Sandra Bender CEO Centre in the Square

Sandra Bender is the CEO of Centre in the Square. I was chuffed to have her as a guest in the Sound FM studios. And we had a very wide ranging chat from recent sell out spectacular The Book of Mormon and the upcoming challenges and contraversy of presenting comedian Bill Cosby, to Sandra’s Centre Stage wish-list and the Centre audience of the future.

Sandra spoke about new programming initiatives for 2015, the Centre’s venerable children’s series, and its continuing On Stage Series which features three fine acts for the 2015 season. WE also featured music from Sandra’s personal play-list.

And kudos to Sandra for bringing “The Book of Mormon” to Centre in the Square because ….. this happened!

Out of 15,000 tickets !!! 14,437 people flocked to Centre In The Square to see the National Tour of The Book of Mormon which ran for eight performances December 9 to 14, 2014. Most performances were sold-out, with overall attendance for the one-week engagement at 97 percent. The show represents the highest attendance and financial impact from a week-long production at The Centre in over 10 years. In addition, more than 38% percent of the audience were first-time visitors to The Centre.

“We’re very pleased that The Book of Mormon was so enthusiastically received by the KW community and it was particularly exhilarating to welcome so many new visitors to The Centre,” said CEO Sandra Bender. “In the strategic plan we set some ambitious goals with respect to programming work that would raise the reputation of The Centre and attract a new audience. This record-breaking run of The Book of Mormon is a major step forward on our journey towards becoming an organization the public can rely on to present important and outstanding work of our time.”

About Centre In The Square

For more than 30 years, Centre In The Square has played a leading role in promoting the highest quality of local and international music and performing arts in southwestern Ontario. Located in Kitchener, Ontario, The Centre is dedicated to promoting performing arts that entertain, inspire, engage and create memorable experiences for the region. The venue’s main hall, a 2,047-seat state-of-the-art theatre boasts superior acoustics and is widely regarded as one the finest performance spaces in North America. Last year, The Centre welcomed nearly 200,000 visitors to a range of events including dance, comedy, musicals, theatre and music from classical to rock. A registered not-for-profit charitable organization, The Centre is governed by a 14-member board with a staff of 200 full-time and part-time employees.

Visit www.centreinthesquare.com for more information.

I have been seeing, profiling and reviewing shows at Centre in the Square since 1980. This is the third Centre CEO I have had as a guest, as I also had former Centre managers Dan Donaldson, and Jamie Grant on the radio show as well. Years back, I made Jamie Grant promise that he would one day  bring The Book of Mormon to the Centre, because I .. ahem… Believed (being such a huge South Park fan) that this show would take Broadway by storm. The rest is Broadway history, and now Centre in the Square history. It was Sandra Bender that made Mormon happen! Swwweeeeeet! –  Coral FM.

Listen here for my special in depth chat with Sandra Bender!

Beggars’s Banquet boy Mike “Keith Richards” McDonald, originally from out East, has been playing guitar for a long time.

In fact, Mike  plays  across North America and Europe  as John Fogerty in Bayou Boys – an acclaimed collective that honours the songbook of Credence Clearwater Revival.  Mike met Glenn “Mick Jagger” Pelletier when Glenn was doing a Sticky Fingers gig (the first incarnation of Beggar’s Banquet) in London.

But Glenn had a leg injury which prevented him from doing all out Jagger moves. Naturally Mike and his band stepped in to help Glenn “dance” by carrying him around the stage…. and the rest is Beggar’s Banquet history. This band lives The Rolling Stones songbook!

They began playing gigs around town including The Boathouse where live music impresario Kevin Doyle gave them a monthly gig. Band line up this Sat includes Don Featherstone, sax, Pat Rush, guitar (Jeff Healey, James Cotton, Johnny Winter), Cory Turnbull, bass/vocals, and Jimm Chefero, drums. Plus Glenn Pelletier, vocals, and Mike McDonald, guitar/vocals.

What a show this was. It was so cool to have Mike McDonald in the studio and Glenn Pelletier call into the station live. This is going to be an aural feast – two mega brill bands – Katmandu and Beggar’s Banquet. Best of Bob Seger and the Best of the Rolling Stones with the both band’s personal spin. And Mike is also working on a new album with Pat Rush. Watch for it sometime next year. To the boys of Katamandu and Beggar’s Banquet. Thanks for coming into the studio and making live radio so much fun – Your pal Coral FM

For details on the Wax gig go to Facebook events  https://www.facebook.com/events/521602804642902

Since 1989 vocalist Bob Young has been honoring the songs of Bob Seger with his band Katmandu.

Katmandu will be playing The Wax on Sat Nov 29^th with their good pals Beggar’s Banquet who have also been showcasing the songbook of The Rolling Stones for many years.

This is going to be a great evening. For the next two weeks Coral FM is bringing in the members of both bands to do some live songs unplugged in the Sound FM studios.

Advance tickets for the show just $10!!  are available at Encore Records, Guitar Corner, Tri-City Pawn Brokers, Bobby O’Brien’s and Far Out Flicks, in Kitchener plus Thirsty’s Bar in Waterloo. Plus Ticketweb.ca

$15 at the door. This is a 19+ show.

For more details got to Facebook events page – https://www.facebook.com/events/521602804642902/

Here is my podcast with Katmandu members lead vocalist Bob Young, Paul Breen, on upright bass, and guitarist Jay T. Hein.

Rawk on! – Coral FM.

A roller coaster ride of laughter and tears, moments of reflection and genuine friendship.

The hilarious and poignant musical comedy tells the story of four 50ish women who come together to stage a review for their 35th high school reunion. What unfolds is a rolicking and riveting explosion of music, revelations and gut-splitting humour.

Four women are rehearsing a musical for their 35^th high school reunion and as they rehearse, they get to know each other, for better or for worse.. in this comedy/drama about growing old … and everything that comes with it whether we like it or not. There is a different bond between women friends than there between is male friends… but men can also relate to this show as well.

This is the story of four women going through the change Marnie, Cynthia, Kate and Zsuzsu… and they decide to get involved to their utter in a musical about menopause written by Kate ….but they do it anyway. Theatre creates unusual families.

Written by J.J. McColl. Directed by Mary Ann Kennedy. Music Director Paul Warder, Menopositive the Musical features ETC Veteran Deb Deckert, with Lindsay Quinn, Tracy Biggar, and Denise Gismondi.

Music by J.J. McColl and Reuben Gurr, Menopositive The Musical is An Out to See Production Originally produced by Musical TheatreWorks and Firehall Arts Centre

Some language and mature humour. Catered by The Stone Crock dinner theatre tickets are $50.  Show only tickets are $20.

Veteran actor/choreographer/director Mary Ann Kennedy and I talked about this very funny and poignant look about four women going through The Change.  Mary Ann also met Menopositive’s creator the late J.J. McColl,  McColl’s good friend Moyra Rodger who workshopped the show with ETC.

Menopositive! The Musical runs from Nov. 14 to Nov. 29, with performances Thursday through Sunday. Tickets are available through Centre in the Square, 519-578-1570 or toll free at 1-800-265-8977. For more information or online tickets, visit www.elmiratheatre.com.

Here is my lovely and amazing chat with Mary Ann  Kennedy featuring some of her favorite songs from Elmira Theatre Company’s latest production Menopositive the Musical on Coral FM.  I have been to these shows and ETC continues to do a stellar job. Mary Ann and I also chat about the ETC’s 2015 Season.  Break legs! – Coral FM.

I was thrilled to have Jillian Dowding and Al Friolet from The Royal Streets back in the Sound FM studios.  The Royal Streets have new music and a new band member.  For more info –https://www.facebook.com/events/1491363877755023/ or check out  http://www.theroyalstreets.com/

Jillian and Al actually premiered some new material which The Royal Streets will be singing this Sat Nov 15. And I got a Kings and Queen CD. I forgot to get it autographed! – Doh… next time.  – Coral FM

“Ah, they will say of us – how brave, how adventuresome – to launch off on a brand new voyage of discovery at a time when most would have given up…” — Sprugg

Aggie Rose,  a former actress, and Sprugg, a failed poet, are two elderly tramps who climb into the boiler room of an abandoned hotel on the Prairies to seek refuge from winter and from the world.  Together in the shelter of their “suite,” they deflate the pompous and powerful, acting out their fantasies as they try to bring “a little warmth, a little human kindness to each other’s lives” until the outside world interrupts their reverie with the arrival of a mysterious stranger.

Canadian Playwright Rex Deverell’s Boiler Room Suite  won the 1977 Canadian  Authors Association Award for Drama.

Directed by Richard Quesnel, Boiler Room Suite features three stage veterans, Kathleen Sheehy, Alan K. Sapp, and George Joyce making his Lost and Found Theatre debut.

Boiler Room Suite is running through November 5-15 @ Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre. On Nov 8,  playwright Rex Deverell is in attendance for a Q and A after the show.

Sunday Nov 9 – @ 2pm – Gael Gilbert from Supportive Housing of Waterloo and Christine Stevanus from House of Friendship will be in attendance for Q and A after the show.

For more information go http://www.lostandfoundtheatre.com/

In a candid chat, on location at Imbibe in downtown Kitchener, I spoke with Lost and Found producer/ actor Christy Ziss about Boiler Room Suite, the concept of Radical Hospitality, and the continuing passion of Lost and Found’s mandate to present theatre that resonates long after the curtain call…  (As I live in Kitchener’s downtown core,  I look forward to seeing this show for many reasons …. Coral)

Andrew is the only Canadian actor in this production!

ANDREW DI ROSA  is thrilled to join the company of Evil Dead – The Musical!  Andrew hails from Toronto, Ontario, where he graduated from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College Specialized Bachelor of Arts Joint Program. Andrew’s past performances include Danny Zuko in Grease, Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Laurie in Little Women, the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz and most recently the title role in Shrek: The Musical.  He also stars in the feature film “Fragile Minds” which is slated for release next summer.

Created by George Reinblatt, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris and Bond, Evil Dead – The Musical is a home-grown success story. The original production, based on Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead film franchise, opened at Toronto’s Tranzac Club in 2003 and has been covering audiences in blood ever since. Playing to sold out audiences around the world, Evil Dead – The Musical is a proven critic and fan favourite. Starvox introduced Evil Dead – The Musical to Philadelphia in 2013 before heading back to Toronto for a limited run that was repeatedly extended after sold-out success. The current North American tour includes stops in Toronto and Hamilton, with stateside stops in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.
Not to be missed is the infamous “Splatter Zone”. Better than a 3D movie, audience members sitting in this designated area (the first 4 rows of the centre orchestra) get doused in fake blood, incorporating fun real-life effects for the ultimate Evil Dead experience. In addition to bloody seats, the show’s bloody jokes and bloody tunes (“All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons”, “What the F@#k Was That”) keep audiences laughing out loud, and screaming for more.  The North American tour, produced by Starvox in association with original producer Jeffrey Latimer Entertainment, features a brand new touring cast: Julie Baird, Demi Zaino, Callie Johnson, David Sajewich, Creg Sclavi, Ryan McBride, Andrew Di Rosa, and Ryan Czerwonko.

Dine Her returns for a Limited Halloween Engagement at The Harmony Lunch. Coral FM welcomes actors Joyce Domingo and Jennifer Cornish, plus a special on location chat with Dine Her creator Bruce Hunter.

Since it opened way back in 1930, the legendary Harmony Lunch restaurant in Waterloo has survived the Great Depression, a global war and a growing fast-food chain frenzy. This summer, the iconic eatery takes on show business for ten performances of DINE HER, a romantic comedy with a meal  and a zombie apocalypse on the side. 

Written and directed by veteran Second City comedian Bruce Hunter, DINE HER offers  a frighteningly funny twist on the traditional dinner theatre concept. The 60-minute show premiered last year in Toronto earning rave reviews from critics and audience alike.

“Diner theatre is similar to dinner theatre, only it’s faster, cheaper and you still get a belly full of  laughs,” says Hunter, who performed in the original show. “It’s more like casual, comfort food, up close and personal in a cozy old diner, and then the show starts and all hell breaks loose.”

Winner of two Gemini awards and two Canadian Comedy Awards, Hunter has been featured in dozens of TV shows and films, including Atomic Betty, Kid’s CBC, Degrassi, Good Will Hunting, Mean Girls and Puppets Who Kill. Hunter’s company, RealSpace Theatre, expands the performance space beyond the stage to explore how audiences and performers interact with their environment to create a unique theatre experience.

DINE HER was written specifically for diners just like Harmony Lunch. “Not only is it a local landmark with a long, rich history,” says Hunter, “it also offers the perfect setting for this particular style of in-your‐lap comedy.”

DINE HER is co-produced in Waterloo with PrACTical TheACTrics and stars prominent local actors Jennifer Cornish, Trevor Smith Diggins, and Lisa MacNeil.  The show continues at The Harmony Lunch to Oct 31 for a limited Halloween engagement!

It includes a themed menu with three meal options for $40. 00.  Dinner at 7:00 pm. Showtime 8:00 pm. Tickets available online at 

http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/dine-her-tickets-11318314383

Visit facebook.com/dineher or phone 519-804-2133 for information and group sales.  Or Follow them on Twitter@zombiedineher

Recommended for mature audiences.

It was so fun to chat with Dine Her actors Jennifer Cornish and Joyce Domingo plus show creator Bruce Hunter on location @ The Harmony Lunch for this very special Coral FM Podcast.

Dine Her creator RealSpace Theatre’s Bruce Hunter

Jennifer Cornish and Joyce Domingo plus featuring selections from the Dine Her Show soundtrack.

Apparitions. Hidden Stories in Public Space. John Macdonald Architect and MT Space

NIGHT\SHIFT 2014 is downtown Kitchener’s second annual nuit blanche-style festival of art, culture and nocturnal adventure.

NIGHT\SHIFT attractions are spread throughout various indoor and outdoor locations in downtown Kitchener, based around a central event hub on Duke Street (closed between Frederick and Queen), and spreading out in both directions along Queen both North and South (as well as into the two downtown laneways – Halls and Goudies).
NIGHT\SHIFT is a project of locally-produced environmental magazine with Alternatives Journal and involvement from local artists, businesses and other community builders.

In addition to publishing a national magazine, A\J is a registered charity engaged in environmental education and community-building activities. Envisioning a better future is a central goal at A\J, and exploring or reimagining the built spaces around us is integral to achieving that goal.

I spoke to NIGHT/SHIFT’s Artistic Director Eric Rumble who discussed the difference between this year’s and last year’s event. This year NIGHT/SHIFT is offering 40 different events and Eric also spoke about the highlights. Don’t miss this one of a kind nocturnal adventure!

Night/Shift Jack-O-Lantern Flash Mob!

For more info, maps, lineups, and places to Sup and Sip – go to www.nightshiftwr.ca. Check NS out on twitter and Facebook as well.

Here is my chat with Eric Rumble from Night/Shift. See ya on the Night/Shift!  – Coral FM.

Idea Exchange (formerly the Cambridge libraries) is a very successful Art + Design initiative which has flourished in the city of Cambridge.

Tamara Neill, of Idea Exchange speaks about how this innovative re-branding has fosters relationships with other arts organizations in Waterloo Region, and beyond, in visual arts, cultural activities for all ages, film and music.

LA based singer/songwriter Michael Gabriel is a great example of Idea Exchange’s mandate.

He contacted them from his home base in LA regarding his traveling orchestral series “Strings Attached.”

Thanks to Idea Exchange who provided the facilities, (and also hosted these events) Michael was able to conduct a youth song writing workshop, and “Strings Attached” preview concert with cellist Trina Nadeau. He also worked with St. Benedict’s High School choral ensemble and Cambridge based adult choir The Hoot.

On Friday October 17 Michael Gabriel’s “Strings Attached” will be performed at Cambridge Arts Centre featuring these two choirs, and his mini-orchestra which includes core members Trina Nadeau, cello, and Sandy Ludwig, piano, in addition to Karen Spithoff, violin, and newest member Joy Schuster who on viola.

Or more info and tickets. Partial proceeds will go the Cambridge Shelter Corporation. http://www.cambridgesheltercorp.ca/

For Strings Attached tickets  www.cambridgecommunityplayers.com

For more about Idea Exchange  http://ideaexchange.org/

For more about Michael Gabriel  www.michaelgabrielmusic.com

Here is my chat with Tamara Neill from Idea Exchange featuring the music of Michael Gabriel including “Bye Bye So Long” (with choir accompaniment), “Penelope Rose”, and radio single “Angel Wings.” –

I think this will be  very special night for the community – Coral FM

Rita AuBenseiter aka the Lovely and Talented Theresa Noon is back with her cast of the usual suspects! in A Very AuBenseiter Thanksgiving.

Nan is growing older and has summoned the entire AuBenseiter clan for an important Thanksgiving Dinner. When this misfit extended family gets together for a meal, they’re sure to serve up a menu of hilarity, hijinks and Nan’s special Murder Pie. Be part of the family and enjoy a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.  Invite your family and friends.

Mystery Dinner and Show: $54.00 (inc. tax and grats)

When: September 27th & October 4,11,&12th, 2014

Guests Arrive: Starting at 6:30pm

*October 12th is a matinee performance at 12:30pm

Still tickets available for this Saturday’s Murder Mystery Dinner: A Very AuBenseiter Thanksgiving. Bring your dysfunctional family to have a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in a very untraditional way with this dysfunctional family!

http://www.thebluemoon.ca/oktober-murder-mystery.php

Also at The Blue Moon…. Flannwood Mac! Friday November 7, 2014 Doors Open at: 6:30pm, Music at: 8:00pm. Tickets:$15.00 advance, $20.00 door. Reserve for Dinner to get Premium Seating

Flannwood Mac at The Blue Moon in November!

I have seen Flannwood Mac …. and they honour Fleetwood Mac beautifully.