Enough of this weather already! (Inner voice: Let it go, Elly just let it go!) Whatever, there are tons of indoor activities to keep Flin Flon and area happy and humming in the next couple of weeks.
On Friday, April 13 the 17th Annual Poetry Night is happening at the Flin Flon Public Library in honour of National Poetry Month. The Writers Guild and the Toastmasters Club are the movers and shakers behind the scenes. Several local writers will present their own works and there will be readings of non-original poems as well. The evening’s entertainment begins at 7 pm. It will be a lovely event and kudos to the organizers for producing the evening and the poetry for so long.
Saturday, April 14 finds us spoiled for choice, with two brilliant events on offer. The Flin Flon Arts Council will present Sarah Hagen in “Perk Up, Pianist,” a witty take on classical musicians and all of their foibles. Sarah is a brilliant pianist in her own right but she has a wicked sense of humour, which she will bring to bear full force, in this production. This is a show of musical comedy with a twist. It uses classical music as its base rather than the more common Broadway style. She “collapses” a grand piano on stage but I’m sure our Steinway will be safe. After all, she has played it before so knows how good it sounds.
Sarah was named the Ontario Contact Conference Artist of the Year in October 2017 and British Columbia’s Touring Artist of the Year before that. The Contact Conference is the same (only bigger) as the Manitoba Showcase, which was in Flin Flon in 2015 and will be in Portage La Prairie in 2018. She has also been artist in residence at Banff School of Arts five times! The show is at the RH Channing Auditorium in the community hall at 7:30 pm and tickets are $30 and $15 for students, at Northern Rainbow’s End.
The other choice for the weekend is Home Routes presentation of Red Tail Ring from Kalamazoo, Mich. They are a traditional Americana music duo who sound so pure. Every year we get all the performers’ albums in advance of their coming to our region so we have the opportunity to listen and choose the one we most want to hear. This team is Callum’s choice. Consisting of Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp-Cohen, they have played their brand of music all over the world. They were in Glasgow, Scotland for the Celtic Connections festival in February, the northern US in March and now northern Manitoba for April. The house concerts are April 14 at 183 Murton Blvd, [email protected] for tickets or April 15 at 19 Hemlock Drive, [email protected] for tickets. Cost is $20 and doors open at 7 pm, with music starting at 7:30 pm.
On Wednesday, April 18 the Central Canada Film Group will screen “The Grey Fox” at the Hapnot Theatre. This 1982 film stars Richard Farnsworth as a very gentlemanly stagecoach robber who, when he is released from prison at the turn of the last century, makes his way to Canada to turn his hand to train robbery. Moving with the times! This event is a different day than usual, to celebrate Canada Film Day. Doors open at 7 pm and film starts at 7:30 pm. The cost is only $10.
The last event for this column is NorVA Night at Johnny’s Social Club. Musicians Mark Kolt, Trevor Gordon, Dean Martin and friends will provide backing for another stellar group of singers who will be mixing Tom Waits tunes with some much needed art instruction! This is a fundraiser for the NorVA Centre and Gallery so there will be opportunities to purchase art that you need as well as view the creations of the evening (through a wine-coloured lens). Rumour has it that Syd Tippett has donated the magnificent creations that graced the penthouse walls in the Ham Sandwich Theatre production of “Regrets Only” and that these will come up for auction during the evening. The show will take place on Friday, April 20. Tickets are $20 and are available at the Orange Toad.
