June 23, 2019. Western Head, Nova Scotia. The Astor Theatre.

The Astor Theatre in the heart of town is a wonderful resource to Liverpool. It has been in operation for well over 100 years and is at the back of the grand old former City Hall. It seats over 300 plus a balcony and is the oldest continuous opera house in the Maritimes. Last year we got new seats at the Astor. Our friend Larry who lives in the yellow house in town actually lives and works in Ottawa at the Cultural Center. They were renovating the place and he was able to pull strings to send their old chairs to the Astor, which was pretty nice. All year, the Astor brings in traveling entertainers. And they also show movies. Since I have arrived I have gone twice: first was a movie called Rocket Boy or maybe Rocket Man, the life of Elton John. I enjoyed the movie. This afternoon I attended The Caledonian Orchestra. They put on a good show and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The players are all from Nova Scotia and practice in Truro. They played lots and lots of pieces all arranged by the conductor. We started and ended With a bag piper marching up and down the building. In addition we saw several Scottish Country Dancers, from a group in Bridgewater. The young girls were charming and gracious and good. We also heard a Barber Shop ladies quartet from PEI. They also were excellent. Accompanied by a fiddle and a squeeze box, a couple had a marionette show. They were fun and funny. The girl on the fiddle was the youngest member of the orchestra and also is the top fiddle player in Nova Scotia. The concert was fast moving. The very Scottish MC kept the afternoon moving along. And we sang Scottish and Irish songs together: Roaming in the Gloaming, Loch Lomond and many more. I feel fortunate that the county of 5000 has a theatre we can all enjoy throughout the year. I intend to attend as many as possible as long as Gill does not mind taking me. Nice to have a good friend and a fine theatre.