Saturday, November 5, 2011

Theatre is alive and well in Niagara in November

Now that we're in November and the Shaw Festival has wrapped up for another year, you might think we're deficient in live theatre in Niagara at this time of year.  Nothing could be further from the truth, as many smaller, local theatre venues thrive in the winter months with some pretty inventive programming.  Take the next week for example:  we have two openings this weekend and one next weekend, all of which I will touch on today.

First up is Garden City Productions' fall show, Gypsy, the musical based on the life of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee.  The musical has been hugely popular for years now, with a wonderful production at Shaw not that many years ago, in fact, with Nora McLellan as a fabulous Mama Rose.  This new production is directed and choreographed by Di Nyland-Proctor, a local legend when it comes to staging musicals and dance-themed productions.  I have known Di and her husband Frank for about thirty years now, as they were two of the first people I got to know when I moved to St. Catharines in 1981.  Both Frank and Di did work for CKTB Radio back then; Frank as the popular morning man and Di hosted a short little feature each day on cooking, titled, if I remember correctly, Someone's In the Kitchen with Di-nah...ah yes, the memories are flooding back now.  Amazing what you remember as you get older, eh?

But I digress.  Gypsy is a sometimes gritty musical that can be a disaster if not handled properly, but Di knows what to do with it as she has been in productions of Gypsy herself in the past.  This new production with Garden City Productions features Laurel Broczkowski as Rose and Breton Lalama as Louise, among others.  I have a personal connection to this cast as well, as Laurel has been an acquaintance of mine for years now, and Chelsea Di Franco of St. Catharines plays the part of Elektra and lives just up the street from me.

GCP puts on some pretty ambitious shows, and this one promises to be no different.  Gypsy officially opens tonight and runs Thursday to Saturday evenings with a Sunday matinee through to November 20th at the Mandeville Theatre at Ridley College.  Tickets are available by calling 905-682-1353 or going online to www.gcp.tix.com.

Also opening tonight and one I will be attending, is the season opener for Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects in St.Catharines, celebrating their seventh season with the award-winning English comedy Educating Rita by Willy Russell.  The play was first commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered in June, 1980 at the RSC's Warehouse.  It went on to tour successfully more than once, and was eventually made into a successful movie as well.

Lyndesfarne specializes in small, intimate cast productions best suited to their space downtown at the Sullivan-Mahoney Courthouse Theatre.  There are only two people in the cast:  Ric Reid as Frank and Jenny L. Wright as Rita.  Both are Shaw Festival alumnus, and Ric is also married to Lyndesfarne's Artistic Director and director of this production, Kelly Daniels.

Educating Rita is a story about discovery - a woman's journey and transformation through her education, and a man's desire to live life again.  From what I saw in the preview rehearsal last week, we're in for a treat starting tonight.

Educating Rita opens tonight and runs through to November 18th, Wednesday through Saturday evenings, with a Sunday matinee.  Tickets are available through the box office by calling 905-938-1222, or online by going to www.lyndesfarnetheatreprojects.com.

Finally, next weekend the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University presents Tennessee Williams' American classic Orpheus Descending at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts at Brock.  It opens Thursday evening and runs through until Saturday only.  Directed by Virginia Reh and designed by Brock Dramatic Arts graduate Michael Greves, the play showcases the talents of students in the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock:  Trevor Ketcheson, Rebekka Gondosch, Cassandra Van Wyck, Robyn Cunnigham, Josh Davidson, Evan Mulrooney, Derek Ewert, Nadia Watts, Vanessa Ancevicius, Brad Deiter, James Lowe, Matt Viviano, Justine Benteau, Mallory Rivest, Lauren Beaton, Anna MacAlpine and Madison Rosca.  That's a good-sized cast, but as I have found in the past, the students at Brock rise to the challenge every time out and I have no doubt this time will be no different.

Orpheus Descending opened on Broadway in 1957 and was adapted for the screen two years later, starring Marlon Brando.  This particular production celebrates the 100th birthday of this great twentieth century American playwright whose works have been prominently featured in recent seasons at both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals.

Tickets are very reasonably priced and available through the Centre for the Arts box office at 905-688-5550, ext. 3257, or going online to box-office@brocku.ca.

Enjoy the theatre!

November 5th, 2011.

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