A Big Time at the Wee Pub in Oshawa

Will McGuirk March 14, 2023

By Will McGuirk

It's the city’s best-kept secret, but ah, well, it’s out now. On the southeast corner of Wilson and Olive, 361 Wilson Road South, to be exact, is the small-of-foot, but big-of-heart, Wee Pub. It is a Britishy - Irishy style public house with a bar along one side of the L-shaped room and, round the corner at the back end, a small stage. Tellies are present for sports viewing but are on mute. There is a wee bit of piped-in music, but this bar, like the best Britishy - Irishy bars, is built for conversation.

Read more at the Oshawa Tourism blog here ->

What's on in the 'Shwa - March 6 to 12

Will McGuirk March 6, 2023

By Will McGuirk

The Twist or the Bearcat? It’s your choice, but there is a choice as downtown goes uptown with Cancon cat David Wilcox who gets it on at the Biltmore Theatre Thursday, March 9. Opening is the diamond Matt Holtby who brings some of his own uptown smoothness to the downtown. He is so chill he makes Jimmy Buffett look flustered.

The same night at the Regent Theatre is the incomparable Chubby Checker, a stalwart of rock ‘n roll iconography synonymous with the dance craze 45, the Twist. Born Ernest Evans, he is one of the OGs, whose legacy as Chubby is a 7-inch of pure joy. One song, one dance, destiny sealed; who else can say that?

What's on in the 'Shwa - February 27 to March 5

Will McGuirk February 28, 2023

By Will McGuirk

This weekend we are presented with an opportunity to go all in on local. On Sunday, March 5, at the Biltmore, you can wade deep into the Black Grass, the name given to a particular type of folk music that seems to favour this area; it's a greasy bluegrass type. It came to my attention via the weekly open mic hosted by the late Glen Bensley several years ago.

On your way to the Biltmore Theatre show, if you approach from Simcoe St., on the northside in front of Isabella’s Chocolate Café, you will see Bensley’s star on the Oshawa Walk of Fame (yes, we have one!). On the opposite sidewalk you will see one for June Eikhard, who passed away February 19, 2023. June was one of Canada’s preeminent fiddlers, known as the First Lady of the Fiddle and Country Music.

June moved from the Maritimes to Oshawa with her husband Cecil, son Brent and daughter, Shirley, both musicians in their own right, and both also have passed on; Shirley covered Christine McVie’s ‘Say You Love Me’ before McVie did, and wrote Bonnie Raitt’s big hit ‘Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About’.

Playwright Michaela Jeffery: A profile by Joe Szek

Will McGuirk February 28, 2023

By Joe Szek

Oshawa’s Durham Shoestring Performers (DSP) will perform Michaela Jeffery’s ‘WROL’ (without rule of law) on March 24, 25, 29, 30, 31 and April 1 at the Arts Resource Centre behind City Hall.

Recently I had the opportunity to share a Zoom chat with the Calgary-based playwright where she completed a more general drama undergraduate BFA degree. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (NTS). Her father is a retired Drama teacher so Michaela proudly states she has been thriving in drama for a lot of years beyond her formal training.

What's on in the 'Shwa - February 21 to 26

Will McGuirk February 21, 2023

By Will McGuirk

Take the DeLorean out this weekend if you are heading to the core. We are going forward to the past with some chart-busting Cancon icons and a couple of tribute acts. Downtown is hitting up all the pre-millennium years, when, with the 21st century breathing down our necks, we knew we were here for a short time, so have a good time, yeah?