Newmarket One Act Play Festival A Community Gem

One Act Play Festival A Community Gem

By Tom Pearson

As some of you may know, I was recently made the President of the Very Useful Theatre Company, which we also coordinate the hosting of the Newmarket International Festival of One Act Plays. As well, our mission not only includes creating stage opportunities for local performers, but raising funds for good causes such as the Newmarket Food Pantry for which we have quietly raised thousands of dollars over the past years.

The V.U.T.C. is a regisitered charity non profit but theatre arts are not one that the public thinks of typically when donating to local causes or for volunteers, so its a constant cycle to keep up a profile out there whether that be media coverage, or goodwill sharing of content, or supporting our message.

Councillor Tom Vegh Joins Young Company Cast

That said, a number of great local businesses, service club organizations, as well as the BIA, and the town of Newmarket have all been very supportive in the past - especially of our festival. In fact, we have just started having our monthly board and organizing comittees meetings out of the town's municipal offices which gives us a home base to meet in!

Theatre Arts have for centuries brought communities together, and is also not only a tremendous conduit for for lifting spirits and for individuals to express themselves, but with the addition of our new youth company which the past two years we have been giving free youth workshops where they then write their own plays for one day of the festival we provide them, it is also a proven esteem booster and confidence builder!

Should you have an interest in supporting the arts, I encourage you to visit out Facebook pages (as shown above) and follow or like us and of course should you wish to donate you can do that as well on our website, but mostly we just want to keep being able to provide opportunities to local #Actors, #Playwrights, #Stagehands and others to practice their craft, while performing to local and international audiences... and then who knows?

Our #NIFOAP festival has not only helped local Actors, a number of which are now also featured in tv and film productions, but also we attract play entries from Playwrights who regularly work in hubs like New York City, L.A., Chicago, Australia, the UK and on and on. Some are Creators and Writers in Hollywood and elsewhere and produce for networks like Disney as well, so we know we're attracting the world's best right here to little Newmarket!

I encourage you to support this local gem so we can keep providing these wonderful world class opportunities and if you're a Writer, Director or Actor (or aspiring) follow to get involved. This year's festival is slated to run Sept 7-10 at Newmarket Old Town Hall and is now accepting one act play submissions at submissions@oneactplayfestival.com or visit the website to submit as well at oneactplayfestival.com.

Break A Leg!

See 2022 pre festival trailer video here

See past festival highlight video here

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2022 Promo for Newmarket International Festival of One Act Plays

The Newmarket International Festival of One Act Plays, coming to Old Town Hall Theatre in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, September 8-11 2022. For more visit the website at www.oneactplayfestival 

Culture Bridge Festival a Festival of World Sights, Sounds and Tastes

I Love Your Colours! Photos from TPE's 2016 show files

Produced by Culture Bridge Initiatives, The Culture Bridge Festival has been running in one form or another in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada since 2011 when it was held at the Newmarket Seniors Centre. Since those first days the cultural festival has grown in leaps, after some years of switching locations from Riverwalk Commons to the Magna Centre and back again, to its now more permanent home at Newmarket's beautiful Riverwalk Commons where not only can patrons enjoy the sights, sounds and foods of the world - but are within stones throw distance of historic downtown Newmarket and its own amazing array of multicultural restaurants and beautiful, historic buildings too!

Little Actor waits excitedly in 2016 at the old Magna Centre location

View 2018 Cultural Bridge showcase video on F.B. here

From the beginning, Ranji and Leila Singh have been driving forces behind the growing festival and have done an incredible job of keeping it going, having to endure years of doing much of the "grunt" work themselves often with mostly volunteers to help organize and put on the annual festival. In fact the original foundation for the event was called the Ranji Singh Foundation.

This year their persistence seems to beginning to pay off, attracting some top performers to the Riverwalk Commons' main stage during a very busy festival season, such as 2018 Panarama Indian Junior Idol Aditya Matkar, as well as Reggae Grammy Nominee Jason Lindo. Sounds of India also features Bollywood Divas, Paromita Kar, Divya Vive Kanandan, as well Bhangra Crew Ontario and The Living Room Katcheri, The Topaz Ensemble, and Illusionist Raman Sharma while international performances include Territorial Stage - a youth based initiative that creates plays of ones cultural experiences through acting out scripts written and performed by youth, Tabla House, a Chinese dance troupe, violinist, Japanese drumming, Italian musical theatre, Irish Dance, performances by Sentir Venezuela, Bangladesh Geetanjali Music Academy and Raizes Porttugesas, Dominica fashion show and finally an African, Ecquadorian and Imbayacunas drumming circle will close out the festival while DJ Jus Flow wraps his vibe around the whole mix making for a very cool addition.

Day One - Sights & Sounds of India 2018

So one can expect an exciting array of international music and talent for 2018 including the sights and Sounds of India on day one at 4pm Sat July 14th alongside international food vendors and fun kids activities including everything from bouncy castles to learning / playing cricket, while on day two an array of international sights and sounds from 1-5 pm, including food, fashion, decor and performances showcasing the cultures of the Caribbean, South Asia, Ukraine, China, Africa, Latin America, Mediterranea, Ireland, Portugal and more...

Cooling Station

Held inside and out at the Newmarket Lions Hall @ 200 Duncan Dr. ensures some respite from hot or wet weather should the need arise as well as a featured splash pad and fountain!



Local Notes: Free Parking can be accessed near the event, however for a scenic walk in and stress-free parking, park at Newmarket's municipal building at 395 Mulock Drive just west of the railroad tracks and walk the scenic pathway north through Fairy Lake Park and on in!

Oh, and admission is all FREE!

York, GTA Festival's take a Car Wash

Area Car Shows may be affected

With summer in full swing the only thing holding everyone back from planning anything substantial outdoors is the crazy weather we've had, particularly in a "double El Nino year" whatever that means.
The amount of precipitation thus far since spring really has been astronomical in relative terms with no end in sight at least through Canada Day which this year is celebrating 150 years. Traditionally and statistically we actually get hit with rain quite frequently on this day but we have to hope crazy wind flare ups don't hinder things either.

                                                       Car wash anyone?

It's already affected the town of Newmarket's celebration early as flooded parkland and trail ways have rendered the usual location unsafe forcing the town to announce a new location this year at nearby Riverwalk Commons with events getting underway with the Lions Hall pancake breakfast still on schedule for a 7a.m. indoor start.

I recall a few years earlier when a sudden storm caused tables and chairs to overturn there while Jazz + music festival attendees scurried indoors as best they could to escape the torrential onslaught. Already this year it rained or threatened to throughout the town of Aurora's annual street festival likely affecting sales and attendance. Car show's too have had to cancel some major events already.

Recent in-Doors cover band 

Now if you're an event organizer, vendor, promoter or band / crew member that relies on outdoor gigs to survive, it can wreak havoc on you as well, as witnessed by a recent washed out weekend long slated music festival that cancelled the rest of the show on the Saturday afternoon stiffing all the bands while doing so as well.

Not The Who I want to see. Nice though. Who, who, who who.

That event was doubly marred by the fact that it was charging a cover for the first time, combined with the torrential stormy weather, that sunk their ship and by the sounds of it the promoters were very much relying on that revenue to pay anyone. Wouldn't have been so bad if they'd explained it to the bands, like Elton Ron, that they had no $ but instead slunk away out of sight leaving a fuming wake in their / his dust and not returning calls or texts.

Maybe take up watching horse races

In Toronto, Ontario Place's Budweiser Stage is facing unprecedented flooding cancelling the first ever shows in the newly renovated spot hosting concerts for some big name acts....One wonders if this keeps up if outdoor shows become less and less common with simply too much money potentially being lost on so many levels. Insurance companies will increasingly be on the hook and with that a rise in ticket prices as well passed down to the little guy, you.Maybe places like the long running Cadillac lounge which recently announced it would be closing should hold out for awhile to cash in on a possible indoor insurgence.

Properties face unprecedented flood water

Perhaps the new today needs to involve having a Plan B just in case the extreme weather fluctuations don't cooperate. Give us all a chance to do more home chores, after the storm nature walks, and indoor venue hopping. Let's just hope it doesn't progress to the point where Plan B becomes the new Plan A. That would blow.

We'd have more time to feed chipmunks

Meantime, should you opt for a country or city drive, here's the listing links to the all G.T.A. Canada Day events in Ontario! 

www.balsamdayspa.com

Best Female Vocalist and a new 17 year old Phenom @ Aurora Winter Blues Festival

Angel Forrest rocks the house in Aurora 

Sat. Jan 21, 2017 I got a chance to check out Angel Forrest performing in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, as part of an opening to the 2017 Aurora winter Blues Festival, using a pop-up style location, like being utilized during the 2017 edition of the A.W.B. Festival, with the next pop-up location being Feb 4 at Highlands automotive showroom dealership showroom on Yonge St. Aurora, featuring  The All Star Band! Logistics over the years, combined with a lack of area venues and associated costs have evolved the crown jewel area event, which attracts top talent to perform as well as visitors in winter, to use a unique pop-up style venue via the staging services of Rent A Stage  - which also provides sound, lighting, and back-lighting services.

I witnessed my first taste of the venue style on Sta Jan 21 2017with Montreal based, Angel Forrest, who was headlining the bill with the Cara Lea Band, and boy was she phenomenal ,with vocal range and energy that inspired the players it seemed to even higher highs. All seemed in synch and the sound setup for the venue was excellent with little if any reverb and being set inside a warehouse just gave it all the more a cool vibe to it. Re-mindful of shows from back in the day...dare I say.

But Angel was the main cause for excitement on this night , leaving nothing out there , owning and feeling every song with conviction and no add-on walk-throughs. If she sang it, it was no throw in.
And she belted every note, raspy and non while holding nothing back theatrically, from dancing to dramatic head toss-backs, to costume shedding changes, Forrest never missed a beat.

View part of the the performance here.

Certainly Angel showed she was every bit worthy of winning  2017's Top Female Vocalist one night later at the Maple Blues Awards, as well as winning, alongside Denis Coulombe, for best Songwriter and Producer / recording, for Angel Forrest II.

Also having a great night at the M.B.A.'s was Paul Deslauriers Band with Blues-rock guitarist Paul winning both Entertainer and Electric Act of the Year while bass player Greg Morency was best bass and Sam Harrison drummer was picked best drummer.

I can tell you I witnessed Paul Deslauriers Band in 2015 when they performed at the Aurora Winter Blues Festival and were just remarkable. I have footage of that as well as Paul playing with the A.W.B.F.'s All Stars Jam Band.  What a pheenom!

Tom Pearson with Paul Deslauriers Band - 2017 Maple Blues Awards winners

2017 Aurora Festival Line up includes

One other notable from Jan 22nd's Maple Blues Awards that will effect locally, as far as draw power goes, is the pick for the Best New Artist was Fort Erie's 17 year old wunderkid Guitarist, Spencer Mackenzie who plays on the card with Downchild Blues Band on Feb 24 @ St Andrews College Theatre. Tickets?..Better get em fast.

Click here for Aurora Winter Blues Festival tickets info.

TP Out

Aurora Street Festival HIGHLIGHTS 2016

Aurora Street Festival a Zoo

Well kangaroo poo hit the fan recently when a social media - Facebook -  uproar was raised about the condition of a kangaroo at the well attended street fest held in Aurora, Ontario, Canada this past Sunday. The irate complainant(?)s was angry that the animal was being kept in hot conditions, so hot it was panting (for water) continuously. Others said there was no shaded area.

No complaints about the pig's treatment though.

The same attraction, brought in by a private Yonge St. business, which has done so for the past 7 years without incident,  has now instantly maligned and labelled the operators of the traveling petting zoo as downright bad-ass. To say the social media blasts were vicious would be an understatement - someone even contacting City TV to have them outed.

The Town of Aurora establishment reacted swiftly, distancing themselves by announcing that although they did not hire the company, they have informed the petting zoo that they will no longer be welcome. Now let's bare in mind this same zoo has been participating here, including I believe pony rides, without any prior incidents one would suppose, but now, after one ALLEGED infraction, they are being publicly axed?

Whimsical Wind Chimes

Well wait a minute, did I just say alleged? Surely the conditions the kangaroo was subjected to speak for itself...the poor thing, suffering so much it had to resort to panting and licking its own perspiration even!

" Just keep quiet",

I was told by one woman on Facebook, for mentioning we're ok with pony rides. She of course, having added my name for effect so it highlighted who I was and outed me to everyone as a potential animal abuser too for having this bad OPINION that everyone should hate. But did anyone research it at all? Surely some must have been curious as to how such creatures - that come from much hotter climates than here- survive living in deserts and the like. Surely someone checked.

Well, as it turns out, kangaroos (marsupials) have a unique, complex setup up for surviving extreme temperatures, and, in fact, use superficial vessels in their forelegs for licking, as well as panting, as a normal behaviour for survival of hot conditions. In other words, what likely looked like a panting, suffering animal, was likely just going through its normal, natural, internal temperature control motions....Ooops!

Some people are against any and all kinds of zoos and that is fine, but Zookeepers will also tell you as well there are benefits for getting to know wild animals that happen to be in captivity, for both, as the more we learn, the more we can adapt and sometimes make changes that help to preserve them. We do have laws that govern care of exotic animals and petting zoos and I'm sure, as this was not the first event its been in,  that the conditions were already known.

Anyone check those chickens?..They may not be rubber!

In fact four types of kangaroos are considered extinct now with yet several others teetering on the brink. Yea, PUTS A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE ON IT NOW DOESN'T IT.

Get out & enjoy summer & offer your opinion where you see fit but always remember, sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious. So before we ruin people's livelihoods to appease our pet peeves, let's be sure.


See Yourk News and Events' highlights video of the festival here!

Until Next time. And Please don't text us and drive!

TP out