Charlie Rhindress | |
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Born | Amherst, Nova Scotia | May 9, 1966
Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater | Mount Allison University |
Period | 1991 to present |
Genre | Actor, Writer, Director, Producer |
Notable works | The Maritime Way of Life (1997) Flying On Her Own (2000) I'm Not What I Seem (2016) Stompin' Tom: The Myth and the Man (2019) |
Charlie Rhindress (born May 9, 1966) is an actor, writer, director and producer living in his hometown of Amherst, Nova Scotia. He was educated at Mount Allison University and is a co-founder and former Artistic Director of Live Bait Theatre, based in Sackville, New Brunswick. [1] [2]
To date Rhindress has had eighteen of his plays produced, including The Maritime Way of Life, which was nominated for a Canadian Comedy award as best new play, and Flying On Her Own, based on the life of the late Canadian singer/songwriter, Rita MacNeil. The latter was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2008. Three of Rhindress's plays have been produced at Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia: Ivor Johnson's Neighbours (2009), The Maritime Way of Life (2012) and Making Contact (2013). [3] [4] Charlie has also written or co-written more than 30 dinner theatre scripts.
The Canadian Encyclopedia says that Rhindress's work "suggests that New Brunswick is fertile ground for popular comedy. Of particular note is Rhindress's The Maritime Way of Life (1999), a dark satire on traditional East Coast lifestyles and personalities. Despite its vicious sarcasm, extensive cross-dressing, and absurd humour, The Maritime Way of Life is very popular with Atlantic audiences." [5]
His first book, I'm Not What I Seem - The Many Stories of Rita MacNeil's Life, was published by Formac Publishing in 2016. It was a bestseller in the Maritimes and was short listed for the Best First Book Award from the Atlantic Books Awards. His second book, Stompin’ Tom Connors: The Myth and the Man, was released in September of 2019 and has also appeared on multiple bestseller lists.
Rhindress has acted in over fifty productions at theatres across Canada. His film and television credits include Red Rover, Trailer Park Boys, Haven, Mr. D, Chapelwaite, and Moonshine. He also starred in a very popular television commercial for Pro-Line which aired for over two years.
His directing credits include the premiere of Cathy Jones' one woman show, Me, Dad and the Hundred Boyfriends at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto and The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) at Neptune Theatre in Halifax, for which he received a Merritt award nomination as Best Director.
He is the former Associate Artist for Neptune and a former Artistic Producer of Eastern Front Theatre.
Much of Rhindress's career has been spent telling the stories of Canada's Maritime provinces and its people. In addition to his works about Rita MacNeil and Stompin' Tom Connors he has written about The Great Amherst Mystery and a famous murder case from Sackville, New Brunswick. He has adapted novels from Maritime writers Charles G.D. Roberts and Bruce Graham for the stage. He helped create Esther Fest, a celebration of Esther Cox and The Great Amherst Mystery in his hometown of Amherst, N.S. In Sackville, N.B. he helped establish the Sackville Arts Wall. He has also worked extensively with The Anne Murray Centre creating and presenting special events, including The Maritime Music Fest. In 2019 he created a musical tribute to Rita MacNeil, "I'm Not What I Seem," which has toured Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Rhindress has been awarded the New Brunswick Arts Award of Merit for contribution to the Cultural Life of NB, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre for his contributions to Atlantic Canadian Theatre, and an Established Artist Recognition Award from the Province of Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is a province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime provinces.
The Bay of Fundy is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The name is probably a corruption of the French word fendu, meaning 'split'.
Amherst is a town in northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, and 22 km (14 mi) south of the Northumberland Strait. The town sits on a height of land at the eastern boundary of the Isthmus of Chignecto and Tantramar Marshes, 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the interprovincial border with New Brunswick and 65 km (40 mi) southeast of the city of Moncton. It is 60 km (37 mi) southwest of the New Brunswick abutment of the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island at Cape Jourimain.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar.
Lance Gerard Woolaver is a Canadian author, poet, playwright, lyricist, and director. His best-known works include books, film and biographical plays about Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, including Maud Lewis The Heart on the Door, and Maud Lewis - World Without Shadows. His plays include one about international singer Portia White, who was born in Nova Scotia: Portia White - First You Dream.
In the province of Nova Scotia in Canada, Celtic music has played a significant role, both in its traditional forms and fused with other musical styles. Nova Scotia's folk music features traditional tunes brought over from the Scottish Highlands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as localized forms such as Cape Breton fiddle music. In recent years, a wide variety of other musical genres have emerged in Nova Scotia, which has produced several country music stars such as Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Anne Murray, and Rita MacNeil.
HMCS Sackville is a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later served as a civilian research vessel. She is now a museum ship located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the last surviving Flower-class corvette.
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America.
Rita MacNeil was a Canadian singer and songwriter from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year, although she had hits on the country and adult contemporary charts throughout her career. In the United Kingdom, MacNeil's song "Working Man" was a No. 11 hit in 1990.
Maritime Union is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – to form a single new province.
Donald Charles Frederick Messer was a Canadian musician, band leader, radio broadcaster, and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s. His CBC Television series Don Messer’s Jubilee (1959–69) featured Messer's down-east fiddle style and the "old-time" music of Don Messer and His Islanders, and was one of the most popular and enduring Canadian television programs of the 1960s. Messer was known as a shy fiddler, who preferred to have the other members of the band take the spotlight.
Hosting the region's largest urban population, Halifax, Nova Scotia is an important cultural centre in Atlantic Canada. Halifax is home to a vibrant arts and culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While provincial arts and culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in the region is increasingly being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects.
Live Bait Theatre is a theatre company based in Sackville, New Brunswick, in Canada. Established in 1988, writer Arthur Motyer was the founding chair.
The Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk is a public footpath located on the Halifax Harbour waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Joseph Marc Milner is a Canadian military and naval historian, author of several books including one novel. He is Director of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick.
The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the music industry in the Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music Awards festival.
LaPlanche Street is the historic connector between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada. Located on the Isthmus of Chignecto, LaPlanche crosses the Tantramar Marshes between Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB. Historically, it hosted the key forts of peninsular Nova Scotia and continental Acadia and witnessed the Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the key battle between the two colonies during the Seven Years' War, and the Battle of Fort Cumberland of the American Revolutionary War.
Ray Legere is a Canadian bluegrass fiddler, mandolinist, guitarist and band leader from Sackville, New Brunswick.
Leon Isaiah Dubinsky was a Canadian actor, theatre director and composer from Sydney, Nova Scotia. His career was mostly spent in Atlantic Canada, with film, theatre and music projects generally produced on Cape Breton Island. His biggest musical hit was Rise Again. He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the East Coast Music Association. He died at home on 17 January 2023.