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WHAT’S UP MUSKOKA ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
P057020CN 11/05<br />
There are good reasons to<br />
FOLLOW THE CROWD<br />
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Les Bell, Agent<br />
46 Ann St.<br />
Bracebridge, ON P1L 2C1<br />
Bus: 705-646-9995 Toll Free: 877-877-3929<br />
<br />
Hospice play captures the moments of life<br />
By Sandy Lockhart<br />
Mark your calendars for Hospice<br />
Muskoka’s presentation of the enlightening<br />
and humorous play, Grace and<br />
Glorie, on the stage of the Rene M.<br />
Caisse Memorial Theatre. The final<br />
night will also be the official launch of<br />
the organization’s new fundraising<br />
campaign.<br />
“It is an uplifting affirmation of life,<br />
not about death,” says Annette Procunier,<br />
the internationally known adjudicator<br />
who is directing the production.<br />
Grace and Glorie, by Tom Ziegier,<br />
is a two-person <strong>com</strong>edy that tells the<br />
story of a feisty old woman dying of<br />
cancer and the Hospice worker sent to<br />
help her. Together, this odd couple<br />
gain new perspectives on values and<br />
life. Local actors Pru Donaldson and<br />
Lisa Friesen are playing Grace and<br />
Glorie, respectively.<br />
“It is a very funny play. There is a<br />
tremendous amount of humour but<br />
then, there is a tremendous amount of<br />
humour in life,” says Procunier. “It is<br />
like a lot of experiences when people<br />
interact with each other, the tables<br />
turn.”<br />
Procunier, who calls Bala home, is<br />
pleased to be able to spend some time<br />
By Bronwyn Boyer<br />
Fans of folk artist Mendelson Joe will<br />
get a rare Valentine’s Day gift from the<br />
musician, artist and political activist.<br />
This past September, Joe took the time<br />
to record Live At Sixty-Five which will be<br />
officially released on Valentine’s Day.<br />
As the title suggests, the album was<br />
recorded in a very intimate manner.<br />
Though it is not a live recording, it is<br />
fashioned after one. And as much as any<br />
artist can bare their soul, Joe does so on<br />
this record. To that end, there is very little<br />
instrumentation to add clutter. It’s just<br />
Joe’s voice, his old painted guitar, and his<br />
foot stomping out the beat.<br />
“My purpose in life is to produce,”<br />
explains Joe. “I’m not driven to impress,<br />
the way other people are. I am just pathologically<br />
productive, in a creative sense.<br />
And I’m not concerned with what others<br />
think, because you should never give<br />
people the freedom to control what you<br />
Grace, played by Pru Donaldson, has a heartfelt talk with Glorie, played by<br />
Lisa Friesen. The play is a fundraiser for Hospice Muskoka.<br />
supporting the cause and working<br />
close to home.<br />
“When you get two of Muskoka’s<br />
finest actors to participate and the<br />
Muskoka Arts Council to produce it,<br />
do. You can’t be a successful artist if you<br />
start catering to other people. I’m not<br />
saying it’s wrong to try to please others,<br />
but when it <strong>com</strong>es to art, a true artist<br />
must first set out to please themselves.”<br />
Joe long ago devoted himself to the<br />
how good is that?” she says.<br />
All funds raised will help Hospice<br />
Muskoka provide end-of-life care and<br />
support to Muskokans who are coping<br />
with end of life issues. The final<br />
uninhibited honesty of self-expression. In<br />
keeping with this, he kept the album raw<br />
and natural. In fact, it’s safe to say that<br />
Live At Sixty-Five is as real as he gets.<br />
There are even snippets of narration<br />
between tracks. He also included some of<br />
the incidental moments of imperfection<br />
that occurs in the recording process.<br />
“I’m a flawed artist,” Joe is fond of saying.<br />
“I’m not a perfectionist at all – I just<br />
aim really high. Perfection, for me, is<br />
accidental. When I make a masterpiece<br />
in anything, it’s always luck. All I do is<br />
just keep going, because I like doing it.”<br />
Live At Sixty-Five is an intimate view<br />
into Mendelson Joe’s philosophies, emotions,<br />
fears, hopes and his quirky sense of<br />
humour. Some moments of the record<br />
are casual and fun, some are serious and<br />
thoughtful, and some are both at the<br />
same time. Put simply, it is a clear,<br />
unadulterated view into Mendelson Joe’s<br />
artistry. And although it is quite revealing<br />
evening of Grace and Glorie is a dinner<br />
theatre at which the sweater knit during<br />
the play will be auctioned off.<br />
“It launches Stitches for Hospice,”<br />
says Joanne Korten, director of philanthropy<br />
and <strong>com</strong>munity outreach<br />
for Hospice Muskoka.<br />
Stitches for Hospice is a project in<br />
which hospices from across Ontario<br />
will be invited to submit pieces of<br />
stitched or knit artwork for a fundraising<br />
auction event to be held in<br />
Muskoka.<br />
“These are top quality, juried products<br />
that are ready for auction,” she<br />
notes.<br />
All of the pieces will be auctioned<br />
off with the raised funds shared<br />
between Hospice Muskoka and the<br />
submitting artist’s hospice.<br />
“It enables other countries to raise<br />
money for their hospice without having<br />
to hold their own event,” explains<br />
Korten.<br />
Grace and Glorie is at the Rene<br />
Caisse Theatre at on Thursday, Feb.<br />
11 and Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. On<br />
Saturday, Feb. 13 there is a dinner,<br />
theatre and auction starting with<br />
cocktails at 5 p.m. Tickets are available<br />
through the Rene Caisse Memorial<br />
Theatre box office.<br />
Folk artist Mendelson Joe releases new album<br />
Mendelson Joe is releasing a new<br />
album on Valentine’s Day.<br />
Photograph: courtesy of Mendelson Joe<br />
Photograph: Sandy Lockhart<br />
of Joe’s thoughts on the flaws of humanity<br />
and the perils of the world, it also has<br />
many light-hearted moments. And, of<br />
course, he pokes fun at himself as much<br />
he does others.<br />
It’s an expression of his identity as a<br />
65-year-old self-proclaimed folkie who is<br />
reflecting on how far he’s <strong>com</strong>e in his life,<br />
what he’s learned, and what he continues<br />
to learn. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a<br />
Mendelson Joe record if it weren’t also an<br />
expression of what humanity has to learn.<br />
In the song Some Dumb Machine, for<br />
instance, Joe sings, “Why can’t we stop<br />
and learn from our folly/and listen to<br />
hearts instead of our wallets?/The conscience<br />
of people got lost in the wash/like<br />
socks that got eaten by some dumb<br />
machine…and we built the machine.”<br />
In short, Live At Sixty-Five makes the<br />
listener laugh, cry, and think. Look for it<br />
in stores Feb. 14 and get re-acquainted<br />
with this legendary local artist.<br />
Visit our website Complete events listing available on our website, www.whatsupmuskoka.<strong>com</strong><br />
www.whatsupmuskoka.<strong>com</strong> February 2010 25