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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 17 ,2 01 9 | 34 For families who love singing along to Beatles classics, a one-night-on- ly performance is mak- ing its way to the John Elliott Theatre in Georgetown. The international- Beatlemania Revisited tour will hit the John El- liott Theatre on Jan. 19 at 8 p.m., where spectators can expect to hear 30 au- dience favourites includ- ing I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Penny Lane, Help!, A Hard Day's Night, Yellow Subma- rine, Eleanor Rigby, Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band and Hey Jude. The storyline follows the Beatles throughout their career, beginning in 1964 with their appear- ance on The Ed Sullivan Show. "This is a family-ori- ented, audience-interac- tive performance that will have everybody sing- ing, dancing and clap- ping along," said Colum Henry, who plays John Lennon in the show. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at the theatre box office (9 Church St., Halton Hills), by phone at 905- 877-3700 or online at www.HaltonHills.ca/ Theatre. EVENTS The Beatlemania tour will be stopping at the John Elliott Theatre for a one-night-only performance. Bill Culp Productions/photo BEATLEMANIA HITS THE JOHN ELLIOTT THEATRE ON JAN. 19 SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA If you decide to sit in the front row at Jeff Leeson's standup show at the John Elliott Theatre and expect that you won't become part of the show, you're proba- bly the kind of person that sits in the first row at Ma- rineland and expects to stay dry. Guaranteed, Leeson will be talking to you at some point during the show. Leeson has another guarantee. Even if you come to his Friday, Jan. 18 show in Georgetown, you could come see him the next night in Woodstock and experience something completely different. "With each city, I try to make it a completely new show," he says of his Grandma Used to Heckle Me Comedy Tour. "It's very personal, so you know when you leave, that was your show." Leeson knew he wanted to be a standup comedian since he was in elementary school and if he had any doubts, they were washed away at his Grade 8 gradua- tion. Leeson was the valedictorian, and af- ter roasting his teach- ers and telling some jokes about the school as part of his speech, he got a standing ovation. "In that mo- ment, I thought, 'I want this feeling forever,'" he said. He spent the next 10 years working on his craft, learning to write and tell his jokes, working on his timing and deliv- ery. And he got pretty good at it. But he found he wasn't getting that same thrill. "I had been doing the same show for about a year and a half, and it worked fine, but it wasn't challeng- ing me," he said. "They were just rehearsed words that I knew would get a good reaction." So Leeson took a chance. One night in 2010, he walked up on stage with absolutely nothing pre- pared and just talked to au- dience members. He ad- mits that first night wasn't very good, but it reinvigo- rated him. So he kept work- ing on it, doing a hybrid show of prepared material and audience interaction. "The audience can feel it's a bit of tight- rope. They don't know where it's going," he said. "It's definitely a little more challenging. There's no autopilot. You can't go through the motions." But Leeson said if you're coming to his show, you need not fear sitting near the stage. He said the last thing he wants to do is make someone uncomfort- able to get laughs from the rest of the audience. "When I talk to them it is out of a genuine curiosity. I want to build them up, not tear them down," he said. "It's that 15 seconds of fame that people love. I love to do that for them. I want them laughing with me." Tickets are $25 in ad- vance at the John Elliott Theatre box office, 905-877- 3700, or online at halton- hills.ca/theatre, or $30 at the door. WHAT'S ON LEESON BRINGS UNIQUE BRAND OF STANDUP TO JOHN ELLIOTT THEATRE Courtesy of Jeff Leeson Stand-up comedian Jeff Leeson will be performing at the John Elliott Theatre Friday, Jan. 18. HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com 312 GUELPH ST., GEORGETOWN 905-877-2296 www.georgetowntoyota.com Sat Jan 19th, 2019 - 7:30pm Georgetown Raiders vs. Brantford 99ers Wed Jan 23rd, 2019 - 7:30pm Georgetown Raiders vs. Mississauga Chargers Games at Mold-Masters SportsPlex WED NIGHT SAT NIGHT