Even though we are well into our first summer holiday weekend of the season (well, okay, it is still spring, but for most this is the unofficial start of summer...), your humble scribe is already looking ahead to the coming week that includes two important arts-related events on the local calendar. We'll address both in this space this week.
First, Wednesday evening, May 25th, many of us with an interest in the local arts scene will want to be on hand at the Dunlop Drive Seniors Centre at 80 Dunlop Drive in St. Catharines for a presentation by the architects involved in the design of the new performing arts centre in downtown St. Catharines. The Open House runs from 6 to 7:30 pm, with a presentation of proposed designs by the project architect from Diamond & Schmitt Architects Inc., Gary McCluskie. The firm wants the public's opinions on three sketched layouts being proposed so they can get a better feel for what works and what doesn't within the community here.
The new performing arts centre will house an 800-seat concert hall, a 285-seat recital hall, a 180-seat film theatre and a 150-seat dance performance hall and community theatre space. That's the main performance spaces; also included will be a 1,000-square-foot multi-purpose room, central offices, as well as the lobby and front-of-house space and of course, backstage area including receiving and storage and dressing room area for performers. So essentially, a lot to pack into that downtown space. It has to be user-friendly, of course, so that is where we come in. We have a say in all this, and this Wednesday evening is the first opportunity to do just that.
We have a long way to go on this, but the wheels are turning and we are moving forward, so that is a good sign. Let's get out and show our support for the project this week and let them know we are on board and ready to go!
Also Wednesday evening, the Shaw Festival kicks off - officially - their 50th season. Previews have been ongoing since April, of course, but all the fine-tuning comes to an end on Wednesday and much like spring training gives way to the 'real' games of baseball at the beginning of April, this Wednesday is the start of the Shaw's 'regular season.' And what a season it promises to be!
In all, there are 11 productions on four stages this year, ranging from the flagship Festival Theatre to the smaller Court House Theatre, the Royal George Theatre, and the more recent Studio Theatre space just across from the Festival Theatre. The season ranges from looks back to their illustrious past to looking ahead to bold new horizons for the Shaw Festival.
One of the most-anticipated openings will be the musical version of Shaw's play Pygmalion, known of course as My Fair Lady. This Lerner & Loewe classic has never been performed at Shaw before, hard as that is to believe. But it makes a grand entrance at the Festival Theatre this season. Also at the Festival Theatre are Shaw's Heartbreak House and J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton.
On the Court House stage, Lennox Robinson's Drama at Inish - A Comedy will be one to watch. Also at the Court House will be Shaw's On The Rocks, and the first Shaw-produced musical from day one: Maria Severa, written by Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli of Shaw, and directed by Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell.
Over on the Royal George stage, a new mounting of their first-ever play 50 years ago, Shaw's Candida takes pride of place, as well as Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Molnar's hilarious one-act lunchtime show, The President, starring Lorne Kennedy. Anyone who saw this show a couple of seasons back will want to return to the mayhem again - it is an astounding performance by Kennedy and his cohorts!
Finally, at the Studio Theatre space, TopDog/UnderDog by Suzan-Lori Parks shares the space with Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling, which seems rather appropriate after this very wet spring we've been experiencing here in Niagara.
All in all, it promises to be an exciting season, and I am personally looking forward to returning for shows again this year; it will be my 30th year reviewing shows at Shaw, unbelievably! Once again this year, I will be providing reviews in this space throughout the summer, as well as ratings on the calendar page of my website (http://www.finemusic.ca/) and updates on my monthly newsletter, Fine Music News, which you can subscribe to by emailing your email address to me at music@vaxxine.com.
Other news from Shaw this week is the fact they are collaborating with Vintage Hotels of Niagara-on-the-Lake to secure property which overlooks Lake Ontario and the Niagara River now home to the Anchorage Motel and Restaurant. The Shaw has entered into an agreement to purchase this property within the next five years in order to use the site as an additional performance space. That is exciting news, although the loss of the Anchorage will not be good news to many, I suspect. Oh well, time marches on...more news on this as it develops.
Enjoy this week in the arts!
May 21st, 2011.
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