he was a major personal touchstone in my theatrical experience as an audience member. But Warren has been mysteriously absent from the spotlight since I began writing theatrical reviews, so to see him back in the spotlight in Mary Poppins is a true nostalgic treat for me — and he is as good as I remember him being.

Just as Gillian gives a natural performance as Mary, Warren recreates Burt the chimney sweep in the same seamless way. As the show’s narrator leading the audience through the tune “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, Warren has an incredible chemistry with Gillian that’s so important to the foundation of the show. While Gillian plays Mary as delightful yet odd, Warren brings joy and a sense of humanity to the show that Mary can not. Friendly and high spirited, he is always up for the next adventure in the magic that follows Mary wherever she goes. But there is also that hint of romance between Mary and Burt, as you wonder if they are or aren’t (spoiler alert: they probably aren’t).

But while Mary and Burt are the leads of the show, the story really isn’t about them at all — it’s about Mary’s employers, the Banks family: George, his wife Winifred, and their two spoiled children Jane and Michael. The dynamics of the family are really the crux of the show, and the way they are characterized is probably the most interesting departure from the film.

Living a life filled with tension, the Banks are a family in crisis — although they don’t yet realize it — who rediscover one another and a better way of living via Mary. In this production, the Banks are edgier and have a great deal more depth, creating a far more interesting drama.

At the head of the family is George Banks, played marvelously by actor Keith Goranson. A blustery bully of a man, George is more interested in appearances in his upper-crust society than the important things in life, such as being a good husband, kind father, and nice person. What is interesting is how we get insights into his upbringing; a “nurture versus nature” theme is developed about why he has become the man he has, why he is so damaged and, as a result, is damaging his family.

Keith plays a man who is at a drastic crossroads in his life, and takes George through a journey to rediscover his humanity. It’s a great take on this character from a fantastic character actor.

In the role of Winifred Banks, Christie Freeman gives one of the most potent and human performances in the show, and her character is possibly the most different than any in the Disney film. In the film, Mrs. Banks is an absent parent more interested in getting women the vote than in being a mother. In the stage show, this subplot is done away with and it’s actually quite the opposite: Christie plays Mrs. Banks as a shattered woman who lives under her husband’s thumb and feels she is inept at high society appearances, running a household, and being a mother.

With her potent performance, Christie takes Mrs. Banks on an emotional journey of finding her own voice while she creates kind of relationship with her husband and children that she wants.

Possibly the most impressive members of this cast are Macayla Vaughn and Ben Freeman as Jane and Michael Banks. At age 13 and 11, Macayla and Ben have the most stage time and the most lines of all the performers in the show — and their performance is miraculous.

Often in large musicals, kids are shuffled on and off the stage like human props. But to make this show work, the performers who play Jane and Michael need to be as interesting and compelling as the adult performers who are supporting them. This show couldn’t have found two more perfect performers. Macayla and Ben go toe-to-toe with Gillian and Warren without missing a moment, a line, or a beat. Two of the finest child actors I’ve ever seen in a musical, their performance is truly a triumph and I hope this won’t be the last time I see them on stage. Macayla and Ben are just incredible.

Within such a large cast, it takes a lot of different players to create the world of Mary Poppins, and there are a lot of character roles that stand out in this show.

Jacquie Butler and Robert Ainsworth create comedy within the Banks home as the frantic maid Mrs. Brill and the dimwitted butler Robertson. Madison Earle gives a strange yet beautiful performance as Neleus, a stone statue that comes to life and befriends the children. Tim Jeffries proves his craftsmanship as an actor in a spirited performance as an Irish worker named Northbrook, who comes looking for a loan from Mr. Banks.

Rachel Dalliday plays the haunting old bird lady (I’m ashamed to admit the bird lady was my favourite character from the film). Cynthia Wardrope plays the magical Mrs. Cory, who sells the art of conversation, and Rosemarie Barns plays the frightening Mrs. Andrews, who can only be described as the anti-Mary Poppins.

Of course, one of the most famous elements of Mary Poppins is the music, and under the guidance of musical director Dustin Bowers, the music for this show is a notch above some I’ve seen in the past. In Mary Poppins, the music doesn’t just act as a soundtrack; it interacts with and talks to the performers throughout the show. The creates an interesting relationship between the performers and the orchestra that I’ve seen in smaller shows, such as First Date and Ordinary Days, but rarely in a show of this size.

Furthermore, Gillian and Warren are vocal powerhouses, and their individual musical talents take the songs we know and love and lead the cast into some really exciting and dynamic large production numbers. The multi-layered harmonies in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” are amazing to listen to and “Practically Perfect” becomes a real earworm.

Some of the most interesting production numbers are ones that were never in the film. For instance, instead of animated penguins, the company dances with stone and bronze statues that come to life in “Jolly Holiday”, and Gillian gives her strongest performance when she has a musical showdown with the cruel Mrs. Andrews in a new number called “Brimstone and Treacle”. The way Gillian and Rosemarie Barns play off of each other is incredible, and the notes that Gillian hits are rarely heard in Peterborough musical theatre.

There is also a really interesting (and somewhat frightening) new number called “Playing the Game”, which features members of the cast as neglected and mistreated toys that come to life. Although all of the performers involved in this number are excellent, there is one performer, Brooklyn Welles, who is worth keeping an eye out for. My attention kept floating to her, playing a wind-up doll wearing a red dress, and for some reason she really gave me the chills. She could be the creepiest doll this side of Annabelle. To say the least, I was captivated by her performance in this particular scene.

But the truly outstanding moment of this production is the performance of “Step in Time”. Choreographed by Mellissa Earlie, this number is the highlight of the night and is just insane to watch. The combination of energy, acrobatics, music, step dancing, and pure joy comes together in one giant theatrical frenzy that deserves a standing ovation in itself. It is just incredible. Words can’t describe it, you just need to see it for yourself. It is easily the highlight of the entire show.

There is no other way to put it: I loved Mary Poppins. The positivity of the material combined with the joy that radiates from the performers is potent, and it is just as magical as Mary herself. At a time where the world seems to be filled with more cynicism and bitterness than usual, this show is the kind of thing we need to heal our consciousness, if only for a little while. It’s a show about how kindness and respect leads to the good things in life, and about finding the magic in our everyday lives.

For one night, leave the darkness behind and invite the light and colourful world of Mary Poppins, filled with magical nannies and dancing chimney sweeps, into your life. I can honestly say the magic of Mary Poppins is addictive, and it’s a show you don’t just watch; it’s a show you feel, and it’s a good warm feeling that goes right to your soul.

I’ve seen a lot of great musicals, but very few have been as pure and as joyful as Mary Poppins. This show is practically perfect in every way. This is one show you are going to want to see — it’s the best of the best.

Mary Poppins opens on November 10th and runs until November 18th at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors and available in person at the Showplace box office (290 George St. N., Peterborough), by calling 705-742-7469, or online at www.showplace.org.