CentreStage 2019/2020 Issue 2 by Firstontario Performing Arts Centre

centrestage DOWNTOWN ST. CATHARINES

FIRSTONTARIO PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Matt Andersen with AUSTRALIA'S SHAUN KIRK

“A POWERHOUSE PERFORMER WITH A GIANT, SOUL-FILLED VOICE & COMMANDING STAGE PRESENCE.” - Sonic Entertainment

THE HILARIOUS & ALMOST ENTIRELY IMAGINED

BON JOVI MUSICAL Semi-finalists on TV's

America's Most Musical Family

THE NEXT GENERATION LEAHY

2020

SPRING HOT TI CKETS

BAY CITY ROLLERS, SYMPHONICALLY HIP, SARAH SLEAN + HAWKSLEY WORKMAN, LEONARD COHEN'S DANCE ME + MORE

centrestage table of contents 4

BOX OFFICE / PARKING

HOT TICKET MEMBERSHIP

6 CALENDAR 8

SPRING EVENTS

10 THE FILM HOUSE 12 FAMILY DAY 14 AFRICVILLE STORIES 16 LEONARD COHEN'S DANCE ME 18 THE ARCHIVIST

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre acknowledges that we are on the shared traditional territory of many Indigenous Peoples including the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations and Neutral Peoples. We offer our thanks and honour all the generations of Peoples before us who have survived and thrived here since time immemorial. Today this gathering place is home to many First Nations, MÃ©tis and Inuit people. Our recognition of the contributions and importance of Indigenous Peoples is part of our collective commitment to make Truth and Reconciliation real in our community as we strive for a harmonious, shared future. Map provided by native-land.ca

NIAGARA

20 SYMPHONICALLY HIP 22 HAWKSLEY WORKMAN + SARAH SLEAN 24 KASHEDANCE 26 WE'VE GOT EACHOTHER 28 BAY CITY ROLLERS 32 NEXT GENERATON LEAHY 34 MATT ANDERSEN 36 MISSION SONGS PROJECT 38 FAMILY FUN FOR THE HOLIDAYS 40 TANYA TAGAQ 42 CATAPULT DANCE FirstOntarioPAC.ca | 905-688-0722 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines ON

SPRING 2020 EDITION

@ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 2020

BOX OFFICE

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WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU

Email PACfeedback@stcatharines.ca

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Visit FirstOntarioPAC.ca to order your tickets online. We encourage you to print your tickets at home or send to your mobile device.

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For those arriving by car, there are more than 1,000 spots available in nearby parking garages, surface lots and on city streets within a five-minute walk to the FirstOntario PAC. Metered parking on the streets surrounding the venue is available at a rate of $1.75 per hour, with a three-hour max limit, between 9am to 6pm. After 6pm during the week and all day on Saturday and Sunday, downtown meter parking, garages and nearby municipal surface lots are free of charge. The exception being when a special event parking flat fee of $5 cash at municipal surface lots and parking garages is in effect when large events are happening at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and/or Meridian Centre. Special event parking is cash only and is paid upon arrival at the entrance of the parking garage or municipal surface lot. We highly recommend arriving up to an hour before show time to ensure time to park. Visit StCatharines.ca/Parking for a complete list of parking locations. Due to proximity and accessibility, we recommend the multi-tiered covered Garden Park / Carlisle Street Garage across from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. The public entrance for vehicles is off of the street Garden Park. It is conveniently within a two-minute walk and has 595 spaces and 26 accessible spaces. The garage features accessible parking on every level, but the third level is also free of curbs, providing easy access to elevators that take you to street level on Carlisle Street. Accessible, curbed-ramp drop-off points are available in front of the Box Office entrance at 250 St. Paul Street.

GET SOCIAL 4

@FirstOntPAC #FirstOntPAC #TheArtsLiveHere

For those arriving by public transit, we are located kitty-corner from St. Catharines’ main bus terminal, which is only a twominute walk to the venue. For accessibility, audience and privacy policies please visit FirstOntarioPAC.ca/Online/Article/Policies

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THE FINE PRINT

• Accessible seating and assistive hearing devices are available.Tickets are non-refundable and subject to HST. • Members can exchange shows or seats for FREE. A $5 fee applies for non-members. • A ticket is required for every person, regardless of age. • Each ticket price includes a $3 Capital Improvement Fee. • Additional handling fees may apply. Contact us for details. • Please note, the FirstOntario PAC is a scent-free environment.

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College / University - $25 tickets* with valid ID High School - $5 eyeGO tickets* with valid ID Proud partner of eyeGO to the Arts!

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Summer and holiday hours may vary. Outside of regular hours, the Box Office will open one hour prior to all events and remain open 30 minutes after start times.

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BOX OFFICE HOURS Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm Saturday, 10am to 2pm

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ONLINE FirstOntarioPAC.ca BY PHONE 905-688-0722 BY EMAIL BoxOffice@FirstOntarioPAC.ca IN PERSON 250 St. Paul Street Downtown St. Catharines, ON, L2R 3M2

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ORDER YOUR TICKETS

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It's never too late to become a

Hot Ticket Member Hot Ticket Season Membership Benefits • • • • • • • • • •

Save up to 20% off regular priced tickets. Order season tickets prior to the general public. Order tickets to added shows prior to the general public. Purchase up to 10 discounted tickets per show. Bring your friends for free to selected shows. Invitations to exclusive events and meet and greets. Convenient season order payment plan.* Complimentary ticket exchanges.* Discounts at partnering establishments.* Receive four free passes to any screening in The Film House.

• NEW! Receive $120 in vouchers to downtown restaurants!

120

+HST

One membership per household. Membership valid for one season (1 June - 31 May). *Some restrictions may apply.

Be part of a community that values exceptional performing arts experiences!

TREAT YOUR BFF TO A FREE SHOW! HOT TICKET members are invited to BRING A FRIEND FOR FREE to select shows. Members with tickets to the following BFF shows are invited to add an equal number of tickets for free! Africville Stories with Joe Sealy & Jackie Richardson | SUN 9 FEB We've Got Each Other: The almost entirely imagined Bon Jovi Musical | THURS 12 MAR Tanya Tagaq: Split Tooth | TUE 28 APR

A HOT TICKET presentation

Africville Stories

with Joe Sealy, Jackie Richardson & Paul Novotny Sun 9 Feb 2:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show

Mon 17 Feb 11am + 2pm

Brock University

A HOT TICKET presentation A Musical Evening with

Hawksley Workman & Sarah Slean Wed 4 Mar 7:30pm

SL Concerts Inc CMT Next Women of Country

Free Music @ Noon

Tanya Tucker

Instrumental students Tues 11 Feb 12pm

A HOT TICKET presentation We've Got Each Other By Paul O'Donnell Thurs 12 Mar 7:30pm Niagara Symphony Orchestra

Masterworks 5

Undaunted Sun 15 Mar 2:30pm

with Madison Kozak Thurs 5 Mar 7:30pm A HOT TICKET presentation

New Orleans Jazz Orchestra Fri 21 Feb 7:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers

A HOT TICKET presentation

Dog Man: The Musical

Tues 11 Feb 12pm + 6pm [SOLD OUT] Bravo Niagara!

Kurt Elling

Fri 14 Feb 8pm Niagara Symphony Orchestra

POPS! 3

Music of the Knights Sat 15 Feb + Sun 16 Feb

A HOT TICKET presentation Les Ballets Jazz De MontrÃ©al

A HOT TICKET presentation Kashedance

Leonard Cohen's Dance Me

Facing Home: Love & Redemption

Sun 23 Feb 2:30pm + 7:30pm

Thurs 5 Mar + Fri 6 Mar

Brock University

Chorus Niagara

Gordon Cleland (cello) and Karin Di Bella (piano) Tues 25 Feb 12pm

Sat 7 Mar 7:30pm

Music @ Noon

Mon 16 Mar 7:30pm Brock University

Encore! Series

Rondeau Brass Quintet Fri 20 Mar 7:30pm

Touch the Earth Lightly Gallery Players of Niagara

Songs Of Life - Year 2

Bach On Turtle's Back - Death Sun 8 Mar 2pm

A HOT TICKET presentation Classic Albums Live

The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed Fri 20 Mar 7:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

The Archivist

By Shaista Latif Thurs 27 Feb - Sat 29 Feb A HOT TICKET presentation

An Evening of Adult Puppetry

A HOT TICKET presentation

Girls Nite Out

with Frank Meschkuleit Sun 16 Feb 4pm + 8pm [SOLD OUT]

Sun 8 Mar 2pm + 7pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

The Next Generation Leahy Sun 22 Mar 2:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

The Symphonically Hip

The Strictly Hip with Niagara Symphony Orchestra Fri 28 Feb 7:30pm Brock University A HOT TICKET presentation

Toopy and Binoo LIVE!

with Frank Meschkuleit Mon 17 Feb 9:30am + 12:30pm 6

Free Music @ Noon

Walker String Quartet: Vera Alekseeva, Faith Lau (violins), Roman Kosarev (viola) and Gordon Cleland (cello) Tues 3 Mar 12pm

A HOT TICKET presentation Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series A HOT TICKET presentation

Kim Mitchell

Wed 11 Mar 7:30pm [SOLD OUT]

Mark Lalama Trio

with Jack Dekeyzer & Jim Gay Sun 22 Mar 4pm

2020/21

Bravo Niagara!

Brubeck Brothers Quartet Sun 5 Apr 7:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Just For Laughs Road Show Wed 22 Apr 7:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Niagara Symphony Orchestra

Matt Andersen

with Shaun Kirk Wed 25 Mar 7:30pm Brock University

University Jazz Ensemble The Hugh and Marie Logan Jazz Series Fri 27 Mar 7:30pm

Masterworks 6 - Simple Gifts A HOT TICKET presentation Carousel Players

Sat 25 Apr + Sun 26 Apr

Lig and Bittle

Sat 11 Apr 11am + 2pm

Brock University

University Wind Ensemble Concert #2 Tue 31 Mar 7:30pm

DSBN, Brock University & Chorus Niagara

Niagara Children's Honour Choir Wed 1 Apr 6pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Tanya Tagaq: Split Tooth A HOT TICKET presentation Indepen-dance 4

Brock University

University String Orchestra String Concert #2 Wed 1 Apr 7:30pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Catapult Dance

The Magic of Shadow Dancing Wed Apr 29 Apr 7pm

A HOT TICKET presentation

Mission Songs Project

By Jessie Lloyd Produced by Performing Lines with guest Lacy Hill Fri 3 Apr 7:30pm

A Genesis Extravaganza VOL. 2 Fri 17 Apr 7:30pm [SOLD OUT] Niagara Symphony Orchestra

POPS! 4

In The Mood! Sat 18 Apr + Sun 19 Apr

Chorus Niagara

Topsy Turvy

Sat 2 May 7:30pm Niagara Symphony Orchestra

Family Concert

Le Petit Prince Sun 3 May 2:30pm

Gallery Players of Niagara

St. Francis Secondary School

Improvised live score to Charlie Chaplinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s City Lights

Thurs 14 May 7pm

Videodyssey

Sat 4 April 6:45pm

Niagara Symphony Orchestra

Masterworks 7

Brock University Viva Voce! Choral Series

French Connection Sun 17 May 2:30pm

Brock University Choirs Choir Concert #2 Sat 4 Apr 7:30pm

Bill Culp Productions

Song Sung Blue: The Neil Diamond Story Sun 5 Apr 7pm

Shantero Productions Inc. A HOT TICKET presentation Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series

Mark Lalama Trio

with Suzie McNeil, Andrew MacTaggart & Paul Gigliotti Sun 19 Apr 4pm

Season Launch SAVE THE DATE

Mon 13 Apr 11am + 2pm

The Musical Box

TICKET

Tues 28 Apr 7:30pm

Four Go Wild In Wellies

A HOT TICKET presentation

HOT

The Stampeders

Celebrating 50 Years Thurs 11 June 7:30pm INTERESTED IN BEING A VOLUNTEER USHER? CONTACT US TODAY!

Tues 26 + Wed 27 May 2020

Spring Ahead! Ravenshead Homes presents

Folk Arts Multicultural Centre presents

SAT 18 APR | 8PM

THURS 30 APRIL - TUES 26 MAY

The gala features headliner Pete Zedlacher with Rebecca Reeds, Fiona O'Brien, Michael Moses and hosted by Joe Pillitteri.

Festival kick-off weekend, 1 May - 3 May, held at 85 Church Street, St. Catharines starts 28 days of 2020, a new vision: bridging our past with our future, at Canada’s oldest continually running heritage festival. Friday is our Newcomer Entrepreneur Day highlighting successful Newcomer Businesses of Niagara. Saturday features cultural performing arts, experiential activities, a community art project and workshops, as well as food and beverage offerings, inviting you to explore the diversity of the Niagara Region while celebrating and promoting cultural, social and economic inclusion and well being of all immigrants and newcomers. This familyfriendly and free event has a pay-as-you go format and is followed by a month of 24+ cultural open houses, throughout Niagara. Don’t miss out on anything, check out the full event listings on our website.

GARDEN CITY COMEDY FESTIVAL GALA NIGHT

GardenCityComedyFestival.com

City of St. Catharines presents

NIAGARA FOLK ARTS FESTIVAL

2020 ARTS AWARDS FRI 1 MAY | 7:30pm

The Arts Awards recognizes outstanding community members in five distinct categories: Arts in Education, Patron of the Arts, Making a Difference, Emerging Artist and Established Artist. This gala awards show also features nominee performances. Since its start in 2005, the Arts Awards have increased the visibility of St. Catharines' artists and cultural industries, honoured cultural leaders and cultivated financial and volunteer support for the arts sector.

StCatharines.ca/ArtsAwards 8

Folk-Arts.ca/Festival

United Way of Niagara presents

SONGS OF THE CITY

TUES 2 JUNE | 7:30pm

Songs of the City is a wonderful example of bringing people together, an event that is the ultimate expression of community belonging. Songs of the City tells the transformative stories of everyday people whose lives have been changed because of gifts to the United Way. Three compelling speakers from United Way-funded agencies share their stories of struggle, followed by a musical composition written just for them and performed by award-winning Canadian singers and songwriters. This event is an appreciation of the generosity of our United Way donors.

IN THE SOIL

WED 24 JUNE FRI 22 AUG

ARTS FESTIVAL Suitcase in Point presents

HUMOUR

heart WITH

IN THE HEART OF NIAGARA!

IN THE SOIL ARTS FESTIVAL

FRI 5 - SUN 7 JUNE

Celebrating 12 years, this multi-disciplinary explosion of creativity has grown into the premier showcase for the arts in Niagara. The festival encourages audiences to discover new artists and art forms while promising a wide variety of offerings to choose from. MUSIC, THEATRE, POETRY, FAMILY + ONE-TIME AUDIENCE EXPERIENCES Streets filled with installations and interactive art opportunities and an expanded RHIZOMES choose-your-own-art-adventure. In the Soil Arts Festival aims to bring Niagara artists from a range of disciplines together to provide unique audience experiences. The festival brings local and national artists and audiences together through the arts to nurture a Niagara that is self-determining and culturally distinct. Get all the dirt at InTheSoil.on.ca

Voted one of the TOP TEN Theatre Festivals in Ontario for the third year in a row!

The Foster Festival is the only Canadian theatre festival to celebrate the work of a living playwright. Norm Foster is the most produced playwright in Canadian history, and this year we'll once again present two World Premieres along with the Greatest Hit of them all in our 5th season of sparkling comedies. Join us before and after the shows for our free audience talkbacks with Norm and the actors. Check out the schedule on our website. Enjoy the relaxed hospitality you've come to expect at the Foster Festival in summer 2020!

WILDLY ROMANTIC WORLD PREMIERE

5 AUGUST - 22 AUGUST Set in the offices of a radio station, WILDLY ROMANTIC is a full-out romantic comedy. The Station Manager finds out that her romantic partner who is the “morning man” has been canoodling with the “all night girl”. She gives him the heave-ho and hires a new guy on the spot – experience not required! Add in her Executive Assistant and an inept lawyer looking to sue and wait for the sparks to fly!

THE MELVILLE BOYS GREATEST HIT

The play that launched Norm's stellar career! 24 JUNE - 10 JULY Lee Melville and his younger brother Owen have planned a bro fishing weekend at their aunt and uncle’s rustic cabin.

CELEBRATION OF NATIONS

A Gathering of Indigenous Arts, Culture and Tradition FRI 11 - SUN 13 SEPTEMBER

The 4th annual weekend gathering celebrates the rich culture and traditions of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people of Turtle Island. The Sacred Fire is lit with the sun on the first day and burns in the backyard behind the FirstOntario PAC all weekend as a lively community meeting space is animated with performers, artisans and interactive activities. Dance, theatre, music, films, teachings and dialogue fill our halls and stages. All are welcome join us for an abundance of engaging free and ticketed events. CelebrationOfNations.ca

Their plans go off the rails with the arrival of reserved Mary and her irrepressible sister Loretta. Fuelled by beer and Cheezies, the story unfolds with tender humour and an emotional punch to the gut.

DORIS AND IVY IN THE HOME

"IF LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR MEASURE & MORE!"

WORLD PREMIERE

- Terry B., St. Catharines

Retired prison guard Doris Mooney has just moved in to Paradise Village, a retirement home in Canmore, Alberta.

"NORM FOSTER IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST WRITERS OF INTELLIGENT COMEDY IN CANADIAN THEATRE TODAY."

Starring Norm Foster 15 JULY - 31 JULY

She quickly befriends Ivy Hoffbauer, a former world champion skier who’s taken aback by Doris’s cheerful brashness. Rounding out the trio is dapper Arthur Beech who has designs on Ivy.

Love, gossip and sex behind the compost heap, this is Foster at his hilarious best. Plus, learn what it means to be “Hoffbauered”!

- Calgary Herald TICKETS FOR THE FOSTER FESTIVAL ON SALE NOW. To learn more, please visit FosterFestival.com 9

THE THE FILM FILM HOUSE HOUSE awards awards season season

TOP ROW LEFT-RIGHT TOP ROW LEFT-RIGHT THE CAVE > Sun 2 Feb 4PM / Wed 5 Feb 7PM / Sat 8 Feb 4PM THE CAVEAwards > Sun 2Nomination: Feb 4PM / Wed 5 Feb 7PM / Sat Feature 8 Feb 4PM Academy Best Documentary Academy Awards Nomination: Best Documentary Feature KNIVES OUT > Sat 1 Feb 4PM / Sun 2 Feb 7PM / Tue 4 Feb 7PM KNIVES Sat14 1 Feb Fri 7 FebOUT 9PM>/ Fri Feb4PM 9PM/ Sun 2 Feb 7PM / Tue 4 Feb 7PM Fri 7 Feb 9PM / Fri 14 Feb 9PM Original Screenplay / Golden Academy Awards Nomination: Academy Awards Nomination: Screenplay Globes Nominations: Musical orOriginal Comedy / Actress /inGolden a Musical Globes Nominations: Musical or Comedy / Actress in a Musical or Comedy (Ana de Armas) / Actor in a Musical or Comedy or Comedy (Ana de Armas) / Actor in a Musical or Comedy (Daniel Craig) (Daniel Craig) HONEY BOY > Sat 1 Feb 9PM / Thu 6 Feb 7PM / Sun 9 Feb 7PM HONEY BOY > Satat1 London Feb 9PMFilm / Thu 6 Feb 7PM Sun Hollywood 9 Feb 7PM Best Film Winner Festival 2019/ and Best Film Winner at London Film Festival 2019 and Hollywood Breakthrough Award Screenwriter of the Year Winner for Shia Breakthrough Award Screenwriter of the Year Winner for Shia LaBeouf at Hollywood Film Awards. LaBeouf at Hollywood Film Awards. CLEMENCY > Fri 7 Feb 6:30PM / Sat 8 Feb 6:30PM CLEMENCY > Fri 7 Feb Sun 9 Feb 4PM / Tue 116:30PM Feb 7PM/ Sat 8 Feb 6:30PM Sun 9 Feb 4PM / Tue 11 Winner Grand Jury PrizeFeb for 7PM Dramatic at Sundance Film Winner Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic at Sundance Film Festival Festival JOJO RABBIT > Thu 13 Feb 7PM / Sat 15 Feb 9PM JOJO > Thu 1318 Feb 7PM / Sat Sun 16RABBIT Feb 7PM / Tue Feb 7PM / Fri15 21Feb Feb9PM 9PM Sun 16 Feb 7PM / Tue 18 Feb 7PM / Fri 21 Feb 9PM Academy Awards Nominations: Motion Picture / Supporting Academy AwardsJohansson) Nominations: Motion Picture / Supporting Actress (Scarlett / Adapted Screenplay / Costume Actress (Scarlett Johansson) / Adapted Screenplay / Costume Design / Production Design / Film Editing / Golden Globes Design / Production Design / Film Editing / Golden Globes Nominations: Musical or Comedy / Actor in a Musical or Nominations: Musical Comedy / Actor in a Musical or Comedy (Roman GriffinorDavis) Comedy (Roman Griffin Davis)

JOIN JOIN A A COMMUNITY COMMUNITY OF OF FILM FILM LOVERS LOVERS

Film House Memberships are only $30 +HST and are valid for one year Film House are of only $30 +HST and are valid for one year from date ofMemberships purchase. Perks membership include: from date of purchase. Perks of membership include: A $7 entry to all films (2 tickets limit per membership) $7for entry to all films tickets limit per membership) A 2 1 tickets to the(2premiere screening of select films 2 for discount 1 tickets off to the premiereproducts, screeningexcluding of select films A 15% concession alcohol 15% discount off concession products, alcohol A Invitations to post-screening Q+As and excluding panel discussions A Invitations to post-screening Exchange tickets, as needed Q+As and panel discussions Exchange tickets, as needed A Bi-weekly e-newsletter A Direct-to-home Bi-weekly e-newsletter A mailing of your Film+Dining Guide A Direct-to-home mailing of your Film+Dining Guide

BOTTOM ROW LEFT-RIGHT BOTTOM ROW LEFT-RIGHT LITTLE WOMEN > Fri 14 Feb 6:30PM / Sat 15 Feb 6:30PM LITTLE WOMEN Thu 20 Feb 7PM >/ Fri Fri 14 21 Feb Feb 6:30PM 6:30PM // Sat Sat 15 22 Feb Feb 6:30PM 6:30PM Thu 20 Feb 7PM / Fri 21 Feb 6:30PM / Sat 22 Feb 6:30PM Sun 23 Feb 7PM Sun 23 FebAwards 7PM Nominations: Motion Picture of the Year Academy Academy Awards Nominations: Motion Picture of the Year / Actress in a Leading Role (Saoirse Ronan) / Supporting / Actress in a Leading Role (Saoirse Ronan) / Supporting Actress (Florence Pugh) / Adapted Screenplay / Costume Actress Pugh) / Adapted Screenplay / Costume Design /(Florence Original Music Design / Original Music Golden Globes Nominations: Actress in a Drama (Saoirse Golden Nominations: Ronan) Globes / Best Original Score Actress in a Drama (Saoirse Ronan) / Best Original Score THE TWENTIETH CENTURY > Fri 28 Feb 9PM / Sat 29 Feb 9PM THE Fri 6 TWENTIETH Mar 9PM CENTURY > Fri 28 Feb 9PM / Sat 29 Feb 9PM Fri 6 MarInternational 9PM Toronto Film Festival: Winner Best Canadian Toronto International Film Festival: First Feature Film (Matthew Rankin) Winner Best Canadian First Feature Film (Matthew Rankin) PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE > Tue 3 Mar 7PM PORTRAIT OF A/LADY ON FIRE > Tue 3 Mar 7PM Thu 5 Mar 7PM Fri 6 Mar 6:30PM / Sat 7 Mar 6:30PM Thu 5 Mar 7PM / Fri 6 Mar 6:30PM / Sat 7 Mar 6:30PM Golden Globes Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Foreign Golden Globes Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language Language A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD > Tue 10 Mar 7PM A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN 13 THE NEIGHBORHOOD Tue 6:30PM 10 Mar 7PM Thu 12 Mar 7PM / Fri Mar 6:30PM / Sat 14> Mar Thu 12 Mar 7PM / Fri 13 Mar 6:30PM / Sat 14 Mar 6:30PM Sun 15 Mar 4PM Sun 15 Mar 4PM Nomination: Supporting Actor (Tom Hanks) Academy Awards Academy Awards Nomination: Actor (TomatHanks) Critics Choice Nomination: BestSupporting Adapted Screenplay Critics Choice Nomination: Best Adapted Screenplay at HIDDEN LIFE > Thu 19 Mar 7PM / Fri 20 Mar 6PM HIDDEN LIFE > Thu 1922 MarMar 7PM / Fri 20 Mar24 6PM Sat 21 Mar 6PM / Sun 3:30PM / Tue Mar 7PM Sat 21 Mar 6PM / Sun 22 Mar 3:30PM / Tue 24 Mar 7PM Cannes Film Festival 2019: Winner Franรงois Chalais Award Cannes Film Festival 2019: Winner Franรงois Chalais Award (Terrence Malick) (Terrence Malick)

FILM FILM HOUSE HOUSE ADMISSION ADMISSION $9.50 - general admission + HST $9.50 - general&admission + HST $7 - members 13 and under + HST $7 - members & 13 and under + HST

Family day at the pac! MON 17 FEB ALL TICKETS: $15

Join us in the lobby before the shows for

FREE FUN ACTIVITIES & FURRY FRIENDS!

INCLUDING live dogs and cats, a silly photo booth, face-painting, colouring stations, video gaming, finger puppet workshops PLUS animated shorts and the classic family film Babe in The Film House!

JOSEPH PATRICK PRESENTS

Created by Jonathan Rockefeller Based on Eric Carleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books

11am + 2pm

AGES

3-8

WITH FRANK MESCHKULEIT 9:30am + 12:30pm

Africville Stories with JOE SEALY, JACKIE RICHARDSON & PAUL NOVOTNY Pianist, composer, producer, and broadcaster Joe Sealy has toured with the pioneering fusion group Blood Sweat and Tears and performed with such jazz giants as Joe Williams and Milt Jackson. In addition to being president of Triplet Records Inc., he has hosted his own weekly radio show, “Joe Sealy’s Duets,” on JAZZ. FM91 for five years. Sealy’s long-time musical partner, bassist Paul Novotny, has worked with vocalists Jackie Richardson, Holly Cole, Carol Welsman and Molly Johnson. In addition to composing for radio and television, Novotny has performed with Cedar Walton, Junior Mance, Don Thompson and others. Together, the prolific duo has released four CDs, garnered two Juno nominations (Dual Vision, Blue Jade), and shared the stage with such jazz notables as Michel Petruciani, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Red Mitchell and Herb Ellis. Novotny also acted as producer for Sealy’s 1996 Juno Award-winning album Africville Suite, described by some as the most important Canadian jazz album of the year. Africville, once an area of Halifax, was Canada’s oldest Black community, dating back to the early 1800s. It was razed in the 1960s, a victim of urban renewal. The site was designated a National Historic Site in 1996 and in 2005, the provincial Africville Act included a call for a formal apology from the government, financial compensation and historic preservation that included the rebuilding of the historic Seaview African United Baptist Church, the heart of the community, demolished in 1969. Africville Stories, an expansion and reworking of Africville Suite, puts to 14

music impressions of this once-vibrant community. The work began as a shorter musical piece consisting of three movements and dedicated to the memory of Sealy’s father, who passed away in 1992. Although a Montreal native, Sealy’s paternal grandmother was a descendant of two of the Africville community’s founders. Sealy himself was living in Halifax during the time of Africville’s shameful destruction and relocation of its inhabitants. The work has grown and evolved over the years from the original 12 pieces with additional music and lyrics, including a new composition entitled “The Seaview African United Baptist Church.” “It was when I did my research, that’s when I really got into the story and the story that really needed to be told,” says Sealy. “When I found out about what they did and when I found out how they did it; the sneaky way that they conned people into getting off their properties, and the injustice of it all. Right near the end, there was a core of people in the community that just did not want to leave, were not going to leave, that’s it. Well, they came in around midnight with a bulldozer and they bulldozed the church. And in a community like that, when you kill the church, you kill the heart, and that was so demoralizing.” Sealy says the work was challenging to write because there was no particular musical style that characterized the community. “They listened to the radio, they listened to Motown, they listened to Hank Jones, they listened to Don Messer, they listened to everybody,” he observes. “So what I ended up doing was basing the suite on events, personalities and locations.” There are, for example, movements about Joe Louis (“Brown Bomber”) and Duke

Ellington (“Duke’s in Town”), both of whom had visited Africville. The vocalist for Africville Stories is Jackie Richardson, who also appears on the original 1996 album. In 1954, when she was a child, Richardson moved with her family to Toronto from Donora, Pennsylvania, where she began singing in the First Baptist Church in Donora. Richardson was a member of 1960s Toronto soul group The Tiaras before pursuing a solo career, for which she has won numerous awards for both her singing and acting, including a Gemini Award for her role in The Gospel According to the Blues and a Dora Award in 2004 for the musical Cookin’ at the Cookery. In 2017, Richardson won the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for her theatre and music achievements. Together, this power trio marvellously evokes the life of the historic community of Africville with a grand musical work that has been received enthusiastically by audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe. As a Canadian jazz tapestry, it has taken its place alongside the great Oscar Peterson’s Canadiana Suite. - Dr. Barry Keith Grant BrockU.ca PARTRIDGE HALL REGULAR: $45 MEMBER: TWO TICKETS FOR $35! COLLEGE/UNI/CHILD: $25 Sun 9 Feb 2:30pm

Purchase two tickets and a $100 Critelli's gift certificate for just $150!

A powerful, emotionally resonant fusion of song, narrative and music spanning jazz, classical, blues, R&B and gospel.â&#x20AC;?

- The Record

SPONSORED BY

LEONARD COHEN’S

DANCE Louis Robitaille was already a Leonard Cohen fan when he met the late Canadian poet and songwriting legend on a film set in 1984. After that encounter, though, you could have called him a super-fan. “I was struck by his presence and charisma and gentleness,” Robitaille recalled. “He came to shake hands with a lot of people. He could have sat in a corner and watched the filming. He was so kind and the impression he left me with was so much stronger than before I met him. I was a fan then, but I became a strong listener from that moment.”

Then a dancer, Robitaille also became determined to create a performance that incorporated Cohen’s music — perhaps a pas de deux, or a one-off special event or gala. Some 30 years later, Robitaille, now the artistic director for Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (BJM), got his chance when his and Cohen’s home city celebrated its 375th anniversary, and he was tapped to lead a project in honour of Montreal’s milestone. Robitaille channelled Cohen’s graciousness that he experienced all those years earlier and created Dance Me, a moving homage to the artist and icon with the help of

dramaturgist and stage director Eric Jean. “He’s one of the most famous artists of his generation in the world. One and one make two and that’s how we made it happen,” Robitaille said about Dance Me’s ideation. Dance Me, which comes to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre for two performances on Sunday 23 February, “evokes the grand cycles of existence in five seasons, as described in Cohen’s deeply reflective music and poems.” It puts movement choreographed by Adonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Ishan Rustem, and performed by 14 BJM dancers, to Cohen's music.

“GRANDLY EXECUTED TRIBUTE TO COHEN” - Ottawa Citizen

“BJM’S MOST AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO DATE” - CBC Arts

SPONSORED BY

It’s the most ambitious project of the BJM since its founding, Robitaille said, and yet it wasn’t hard to translate Cohen’s music into dance, despite a few naysayers doubting it would be possible.

with a different rhythm. People think Mr. Cohen is on the same rhythm all the time, kind of dark… but Mr. Cohen has many personalities. We succeeded at bringing modulation throughout the evening.”

“I said, ‘Just watch us’, with modesty of course,” he said. “It’s not difficult at all. It’s something that came very natural, very organic.”

Robitaille reminds audiences of the greatness of Dance Me’s muse, who died before the production was complete, but whose presence is felt throughout the entire performance.

And with Cohen’s approval. The only stipulation the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had was that nothing about his private life was shared in the performance. The real challenge was narrowing the musical selections for Dance Me. Cohen’s discography is prolific and Robitaille wanted to include both known and unknown songs, including selections from his final album, released before his death in 2016, You Want It Darker. “It’s a masterpiece,” Robitaille said of the record. “There are three songs from that album. We also wanted to choose songs

“It’s always one of our goals to bring our audience to different kinds of emotions,” Robitaille said. “It’s also to give space to audience memory. A lot of us have memories of his songs. That’s why we leave it musical and abstract — to leave room for the audience to create new memories.” - Tiffany Mayer TimeForGrub.com PARTRIDGE HALL REGULAR: $59 MEMBER: $49 COLLEGE/UNI/CHILD: $25 Sun 23 Feb 2:30pm + 7:30pmm

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“LEONARD COHEN’S DANCE ME IS CLEVER, OBLIQUE, AND EXPERIENTIAL. IT WASHES OVER YOU LIKE A SHOWER OF SONG AND THOUGHT. IT BELONGS IN THE PANTHEON OF CANADIAN DANCE TREASURES.” — Paula Citron, Ludwig van Toronto 17

e h t

ARCHIVIST by Shaista Latif

SHAISTA, TELL ME A STORY: It is easy to reduce a solo show to a simple biography. Here is the story of a young woman grappling with her identity and her trauma. Here is the story of her coming to terms with her trauma. Here is the story of her, of yours, of ours, of mine. Here we watch her choose which stories to tell and why. An interviewer asks “Do you think this play will help women back home in Afghanistan?” I wince, press my lips together and push up a smile. “No.” I think this show is about...I think this show is about...I think this show is about

ENDURANCE These days, I’m thinking a lot about what it means to tell a “good story” and its potential to transform a person, a community and a nation. In The Archivist, I tell the story of my family’s past by bringing into the present narratives of endurance and strength. To endure is to have the power and the stamina to undergo great difficulty without giving away. I laugh as much as I cry, and I sing alongside the voices of those who came before my time. This show is messy, funny, strange, unnerving and it is always changing because the world is changing and so am I.

I think this show is a love letter, a song without words, a dance of weaponized language where old stories repeat themselves only to become new again when listened to with different ears. This show is consistently inconsistent, and at times it can be considered a staged manipulation so we can name the things we could not name in childhood. Here is the archivist: a trustee of memories, a child of political refugees. attempting to tell an unwritten story. - Shaista Latif, creator/ performer The Archivist

Shaista Latif is a perpetual guest. She has been invited to tell a story. Shaista Latif is a storyteller. Shaista Latif is a story. ROBERTSON THEATRE ALL TICKETS: $30 COLLEGE/UNI: $25 Thurs 27, Fri 28, Sat 29 Feb 8pm Sat 29 Feb 2pm

So here we are again, trying to figure out what this show is about. It’s the story of a life told in fragments with no attempt to make whole a history of slippery DNA, of conquests and war. It is also about an artist facing an empire of long-living myths and asking herself what stories are worth saving for now and the future? The act of archiving is an act of preservation and a collection that is highly subjective, but I wonder if you will recognize yourself in a story told in my voice? 19

Symphonically Hip THE STRICTLY HIP &

NIAGARA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FRI 28 FEB 7:30PM | PARTRIDGE HALL REGULAR: $65 | MEMBER: $55 | COLLEGE/UNI: $25

SPONSORED BY

Celebrate the music of The Tragically Hip BACKED BY THE POWER AND MAGIC OF A FULL ORCHESTRA es, road trips

The Strictly Hip bring the soundtrack of a million camp fir

& backyard parties to the co

ncert stage.

The musical roots of The Tragically Hip have always been deeply planted in Canadian soil, a badge of honour for patriotic fans who like the fact that the Hip have always been Canada’s best-kept secret. However, the seeds of the idea for an upcoming salute to Kingston, Ontario’s most popular musical export were actually first planted in the Hiploving U.S. city of Buffalo, New York. In 2017, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra premiered an exciting new collection of the band’s songs performed by Buffalobased Hip tribute act The Strictly Hip and featuring a full symphony orchestra accompaniment. The performance was not without its Canadian content however; the arrangements were made with the help of Niagara Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Musical Director Bradley Thachuk. Now, The Strictly Hip and the NSO are teaming up to bring Symphonically Hip north of the border for a show that Thachuk says will deliver a unique celebration of the Hip’s music. “People know that when there’s a rock band on stage with an orchestra, when done correctly, it can be a really special occasion,” said Thachuk, a highly soughtafter symphonic arranger who has earned his rock cred working with artists as diverse as Steve Hackett of Genesis, Dave Mason, Chantal Kreviazuk and The Beach Boys. “That’s why you see so many bands through history mount a rock show with an orchestra. Deep Purple did it. Styx have done it. Metallica and Foreigner have done it. It’s always special.” To ensure the production was “done correctly,” Thachuk worked closely with members of The Strictly Hip on perfecting the technical elements necessary to deliver an exceptional auditory experience. “Sometimes it’s hard when you have a band on stage with all those amplifiers,” he said. “It’s really loud and hard to maintain a

proper balance between the orchestra and band. The one criticism that often happens with orchestra and rock band concerts is that the orchestra is just eye candy. You can’t actually hear it. We worked really carefully with The Strictly Hip to ensure that wasn’t the case. The orchestra has a place and can be fully heard during this show.” Thachuk says the key to writing arrangements for an orchestral accompaniment to a rock band’s performance is working with the existing spaces found in the songs. Surprisingly, it was the Hip’s bigger hits that provided the toughest challenge for the conductor and his writing partner to orchestrate. “When you look at “Grace Too” or “Depression Suite,” those are easy,” explained Thachuk, who’s now in his ninth season with the NSO. “Most of the Hip’s songs leave a lot of space for an orchestra to augment them. Where it becomes hard is in the more up tempo songs, the ones that are really in people’s minds. You don’t want to get in the way, but the orchestra needs a role. The more up tempo the song, the harder it becomes to slot in.” As for who is more likely to enjoy the Symphonically Hip performance – rock fans or orchestra fans – Thachuk has no illusions about who the primary target is for the show. “I would hope it’s both. But we realize when we present the music of The Tragically Hip that most of the people are going to be there to hear the music of the band they love. We might have some curious symphony-goers though. In general, we’re trying to make sure that the fans of the band walk out having been blown away by the experience.” - Dave DeRocco GoBeWeekly.com 21

Hawksley Workman with

Sarah Slean The one-of-a-kind talents of Canadian musicians Sarah Slean and Hawksley Workman have are coming together to share their unique voices on a combined tour for the first time. Travelling with more than two decades of music to share and a new collaboration freshly released for the new decade, their joint tour, A Musical Evening with Sarah Slean and Hawksley Workman, is one you will not want to miss. These two musicians will perform songs from their respective repertoires as well as accompany each other on classic and original duets throughout their Ontario tour. The award-winning artists will also debut new original music, including their single “Wound You,” which deals with coming to terms with the inevitable difficulties of life and learning to take things in stride while turning brokenness into a strength. The song is part of the duo’s new EP, which features newly recorded material from both artists. Slean and Workman “collaborated like two old eccentric midwives” on this musical venture, saying they “talked for hours, absorbed and wrangled each other’s energy, took the temperature of the other’s soul and then got to work” using the tools and skills they have gathered over their musical careers. The tour has been described as “part creative fireworks, part intellectual sparring match, part seance, part sibling spat.” The two long-time friends say this tour encompasses all of their individual passion for music and is full of “unforgettable music, soaring voices and plenty of storytelling from their 20 years of friendship.” Over the course of her career, Slean, a three-time Juno nominee, has released 11 albums in more than 10 countries and has performed with 10 of Canada’s leading orchestras. Classically trained from the age of five, the Pickering, Ontario native describes her music as “borrowing aspects of cabaret, rock, pop and orchestral;” all of which are woven together through the 22

poetry of her lyrics, virtuosic piano-playing and a voice the CBC described as that of “a 19th-century Kate Bush.” Workman, a staple of the Canadian music and arts scene for more than 20 years, is a multi-instrumentalist and singer influenced by everything from cabaret to electro-pop to anthemic rock. Workman is a two-time Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter and boasts a catalogue of 16 releases. Also a successful producer, Workman has worked alongside a number of Juno and Polaris Prize nominees and winners including Slean, Tegan and Sara, Serena Ryder, Hey Rosetta! and Great Big Sea. He has also penned melodies with myriad artists, from Academy Award-winner Marion Cotillard to French rock icon Johnny Hallyday. This once-in-a-lifetime tour kicks off on 27 February and arrives at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s Partridge Hall on 4 March. - Gabrielle Tieman-Lee RevealMags.com PARTRIDGE HALL REGULAR: $45 MEMBER: $35 COLLEGE/UNI: $25 Wed 4 Mar 7:30pm SPONSORED BY

PURCHASE TWO TICKETS AND A $60 RESTAURANT GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR JUST $130!

They are lovable, Canadianadriven iconoclasts with quirky, yet intelligent songs that continue to engage audiences.â&#x20AC;? - THE RECORD

KASHEDANCE

Facing Home

Love & Redemption T HU RSDAY 5 + FRID AY 6 M ARC H | 8PM R O B E R TS O N T H E AT R E

REGULAR: $35 | MEMBER: $30 | COLLEGE/UNI: $25 Bob Marley’s music galvanized generations with “Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights” - “I wanna love you and treat you right” - “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” - “You can’t run away from yourself” - “Africa unite” - ”No woman no cry” - “Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright” “One love, one heart.” Facing Home: Love & Redemption investigates the global impact of Marley’s music and his messages. It focuses on the expression of humanity’s struggle and inspiration toward love, redemption and hope. In contrast, the show also simultaneously addresses the deeprooted homophobia in Jamaican/West Indian culture that results in, for many, a forced exodus from their country and the reconstruction of their identities as a means of survival. This contemporary dance production was created by choreographers Chris Walker and KasheDance’s artistic 24

director Kevin A. Ormsby. The creation process spanned over three years and included interviews, community discussions, movement development workshops, performance workshops, audience talkback sessions, conference presentations and publications on process and project. “We wanted to dig deep into the consciousness and value system that informed Marley’s work and explored movement vocabulary steeped in the cultural nuances of dances of the Caribbean,” said co-creator Kevin A. Ormsby. “In copying tradition, we used synchronicity in the choreography. Traditions of masking and subversive texturing also reflect the realities of living as LGBTQ in the Caribbean and in many cases, where Caribbean cultures migrate. Queer Caribbean bodies morph as they are often forced through machinations to get through the day; these expressions provide a dance language palette suited to our curiosities about having contemporary physical conversations with the past, present and future.”

Hailed as embodying artistic diversity in technique, form and presentation, KasheDance echoes in a new genealogy of Afrocontemporary dance steeped in modern dance, ballet and rooted in dances of the Diaspora. This celebrated company is rooted in a technical style grounded in human expressions, poly-rhythms and technical virtuosity. The highly physical dances are performed to a variety of Bob Marley songs and adaptations, as well as popular dancehall music. The work confronts a West Indian paradox, which allows for the liberation found in Marley’s music while the lyrics in dancehall simultaneously suppress the abilities and oppress members of LGBTQ communities. The work emerges as a conversation in African Diaspora contemporary dance and poetry, with space for community dialogue. The production features poems by American National Book Award finalist Danez Smith and Christian Robinson. Each performance will feature a post-show talkback with the cast. “Facing Home is meant to impact migrant populations, generate change and ignite the LGBTQ community, its supporters and service workers everywhere it’s performed and beyond,” says Ormbsy. “We hope, with this work, to initiate an ongoing conversation with you and provide spaces for the LGBTQ narratives of displacement from home.”

One love. SPONSORED BY

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Paul O’Donnell Presents

“PURE THEATRICAL GENIUS” – NORTH WEST END

THE ALMOST ENTIRELY IMAGINED

BON JOVI MUSICAL

R WINNE

AL’S V I T S E F BE CE AUDIEN AWARD

Multi-talented cast? Live orchestra? Opulent set? Decadent costumes? Pyrotechnics? Nope. Too expensive. But a guaranteed abundance of laughs!

Wi n n e FIT T Fes r ti Tarrago val na Audien ’s ce Award

GIVE IT A SHOT Discovering a four-trombone instrumental cover version of the Bon Jovi classic “Livin’ On A Prayer” on YouTube might inspire a typical social media user to just share the link. Paul O’Donnell, on the other hand, was inspired to write a Bon Jovi musical – sort of. “This is what kicked me off on this route,” explained O’Donnell, the British creator and sole performer in the “almost entirely imagined” Bon Jovi musical, We’ve Got Each Other. “There was something about this track that automatically clicked as the grand overture for a hit musical. I was also pretty surprised that a musical hadn’t already been made on the work of Bon Jovi. I decided to set this right – confetti cannons and all – except, sadly, I couldn’t afford the cannons.”

“A WITTY, YET FOND PARODY OF THE UBIQUITOUS JUKEBOX MUSICAL.” – QUAYS LIFE

“A SHOW THAT BRIDGES COMEDY & A MASTER CLASS IN THEATRE.” – THE LIST

From Mama Mia to Tommy to Jersey Boys, modern “jukebox” musicals usually feature a multi-talented cast, a live band, colourful costumes, extravagant dance routines and all the typical excesses of big-budget theatre. We’ve Got Each Other has none of that, relying instead on the singularly focused comedic talents of O’Donnell himself. The result is a bizarre but entirely hilarious hybrid of stand-up comedy, sit-down comedy, story-telling, singing and dancing that has O’Donnell narrating the Bon Jovi musical he’d love to stage – if only he had the money. “You, the audience, get to imagine it, with the help of my live comedic descriptions, 180+ lighting cues and cover versions of Bon Jovi classics,” explained O’Donnell. “It shouldn’t work. I’m still not fully sure how it works. But you leave the theatre after just over an hour of watching me on an empty stage with that glorious musicaltheatre feeling as though you had just watched a two-hour musical extravaganza. And really, is there anything more 'Livin’ On A Prayer' than that?” Given the austere nature of the production budget, O’Donnell says he relies heavily on audience reaction and engagement to heighten the energy of the performance. “We’ve Got Each Other has never felt boring for me. This is purely because of the always surprising and unpredictable audience responses. Every single show I am faced with a spontaneous gasp or cheer or shout out, and whenever or however they happen they dramatically change how I bring that section to life.” O’Donnell promises that Bon Jovi-loving fans will hear plenty of the New Jersey rocker’s hits, performed in a fashion worthy of Jon Bon Jovi’s own theatrical stage presence. As for how audiences should prepare to view the production, O’Donnell says they should come to We’ve Got Each Other open-minded and prepared to “play along.” “What audiences have consistently fed back on tour, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe or on other international tour dates, is that ‘this is not at all what I expected, but I absolutely love it.’ Some say ‘I love Bon Jovi so I absolutely adored the show.’ Others have said ‘I hate Bon Jovi but absolutely adored this show.’ If you fancy taking a little risk, if you’re a bit of a thrill seeker, or someone who just thrives on the unexpected, then in the words of Bon Jovi, give it a shot!” - Dave DeRocco GoBeWeekly.com PARTRIDGE HALL REGULAR: $30 MEMBER: TWO TICKETS FOR $30! Thurs 12 Mar 7:30pm

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Purchase two tickets and a $60 restaurant gift certificate for just $130!

3535

…profoundly moving. — STEPHEN FITZPATRICK, THE AUSTRALIAN

Jessie Lloyd’s profoundly moving and important Mission Songs Project reveals what daily was like for Indigenous Australians on Christian missions and state-run settlements. Through the discovery of rare secular songs that were sung after church, audiences can gain a deeper understanding about the history of elders, families and communities, from cultural identity to love and loss. The Mission Songs Project is an initiative to revive Australian Indigenous contemporary songs from 1900 to 1999, focusing on the Christian missions, staterun settlements and native camps where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were relocated.

“ISLANDER RHYTHMS, CAMPFIRE COUNTRY AND DEFIANT HUMOUR CELEBRATE SIMPLE JOYS. MELANCHOLY BALLADS CHART A JOURNEY OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS… YOU’LL ALMOST HEAR THE KETTLE BOIL AS A CLOSING HOME RECORDING OF THE ELDERS INVITES US TO SIT DOWN WITH THESE UNSUNG SURVIVORS.” — CHRIS LAMBIE, FAIRFAX

“THE MISSION SONGS PROJECT BRINGS NEW LIFE TO THE VOICES OF THE STOLEN GENERATION AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS WHO WERE SPLINTERED FROM THEIR CULTURES WHEN THEY WERE MADE TO SING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. TODAY, TRADITIONAL LANGUAGES HAVE BECOME THE MAINSTAY, THE LOCAL LANGUAGES HAVE BECOME THE FOREIGN TONGUE... YET EVERYTHING HAS ITS RESURGENCE. THE STORIES ARE HEARTFELT AND BEAUTIFULLY SUNG – FOR THE MISSION SONGS PROJECT, THIS IS MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, AND ACCOMPLISHED INCREDIBLY WELL.” — TIMBER & STEEL

Searching for the secular songs that were sung after church, Mission Songs Project looks to explore the day-to-day life of the mission days, from cultural identity to love and loss. These unique songs consist of almost forgotten stories that can now shed light on the history of our Indigenous elders, families and communities. 36

THE RECITAL HALL REGULAR: $35 MEMBER: $30 COLLEGE/UNI/CHILD: $25 Fri 3 Apr 7:30pm

Mission Songs Project faithfully explores the musical journey of Indigenous Australian music as Lloyd connects the traditional with contemporary, revealing the continuation of cultural practice and song traditions into the 21st century. An award-winning composer, performer and creative entrepreneur, Lloyd is a cultural practitioner of Indigenous music and song. Dedicated to the continuation of story and song through the performance of Indigenous music, Lloyd has travelled Australia in search of hidden songs to present this rare and unique Indigenous narrative. The evening will begin with an intimate performance by singer- songwriter Lacey Hill from Oneida of Six Nations, Wolf Clan.

Mission

Songs Project with special guest

Lacey Hill Created by Jessie Lloyd Produced by Performing Lines

FEATURED PROGRAMMING SPONSORED BY

This Performing Lines presentation has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Family Fun HOLIDAYS

for the

SERIES SPONSORED BY

Whether it’s from our own backyard or from across the pond, we’ve hand-picked the very best in children’s theatre!

JOIN US IN THE LOBBY BEFORE EACH SHOW FOR LOTS OF EXTRA FREE FUN ACTIVITIES!

CAROUSEL PLAYERS

Lig and Bittle by Elyne Quan & Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull

Lig is very tall and Bittle is very small. They both wish they could find someplace where everything is just the right size, where no one will notice that they are different. When Lig and Bittle hear about Perfeckt Phitt, they set out on a quest to this wonderful place where all their problems will be solved. Can Lig and Bittle overcome the Muckety Muck and the Ooga Monster to find the place where they both fit in? ROBERTSON THEATRE ALL TICKETS: $15 Sat 11 Apr 11am + 2pm Ages 4+

Indepen-dance4

Four Go Wild in Wellies

A whimsical adventure featuring bobble hats, scarves, tents that have a life of their own, and, of course, lots of fun in wellies! Four Go Wild in Wellies is a playful look at the joy of inventiveness and curiosity; the negotiation of social structures; how friendships are built, broken and mended; the spectrum between collaboration and competition; play that emerges from interaction with each other and the natural world. The show is produced by Indepen-dance4, Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inclusive professional dance company.

Join us after the show for a wee oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dance party and activity!

Keeps the wee ones remarkably fidget-free and captivated."

ROBERTSON THEATRE ALL TICKETS: $15 Mon 13 Apr 11am + 2pm Ages 2-6

- The Herald

q a g a T a y n Ta “TAGAQ’S EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS ASPIRATIONAL.” – The Globe and Mail

SPLIT TOOTH

A READING & PERFORMANCE

Tanya Tagaq is one of the country’s most celebrated artists. The Polaris Prizewinning Inuk throat singer and avant-garde composer brings her musical and literary worlds together on stage this April at Partridge Hall with a program that includes a reading from Split Tooth, followed by a musical performance. Tagaq’s music is the portrait of a violent world in crisis, hovering on the brink of destruction. It’s a complex, exhilarating, howling protest that links a lack of respect for women’s rights to a lack of respect for the planet, to a lack of respect for Indigenous rights. In 2018, Tagaq made her literary debut with Split Tooth. Formally identified as fiction, her writing is a woven journey of lived experience, philosophy, poetry and traditional knowledge. The story follows a girl as she grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. Veering back and forth between the grittiest features of a small arctic town, the electrifying proximity of the world of animals, and ravishing world of myth, she explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains. Fact can be as strange as fiction. It can also be as dark, as violent, as rapturous. In the end, there may be no difference between them. Longlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and winner of the 2019 Indigenous Voices Award for Published Prose in English, Tagaq moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose, and conjures a world and a heroine readers will never forget.

“An Inuk throat singer who’s got a fluidity in her rasp and a wail that reflects like crystal.” – Stereogum

“Tagaq’s surreal meld of poetry and prose transmutes the Arctic’s boundless beauty, intensity and desolation into a wrenching contemporary mythology.” – New Yorker

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Purchase two tickets, a $50 Vineland Estates gift certificate and bottle of wine for just $130! 41

Going into significant debt likely isn’t the first thing you might associate with hitting the big time as an artist. When Adam Battlestein got his big break, though, that’s exactly what happened. The founder of Catapult Dance didn’t so much slip into the red as plummet deep into financial hardship. It was 2013 and the mastermind behind the four-year-old shadow-dance company got his troupe on the prime-time television competition, America’s Got Talent. The judges loved how Battlestein’s dancers could transform their bodies into mind-blowing and mesmerizing images and audiences were transfixed. It was obvious that Catapult Dance had star power — and the selling power that came with it. Yet after producing five appearances for the show that gives everyday Americans the chance to brandish their talents, real or imagined, Battlestein found himself in debt for about $100,000. It didn’t help that only four of those television appearances aired. “It was a really a dangerous gamble,” Battlestein recalls. “For a month after Season 8 ended, I was thinking, ‘Hmmm, bankruptcy?’” Then the phone started ringing and Catapult signed onto more projects in the last two months of 2013 than it did in a typical year. Next, Europe called and the company agreed to a 40-city tour through Germany, performing a 90-minute show at every stop. Now it’s St. Catharines’ turn to see why Catapult was propelled to such success when the company performs at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on 27 April. The show promises to be packed with hundreds of shape transformations, including a mountain, elephant, dragon and helicopter. 42

But Catapult performances are about more than creating stunning silhouettes behind a screen. There’s humour and engaging storytelling, and that’s what makes Battlestein’s life’s work resonate. “In addition to making shapes appear magically and perhaps impossibly, I get to subject the audience to my goofy and somewhat sophomoric sense of humour,” he says. “The combination of humour, pathos and illusions make for a wondrous and dream-like experience.” That’s much like how Catapult came to be in 2009. The concept of making shadows with puppets and hands originated in Asia thousands of years ago, Battlestein explains, but making shapes out of human shadows became a modern-day sensation when he was tapped in 2006 to help Hyundai produce a commercial that would see a car formed out of human silhouettes. After several hours of trying and failing, the task seemed impossible. Then the proverbial light bulb went off “and suddenly the concept was off and running,” Battlestein says. “Discovering how to make multiple bodies come together to form a car or an elephant or anything else was so much fun that I was immediately addicted to the process.” And audiences everywhere are hooked on the results of seeing short stories told through movement and shadow. “We don’t really hide how we are doing it, but you still won’t understand how it’s happening,” Battlestein promises of Catapult’s performance in the Garden City. “Expect to have a great time and don’t forget to bring the kids and grandparents.” - Tiffany Mayer TimeForGrub.com

A MILLION DOLLAR ACT!" - HOWARD STERN,

PARTRIDGE HALL AMERICA'S GOT TALENT REGULAR: $45 MEMBER: $35 COLLEGE/UNI/CHILD: $25 Wed 29 Apr 7pm

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Like a great performance, wise investing is built on experience and talent. Our objective and highly experienced advisors provide professional advice thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built around you and achieving your financial goals. Our commitment to investing in our local communities demonstrates our belief that investing in people brings the highest returns.

MARLENE GOOSEN CLU, CHS, Wealth Protection Specialist 1-800-616-8878 x1704 Marlene.Goosen@FirstOntario.com

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General Sales Manager

Genesis Experience Manager

GENESIS NIAGARA 1-844-571-8180 ®/™The Genesis name, logos, product names, feature names, images and slogans are trademarks owned or licensed by Genesis Motors Canada, a division of Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.. All other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners. *Purchase price of $42,150 available on new 2020 Genesis G70 2.0T Advanced AWD models. Price includes fees, levies, and all applicable charges (excluding HST). Price excludes registration, insurance, PPSA and licence fees. ‡Leasing offers available O.A.C. from Genesis Financial Services based on a new 2020 Genesis G70 2.0T Advanced AWD with an annual lease rate of 1.9%. Monthly lease payment of $398 for a 60-month walk-away lease. Down Payment of $4,410 and first monthly payment required. Trade-in value may be applied to down payment. Total lease obligation is $27,900. Lease offers include levies (air and tire tax). Lease offers exclude registration, insurance, PPSA, licence fees and applicable charges (HST). $0 security deposit on all models. 20,000 km allowance per year applies. Additional charge of $0.15/km on all models. ♦Price of model shown: 2020 G70 3.3T Sport is $58,150. Price includes fees, levies, and all applicable charges (excluding HST). Price excludes registration, insurance, PPSA and licence fees. *‡Offers available for a limited time and subject to change or cancellation without notice. Inventory is limited. Visit www.genesis.ca or contact Genesis Niagara for complete details.

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Terms and conditions apply. Savings may vary based on region. Trademark owned by Allstate Insurance Company used under licence by Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. ©2018 Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. Terms and conditions apply. Savings may vary based on region. Trademark owned by Allstate Company used under may licence bybased Allstate Companyowned of Canada. TermsInsurance and conditions apply. Savings vary on Insurance region. Trademark by ©2018 Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. Allstate Company used undermay licence Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. TermsInsurance and conditions apply. Savings varyby based on region. Trademark owned by ©2018 Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. Allstate Insurance Company used under licence by Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. ©2018 Allstate Insurance Company of Canada.

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St. Catharines Agency 275 Fourth Avenue St. Catharines Agency St. Catharines Agency St. 275 Catharines Agency Fourth Avenue (905) 684-6103 275 Fourth Avenue 275 Fourth Avenue (905) 684-6103 stcatharinesagency@allstate.ca (905) 684-6103

COME MEET OUR GREAT TEAM OF

PET EXPERTS today!

SENIORS DAY The last Thursday of every month

GROOMING AVAILABLE 7 days a week

SELF-SERVE DOG WASH WEEKLY NAIL TRIM CLINICS HOME DELIVERY

Thursdays from 5pm - 7pm

*some restrictions apply

420 Vansickle Rd., St. Catharines | 905-688-5352

HELPING YOUR BUSINESS

Strike The Right Chord

Just like a musician, a successful business owner knows having a strong team behind them is instrumental to creating perfect harmony. At MNP, our business advisors are experienced serving the St. Catharines business community and work closely with you to create industry-specific business solutions that help you hit the right chord, every time. National in scope and local in focus, MNP is proud to support the Classic Albums Live Series. Contact one of our Business Advisors today. MNP St. Catharines Office 63 Church Street Suite 101 T: 905.641.0846

MNP.ca

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With a need for thousands of volunteers to effectively run the Games, everyone in Niagara will have a chance to be part of the action!

Nous aurons besoin de milliers de bénévoles pour mener efficacement les Jeux, tout le monde au Niagara aura la chance de participer!

YES! COUNT ME IN.

OUI ! JE PARTICIPE.

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3 Race Street, St. Catharines, ON Open 7 days a week Fully Licensed Events Catering Pre Show Menu Specials

Freshly Prepared Everyday

Quality Custom Framing Over 40 years framing experience. All work done on site by us.

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Joe Ferrante

210 Niagara Street, St. Catharines, ON 905.646.2390 | ferranteframing.com

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210 Glendale Ave. St. Catharines 289 362-1358

Offering degrees in Dramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts, and Studies in Arts and Culture. Find out more about the Brock experience at

brocku.ca/miwsfpa