Tuesday, August 2, 2011

News and Notes around Niagara and beyond

Since I am enjoying a few days off this week and spending part of it catching some shows in Stratford, I thought I would take a break from the reviews of Shaw and Stratford this week and pass on some information about other events this summer I have received information on or have caught myself that are worthy of mention.

This past weekend, the annual Elora Festival in Elora, Ontario, finished a record-breaking season with 8 sellouts and total attendance breaking records for the July event.  We were up in Elora on the weekend, in fact, and the Gambrel barn was full to capacity Saturday evening for the Swingle Singers performance we attended.  Well worth it, too, as they sang everything you could imagine from Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, no less, as a closer.  They brought the house down with the latter piece, showing vocal dexterity that is simply jaw-dropping.  I have long admired the Swingle Singers, but this youthful group is miles apart from Ward Swingle's original group that gave us classy, jazzy, interpretations of Bach, Mozart, et al.  This group, including a Torontonian, in fact, is on their first Canadian tour and you can bet it won't be their last.

What was nice to see, in addition to the performance, was the fact the audience was very much into the music and responded enthusiastically to most everything on the programme.  The standing ovation at the end was genuine, and everyone had a great time.  Noel Edison and company are to be congratulated for not only this great performance on the weekend, but also a first-class festival that just keeps getting better every year.  If you have never visited Elora, do yourself a favour and keep it in mind next summer or even this fall when their winter season gets underway.

Closer to home, I attended the belated opening of Norm Foster's rollicking play Office Hours on Friday evening at the Port Mansion Dinner Theatre in Port Dalhousie.  Contrary to popular belief, the theatre is open until the fall with more shows to come, but the final production for Lakeside Players is Office Hours, which runs through to September 4th.  The opening was delayed a week due to an air-conditioning system that gave out the hottest week of the year, so all is now cool and comfortable for the remainder of the run.

Director Brian DiMartile refers to Foster as Canada's own Neil Simon, and that isn't far off the mark, really.  Foster is nothing if not prolific, producing so many clever plays that have become staples of summer theatre  thoughout the country for many years.  It is hard to imagine a summer theatre season without at least one Foster play being programmed somewhere.

Even though Norm Foster is prolific, he is also inventive and exceptionally clever, and Office Hours is no exception.  Six characters dominate six scenes over two acts, all happening about the same time on a Friday afternoon, and all converging in the final scene, bringing everything together.  It is a funny play, made all the more so by an accomplished cast of amateur actors who deserve credit where credit is due, so here's to Laurel Broczkowski, Krissy Neumann, John Dickout, Nick Tripe and Mike Ceci for a job well done.

For tickets and dinner/show information, go to www.lakeside-players.com.  Office Hours continues until September 4th.

Meanwhile, on the other coast of Niagara, the South Coast as it is called, Port Colborne's Showboat Festival Theatre at the Roselawn Centre opened their new show last Thursday, Back in '59, a 50s-60s Musical conceived by Thom Currie, Showboat's Artistic Director.  The show has been created entirely in Port Colborne, drawing on top 10 radio hits from 1959 to 1964, as four old friends reminisce about the good old days when they get together at their 10th high school reunion in the summer of 1973.  Lots of great music and choreography in the show, I'm told, and it promises to be one of the highlights of the summer in Port Colborne.  Tickets are available at the Roselawn box office by calling 905-834-0833.

Music Niagara continues at several locations throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake until August 13th, with a wealth of classical, jazz and crossover performances still to come before the festival wraps up with a gala closing concert on Saturday evening, August 13th at St. Mark's Church.  Coming up this week, for example, Quartetto Gelato returns this Thursday evening, followed by the Cecilia String Quartet on Friday and Canadian pianist Andre Laplante on Saturday evening.  All the remaining performances can be found on my website, www.finemusic.ca and going to the calendar page, or going to www.musicniagara.org.

Finally, a bit of an oddity, if you will, this week in Niagara with The Keith Richards One Woman Show Niagara Bar Tour, put on by Suitcase in Point Theatre of St. Catharines, and starring that Keith Richards female clone, Deanna Jones.  She really takes the part and makes it believable, and fun, too.  The one-person show is created by Jones and Cole Lewis, with a musical score by Kevin Richardson.  The tour kicks off at The Jordan House Wednesday night, moving on to The Angel Inn on Thursday, The Rex Hotel on Friday, the Victoria Inn on Saturday, and wrapping up in Port Colborne at Canalside on Sunday evening.  For more information, call 289-477-102.

Enjoy some summer theatre and music and have some fun this week!

August 1st, 2011.

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