Watermark Theatre’s Classic Music Reignited Series Announced

Watermark is pleased to announce the Classic Music Reignited programming for the 2018 summer season. Entering its 5th year, the series features Island musical artists interpreting classic composers. This summer’s theme is Songs Through the Decades. “This year we will focus our interpretations on various decades that produced some unique music and even created new genres of music. It was a lot of fun putting together this series as the music from these decades is so rich, it’s challenging to whittle it down to just a few songs”, says series curator Rob Oakie.
The three Sunday performances are:

July 22nd at 7:30PM –  Dance through the 70’s
Disco was created by combining R&B and rock that resulted in a funk based dance music that became an international phenomenon. Three of the biggest proponents and innovators of the style were the Bee Gees (everyone remembers Saturday Night Fever), Donna Summer, the queen of disco, and KC and The Sunshine Band. Unique arrangements of these artists will be performed by our headliner The Collective. This trio of musicians have been at the core of the jazz scene on PEI for close to 3 decades now. They are Deryl Gallant on bass (remember the Jive Kings), Alan Dowling on drums (also a Jive King alumnus and countless other bands and recordings) and Ian Toms on guitar (arguably the top jazz guitarist to come out of PEI). They will be supported by Jocelyn Reyome, an international student at the amazing Holland College School of Performing Arts from Massachusetts. Jocelyn is a multi-instrumentalist and a terrific singer. Our special guest for the evening will be Liam Corcoran (formerly lead singer of Two Hours Traffic). ·

August 5th at 7:30PM – 80’s British Pop
The 80’s produced some memorable (and forgettable) music, but Britain was leading the creative charge. David Bowie was a trailblazer and one of the first of the androgynous type stars. His music evolved from folk, to rock, pop and was even a crooner with a bounty of hits. The Eurythmics also identified with the androgynous movement and explored the new synth driven pop sound with songs like Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). Sade was definitely not androgynous and with jazz influenced hits like Smooth Operator oozed sensuality. Our interpreters for the evening will include headliner Rachel Beck (formerly of the Beck Sisters). Rachel’s recent album features the #1 CBC song Reckless Heart. Supporting Rachel is pianist and singer/songwriter Kim Dunn from Nova Scotia. An award-winning musician, producer, musical director and arranger, Kim has been fostering a successful musical career for over 30 years. Special guest for the evening is North Rustico’s own and brilliant guitarist, Nick Gauthier. Nick has toured across Canada and internationally and currently resides in Ottawa. ·

August 19th at 7:30PM – Zoot Suits and Speakeasies, Music of the 30s & 40s
Inspired by jazz roots from the early 1900’s, the music of the 30’s and 40’s combined show tunes, big band swing and pop music of the times and created many songs that are still popular today. Featuring the music of the likes of Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday and more, that era was a prolific time for American music. The Music PEI award winning Amanda Jackson Band is well known and loved by PEI music fans. They will be performing as a trio and will bring their own new and fresh arrangements to some time-tested standards. Supporting them will be the multi-talented Mark Haines who many will know through his shows with Patrick Ledwell. Mark’s career has spanned over 40 years and taken him around the world. The special guest for this show is the virtuoso ragtime piano player Max Keenlyside. Max has been a regular performer at the famous Scott Joplin Festival in Missouri since he was 16.

All tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 902-963-3963 or at the company’s website watermarktheatre.com

For more information or to interview Rob Oakie, please contact Andrea Surich at 902-963-3963 or generalmanager@watermarktheatre.com

Watermark is a proud member of the PTN – Professional Theatre Network of PEI