A retired History and Politics high school teacher (1978-2008). Former Publisher/Managing Editor of The Beat Magazine (2009-2014). Freelance Writer. Proud Grandfather.
Theatre Aezir’s latest production, Dating Games by Garth Wingfield, offers a sharp and entertaining look at the unpredictable world of dating and modern relationships. Produced by Elizabeth Durand and directed by five emerging talents, this vibrant and polished staging proves that collaboration and fresh perspective can deliver an invigorating night of theatre.
Running a brisk seventy-five minutes, the show is a dynamic blend of styles and tones that somehow interweave with ease. Each vignette stands on its own while contributing to a cohesive whole, a testament to the directors’ shared vision and the power of creative synergy.
Under the collective guidance of its five directors and their mentors, the production maintains a remarkable sense of unity. The vignettes shift from playful to poignant, all anchored by Wingfield’s clever, relatable writing. The minimalist set design serves the piece beautifully, enabling fluid transitions and keeping the spotlight firmly where it belongs – on the script and stellar performances.
(Photo Credit: Helen Wrack-Adams.)
And what performances they are.
James Callaghan, Chiedza Gondoza, Haley Gordon, Aidan Robertson, Billie Gould, Danika Goss, Matthew Lazaris-Brunner, Ryan Memarzadeh, and Mike Wisniowski form a stellar ensemble. Each actor brings charisma, honesty, and razor-sharp comedic timing to the stage. While the entire cast impresses, a few moments shine especially bright for their precision and emotional nuance.
One such standout is “Mary Just Broke Up With This Guy,” featuring top-notch performances from Haley Gordon and Aidan Robertson. Robertson, in particular, delivers a variety of characters with such wit and timing that you’ll wish this ‘playlet’ ran just a little longer.
Witty, tightly executed, and full of heart, Dating Games highlights Theatre Aezir’s flair for fresh, thoughtful programming and affirms the promise of London’s next generation of theatre-makers. It’s a smart, engaging production that reminds us, kind of like love itself, that live performance is always worth the risk.
(Photo Credit: Helen Wrack-Adams)
If You Go:
What:Dating Gamespresented by Theatre Aezir Where: First Baptist Church, 568 Richmond St, London, Ontario When: November 6-16th, 2025, Evenings at 8:00pm • Matinees at 4:00pm Tickets: $30, available Dating Games – Bad dates. Good theatre.
(Pictured: Joe Pickle and Mister the Dog. Photo Ian Jackson, Epic Photography.)
Puppetry seems to be a lost art. If you remember The Friendly Giant or Howdy Doody, we are about the same age. And, of course, Puppeteer Jim Henson created a cultural legacy with his Muppets, which still live on.
A marionette takes the skill of the puppet to the next level, creating the lifeblood of the character with deft movements of their hand and fingers on their stringed or wired figure. This form of theatre has been around since the Middle Ages.
Ronnie Burkett is an award-winning Canadian puppeteer, hailing from Medicine Hat. His career was inspired at the age of seven by the puppet scene of the Lonely Goatherd in the film The Sound of Music. Again, if you recall that, we are about the same age. Burkett’s puppetry work is not new to the Grand Theatre, as previous productions of The Daisy Theatre (2017) and Little Dickens (2023) were sold-out events.
He now brings the poignant Wonderful Joe to the Grand Theatre’s Auburn Stage with a glorious score and soundscape by John Alcorn
The story explores the all-too-common urban practices of “renoviction” and gentrification. It happens to the folks in a high-rise and is viewed through the eyes of Joe Pickle and his listless dog, Mister. Joe consoles his neighbours, who, like him, will soon hit the streets as well as those who work the street. He is an endearing soul, wrapped in a veneer of positivity, and seizes the opportunity to take us on a walkabout through the fictitious Eileen Avenue.
(Pictured: Ronnie Burkette and the marionette leaning rail as playboard. Photo – Ian Jackson, Epic Photography.)
Joe foresees his beloved block, the home of various drag queens and sex workers, becoming “white and boring and clean and neutral.” He sees the beauty in this derelict neighbourhood and the goodness and worth of its inhabitants.
The denizens of Eileen Avenue all have a story to tell, told in a wickedly paced repartee. There is pathos as well as humour as we are witnesses to the local residents attempting to find identity and acceptance. It is all too real and very touching, and quite easy to relate to the struggle of Burkett’s characters.
Burkett conjures up bizarre yet hilarious meetings of Jesus, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy in a gay bar, all struggling with who they are and what is expected of them.
(Pictured: Sonny, Joe, and Mister. Photo – Ian Jackson, Epic Photography.)
We end with Joe on a bench in a parkette, consoling a young, troubled schoolgirl. It is here that Joe reveals his own tragic youth, his creative ways of coping, and his dreams.
Ronnie Burkett’s dark production is honest, gritty, and convincing to the point where one often loses track of the man on the stage pulling all the strings.
Wonderful Joe is both heartfelt and heart-wrenching in defining the ability to cope in current times and transcend beyond your past.
Credits:
John Alcorn – Music Production, Arrangements, Vocals, Keyboards, and Digital Programming
Kevin Humphrey – Lighting Design
Terri Gillis – Production Manager/Artistic Associate
Crystal Salverda – Stage Manager/Technical Director
John Lambert – Associate Producer
Ronnie Burkett – Marionette and Costume Design
Kim Crossley – Costumes
Puppet Studio – Alexander Mantia, Aidan Sparks, Angela Talbot, Dina Meschkuleit, with Martin Herbert, Andy Hayward, Shanna Miller, Justin Mezzapelli, and Brigitte Sampogna
Mixing and mastering – Jeff Wolpert, Desert Fish Studios
If You Go:
What: Ronnie Burkette’s Wonderful Joe
When: November 4 to November 23
Where: Auburn Stage at the Grand Theatre. 471 Richmond Street, London, Ontario
Tickets: Single tickets are $48, and Auburn Series Subscriptions offer a 25% discount ($71.44 for both Wonderful Joe and Mrs Krishnan’s Party). Tickets and subscriptions are available at grandtheatre.com, by phone at 519.672.8800, or at the Box Office, 471 Richmond Street.
Compiled by Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025
YOU WANT LIVE THEATRE? WE’VE GOT LIVE THEATRE!
Colleening: The Letters and Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau is on stage this weekend, November 7-9. Friday is almost sold out; best availability Saturday or Sunday!
Featuring Katy Clark, Paul Grambo, and Kydra Ryan!
The Manor Park Memorial Hall, 11 Briscoe Street W, London, Ontario
Dating Games features five short plays, each showcasing a comically terrible first date that goes off the rails. Written by Garth Wingfield, the show’s real focus lies not in the dates themselves, but in the emerging theatre talent directing the plays. This production serves as a groundbreaking training initiative, providing mentorship and performance opportunities for up-and-coming directors.
“Dating Games is a truly special production. It is more than just a show; it’s a project that combines mentorship, training, and performance, contributing to the entire theatrical community,” says Elizabeth Durand, Theatre Aezir’s Artistic Director.
If You Go:
What: Theatre Aezir presents Dating Games.
When: November 6th to November 16th
Where: First Baptist Church, 568 Richmond St., London, ON
Award-winning, world-renowned, and infamously cheeky, Ronnie Burkett is back at the Grand Theatre with his unmatched mischievous, rollicking irreverence. Burkett’s latest work, Wonderful Joe, unleashes his sharp, unrelenting wit on the cities we call home, the people we overlook, and the four-legged friends walking beside them. And he’s bringing Mother Nature, Santa Claus, Jesus, and the Tooth Fairy along for the ride. Wonderful Joe, created and performed by Ronnie Burkett, opens the Grand Theatre’s Auburn Stage for the 2025/26 Season. Already extended due to popular demand, the production will run from Tuesday, November 4, through Sunday, November 23.
Single tickets are $48, and Auburn Series Subscriptions offer a 25% discount ($71.44 for both Wonderful Joe and Mrs Krishnan’s Party). Tickets and subscriptions are available at grandtheatre.com, by phone at 519.672.8800, or at the Box Office, 471 Richmond Street.
To learn more about Wonderful Joe by Ronnie Burkett at the Grand Theatre, please visit grandtheatre.com/event/wonderful-joe. Follow the production and peek behind the scenes by following @thegrandlondon and #GrandJoe on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, & TikTok.
ART EXHIBITIONS IN THE LONDON AREA
Lisa Johnson’s incredible solo exhibition, Full Circle, will be on display until November 29th at Westland Gallery
Join us for ‘We Remember Them,’ a special concert honouring our Veterans, on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Colborne Street United Church. The program will feature Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, presented by Chorus London with organist Laurence Williams.
Tickets are going fast! Each ticket costs $25, and children under 13 are admitted free of charge. You can buy tickets by calling the church office at 519-432-4552, at the door on the day of the event, or online. For more details or to purchase tickets, please visit https://www.colborne711.org/event-list
SEE SPOT RUN & ORANGEMAN
Eastside Bar & Grill 9pm Start. Tickets $20 available at Eventbrite.ca
Murphy’s 50th Birthday
Friday, November 7th at the Palasad Socialbowl.
Warning: The Palace Theatre may not recover from the combined power of Vanity Affair and Maple Queef.
Expect high heels, higher drama, and a dangerously low amount of chill.
Friday. 7PM at the Palace Theatre, Be there, ponies.
Scottish singer-songwriter & acoustic fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Simon Kempston from Edinburgh is currently on his 10th tour of Canada. He has never played in London, Ontario before.
SPECIAL Buy One – Get One Offer for this Sunday’s concert.
Here is how the BOGO offer works. If you have already bought a ticket, you can bring someone along on the same ticket. If you buy a ticket from one of the outlets or online, you can bring an additional person along on the same ticket.
Come on out and hear this wonderful artist at the Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club (London, Ontario) this Sunday, Nov. 9 at Chaucer’s Pub, 122 Carling Street. Advance tickets are at Grooves Records (Wortley location), Long & McQuade (725 Fanshawe Park Rd W), and online.
The incredible Billy Raffoul, award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter & producer, returns to Forest City on November 7th in Rum Runners, with special guest Peter Raffoul.
Guitar, saxophone, huge songwriting, and a voice that won him a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer, Ian Sherwood Brings The Light to every stage he stands on. A born storyteller and a constant creator, his music dances the line between folk and pop.
Sunday, November 9th, 7:00pm, at The Aeolian Hall.
You can find tickets for this event on Humanitix.
The Hot Tub Hippies return to the Wortley Roadhouse this weekend to rock the dance floor! Shows start at 9pm.
Since the late 1950s, artists in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, have produced unique and beautiful drawings, prints, and sculptures. Prints are produced in editions of 50, and sets are distributed to select galleries in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Europe. Galleries receive one copy of each print. London is lucky to be part of this.
For over a decade, Strand Fine Art Services has been one of the select galleries for the much-anticipated Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection.
The 2025 collection is as fresh and exciting as ever. The brightly coloured and highly imaginative pieces embrace traditional and contemporary imagery. Co-owner Andrew Symth agrees, saying, “There’s a newness to it.”
The show opened with over 30 prints. While many have sold and gone to their forever homes, there is still plenty to see and treasures to behold. All of the pieces are simply displayed sans frames using tiny magnets. My three favourites follow.
(Ningiukulu Teevee, “Kamikutaalik (One with Long Boots)”, Lithograph, 35.6 by 28.3 cm. Photo by Beth Stewart.)
Ningiukulu Teevee’s whimsical lithograph “Kamikutaalik (One with Long Boots)” features a raven sporting green waders. The bird marches with confidence and purpose across the page to an unknown destination.
“Puijut (Popping Up)”, Qavavau Manumie’s etching and aquatint glows. At first glance, I thought it was a wall of trophy heads, but the title reveals otherwise, and makes me look at it with new eyes. I love the artist’s use of complementary colours and the way the subtle gradations create the illusion of dimension for what would otherwise be a simple design.
(Qavavau Manumie, “Puijut (Popping Up)”, etching and aquatint, 71.8 by 53 cm. Photo by Beth Stewart.)
Shuvinai Ashoona’s exuberant etching and aquatint “Klaviqtag (Jumping High)” documents a simple pleasure in a setting that appears to be strewn with the detritus of mass-produced foodstuffs. Is the scene itself a garbage dump, or has refuse encroached upon a once pristine space?
(Shuvinai Ashoona, “Klaviqtag (Jumping High)”, etching and aquatint, 107.5 by 74.2 cm. Photo by Beth Stewart.)
According to Dorset Fine Arts, creativity at the Kinngait Studios is channelled into images that represent the Inuit way of life. They call the highly imaginative results isumanivi, which means “your own thoughts.” The pieces certainly make one think and subjectively interpret each piece.
In addition to prints, Strand has a beautiful collection of sculpture. For instant gratification with the potential to brighten all of next year, purchase one of the Dorset-produced Inuit Art 2026 calendars.
Strand Fine Art Services is located at 1161 Florence Street, Unit #4. For more information, visit www.strandfineartservices.com.
It’s the night before opening night. We call that a Dress Rehearsal. When I left the theatre on Wednesday night, the chairs were not set up, cables were all over the place, we were still waiting for a wardrobe delivery, and I had to stop by the LCBO to get a replacement prop.
But you know by tomorrow night at 7:55pm, everything will be in place, lines will be learned, and the directors can finally breathe. Every time I do this, I ask myself, ‘Why do I do this to myself?’ And the next time I forget what it was like, I just do it again.
Dating Tip: Skip the small talk, go to the theatre. Theatre Aezir presents Dating Games by Garth Wingfield — laughter, romance, and everything in between. Come with a date, come with friends, or come alone and make new ones in the lobby line. Either way, you’ll fall in love with the show.
Dating Games features five short plays, each showcasing a comically terrible first date that goes off the rails. Written by Garth Wingfield, the show’s real focus lies not in the dates themselves, but in the emerging theatre talent directing the plays. This production serves as a groundbreaking training initiative, providing mentorship and performance opportunities for up-and-coming directors.
“Dating Games is a truly special production. It is more than just a show; it’s a project that combines mentorship, training, and performance, contributing to the entire theatrical community,” says Elizabeth Durand, Theatre Aezir’s Artistic Director.
“We are so proud of our Emerging Directors. Our mentors are guiding them, but they hit the road running on all four cylinders. Each of them has a distinct style, but is no less effective. We are sure that after this experience, there will be five new directors ready for their next assignment,” adds Durand.
The 2026 Summer Season at Port Stanley Festival Theatre premieres May 27th, and it’s sure to be a summer of standing ovations.
The season kicks off with Inner Elder, written and performed by award-winning Cree artist Michelle Thrush. Real-life memories told with laughter and grace, join Michelle on her poignant journey; it promises to fill your heart and put a smile on your face.
Get your groove on with Get Down Tonight: The Ultimate 70’s Soundtrack starring Leisa Way and the Wayward Wind Band. From ABBA to Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell to James Taylor, The Rolling Stones to The Bee Gees: the hits just keep on coming! Press rewind and relive the good times.
Opening on June 10th is the classic Norm Foster The Long Weekend. It’s titillating, it’s sassy, and it’s got a couple of plot twists that you will never see coming. Will these two couples survive a weekend full of grudges, hanky-panky, secrets, and lies?
One starry night 12 years ago, Jesse and Hannah met, and it was magical. Now they have a second chance at love. Sugar Road by Kristen Da Silva is a sweet, romantic comedy set in a rundown amusement park full of laughter, colourful characters, and a couple of catchy tunes.
Deadly Memories, a World Premiere comedy/thriller by Steven Gallagher, will leave you guessing and gasping for August. Cassandra can’t remember anything after her terrifying car crash and doesn’t know who to trust. Is it all in her mind? Is someone out for revenge? Who’ll get the last laugh?
Ship To Shore, Norm Foster’s hilarious new comedy, has its World Premiere on our stage starting August 19th. Is it love at first sight or mutual irritation for Erin and James, both bound on a cruise to Ireland? As they say, “What happens at sea, stays at sea!”
Musical Mondays on our Pat and Ali Shakir Harbour View Patio, Talk Back Tuesdays, The Simon Joynes Playwrights’ Festival, and ASL interpreted shows are all back for the summer of 2026.
Don’t miss your chance to save on PSFT’s Early Bird Subscriptions, a savings of over $50.00, and a chance to win two season subscriptions if you purchase by January 15, 2026. Gift certificates are also available; they’re a great holiday gift!
Every seat tells a story at Port Stanley Festival. Visit www.psft.ca for more information and check out all of its shows!
True to traditions of Classic Country, Bluegrass, and Folk, Allison Brown and Mike Houston’s duet performances reveal their authenticity and versatility as two of Southern Ontario’s most enduring roots musicians. Allison’s signature fingerstyle acoustic rhythm guitar accompanies her tuneful, powerful singing, blending seamless harmony with Mike’s timeless country vocals.
(Pictured: Allison Brown and Mike Houston)
Mike showcases his stringed instrument expertise by exchanging fiddle for mandolin and flat-picked guitar (played left-handed and ‘upside down’). Together, their vast collection of roots repertoire stretches from prohibition-era jazz to early Bluegrass, mid-century Country & Western, to obscure contemporary Americana songwriters. From the Carters, Cash and Cline, Monroe and the Stanleys, to Hank and Merle, Mike and Allison’s lonesome sounds of love gone right and wrong, smokey taverns, rhinestoned cities of sin, and reverent bluegrass gospel, bring tales from the wilder side of life to the stage.
Dan Henshall is one of London’s most versatile musicians and has accompanied Allison on many musical adventures.
(Pictured: Dan Henshall)
New on the Ontario Bluegrass scene, The Guichelaar Brothers are rooted in Canadian soil from their home in Seaforth.
(Pictured: The Guichelaar Brothers.)
If You Go:
An All-Star Night of Bluegrass, Classic Country, Fiddle, Folk, and More!
Featuring Allison Brown, Mike Houston, Dan Henshall, and The Guichelaar Brothers
9:00pm (Cover begins at 8:30pm), $10.00 Cash Only at the door or in advance on Eventbrite
Award-winning, world-renowned, and infamously cheeky, Ronnie Burkett is back at the Grand Theatre with his unmatched mischievous, rollicking irreverence. Burkett’s latest work, Wonderful Joe, unleashes his sharp, unrelenting wit on the cities we call home, the people we overlook, and the four-legged friends walking beside them. And he’s bringing Mother Nature, Santa Claus, Jesus, and the Tooth Fairy along for the ride. Wonderful Joe, created and performed by Ronnie Burkett, opens the Grand Theatre’s Auburn Stage for the 2025/26 Season. Already extended due to popular demand, the production will run from Tuesday, November 4, through Sunday, November 23.
(Pictured: The marionette leaning rail as playboard. Photo: Ian Jackson)
Siminovitch Prize winner Ronnie Burkett brings the story of Joe Pickle (and Mister the Dog) to life with his signature style of beautiful puppetry and solo performance, with a glorious score and soundscape by John Alcorn. The Globe and Mail’s Best Theatre of 2024 wrote, “If I had to pick only one favourite piece of theatre from this year, Wonderful Joe was it.” Known to Londoners for his sold-out runs of The Daisy Theatre (2017) and Little Dickens (2023), Burkett returns with a poignant yet audacious story brought to life by his string marionettes.
“Ronnie’s unique insight into the world, as a marionettist from Medicine Hat, Alberta, turned into an internationally-recognized star, is unparalleled,” shares Rachel Peake, Grand Theatre Artistic Director. “The way he sees the world with humanity, heart, and the most daring humour is a point of view I am always hungry to live in, if only for the length of a play.”
Wonderful Joe is created and performed by Ronnie Burkett with Music Production, Arrangements, Vocals, Keyboards, and Digital Programming by John Alcorn, Lighting Design by Kevin Humphrey, Marionette and Costume Design by Ronnie Burkett, Featured Vocals by Coco Love Alcorn, and Mixing and Mastering by Jeff Wolpert, Desert Fish Studios. Wonderful Joe by Ronnie Burkett plays on the Auburn Stage at the Grand Theatre from November 4 to November 23.
Single tickets are $48, and Auburn Series Subscriptions offer a 25% discount ($71.44 for both Wonderful Joe and Mrs Krishnan’s Party). Tickets and subscriptions are available at grandtheatre.com, by phone at 519.672.8800, or at the Box Office, 471 Richmond Street.
To learn more about Wonderful Joe by Ronnie Burkett at the Grand Theatre, please visit grandtheatre.com/event/wonderful-joe. Follow the production and peek behmind the scenes by following @thegrandlondon and #GrandJoe on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, & TikTok.
The history of Lucan’s notorious Donnelly family still resonates 145 years after the deadly event of 1880. Two plays, James Reaney’s The Donnelly Trilogy and Peter Colley’s The Donnellys,were inlocal productions in the last two years. In 2005, the late filmmaker, author, and playwright Christopher Doty developed a dramatized recreation of the Donnelly trial performed at the Middlesex County building, the same courtroom where the trial of the offenders took place. Noted authors Orlo Miller, Ray Fazakas, and Nate Hendley all wrote books on the subject, which remain trusted volumes on the story of this family. In 2021, author John Little published a two-volume book on the tragedy.
But there are still ghost stories of the Donnellys in the ether. Playwright and Artistic Director of AlvegoRoot Theater, Adam Corrigan Horowitz, has added a new branch to the long-standing Donnelly family tree. Drawing from James Reaney’s ‘Sleigh Without Bells’, a short story taken from his 1996 volume, ‘The Box Social And Other Stories’, with director Kydra Ryan, Corrigan Horowitz has created a one-man play; one which views the Donnellys in a new light — Sleigh Without Bells A Donnellys Story.
(Pictured: Adam Corrigan Holowitz as Ephraim Fulmmerfelt. Photo Credit – J Bruce Parker)
The 70-minute production focuses on a young German boy, Ephraim Fulmmerfelt, travelling from Perth County in a horse and buggy to Southold Township, finding his way to the town of Lucan during a snowstorm. It is here he becomes face-to-face with James and Johanna Donnelly. He is a witness to the hatred, suspicion, and prosecution by both the church and the community towards the couple and their family. Being an outsider, Ephraim’s response is unbiased towards the family that has provided both friendship and lodging. There is something in the kindness and charm of James and Johanna extended to the young man, where Ephraim eventually exclaims that he has “fallen in love with the Donnellys”. We see the targeted family in a new light, from a young stranger who trusts their innocence to the point of offering to pay a wrongfully incurred fine thrust upon his hosts.
(Pictured: Adam Corrigan Holowitz as Ephraim Fulmmerfelt. Photo Credit – J Bruce Parker)
The story turns when Ephraim, after surviving a fall into a river, becomes haunted by the souls of James and Johanna in the afterlife. It is eventually revealed that young Ephraim’s subconscious created the event while falling asleep near the ruins of the Donnelly home long after the massacre of the family. The ghosts of the Donnellys arise again.
Alone onstage, Corrigan Horowitz carries the story both confidently and convincingly. Being a Donnelly story, we become concerned about Ephraim’s naivety and choice of spending time with those accused of such appalling crimes.
The set is sparse, containing a single riser, with a backdrop depicting the cold and frigid sky. Stage props in the form of black painted arms erupt out of the floor. Initially, the arms work practically, guiding the reins on Ephraim’s coach as well as holding other props, but there is a point when one can sense the undead reaching beyond the grave.
Is the Donnelly story still relevant?
Corrigan Horowitz tells me. “It displays Ephraim diving into the Donnelly story, as he found out who they were and how he fell in love with them. I see this story as a companion to Reaney’s The Donnelly Trilogy. The fact that Ephraim exclaims, “I am in love with the Donnellys,” suggests the autobiographical voice of Jamie Reaney and his deep interest and research into the subject.
He adds, “I think it is fairly rare to see a case of scapegoating to get this extreme in the present day. It speaks of old-world grudges coming from Ireland. Even up into the 1990s, Lucan was not comfortable talking about the Donnellys. The idea of the murderers walking free remains unsettling.”
Sleigh Without Bells ran from October 22nd to 26th to near capacity audiences at Manor Park Theatre and was presented at a most appropriate time of year.
AlvegoRoot Theatre is neatly tucked inside Manor Park Memorial Hall at 11 Briscoe St, and prides itself on Telling Local Stories, Creating Local Theatre
Compiled by Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025
YOU WANT LIVE THEATRE? WE’VE GOT LIVE THEATRE!
If you are craving some live local theatre, here are three options.
The hilarious The Play That Goes Wrong continues at the Grand Theatre until November 2, while Infuse Productions’ The Rocky Horror Show continues at the Palace Theatre until November 2.
(Pictured: The Cast of The Rocky Horror Show. Photo Credit: Ross Davidson)
St. Marys Community Players’ production of Norm Foster’s Hilda’s Yard continues until November 2.
ART EXHIBITIONS IN THE LONDON AREA
Join Lisa Johnson at the Opening Reception of Full Circle, her incredible solo exhibition at Westland Gallery
Full Circle will be on display from October 28th to November 29th. All are welcome at the Opening Reception on Saturday, November 1st, from 1pm to 3pm, at the gallery.
Enter a world where mystery reigns and music stirs the soul. This Halloween, immerse yourself in a cinematic experience for a one-of-a-kind viewing of the silent-era thriller, The Hands of Orlac.
This thrilling story of madness, mystery, and romance, with flavours of the Grand Guignol, is now reawakened by a powerful cast of over 50 live musicians, singers, and soloists set to capture your senses.
Presented in the grand, gothic beauty of Metropolitan United Church—transformed for one unforgettable night—this event offers a rare chance to witness a masterpiece of psychological drama in a setting as dramatic as the film itself. Glowing jack-o’-lanterns, evocative lighting, and shadow-draped architecture set the stage for a journey into obsession, identity, and the unknown.
Some good things come to an end … Join us for a wicked Halloween Bash and say goodbye to Smile-N-Wave, Friday, October 31.
80’s New Wave all night – Costume Contests – licensed – all ages
$10 Advance $15 Door
Come join us for a spooktacular night of live music and entertainment at Eastside Bar & Grill in London, Ontario. Get ready to rock out to your favorite tunes from G&R and AC/DC! AXL/DC is going to help us celebrate Halloween in style. Costumes are highly encouraged, so put on your best outfit and maybe win some prizes!. Don’t miss out on this epic event! Tickets $20.00 available at the bar & Eventbrite.ca
Get Spooky at the biggest Halloween party in the city at the London Music Hall, featuring Grammy award-winning artist CASSIAN.
Join us for lots of fun at the Dawghouse this weekend!
Kicking things off, we have Electric Popsicle bringing the Halloween fun tonight, so put on your costume and dancing shoes, and get here early! No cover.
Saturday night, Gravity Wagon is back to rock the ´House.
Bands start at 9 pm.
After trick-or-treating, join us for Night of the Living Brass. Consider this your invitation to Brassroots’ big Halloween party/concert. There will be spooky and fantastical music ranging from classical to novelty tunes…and a certain Phantom may even appear at the organ!
A fundraiser supporting El Sistema Aeolian Children’s Music program and the charitable work of the Rotary Club of London Hyde Park. Saturday, November 1st, 2025. Main Floor Seating: $125 per person (tables of 4 & tables of 8); includes 2 cocktails & charcuterie. Balcony Seating: $60 per person; concert & amp; dancing only.
We’ve had an un-BOO-lievable season sharing the glow with all of you! Just two magical nights left – tonight and tomorrow before the lights go out until next year.
If you haven’t strolled through the pumpkins yet, this is your last chance to catch the magic before it disappears!
