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 opening of the Heaslip Foundation Summer Festival at Trent’s Traill College, the Eye2Eye Film Festival at Cobourg’s Victoria Hall, a showcase of CBC TV Country Music Stars at Peterborough’s Air Force Club, Tom Cochrane’s Songs and Stories concert at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre, the Capitol Theatre’s staging of Waitress in Port Hope, and Westben’s summer festival opener in the form of The Wizard of Oz.
Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre the place to be this summer
VIDEO: “Fireside Munsch” trailer
How do you take something very good and make it even better? By adding another element to what’s already made it very good.
As it returns for its second full season, the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation Summer Festival has partnered with New Stages Theatre to add a theatrical dimension to its shows on Thursdays at the intimate Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Trent University’s Traill College on Dublin Street in Peterborough.
The result is four theatrical performances added to the lineup, including this Thursday (June 5) when Fireside Munsch, featuring stories by Robert Munsch adapted and performed by M. John Kennedy, opens the season.
Performances, both musical and theatrical, will continue most Thursday nights until August 28. Admission is free to each 7:30 p.m. performance but seating is limited. Should Mother Nature not cooperate, performances shift inside to the college’s Bagnani Hall.
Nominated for eight prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Fireside Munsch is a high-energy retelling of classic Munsch stories, such as “Paperbag Princess” and “Mortimer.” Kennedy has a number of acting credits on his resumé, including The Great Shadow staged by Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre in July 2022. When he’s not performing or writing, Kennedy mentors as a faculty member at Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
Funding for the festival has been provided by the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation. Organized and cheerled by Traill College principal Dr. Michael Eamon, many of the acts scheduled this summer feature Peterborough-based performers, Trent alumni, and some Trent staff and faculty. For the full lineup, visit www.trentu.ca/news/story/42699.
Film Access Northumberland’s premier event back in Cobourg
VIDEO: “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” trailer
Film buffs rejoice — Northumberland’s popular Eye2Eye Film Festival is back for a fourth year, offering a full slate of cinematic offerings this Friday to Sunday (June 6 to 8) at Cobourg’s Concert Hall at Victoria Hall.
With the simple but sincere mission of promoting the art of film in the community, Film Access Northumberland (FAN) has done just that, not only through festival screenings, but also by offering audience talks with filmmakers, workshops and award honours for emerging filmmakers. Evidence of the support for this annual initiative can be found in the exceedingly long list of community sponsors.
The festival opens Friday with a 9:30 a.m. screening of the classic 1950 psychological drama Sunset Boulevard, with the 2024 documentary Red Fever, the 2025 documentary The Legend in Me, and the 2019 musical fantasy Rocketman following.
On Saturday at 9:30 a.m., things get underway with the 1977 space opera that started it all, Star Wars: A New Hope, followed by the 2024 drama Thelma, the 2024 drama Falling, and the 2024 mystery A Thousand Cuts. Closing things out film-wise on Sunday are the 2023 documentary The Long Rider at 3:30 p.m. followed by the 2025 drama Home Free.
Also featured is Spotlight, a program featuring talks by guest filmmakers and other creative minds, with Sunday morning dedicated to the Film Newcomer Showcase featuring short films from local high school students, a workshop about directing actors, and the Film Forward Showcase and Awards featuring short films by emerging filmmakers in Ontario.
For the full schedule of films, speakers, and related events, visit www.filmaccessnorthumberland.ca. Admission to individual films costs $12 ($80 for a table of six to eight), with limited $95 weekend passes also available.
CBC-TV country music stars of yore reunite for local showcase
VIDEO: Maple Sugar / Big John McNeil / St. Anne’s Reel Medley – Whiskey Jack (2015)
For those of a certain age, if you weren’t a fan of The Tommy Hunter Show, you were at least familiar with the long-running signature CBC-TV country music showcase.
Aired weekly from 1965 to 1992, the show’s incredible run introduced a number of emerging Canadian country music stars to a huge audience, and reintroduced an equal number of longtime genre favourites.
Along with the host, regulars included Donna Ramsay and LeRoy Anderson, along with the band Whiskey Jack, which had and still has more Peterborough connections than you shake a slide guitar at. Think Douglas John Cameron and John Hoffman — both members of the band early on and both still very much involved in the business of entertaining.
This Sunday (June 8) at Peterborough’s Air Force Club on King Street, CBC TV Country Music Stars will be nothing short of an entertaining trek down memory lane as Ramsay, Anderson, and Whiskey Jack reunite. Also making an appearance will be Hoffman, best known in these parts — now that’s a country term — for his work organizing and performing at the In From The Cold concert held annually each Christmas season. Hoffman was a co-founder of Whiskey Jack way back when.
Presented by Banjodunc Productions, which is run by Whiskey Jack co-founder Duncan Fremlin, tickets to the 2 p.m. concert are pay what you can at the door, with $35 the suggested price.
Life is indeed a highway, and it leads to Lindsay on June 10
VIDEO: “Life Is A Highway” – Tom Cochrane (1991)
If you have to google Lynn Lake, Manitoba to learn its exact location, you’re no doubt not alone. But really all you have to know, for purposes here, it’s the fourth-largest town in that province that gifted Canada, and the world, a musical gem in Tom Cochrane.
Lindsay is a long way from Lynn Lake, for sure, but that hasn’t deterred the eight-time Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter and Order of Canada recipient from making an appearance at the Academy Theatre next Tuesday (June 10).
“Tom Cochrane: Songs & Stories” will see the musician run through much of his material, written and performed as both the frontman of Red Rider and, later, as a solo artist. Between his two musical lives, Cochrane has recorded and released 21 albums and toured incessantly. His always crowd-pleasing hits number many, and include “Big League,” “No Regrets,” “Sinking Like A Sunset” and, of course, his internationally known calling card “Life Is A Highway.”
As a bonus, and something anyone who has caught him in concert at Peterborough Musicfest or anywhere else well knows, Cochrane is an engaging storyteller, and boy, does he have stories of life on the road, those he has met along the way, and all things in between.
Tickets to the 8 p.m. concert cost $85 and are available at www.flatoacademytheatre.com.
A pie-in-the-sky dream anchors a fun musical at the Capitol
The more I’ve come to be familiar with Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, the more I’ve come to appreciate how fortunate that venue is to have Rob Kempson as its artistic director.
It seems everything Kempson touches turns to stage gold, and there’s no doubt Waitress, which he’s directing, will follow script.
Opening next Friday (June 13), the hit musical is based on the film of the same name by Adrienne Shelly. It relates the story of Jenna, an expert pie maker who sees a way out of her small town, and her rocky marriage, by entering a pie competition. However, when she meets her new doctor, her plan gets complicated to the point where her sugar, butter, and flour creations won’t solve her dilemma on their own.
Directed by Rob Kempson, the play features real-life couple Kaylee Harwood and Sayer Roberts in the leading roles of Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. The ensemble cast includes Malinda Carroll, Michael Cox, Oliver Dennis, Beau Dixon, Taylor Lovelace, Lia Luz, Clea McCaffrey, Caulin Moore, and Margaret Thompson, with a live band led by music director Jonathan Corkal-Astorga with Matt Ray, David Schotzko, and Tami Sorovaiski.
Billed as a “heart-filled and hilarious musical about finding your voice,” Waitress features music and lyrics by Sarah Bareilles and book by Jessie Nelson. However, as it contains mature themes, it is recommended for those 14 years old and up.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on June 13 and 14, 19 to 21, and 26 to 28, with 2 p.m. matinee performances June 15, 17 to 19, 21 and 22, 24 to 26, and 28 and 29. The June 13 staging is a preview performance with pay-what-you can admission. Tickets for remaining dates cost $48, $40 for 30 and under, and are available to order at capitoltheatre.com.
Westben in Campbellford opens its 44-date summer festival with a classic tale
There’s a reason everyone and their brother has staged The Wizard of Oz — it’s a can’t-miss winner with audiences, both young and old, and everyone in between.
Campbellford’s Westben well knows that and, as such, has chosen to stage a musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s beloved story as its summer festival opener next Friday (June 13) and running until June 22 at The Barn at Westben.
With ruby slippers, the yellow brick road, and the Emerald City, this staging is based on the still-popular original film and features all the songs millions worldwide have come to know and love. Helping things along greatly are the talents and energy of the Westben youth and teen choruses.
The Wizard of Oz is the first of a very ambitious 44 events presented by Westben until September 21, including concerts by the likes of Lighthouse, Susan Aglukark, Colin James, Matt Andersen, and Michael Kaeshammer.
The musical runs for six performances, with 7:30 p.m. stagings on June 13 and 20 and 2 p.m. matinees on June 14 and 15 and 21 and 22. Tickets are $45 for adults, $43 for seniors, $30 for those under 30, and $5 for those under 18. For tickets and the full summer festival lineup, visit westben.ca.
Encore
- When does summer truly arrive for you? Different people have different answers but, for me, there are two instances: when the first note resounds at Peterborough Musicfest, and when Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre invites the media to its Winslow Farm venue to preview the opening production of its two-play summer slate. There’s something invigorating around being at the scenic property that 4th Line calls home. On June 18, I’ll be there to learn more about The Housekeeper and will subsequently share the details with kawarthaNOW readers. This job of mine offers up its fair share of frustrations and related stress, but a morning with Kim Blackwell et al makes any hardship melt away, and reminds me why I love to do what I’m still privileged to do.
- On July 3, prior to the Lakers’ game at the Memorial Centre, the Kawartha Music Company will perform a four-part harmony version of “O Canada.” To that end, the choral group has put out the call for female voices, aged 12 to 99, to be part of that performance. No experience is necessary, except the ability to carry a tune. The company rehearses on Mondays at 6:45 p.m. at The Village On Argyle at 780 Argyle Street. To learn more, email kmc.ptbo@gmail.com. Elbows up!
