Nominations Open For The City of Peterborough's Next Poet Laureate
/The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and The City of Peterborough launched the Peterborough Poet Laureate Program for 2024.
PHOTO COURTESY OF EC3.
Peterborough Blogs
Classic Musical 'Fiddler on the Roof' Is Peterborough Theatre Guild's February Production
/The classic musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is hitting the Peterborough Theatre Guild for eight shows in February, announced on Thursday.
Photo courtesy of the Peterborough Theatre Guild.
Shows are scheduled for Frb. 16, 17, 18*, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25* with matinee shows at 2:30 p.m. and evening shows at 7:30 p.m.
*denotes matinee performance
The nine Tony Award-winning musical is being produced by Jerry Allen and produced by Pat Hooper. Janina Krauss is the musical director while Laura Lawson is the choreographer for the shows.
The following are the cast for the production:
Donnell MacKenzie – Tevye
Lyndele Gauci – Golde
Hilary Evans – Tzeitel
Christine Helferty – Hodel
Laura Lawson – Chavalah
Bruno Merz – Motel
Eddy Sweeney – Perchik
Simon Banderob – Feydka
Alex Hodson – Sprintze
Poppy Alderson – Bielke
Nicole Grady – Yente, the Matchmaker
Matt Kraft – Lazar Wolf
Tickets are available online or by phone at (705) 745-4211.
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TASSS Students Bringing 'Mean Girls' High School Drama In Theatrical Production For December
/The famous film and book ‘Mean Girls’ is being brought to life by the students of Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School (TASSS) in a theatrical production slated for four December dates.
Hannah-Marie Toll (left) and Mattie Davies (right) rehearse for TASSS’s upcoming production of the popular film/book, ‘Mean Girls.” The production is slated for four shows on Dec. 7, 8 and 9 (twice). Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Director Jessica Sisson and music director Michaela Hetherington have been preparing for the production since June — and informed the students then — and have worked diligently to prepare the production for December.
The students have worked equally as hard according to both Sisson and Hetherington.
“We have a certain standard here that we like to meet each year. We help support students and push them towards meeting that standard and they have not disappointed,” said Hetherington. “They give up lunches, after schools, they've given up their evenings; there are some upcoming weekend rehearsals that they're going to have to attend and participate in.”
“For many of them, this is their first time doing something like this so they're learning curve is so substantial,” said Sisson. “For me, that makes it even more rewarding because to watch them go from never having sung on stage to belting out a number as a lead is pretty incredible to watch.”
Twenty-five cast members will receive two course credits for being involved in the production —vocal and acting/dance — and are mainly comprised of Grade 11 students. The workload of acting in a play and juggling other courses teaches time management to the actors and actresses, including grade 11 student Kelly Hoang, who plays Cady Heron as one of the lead roles.
“A lot of it comes down to planning my time and knowing when everything is,” she explained. “If I have an English essay due tomorrow, then maybe I should focus more on that rather than focusing on this which has a further deadline.”
The production has several musical numbers and choreographed dances. Any funds raised from ticket sales and concessions fund the school’s next theatrical production. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
More than 70 students in other grades are contributing to the school’s production.
Grade 12 students are aiding in the play’s development in a production class. Behind-the-scenes work such as stagehands, dressers, ushers and front-of-house concessions are done by Grade 9 and 10 volunteers.
Dance students aided in choreography, the construction class helped create set pieces, those studying fashion did costume design and anyone in media aided in the technology aspect.
“As much as it’s a class that we teach, it is a whole school journey that happens to bring it to the stage,” explained Sisson.
With only eight days away from the first show, the numerous rehearsals and heavy workloads have helped the students bond and create chemistry to provide genuine quality theatre.
“It's been phenomenal,” exclaimed Emma Robertson, Grade 12 student playing Glenn Coco. “We're always complimenting each other which is awesome. I feel very comfortable with the team.”
“We all support each other and cheer each other on,” added Hoang.
Performances are scheduled for the following dates and times:
Dec. 7: 7 p.m.
Dec. 8: 7 p.m.
Dec. 9: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased for $20 through School Cash Online or at the door at TASSS (cash only).
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New Stages Theatre To Stage Production of 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play' At Market Hall For Mid-December
/New Stages Theatre is staging the production of the classic tale 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play' for five shows at Market Hall running from Dec. 13 - 17.
Photo courtesy of News Stages Theatre.
The classic story depicts George Bailey looking back over his life and remembering what a precious gift it is. The production is putting a unique twist on the original tale, with the play set in a 1940s radio station with five actors playing all the characters from the movie and creating all the sound effects in front of the live studio audience.
The show features well-known local actors and actresses such as M. John Kennedy, Ordena Stephens-Thompson, Megan Murphy, Kerry Griffin, and Brad Brackenridge.
The play is directed by Mark Wallace who is the Artistic Director of New Stages, two-time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee (recipient in 2003 for Outstanding TYA production. Toronto’s Gabriel Vaillant is the music director and pianist, Korin Cormier from 4th Line Theatre is the costume designer, Sean Harris and Patricia Thorne are the set and lighting designers and Esther Vincent is the stage manager.
Tickets are available online and can be found at Market Hall’s or New Stage Theatre’s website.
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Hometown PTBO: Chris Marris of the Peterborough Theatre Guild and Two Generations Being Involved in Local Arts
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This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks with Chris Marris about how she got into the Peterborough Theatre Guild, her life as a retired teacher/principal and her mother's involvement in Peterborough arts.
4th Line Theatre Accepting Applications For Playwright Funding
/4th Line Theatre is recommending playwrights to receive funding of between $1,000 and $3,000 to develop new works through the Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators program, announced on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of Rebekah Littlejohn and 4th Line Theatre.
Ontario-based professional theatre artists and artists’ collectives can apply by Jan. 12, 1 p.m. The Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the government of Ontario, is the primary funding body for professional arts activities in the province.
4th Line Theatre will administer the granting program with the primary goal of supporting as many playwriting projects as possible. Secondarily, they are also looking for projects that align with its artistic mandate: To preserve our Canadian cultural heritage through the development and presentation of regionally-based, environmentally-staged historical dramas, with special consideration for culturally diverse artists and collectives, artists living with a disability.
“I understand the financial challenges faced by playwrights and the OAC’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators is vital to supporting their writing projects,” said Kim Blackwell, 4th Line managing artistic director.
Application forms are to be completed online on the OAC website. Interested applicants will need to create a NOVA account and follow the instructions for submission. If interested applicants have any questions about the process, please contact 4th Line Theatre’s Administration by email at submissions@4thlinetheatre.on.ca or by phone at 705-932-4506. The applications will be reviewed by Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell.
Funding decisions are based on the artistic interest of the project, the quality of the artistic examples given and the program's impact on the artist’s development. 4th Line Theatre will then forward a positive funding decision to the OAC for final recommendation. Grant amounts will be determined by the number of approved applicants and the funds available from the program.
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4th Line Theatre Announces Two Productions For Its 2024 Summer Lineup
/4th Line Theatre has announced its 32nd summer season and two premiere productions ‘Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes’ and ‘Jim Watts: Girl Reporter’ on Monday morning.
Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes was written by Alison Lawrence (pictured). Photo courtesy of 4th Line Theatre.
The season will begin on July 1 with Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes, written by Alison Lawrence, based on the book by Shirleyan English and Bonnie Sitter and directed by Autumn Smith, who returns after appearing in the 2023 production of The Cavan Blazers.
Beginning on July 30, Jim Watts: Girl Reporter, written by Beverley Cooper and directed by Kim Blackwell, will take the stage. Cooper wrote The Other: A Strange Christmas Tale for 4th Line, which had a sold-out run in December 2018.
“In our 2024 season, I am proud to share these two plays with audiences,” explained Blackwell, 4th Line’s managing artistic director “These world premiere productions have been developed through our new play development program.”
Longtime Musical Director Justin Hiscox returns to write original music, compose and musically direct for the summer season. Hiscox returns in 2024 for his 24th season after surviving a life-threatening illness this past summer.
Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes is a funny and enlightening exploration of the largely unknown story of the teenage girls who stepped up and worked on farms across Canada to feed the troops and all Canadians during WWII. These ‘Farmerettes,’ all in their 90s now, tell us that the summers they worked on those farms were the best of their lives, even 70 or more years later.
Jim Watts: Girl Reporter is a fascinating exploration of the experience of trailblazing youth who illegally flocked to Spain to fight fascism, attempting to stop its march across Europe in the mid-1930s. Jean ‘Jim’ Watts was the only woman to join Canada’s regiment in Spain, the MacKenzie-Papineaus. The play takes us from Toronto to Madrid, from political rallies to the battlefields of Spain—and Peterborough’s own Jim Higgins — union organizer and hero — figures prominently in the story.
“Both of the plays focus on young people who are willing to do just about anything to do their part,” explains Blackwell. “These young people were desperate to try and make a difference in a world gone mad. They were all true heroes.”
Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes
Directed by Autumn Smith
July 1 – 20, 2024
Previews: July 1, 2
Opening Night: July 3
Monday to Saturday at 6 p.m.
Jim Watts: Girl Reporter
July 30 – August 24, 2024
Previews: July 30, 31
Opening Night: August 1
Tuesday to Saturday at 6 p.m.
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Peterborough Theatre Guild Brings 'Paradiso Inn' For 10 November Dates
/The Peterborough Theatre Guild’s next theatre production ‘Paradiso Inn’ is holding ten shows for November, with the first date on Nov. 3.
The play is about an urban couple cycling on a northern Ontario rail trail to enhance their relationship and stumble upon the Paradiso Inn.
The Inn is described as sketchy and run down but the innkeepers work hard to earn those infamous Trip Advisor stars. Deep within its walls are hope, kindness, humour and an opportunity to make real-life changes, not only for the cyclists but all of the Inn's characters.
Paradiso Inn is a story about second chances; it reminds us all that growth and transformation are possible, even in the unlikeliest of places.
The play is a brand new, all-Canadian inspirational comedy written by actor/director and Peterborough’s Hugh MacMillan.
Shows are scheduled for the following dates: Nov. 3, 4, 5*, 9, 10, 11, 12*, 16, 17 and 18. Matinee performances are at 2 p.m. while evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
*denotes matinee show
Hometown PTBO: Michael Bell Taking His 'The Bowie Lives' Act To Showplace Theatre On Oct. 21
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This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks to Michael Bell about his magazine 'The Wire,' Peterborough generating world-class musicians, his past 'The Bowie Lives' shows and the next one at Showplace Theatre on Oct. 21.
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The Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival is Coming to Town This Saturday
/The Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival returns this Saturday, July 8 to Isabel Morris Park in Lakefield.
file photo.
