A7

By ADAM BOWIE
bowie.adam@dailygleaner.com

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A special show at The Playhouse tonight called Fredericton Onstage will reflect the city's artistic talent and its designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada for 2009.

The city has used a $500,000 contribution from the federal government and $150,000 from the municipal budget to commission dozens of cultural events throughout the year, including this production by local musician and violin instructor Krista Touesnard.

Some of the region's most talented artists, musicians and thespians will take the stage to perform music, short theatrical performances and contemporary dance.

Among the favourite local musicians scheduled to perform are David Myles, Keith Hallett, Hot Toddy, Ross Neilsen & The Sufferin' Bastards, Choeur de Soulanges, Motion Ensemble, the Fredericton Chamber Orchestra, Brollachan, Cesar Morales and Share.

The Fredericton Chamber Orchestra will join Hot Toddy for some new orchestral arrangements of their songs, put together by local musician Michael Doherty.

Other highlights will include a special routine by contemporary dancer Lucy May, set to a new song by Share, and several short theatrical performances by Theatre New Brunswick artistic producer Caleb Marshall and singer-actor Tania Breen.

Tim Yerxa, executive director of The Playhouse, said the wealth of local talent made it difficult for organizers to pick which performers would be involved.

"We tried to make it reflective of what the current scene is, and we tried to be inclusive but not pandering," he said.

"It's a dangerous thing when you start getting into the composition of a show that has one of everything in it. We didn't really want to go there, but we wanted to reflect the diversity of what's happening (in Fredericton)."

He said the idea is to celebrate the different kinds of art happening in the community and hopefully expose the audience to performers they haven't seen before.

"Someone may come to the show because their mother plays second violin in the orchestra, but they may not have seen a contemporary dance performance before, or they may never have seen hard-driving blues played live," he said.

"So people will come to the show for all kinds of reasons and curiosities, but I hope they discover something new."

Bluesman Ross Neilsen said the evening will be a bit of a homecoming for his band, which just completed its second cross-Canada tour of the year.

He said it'll be good to catch a few familiar faces in the crowd and to join some friends on stage.

"Once you get to a certain point and you're working regularly, you don't get to see your friends as often as you'd like, and you don't get to play tunes with them," he said.

"So it's always nice to be able to see what they're up to, join them for a jam, and this event will be a lot of fun for us. I think it's going to be pretty exciting for the city."

A limited number of tickets will be available at the door. The show starts at 8 p.m.