The Playhouse to welcome artists and performers from Ireland, Australia, the United States and across Canada as part of upcoming season.
Matt Carter
It’s an exciting time of year for performing arts lovers in New Brunswick. June has traditionally been the month during which the province’s three main performing arts venues rollout their new seasons. Yesterday, following recent announcements by Saint John’s Imperial Theatre and Moncton’s Capitol Theatre, the Fredericton Playhouse revealed several acts booked for the season to come as part of the venue’s annual Spotlight Series programming which includes guest performers from Ireland, Australia, the United States and several from across Canada.
This year’s lineup includes many performers already announced by the Imperial and/or the Capitol theatres including New York’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the cutting-edge classical string band Collectif9 who have joined forces with Quebec-based Architek Percussion for a fall tour, and a double dose of Classic Albums Live performances offering their take the music of Led Zeppelin and Queen.
But in addition to welcoming several acts making multiple stops in the province, the Fredericton Playhouse’s Spotlight Series includes the first performance announcements by a number of exciting acts making their rounds in the year to come.
Lloyd Spiegel – October 26, 2018
Lloyd Spiegel is a trailblazer at the forefront of modern blues and one of his country’s most recognised guitarists, recently being named in Australian Guitar Magazine’s list of the top 50 Australian guitarists of all time.
A touring artist since age 11, the seven time Australian Blues Award winner has one of the most unique stories in music. His show blends jaw-dropping guitar expertise with a commanding voice, powerful songwriting and storytelling to deliver a complete concert experience, launching him onto theatre and festival stages across the globe.
His 8th release, ‘Backroads’ is a hard edged, personal and brutally honest account of Spiegel’s life and follows up from his previous albums, all debuting in the top 10 of the Australian independent music charts and holding the #1 spot on the Australian Blues Chart for several months.
Huff – March 8, 2019
Written by and starring Dora Award-winning playwright Cliff Cardinal and produced by Native Earth Performing Arts, Huff is the wrenching yet comic tale of Wind and his brothers, caught in a torrent of solvent abuse and struggling to cope with the death of their mother. Wind’s fantastic dream world bleeds into his haunting reality as he’s preyed on by the Trickster through the hallways at school, the abandoned motel he loves more than home, and his own fragile psyche. With his signature biting humour and raw, vivid imagery, Cardinal expertly portrays over a dozen characters in his captivating solo performance.
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra – March 23
The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has toured widely, commissions often, embraces a diverse repertoire, and collaborates regularly with the world’s leading soloists, from James Ehnes to Marc-André Hamelin. Boasting a roster of some of the finest orchestral musicians in Canada, the orchestra has received praise everywhere it goes – across Canada, throughout the United States, and all around the world. Under the direction of Conductor Anne Manson, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra has received numerous commissions and recorded multiple Juno-nominated albums, including So Much to Tell with New Brunswickborn soprano Measha Brueggergosman. Their Playhouse concert features Haydn’s Symphony No.45 and Mozart’s Symphony No.29, as well as a premiere of a violin concerto by JUNO award winner Vivian Fung whose music is celebrated for integrating non-Western folk music, Tibetan chant, and Brazilian rhythms.
Diyet & the Love Soldiers – April 11
Trio Diyet & the Love Soldiers performs alternative folk, roots, country and traditional Aboriginal music with melodies and stories deeply rooted in an Indigenous world view and northern life. The band is led by Diyet, a musician who was raised in the Kulane region of Yukon, and embodies her Southern Tutchone, Japanese, Tlingit and Scottish roots with a musical presence that is equally diverse and unique. Diyet’s live performance provides an intimate and uplifting experience as she invites her guests into a soundscape of rhythm, melody and storytelling. With a resonant voice that captures the spirit of the north, Diyet is a contemporary artist whose music leaves listeners with a sense of hope and possibility. Her lyrics paint a vivid picture of her home and travels, and touch upon the happy and heartbreaking things that happen in her world, exposing her interpretation of a northern reality: hard, raw and capable of breaking you, but at the same time always beautiful, gentle, strange and intensely alive.
Leahy – April 18
Over the course of their notable career, Canadian family band Leahy has secured a place as one of the country’s most highly regarded progressive folk-roots bands. The three-time Juno-winning group combines piano, guitar, fiddle and strong vocals with pulse-raising rhythms, compelling storytelling and infectious melodies for an unforgettable live show. This performance will be full of energy, big sound, poignant songs, fiery instrumentals and percussive step dancing, all delivered with unapologetic passion.
Fredericton Playhouse Spotlight Series 2018-2019:
Music
Collectif9 with Architek Percussion October 14
English Elegance (Symphony NB) October 16
Metropolis October 27
Lloyd Spiegel October 26
Fortunate Ones November 2
Homage (Symphony NB) November 13
CAL performs Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy November 15
The Celtic Tenors December 4
Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas December 7
New Brunswick Country Music Showcase December 8
Messiah (Symphony NB) December 18
A Christmas Time with The Ennis Sisters December 19
Luke McMaster & Ian Sherwood January 31
Steven Page with Symphony New Brunswick February 3
Royal Wood March 15
Carnival: The Family Show (Symphony NB) March 16
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra March 23
CAL performs Queen: A Night at the Opera April 4
Diyet & the Love Soldiers April 11
New Brunswick Country Music Showcase April 13
Jeans and Classics: The Abba Show (Symphony NB) April 16
Leahy April 18
Pictures of Perfection (Symphony NB) May 28
Dance
Ailey II October 11
Ghosts of Violence October 17
Gadfly January 24
Prisoner of Tehran February 9
Don Juan February 14
Canada’s Ballet Jörgen April 17
Figaro May 4
Family
Tomáš Kubínek October 4
Justin Flom, Magician March 13
Theatre
Evil Dead the Musical October 24/25
Come Down From Up River November 8-10
Blindside November 14
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe December 13-15
Huff March 8
Nashville Hurricane May 11
Comedy
James Mullinger February 1
Thank You For Being a Friend March 2
God is a Scottish Drag Queen April 12
KidStage
Snow White (DuffleBag Theatre) December 28 – two shows
Circus Icongnitus February 24
Sharon & Bram May 5
For more information on these and other upcoming performances, visit theplayhouse.ca
