Walking up to The Only Cafe in Peterborough, I stop by the blue wooden railings and wonder why we chose to meet here instead of one of the quieter spots in town. That thought is quickly interrupted by an outstretched hand waving me down. After grabbing a coffee, I take my seat across from the owner of that hand, Brian Macdonald. He comments how coffee was a good idea, not knowing they even offered it here while he takes a drink of his diet coke.
MacDonald has worked up the ranks in the city and has become a celebrity of sorts, even recently being inducted into Peterborough’s Pathway of Fame. The Pathways of Fame was created in 1998 and is located in Del Crary Park. Its goal is to celebrate the area’s abundant arts and culture contributors.
Try as he might, he hasn’t been able to escape the city. Something keeps drawing him back in.
“You walk down the street and start seeing people you know or family and friends. There’s a sense of community that’s already built into Peterborough. You don’t have that when you move to another city.” he says.
Both MacDonald’s parents are also from Peterborough. He tells me they have no musical abilities but still had him learn the piano at age five with his brother and two sisters. When asked what drew him to it and why he wanted to continue, MacDonald explained:
“It gave me a chance at that point to get attention where attention wasn’t always given in a large family. So I figured if you could play classical, you had their attention for about one minute and then they just start talking. If you can play songs they can sing, you realize you have a captive audience, right?”
Over our caffeine fixes, MacDonald explained that he went to elementary and high school here, but left the city to take microbiology at Western University in London, Ont. Then, he continued to take biological research at Seneca College in Toronto. After working in a lab for six months, MacDonald realized it wasn’t for him. Unlike his brother Jeff, a geneticist that loves cerebral work, MacDonald found it boring and quite solitary, being alone with his head down in a lab. As a social person, he needed a change and wanted to move back to Peterborough.
“I have two jobs now, and as I like to paraphrase it, joints and Jesus,” MacDonald laughs. “The first being with the church; I’m the music director at St. James Church. Now I also work with the Ontario Cannabis Store; I’m a regional director for them.”
MacDonald explains that working with the government just fell into his lap, but his real fulfilment comes from his work in music and theatre with the church. Having worked with Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian churches in different musical roles in the past, he jumped on the opportunity when he saw a position available at St. James for a musical director.
“I’ve had lots of experience with Saint James players. So I knew a lot of people who were in the choir. I knew the community within them. And so I saw it in the paper, and I thought it was one of those kinds of happenstance things, and I was like, ‘You know what? I need to make a change.’” MacDonald let me know at the time he was going through a ‘midlife review.’ He wouldn’t call it a crisis, but he was taking the time to stop and look at his life. Not being happy in Toronto with his 600-square foot apartment, knowing he could afford a house back in Peterborough, he called the church up and asked for an interview, or as he said, an audition.
MacDonald let me in on his nerves and anxieties when auditioning for the position. He would be taking over for Justin Hiscox, who was also inducted into the Pathway of Fame in 2016 and known in Kawartha for his musical endeavours.
“I thought, I just gotta bring myself to it. I’m gonna be different, as a vocalist more than an instrumentalist and work from what I know and not try to be like Justin,” he stated.
And that worked; MacDonald was called in for a second audition and has been running the choir ever since. His focus has been trying to make theatre in the community more accessible and inclusive.
“I remember being told, ‘Don’t audition with the theatre guild. You’re a St.James guy; they’ll never take you.’ I actually think a lot of my musical theatre experiences would be based on spite. They’re like ‘you can’t do that,’ and I say ‘watch me.’”
And watch MacDonald, they did. Within his time at St.James Church, they have become an affirming community, and he wanted to give back to the community as well.
“I thought the one thing I have is people say yes to me when I ask if they can help out. God knows why they do, but they do. So I thought I’d do a fundraiser! We’ll just get a piano out, and I’ll ask a bunch of people. I bet half will say no, and we’re good. The first one everyone said, yes.”
That fundraising event was called, which MacDonald assures me was not his choice, Brian’s Broadway: The Ego Has Landed. After great success, another event was put on, Brian’s Broadway II: The Ego Has Expanded. And finally, there is a third event coming up on Oct. 16, 2021, tastefully titled Brian’s Broadway III: Here Egos Again, A pun on the sequel of Mama Mia!
“We talked about where we want to go, and we want to add something each and every year to make it bigger and better. So this year, we’ve done some more group numbers, and we also have a band behind us which we haven’t had before,” MacDonald tells me excitedly.
That seems to be the message MacDonald has to say and live by. Keep being positive, say yes and figure out how later.
“I always surround myself with people that are better than me. If I look around the room and people aren’t better than me, I’m in the wrong room.”