SEASON 2016-17EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Based on the character created by three ti me Canadian Comedy Award Nominee Mike Delamont and Jacob Richmond for the hit cult cabaret Atomic Vaudeville, God is a Scotti sh Drag Queen has gone on to become an internati onal sensati on. Now a trilogy of shows, it has sold out runs across North America with some patrons waiti ng over 8 hours in line just to get ti ckets.It is a 15 ti me “Best of the Fest” winner, and was a nomineefor the 2014 Just For Laughs Best Comedy Award. Cranbrook nati ve Mike Delamont writes and stars as everyone’s favourite deity in a fl oral power suit, who comes down to skewer everything from Justi n Bieber to the Pope in an unforgett able night of comedy.

“IT WOULD BE A SIN TO MISS THIS SHOW!”

Winnipeg Free Press

“I LAUGHED SO HARD...... I CRIED!”

Edmonton Journal

MIKE DELAMONTSEPTEMBER 24

TRI-CONTINENTAL SEPTEMBER 28Tri-Conti nental is a collaborati on that fuses the talents of three wonderful guitar-players, singers and songwriters from Toronto/Canada: Bill Bourne, Lester Quitzau and Madagascar Slim. There are no musical boundaries present in this one-of-a-kind blues/folk/world music mélange. Tri-Conti nental present a truly unique - and criti cally acclaimed - sound that is a great success in terms of soulfulness and presence, intensity and atmosphere. All three players have been nominated for Canada’s JUNO award for their previous work.

BOBBY BAZINI MARCH 22

Quick. Which Canadian arti st’s debut album went plati num this year?

Besides the rapper Drake, we mean.The answer is Bobby Bazini, a Montreal-area singer-songwriter with a magician-like name who’s trying to make good his escape from Quebec, where the bulk of the 80,000 copies of Bett er in Time were sold. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will soon.

PHARIS & JASON ROMERO APRIL 5Singing vibrant duets, writi ng deadly songs, playing handmade banjos and loving old acousti c guitars, Pharis & Jason Romero have a classic story.When a matchmaker, some scratchy old records, and a custom banjo led to their meeti ng in 2007, they quickly knew they were in for the long haul. They’ve since released fi ve records - three as a duo - and toured across North America and the UK. They are passionate teachers and believers in many things folk, and their heartbreakingly harmonic live show is an ever-evolving and neverending quest for good songs and beauti ful sounds. “A Wanderer I’ll Stay” won the 2016 Juno Award for Traditi onal Roots Album of the Year.

SEASON 2016-17BLUES-FOLK-BLUEGRASS

BALLET JAZZ MONTREALOCTOBER 12 Proudly Sponsored by Ken Stroud of

PROVOKE EMOTIONS THROUGH DANCE.An internati onally renowned repertory company,BJM has conti nued to grow with all the energy and spirit of explorati on for which it has been known since its birth in 1972. Thanks to the enduring faith of Geneviève Salbaing and co-founders Eva Von Gencsy and Eddy Toussaint, this vitality has made its mark through the years. Since Louis Robitaille was nominated Arti sti c Director in 1998, BJM is now, more than ever, in tune with the ti mes. While preserving the essence of the company, BJM works today with some of the most presti gious fi gures in the world of dance and ballet.

SWAN LAKEBallet Jorgen FEBRUARY 21Ballet Jörgen Canada celebrates its 25th anniversary season with the world’s most renowned Classical Ballet, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Bengt Jörgen, one of Canada’s most disti nguished classical ballet choreographers is delighted to bring the producti on across Canadaso that everyone has the opportunity to see, experience and be touched by this most extraor-dinary of all ballets. This classical producti on is one of the most magical, beloved ballets—a storyof true love, the union of two souls and the ulti mate sacrifi ce to be set free.

SEASON 2016-17DANCE

MONTREAL GUITAR TRIO NOVEMBER 17Eclecti c, Energeti c and SpectacularDescribed by the CBC as the “hott est” guitar ensemble in Canada, MG3 has quickly established itself as a force to be reck-oned with, as well as an interacti ve force in various musical forms. For over 15 years, the trio’s virtuosity, rigour, creati vity and impressivestage presence – where humour and interacti ngwith the public go hand in hand – have been winning over audiences around the world.Performing at the Royal Alexandra Hall

JOELLE RABU – TONIGHT PIAFJANUARY 18Tonight…Piaf, a highly acclaimed hit show writt en by Joëlle Rabu and Ted Galay, is an inti mate musical drama, re-creati ng Edith Piaf’s fi nal New York concert at the Waldorf Astoria in 1961. Joëlle’s award winning portrayal of the legendary French songbird will leave you breathless. Tonight…Piaf is performed in English with Piaf’s most memorable songs sung in both French and English. The show also features a quartet playing more than a dozeninstruments highlighti ng the passionate music of that era.

SEASON 2016-17CLASSICAL-JAZZ

ALCAN STRING QUARTET NOVEMBER 5The Alcan Quartet consists of violinists Laura Andriani and Nathalie Camus, violist Luc Beauchemin and cel-list David Ellis.Since its formati on in 1989, the Alcan Quartet has forged a reputati on for excellence across Canada and abroad. Born of an extraordinary partnership between the multi nati onal Rio Tinto Alcan and the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay Lac St-Jean in Chicouti mi (Québec), he helped lead the musical life with many chamber music concerts and sustained presence and highly valued in the middle of classical music. This string quartet provides its infl uence for nearly 25 years by numerous CD recordings, including the highly anti cipated forthcoming for its 25th anniversary in 2014, the complete cycle of 16 Beethoven string quartets.

SEASON 2016-17CLASSICAL-JAZZ

REMY BULDUC TRIBUTE TO DAVE BRUBECKMAY 18In 1950-60, very few American jazz arti sts have had as much infl uence and were as popularas Dave Brubeck. The Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble with special guest pianist François Bourassa are proud to present a brand new producti on, Tribute to Dave Brubeck,performing the music of Brubeck’s celebratedband, also recognized thanks to the excellentsaxophonist Paul Desmond. Take Five, Blue Rondo a la Turk and several other compositi onsfrom the album Time Out are on the program.

CANADIAN GUITAR QUARTET FEBRUARY 6“The Canadian Guitar Quartet dazzles the audience with their second-to-none ensemble playing”Since its debut in 1999, the Canadian Guitar Quartet has toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, from one standingovati on to the next, establishing a reputati onas one of the fi nest guitar ensembles in the world. The CGQ also performed with orchestras all over Canada and has releasedthree criti cally acclaimed recordings.Performing at the Royal Alexandra Hall

SHARON & BRAMOCTOBER 22A Sharon and Bram show is a sing-along concert for the enti re family, featuring such well-loved favouritesas “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”, “Five Litt le Monkeys”, “One Elephant”, “Tingalayo”, and, of course, “Skinnamarink”.“We love singing with our audiences; the sound of families singing together and the expressions of delight on the faces of parents and children as they share the music, bring us deep sati sfacti on”, say Sharon and Bram.

EVERYTHING FITZ NOVEMBER 15The Fitzgerald family band, from Ontario, features some of the fi nest young fi ddlers and Ott awa-Valley step dancers in the country. The sounds of the East Coast, French-Canadian, Texas-style and Old-Time are combined with impeccable Ott awa-Valley style step dancing to bring you a high energy and heart-warming performance.

CAPTAIN FUTUREJANUARY 15Lucas Myers’ latest creati on Captain Future travels back in ti me to try to save reading from being wiped out by the evil Dr. SamGoogApplesoft sung, who has taken over the world with his devious mixture of highly addicti ve social networking videogame apps! Using song, puppets, a ti me machineand a William Shakespeare rap song, it’s up to Myers’ intrepid hero to save the day.

SEASON 2016-17FAMILY - CHILDREN

MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM FOR KIDS K-7MARCH 11A Midsummer Night’s Dream – for Kids! No need to wait unti l high school to develop a love of Shakespeare! For K-7 audiences Monster Theatre presents a brand-sparkling-new adap-tati on of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shake-speare’s whimsical classic tale about fairies, love poti ons and talking donkeys. The storytell-ing masters of MonsterTheatre have created a magical performance starring both professional actors and students from your schools.

CHASE PADGETT NOVEMBER 86 Guitars is a pitch perfect blend of music, comedy,and characters. Chase Padgett delivers a virtuosic performance as he becomes 6 diff erent guitar play-ers each with their own disti nct voice, views, and musical style (Blues, Jazz, Rock, Classical, Folk, and Country). During this 85 minute show, each of the characters ranging from a 19 year old rock prodigyto an 87 year old blues man share their journeywith music from discovery to mastery through songs and stories that leaves every audience laughing, crying, and falling in love with music all over again.

LUCAS MEYERSJANUARY 14Writt en and Performed by Lucas MyersA young man goes missing from a provincial camp-ground while on a personal journey to discover himself. Four people are suspects, despite lack of evidence aside from Facebook posts and the videofrom the young man’s cell phone but the over-zealous detecti ve is undeterred. Was there foul play? More importantly, did someone remember to bring the toilet paper (and the potato salad)? Lucas Myers brings his trademark brand of obser-vati onal humor and brilliant character work to this examinati on of the world within a world that can only be found in THE CAMPGROUND.

RING OF FIREMARCH 8Ring of Fire: Project Johnny Cash is a jukeboxmusical that celebrates the lives and storiesJohnny Cash sang about in his music. The cast tell his remarkable story through some of the greatest songs of one of America’s most brilliant singer/songwriters, Johnny Cash. The storytravels from Cash growing up on a farm, to the Grand Ole Opry, to meeti ng June Carter and fallinginto the “Ring of Fire”. A mosaic of Americanexperience featuring “Five Feet High and Rising”, “Daddy Sang Base”, Ring of Fire”, “I Walk the Line”, and “I’ve Been Everywhere”, the show features the music of Johnny Cash at his highs and lows.

SEASON 2016-17THEATRE

SEASON 2016-17RAWK ON!

Speed Control off ers 3-5 day RAWK Camps that include public performance opportuniti es for all parti cipants. The focus is skill building with sessions for beginners (RAWK on Stage) to coachingfor existi ng bands (RAWK Smarter, RAWK Harder). The premise of the RAWK Camps is to teach parti cipants that there’s more to music than the Top 40 we hear on the radio, and that music can be a whole lot of fun. We also provide them with skills that they can use down the road. Skill developmentis so important.

RAWK CAMPJANUARY 20-21, 2017