Although the weather may have turned and we now feel autumn has finally arrived, there is no need to stay inside and shut yourself off from the world. Unless you really want to, of course. But if you feel like getting out and experiencing some culture in the coming week, it will take several forms in downtown St. Catharines. Let's look at a few examples of what you can do in the coming days.
The Niagara Symphony Orchestra kicks off their Pops! season in Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre tonight and tomorrow afternoon, with a programme entitled Close Encounters with John Williams. Music Director Bradley Thachuk conducts the orchestra in music from a bevy of Williams' blockbuster scores, including Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, ET, Schindler's List, Harry Potter and so on. You look at that list of movies and for many of us, that's what many of us grew up with over the years.
Maestro Thachuk will also be the soloist on the haunting theme from Schindler's List, by the way, one of the less bombastic of Williams' familiar scores.
Performances are tonight at 7:30 and tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. Although tickets should be available for either performance still, better seats likely remain for this evening's performance. Call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
Also at the PAC tonight in association with the neighbouring Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts, the Department of Music is presenting Guitar Extravaganza II. The first edition of this concert last year was a huge success, so round two will once again bring together Brock University students, alumni and faculty members, performing with regional guitarists, guitar teachers, composers and special guest artists for an evening of solo and small ensemble guitar performances.
The concert's grand finale will be "The Mighty Niagara Guitar Orchestra", collectively performing the North American premiere of the Fantasia para una dama for solo guitar and guitar orchestra. The work is composed and will be conducted by Brock University guitar instructor Timothy Phelan and will feature Canadian guitar virtuoso Emma Rush.
The concert begins at 7:30 this evening in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and tickets are only ten dollars each for adults - you can't beat that? Well actually you can, as the concert is free to current students of the MIWSFPA with a valid student ID card. How cool is that?
Although this next item is more political than anything else, I think it will appeal to a lot of people due to the coming US elections and the fact it will be screened at the Film House at the PAC this coming Wednesday evening.
The Department of Political Science at Brock will be presenting the third film in the department's Politics and Film Series, The War Room, the influential 1993 documentary about the first time a Clinton ran for President of the United States. The film offers a behind-the-scenes account of Bill Clinton's insurgent and what many at the time thought was an improbable campaign for the presidency, in the process offering an illuminating contrast to the present campaign between Bill's wife Hillary and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The screening will be followed by a discussion of the film as well as the current presidential race with Brock political scientists Stefan Dolgert and Blayne Haggart. I interviewed Blayne for my show Inquisitive Minds on Brock Radio (CFBU-FM) a couple of years back, and he was always an engaging person to talk to.
Presented in conjunction with the PAC Film House, tickets are only nine dollars general admission or seven dollars for Film House members. Call the box office at the PAC at 905-688-0722 for tickets.
The second season of ECT, Essential Collective Theatre in Robertson Hall at the PAC gets underway this week as well with another politically-charged event, the staging of a play entitled The Fighting Days by Wendy Lill. ECT Artistic Director Monica Dufault will be directing the play that opens Thursday evening, October 27th.
The Fighting Days is set in Winnipeg during the years 1910 to 1917, and focuses on real-life characters Francis Beynon and Nellie McClung and their fight for women's right to vote here in Canada. During that time period, of course, Canada entered World War I and the resulting conscription crisis divided the suffragists: should all women have the right to vote, or just Dominion-born women who are sending their husbands and sons off to battle?
In this day and age it is hard to believe that argument was even necessary but times have certainly changed in the past 100 years. In the overall scheme of things, that really isn't that long ago, really.
The Fighting Days is co-presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, with performances running through to November 4th at the PAC before heading out on a tour of the Niagara Region. It kicks off another season of compelling, local theatre by a dedicated team able to tap in to what matters to audiences today.
Tickets are available by going to www.ectheatre.ca.
Finally, the next local performance of Johnny Cash: Man in Black featuring Marty Allen takes place a week from tonight, October 29th at 7:30 pm at Grace Anglican Church at 238 Geneva Street in St. Catharines.
Marty Allen is North America's premiere Johnny Cash performer and has in fact recorded at the famed Sun Records studio in Memphis, the same studio where Elvis began his career as well years ago. Allen has toured the show extensively as far away as Australia, and is currently touring several Ontario communities.
Tickets are available at several locations, including the church office on Geneva Street, C&C Arts in the Fairview Mall, Rainbow Pure Water in Niagara Falls, the UPS Store in Niagara Falls, and Semenuk's Esso in Fonthill. You can also order tickets by phone by calling 905-325-5704.
So there you go - lots to see and do just steps away in the heart of St. Catharines.
Enjoy your weekend!
October 22nd, 2016.
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