ARTS EAST

Neptune Theatre in Halifax celebrates the holiday season with A Christmas Story - the classic tale of 10 -year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest to get a genuine BB gun for Christmas, and featuring all of the elements from the beloved film including a pink bunny suit, a triple-dog-dare to lick a frozen pole and the infamous leg lamp. Recently we spoke with one of the production’s lead actors Jamie Williams about what audiences can expect. What are your own roots? I grew up in a small town in Southern Ontario about an hour east of Toronto called Cobourg. My family goes back many Generations in both Quebec and the Maritimes. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? From an early age I put on skits for friends and family with my cousins. I was always involved in School plays and later on became involved in Community Theatre. Imagination was a big part of playing as a kid and was definitely fueled by books. I read a lot. I loved the idea of playing so...

Is there really a monster at Twenty Mile Pond? Bill McGill, a lawyer living in St. John’s, NL, has been asking himself this same question for more than twenty years, since the day he saw—or thought he saw—something large and monstrous rise up out of the water and pluck a hapless seagull from the air.  Author Bill Rowe sheds some light on the situation. What inspired/motivated you to write this book? After finishing my book on Joey Smallwood and Frank Moores ( The Premiers Joey and Frank: Greed, Power and Lust ), it seemed like a natural step to go on to write a book about a monster. Seriously, though…the old name for Windsor Lake, near St. John’s, is Twenty Mile Pond, which is said to refer to the distance around its shores.  I’ve driven by that wide expanse of water hundreds of times, and each time, depending on weather conditions – the sun, the gales, the lowering clouds, the mists,the surface agitation – it can looksparkling, benign, and pretty, or somber, mur...

One of Newfoundland’s finest scribes is back with The Good Doctor , the story of a journalist who unravels a 1940s medical mystery. Recently we spoke up with author Paul Butler about his latest effort. What inspired you to write this book? I’d say one of the prime motivators for me in writing The Good Doctor is an instinctive mistrust of heroes ― or of historical characters who are portrayed as heroes in our culture. Wilfred Grenfell, the medical missionary who came to Newfoundland (from England) in 1892 is one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most conspicuous “heroes”.  His statue stands close-by the legislature in St. John’s. One of the main health authorities is named after him and one of the campuses of the university is named after him. One thing that became very obvious during the early reading for this project was the degree to which Grenfell himself engineered his own rise to fame, creating – quite deliberately, it seemed – an enduring iconography around himself. At t...

by Mo Duffy Cobb It's a Friday evening at Charlottetown's Y Lofts and Red: The Island Story Book is launching its 9th issue. The soft light glows and the house is packed, with frontman and Editor David Weale introducing readers, musicians, and Chef Michael Smith's Red holiday cookie recipe, from his column "Home Cooking".  There's something in the air here, or maybe it's the warmth of Prince Edward Island hearts.  Weale has started a movement on PEI, and people are seeing Red . Styled after a third generation family magazine, Weale released the first issue in the fall 2010, and it now has a distribution of over 4,000 copies and over a hundred subscribers. With its long oversized pages, black and white photos and large fonts, Red has a unique style all its own. And wait until you hear its stories. Weale welcomes the crowd and introduces his first reader, an older man with greying hair with an anecdote called a "Ferry Tale".  Time ...

Carolyn Aiken from Prince Edward Island is the blogger behind Aiken House & Gardens . The mother of seven and grandmother of nine produces gorgeous aesthetics from her rural home showcasing her passion for decorating, gardening and photography. These creations have been featured in such magazines as Simply Shabbilicious , Romantic Country, The Feminine Home, Romantic Homes and Country & Country , and such books as Franciska Munck-Johansen’s Sanselig Jul and Sanselig Sommer . In 2011, The Old Painted Cottage named Aiken’s home “Cottage of the Month” for December. The native Islander has also published three books of her own: Aiken House & Gardens , Country Christmas and Afternoon Tea at Aiken House & Gardens. Words, Designs and Photos by Carolyn Aiken I have always enjoyed being creative. I used to sew, knit, quilt, tole paint etc. when our children were younger.  Now, gardening, photography and decorating are my main hobbies that I enjo...

Andrew Pike, known on stage and his albums as PIKE, has been a prolific musician and music appreciator his entire life. Today, as he recovers from brain surgery, he is perhaps more passionate than ever. Growing up in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, with creative parents—his father was a poet and teacher, his mother a pianist-composer—Pike fondly remembers “leaning over the couch” at his childhood home, listening to an eclectic soundtrack, ranging from Cat Stevens to Beethoven. The guitarist and singer, guitar teacher and former bassist for the Greek band The Forgotten Bouzouki, may be classified as a rock artist. But his three released albums Souvenirs , Strength and Forever Run , showcasing his original songs, reflect a myriad of styles. From the gypsy undertones of “Convicts in the Sky”, the eye-opening “The Haves and The Have Nots,” and the sublime “Some Angels Have No Wings,” to the rock opera-esque “Music Thankfully Heard,” the addictive “Sing A Little Song,” and one yo...

By Roger Douglas Bursey Laura Smith is a singer and songwriter who is no stranger to success.  In fact, since the release of her 1994 album B’tween the Earth and My Soul she’s won an ECMA, a Gemini, and had a Juno nomination.  It is no surprise, given the fact that her haunting and lamenting vocals captivates an unsuspecting audience and takes them on an emotional journey that leaves everyone breathless and asking for more. Recently, I caught up with her after her performance at the Harmony House in Hunter River, PEI. Congratulations on your return to the stage. Could you share with me and our readers what it felt like to perform for the very first time after such a long hiatus? LS: Thanks, you’re so kind...It’s so great to be back at it, but you know, I didn’t really leave. Although I didn’t put an album out in 16 years and as bad as I was, I still managed to perform. I’d throw my guitar over my shoulder and head out to the open-mics and anywhere else I was ask...