Canadian children's entertainer and Juno award-winner Fred Penner will be in Coquitlam on Sunday for two shows: an afternoon family concert with Paul O'Neill and an evening all-ages performance with Emilie Mover, this year's Juno winner for Children's Album of the Year.
Last Friday, the Winnipeg father-of-four spoke with The Tri-City News from Toronto about what makes a good show.
Here's an except:
Tri-City News: How do you make each concert fresh?
Fred Penner: It really comes from the audience. The combination of people who are at a performance is always new. You'll never get exactly the same mix, or at the same time of day, or the same energy. So you are working with a brand-new palette every time. The audience will always expect certain things and certain songs, of which I never tire. The cat will always come back. That's the joy of live theatre: You are bringing something immediate to the stage.
TCN: How do you do that for children?
Penner: It has always been a much broader spectrum. It's the parents who bring the kids, or the grandparents. My performances are dialogues. I ask questions that can be easily be answered by an adult or a child. Often, I'll do something like identifying who we are and where we are - "What planet do we live on? What continent? What country? What is your name?" - we go through a breakdown like that so it's not just children's questions but it gives the entire audience a bit of a sense of identity.
TCN: So there is a shared experience.
Penner: I think in this day and age when technology has taken over so much of our entertainment value that getting together to come to a live performance is becoming more unique than it used to be. In the 1980s, we would go into a community and do three, four, five shows in a couple of days in 2,000-seat theatres. Everybody was really excited about coming to that. But the whole thing just sort of changed perspective; technology didn't do us any good service on that. Now, it seems to be coming back. People really want to be in an atmosphere with performers who enjoy being there and are engaging you in a dialogue.
TCN: Do you tailor each show to the community?
Penner: Occasionally, I'll make reference to local things. It brings a little moment of awareness of where I am. It's a recognition of this part of the world. And sometimes I'll write songs specifically for an area or an event.... It's always about making about connection.
TCN: What is your ideal crowd?
Penner: There's no location that's ideal because, as the phrase goes, "You're always as good as your last gig." There's no comparison to anything: Every show has its own energy, its own spirit, its own connectivity. And from an age point of view, I can be in an audience of seniors and be as vibrant and as connected as with a school of 1,000 children.
Tickets to Fred Penner's shows on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) are available by calling the box office at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
