Peter Hendra
The Whig-Standard
Canada
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Past articles by Peter:
Writing performance gives Rabbit Hole legs
Losing a child would undoubtedly jeopardize even the sturdiest of marriages. That’s precisely what happens to Becca (Suzanne Garrett Kerr) and Howie (Will Britton) Corbett in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole, the first production of King’s Town Players’ season. The play takes place eight months after the couple’s son, Danny, is hit by […] → Read More
Wainwright, Lighthouse open Grand season; cafe releases disc; TV series coming to city
With so many events happening this weekend, from Culture Days to Kingston WritersFest, the Grand Theatre kicks off its season with a familiar name. Rufus Wainwright is playing a solo show starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Remarkably, there are still some tickets left for the troubadour, who will take a break from touring after the […] → Read More
Downie tribute show becomes personal for performers
Of the many musicians playing at the Gord Downie tribute show Saturday evening, two have a personal connection to the late Tragically Hip frontman. Greg Ball, the headliner of the “Gord Downie Life & Legacy Celebration” taking place at Raxx Bar and Grill in support of the Downie Wenjack Fund and Home Base Housing, met […] → Read More
Local festival co-ordinator receives national award
A longtime contributor to a local Kiwanis music festival has been named a volunteer of the year by the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals. Martha Clarke was involved with the Kingston Kiwanis Music Festival for 36 years, serving as its sole co-ordinator for 24 of those years. She stepped down from the festival’s planning committee […] → Read More
Here are your best bets at this year's fest
The 11th edition of Kingston WritersFest returns this week, kicking off with two events Wednesday evening and dozens more through to Sunday afternoon. → Read More
A homecoming of sorts for author
While winning one of the country’s top literary prizes for your first novel is thrilling, it can also bring a level of expectation for what follows. Johanna Skibsrud knows that all too well after her first book of fiction, The Sentimentalists, surprised many when it took home the 2010 Giller Prize. “When I won that […] → Read More
Kingston's Sons set to rise again
If you find yourself in the midst of a creative spurt, it’s a good idea to take advantage of it. Just ask The Glorious Sons’ Brett Emmons. “I go through periods of not writing anything good, and then I fall into a period where it will be like, the output is kind of crazy, and […] → Read More
Santur player emerges as one of competition finalists
Sadaf Amini has always enjoyed taking part in musical competitions, but finding them isn’t easy. That’s what happens, or doesn’t happen, when you play the santur, a traditional Iranian instrument that has 72 strings played with tiny “hammers” balanced between one’s fingers, and live in Kingston. But then the YGK Emerging Musician Competition came along. […] → Read More
City's arts scene features Verdi, Mary Poppins and more this week
As sure as autumn has arrived, so has a robust entertainment schedule. Behold. • The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts kicks off its regularly scheduled season Saturday night with a performance by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, which will be joined by the Ottawa Choral Society to perform Verdi’s “Requiem” at 7:30 p.m. […] → Read More
Getting ready to rock
It’s just after 5 o’clock this past Monday afternoon, and about a dozen or so volunteers sit in a room tucked inside the King Street entranceway of Kingston Penitentiary, the same room now used by the popular Kingston Pen tours. They’ve arrived for the final orientation session for Saturday’s “Rockin’ the Big House,” the charity […] → Read More
Hip's Langlois gets a little help from his friends
While it was a lengthy process getting approval for the concert to take place in Kingston Pen, setting the lineup was anything but. In fact, Paul Langlois figures, it was pretty much done within a day. “All that needed to be said was that it was for charity,” he said of the “Rockin’ the Big […] → Read More
Cult classic finds a new voice in Kingston's Mann
Anthony D.P. Mann knows firsthand the good that can come from being in the right place at the right time. It was a couple of years ago at a comic-con in London, Ont., when the actor-director was asked to fill in as the host of a panel discussion featuring Mitch Markowitz, the co-creator of cult […] → Read More
Theatre company changes its tune(s)
Last year, when the rights to the hit musical Mamma Mia became available, Anne Marie Mortensen quickly snatched them up. It turned out she wasn’t the only one in Kingston to do so. While her Bottle Tree Productions may have optioned the show featuring music by ABBA, so, too, had the Kingston Meistersingers. The two […] → Read More
The Celtic Kitchen Party serves up new record
For The Celtic Kitchen Party, its new record was, literally, a year in the making. That’s because the Kingston band committed to putting out a song a month last year as a way of rewarding its supporters. “These are the 11 songs,” explained guitarist and vocalist Andrew Vanhorn of the tracks on the just-released Sociable, […] → Read More
Weather may be cooling, but entertainment scene is heating up
The return of school and weather that’s cool means that fall is back, as is arts programming in the city. Here’s a look at some of the concerts and plays happening in the city for the next quarter-year. (Please note that ticket prices listed are for adults/general public, and the website is where you can […] → Read More
Ring of Fire offers plenty of songs, but little else
Inside the playbill for Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash is a list of 10 things you might not know about one of the best-selling musicians of all time, from his real name to his Canadian connection. I bring this up because I learned more about Cash’s life from the playbill than I […] → Read More
Fall season signals end of outdoor concerts, movies
Well, it’s that time of year when the U-Hauls dot downtown streets and lineups return to grocery stores as parents drop off their children for their post-secondary studies. If summer is coming to an end, then so, too, is the free outdoor entertainment downtown. But there’s still a week left, so don’t put that collapsible […] → Read More
Every year, the city has the blues (festival)
As the summer winds down, so, too, do the festivals that are always a part of them. Before that happens, though, there’s this weekend’s Limestone City Blues Festival happening throughout the downtown core. Saturday, while there will be plenty of musicians performing outdoors — on the Confederation Park stage during the day and then Market […] → Read More
Pollard aims to stir as well as soothe souls
When Kim Pollard first started performing, she would always cover popular blues songs as they endeared her to audiences and bookers alike. While Pollard, who grew up and lives in Napanee, had always enjoyed singing other people’s songs, she had also written plenty of her own. “There was just this one day, and this particular […] → Read More
Musicians taking different approaches
One of the great things about Kingston’s vibrant music scene is that some musicians are taking different approaches to performances.Take Saturday night’s performance by the horn-driven,… → Read More