Been hit by a touch of “block” but this too shall pass as the actress said of her kidney stone. This post was meant to be finished and posted last Tuesday but a few things got in the way. Just a tad late but ….

First an explanation for the one or two younger readers of this blog who are puzzled by the sub-title: a drive-in is an outdoor movie theatre that you can visit without leaving your car. Perhaps your mother and father may vaguely remember them – they lost popularity in the last year’s of the 20th century. (The drive-ins not your mother and father!) And there is a chance the odd grand parents’ wedding day may have been motivated by a visit to a drive-in; but that’s another story.
They were very much a 50s phenomena and were popular with growing baby boom families. Cars were big, Gas was cheap, they were great for the whole family, and the perfect date night destination that certainly allowed more privacy than your parent’s rec room. However with the oil crisis in the 1970s gas became expensive, cars became smaller and less comfortable, a home VCR was more convenient, and, particularly here in Canada, business was seasonal and dependent of the weather. Attendance dropped and to make up for lost revenue, drive-ins began losing their family-friendly image by showing exploitation films as well as more adult content. And as communities grew the 15 acres occupied in the suburbs by a drive-in was just what developers wanted for their town houses and monster homes. So the drive-ins went the way of all flesh. Though not everywhere!

Where once there were over 600 drive-in theatres in Canada there are now 38 – one of which is here in PEI: the Brackley Drive-In. And it has been a busy place during the pandemic. As well as feature films the Brackley has hosted graduations, weddings, and concerts – mostly of the country/pop/folk variety. On Labour Day Monday night the place went classical – a first for Brackley, certainly for the PEI Symphony Orchestra and perhaps for any symphony orchestra in Canada if not the world.

The last time I was at a drive-in would have been Labour Day weekend in 1970 with Vicki, Charlie and a few others. It was one of those all-night (or at least until 1:00 am) multi-film horror shows and the main feature was Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn. I had seen the play on Broadway with Lee Remick a few years before so was prepared for the big scare. However there had been an electric storm brewing and Mom Nature had an added effect on hand. At the truly frightening climactic moment (no spoiler here) there was a bolt of lightening and a crack of thunder that had me screaming with everyone else in the car/drive-in.
Quel surprise!, I digress.
So a week this past Monday evening we piled into Cathleen’s SUV along with our friend Nora, bowls of popcorn, cans of pop, boxes of smarties, Kitkat bars, pillows, blankets and at least one of us in jammies*, and headed up to Brackley. It was a beautiful evening with a clear sky that became a blanket of stars (Jupiter has been particularly bright this summer) the perfect background for a mix of the classical and the pop.

Every year the PEISO presents one “Roots” concert where a Maritime “pop” singer or group joins us. The first half is normally of a classical nature while the second half features the artist with the Symphony as back-up band. This year’s concert has been in the works for almost two years – singer/songwriter Tara MacLean and the Symphony had commissioned the very talented Natalie Williams Calhoun to orchestrate Tara’s popular Atlantic Blue for symphony orchestra. However the plans for this season ground to a halt and there was general disappointment from all corners. Then someone came up with a brilliant idea: as EastLink had intended to film the concert for future broadcast why not go ahead with it and show it at the drive-in? It meant downsizing the orchestra to 22 socially-distanced musicians, no audience, changing the original classical pairing and some major personnel adjustments. Fortunately Magdalena von Eccher, one of Canada’s finest pianists, has recently moved to the Island and was available to perform two pieces – Star Burning Blue, a virtuosic solo piano piece by Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy , and as soloist in the lyrical largo from Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in F Minor. No surprise that her performances of both were brilliant. The first half ended with the perfect music for a star-lit Island night – Mozart’s Eine kleine nachtmusik. I might modestly add that the programme notes for the evening were written by yours truly.
In those programme notes I wrote of Tara MacLean’s Atlantic Blue :
She takes us on a journey into the past, telling a tale of how music arrived and thrived on the East Coast. And any journey into East Coast music had to include the music of Rita MacNeil.
Though I love this version I found that Natalie’s orchestration gave a new richness and depth to one of Rita’s best know songs. Hopefully one of these days we’ll get to the chance to see Atlantic Blue in Concert live and share Tara’s great love for the incredible people who make and made Maritime music.
*No it was not I – the world was spared the sight of me in my bedtime wear. However the jammies in question were very elegant and worn very elegantly by the lady in question.
The word for September 15th is:
Maritime /ˈmerəˌtīm/: [adjective]
1. Connected with the sea, especially in relation to seaborne trade or naval matters.
1.1 Living or found in or near the sea.
1.2 Bordering on the sea.
1.3 Moist and temperate owing to the influence of the sea.
Mid 16th century from Latin maritimus, from mare ‘sea’.