BY WENDY ELLIOTT
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Win that country weekend
Win a four-day pass to the seventh annual Fox Mountain Country Music Festival in Aylesford, July 29 to August 1.
The weekend includes performances by the Spinney Brothers, Witchitaw and Kevin Davison and many other country artists, as well as gospel concerts and a songwriters’ circle.
To enter, email jhoegg@kentvilleadvertiser.ca with the subject line “Fox Mountain Contest,” or follow us at www.twitter.com/KingsNSnews and tweet “Win Fox Mountain Music Fest tickets from @KingsNSnews.” Winner will be chosen by a random draw at noon, July 26 and announced on Twitter and in the July 29 Kings County Register. Pass does not include camping.
Good news for Bitter, Sweet
East Dalhousie author Laura Best heard July 15 from Nimbus Publishing her first book, Bitter, Sweet, has been shortlisted (along with four other books) for the Geoffery Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
The award, worth $5,000, is sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund.
Best’s book, for ages 10 and up, is “a beautifully crafted novel set in 1948 in Nova Scotia told by Pru, a young girl trying to keep her siblings together after their father abandons them and their mother dies…. Best has masterfully created a sense of time and place…. The characters are thoughtfully developed and their relationships to each other skillfully described.”
Witches at the Creek
Two Planks and a Passion Theatre has tackled The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s 1953 condemnation of McCarthyism through the examination of the mass hysteria in Puritan society during the Salem witch trials. Tuesday through Sunday, 6 p.m., Ross Creek Centre, 555 Ross Creek Road, Canning, $28.25, 582-3073, twoplanks.ca
A trio of duos
July 24 at 9 p.m., the Wick Pub in Berwick is presenting three duos in concert on one evening.
Book reading
July 25, 2 p.m. to 4 pm., Prescott House Museum will have Nova Scotia author Greg Brown reading from his new book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia. Admission for book signing and reading is free; light refreshments will be served.
Steel on CentreStage
Opening July 29 at CentreStage Theatre in Kentville is Steel Magnolias.
Steel Magnolias is directed by Peter Booth and George Henry. It stars Candy O’Brien, Tracy Churchill, Nancy Henry, Junie Hutchinson, Linda Levy Fisk and Brenda Ellis. Elva Kelley is the stage manager and Kelly Westhaver is on lights.
Steel Magnolias runs Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. until August 28. There will be a 2 p.m. matinee August 15. To make reservations, phone 678-8040.
Drama camp productions are open to the public this summer, CentreStage is offering drama camps for youth. At the final production, a freewill offering will be collected to go towards the camps. Production dates: Big Top: July 31, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (ages five to 10) and Dogs: August 14, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (ages eight to 12).
Auditions for Kristin Laurence's dramatization of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women will be held July 25 at 7 p.m. at CentreStage. It's an all female cast of nine. The show runs Nov. 4 to Dec. 11.
For information, contact 678-3502 or centrestage@centrestagetheatre.ca
River rockabilly
Three-piece rockabilly band Blueprint is at The Port Pub in Port Williams July 30, playing hits by Hendrix, Elvis, The Stray Cats and many more. Relax with a view of the river and dykes. No cover charge, 8 p.m.
Unearthed
The Deep Roots Music Cooperative received submissions for its Emerging Artists program, Unearthed, from as far afield as Winnipeg and Connecticut.
Open to musicians aged 14 to 25, it offers three days of workshops with industry professionals, a performance at Festival Theatre in Wolfville as part of Mud Creek Days and a chance to perform on-stage at the 2010 Deep Roots Music Festival.
The selection committee was amazed by the talent and had a hard time short listing the finalists. Included are the three finalists from the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia song-writing competition. Winners The Paradise Project and runners-up Apollo 13 and The Tripps will be making an appearance at Festival Theatre, along with Valley residents Jesse Potter and Elizabeth Furniss. Rose Folks also joins New Brunswick native Julie Aube and Guysborough’s Thomas Munroe.
All the shortlisted acts offer a performance at Festival Theatre July 31 at 7 p.m. A freewill donation will help future programming. There will be a special guest appearance by Windsor-based Alice Stops Time, which performed at Music for Haiti and will also be appearing at this year’s Deep Roots Music Festival.
Tattoos take two
Smokin' Entertainment presents Show Us Your Tats 2 July 31, a tattoo bash featuring Poison Cherry, a hard rock tribute from Barrington Passage.
This event was sold-out last time and there will be over $500 in tattoo giveaways, including $300 for best overall tattoo.
The show is at West Side Charlie’s in New Minas at 9 p.m. Advance tickets are only $5 at Everlasting Ink in New Minas, or by calling 691-4747. $7 at the door.
Musical tides
High Tides is a full night of classic rock by ZZ Top, CCR, The Cult, AC/DC and many more. Hosted at the Greenwood Top Hat, 10 p.m., July 31. $3 at the door.
Coming up
August 1
Letter from Wingfield Farm, Valley Summer Theatre, Al Whittle Theatre, Wolfville
August 2
Best of Boxwood, St. John’s Church, Port Williams
Until August 8
The Crucible, Two Planks & a Passion Theatre, Ross Creek
Until August 25
Early Days at Grand Pre, free play three times a day in English & French at the national historic park
Until Sept. 15
Grand Pre Art Gallery, located at the national historic site, Evangeline Artists' Cooperative
Send arts news to welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca
