Here is my Movie and Music and Mix of all Things Halloween dedicated to my pals Zoe and Mo… and  Paddy and Sam – Love and Screams –  – Magenta

Halloween Music and Movie Mix – Part 1, 2 and 3

What fun was had by all. Tune in and find out what happens when one Jeese is late and three Jesses take over.Here is the Coral FM Halloween Aural Salon with very special guest musicians  Cory Williams,  with Mike McDonald, of  The Beggar’s Banquet joined by Jack Pender and Jesse Webber of The Crazy Diamonds!

Check out The Crazy Diamonds at Elements Friday Oct 30 and The Beggar’s Banquet Sat Oct 31 at The Blue Moon! BOO!

JULY 31st IS A BLUE MOON!
It’s the perfect way to kick off a long weekend and to hold a fundraiser to help “Raise The Roof” At The Blue Moon!

Hosted By: Bernie Vandonk

Band Line Up And Times

Patio: 
Erick Traplin 3:00-4:00pm/Sandy MacDonald 4:30-6:00pm/Braydon Kains Band 7:30-8:00pm
The Tree Room:
Silvia Dee and The Boyfriend 6-10pm
The Cellar Room
Colin White Band 7:30-8:30pm
The Johnny Max Band 8:30-11:30pm
The Wilmot Room
Kauffey Temple 7:00-8:15pm
Jack de Keyzer 8:00-11:00pm
The Beggars Banquet 11:00-1:00am

Kids Activities

Clown, Raffles, 50/50 Draws
Garage Sale Noon-5:00pm

Tickets:  

$25 Full Access
$10 Patio & Cellar Room
Available at: The Blue Moon
Encore Records  http://www.encorerecords.ca/ 
Orange Monkey  http://www.orangemonkeymusic.com/
Guitar Corner http://www.theguitarcorner.ca/

Funk Olive Hair Studio – http://www.thefunkyolive.ca/

Contact Bernie at: 519-501-6727
www.thebluemoon.ca  or call 519-634-5421

The Blue Moon is currently running a crowd-funding campaign to help with renovations of this Historic Heritage Building. For more info about this initiative please visit www.bluemoon.ca or call 519-634-5421.

And watch for more “Raise the Roof” nights to come! – Coral FM

Waylaid is a solo project by Matthew Ariaratnam. After four years of studying music at Wilfrid Laurier University, he had songs piling up in the ‘vault’ so he decided it was finally time to share them. Matthew Ariaratnam is a singer/songwriter, composer, improviser, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist studying classical guitar and composition at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has been nominated for two “Album of the Year” awards from CHRW (Western University’s Radio Station) and a Jack Richardson Award for folk/roots band. His music has been heard on CBC radio and college campuses across Canada. He is currently involved in Sweet Pieces (impromptu/electronic/loops) and his main project Waylaid. Through collaborating with chamber musicians at Wilfrid Laurier University, Matthew is crafting a selection of songs with cello, violin, guitar, bass, and drums. He is releasing a single and music video this winter. Recording with Simon Larochette (Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, Whipping Wind) at the Sugar Shack and Mastering with Andy Magoffin (Raised by Swans, Jim Guthrie, Two-Minute Miracles) at the House of Miracles.
Members: Matthew Ariaratnam–Guitars and Vocals
JP–Violin and Whistles
Jon–Cello and Whistles
Jeff–Bass and Everything
Aneeq–Drums and Percussion

I had Waylaid in the studio to chat about their music. Here’s is another group of talented classically trained musicians who play in many
other local bands including Onion House, Sweet Pieces, and several more local music projects. For more info and upcoming shows go to  http://www.waylaidmusic.com/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thewaylaid?fref=ts. And congrats to Matt! Next year he’s headed to Simon Fraser University In B.C. to pursue his Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinery Studies. Play on!  Coral FM. 

Watch for Waylaid and member Aneeq Kals at Sound FM Live – Locally Grown Summer Series coming Sat June 13 to The Button Factory – presented by Sound FM and Coral Concerts. – Cheers Coral FM

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.