Last week, I paid my annual visit to the Courthouse Theatre in downtown St.Catharines for the season launches for eight Niagara arts companies that use the venue, known collectively as DAPA, the Downtown Alliance for the Performing Arts. Collectively, the organizations are presenting 26 different productions, special events and festivals in Niagara the coming season, with 15 of them at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre downtown.
Here's a brief overview of what was presented and what we can expect in the coming months:
Carousel Players: They've created three new plays for young children for their 40th anniversary season; in fact, there will be a 40th anniversary party everyone is invited to at Market Square on June 3rd.
Essential Collective Theatre: ECT produces contemporary Canadian playwrights, and in fact their newest production takes the stage starting September 30th, Trout Stanley by Claudia Dey. There will also be the 6th annual reading series featuring new works by Niagara playwrights, and even Shakespeare will make an appearance of sorts at the Courthouse Theatre on March 3rd with Raoul Bhaneja's Hamlet.
Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects: Artistic Director Kelly Daniels has decided this year to move the Young Company production of Our Town to the Courthouse for performances next April. There will be two additional plays in their subscription series, Educating Rita in November and Memoir in February.
neXt Company Theatre: NCT brings back the cult classic The Rocky Horror Show in February, and in the more immediate future, this weekend they present a documentary celebrating Niagara's migrant workers Sunday evening at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University.
Niagara Dance Company: Niagara Dance Company will expand their programming of contemporary dance works, workshops and mentorship opportunities for Niagara performers and choreographers this season.
Stray Theatre: They will be presenting Where's My Money by Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Patrick Shanley, the author of Moonstruck and Doubt.
Suitcase in Point: They will be presenting their 10th season with the return of the ever-popular In the Soil Festival in April, as well as offering four special cabaret events in downtown St. Catharines. There will also be a premiere of a new play about female daredevils at the Courthouse Theatre next February.
Theatre Beyond Words: The creators of the famous Potato People have been expanding their horizons in the past few seasons, and this season will be presenting two plays for families on both sides of the border at the Leary Theatre at Niagara University as well as at the Courthouse Theatre in downtown St. Catharines.
The groups that make up DAPA have shown in the past they can provide creative, thought-provoking professional theatre for downtown audiences for several years now, and I expect this season to be no different. I have often found the performances to be on a par with what you'll find in larger theatre cities if not better, and they are successfully filling the void for live performing arts in the city's core during the fall/winter/spring months. They depend on your patronage to a great extent, however, so I would suggest you give serious consideration to some of their offerings this season when you want a night out on the town. DAPA has a great deal to offer patrons of the arts throughout Niagara!
Most of the companies in DAPA have their own websites, but I will provide links to their sites on my website, at www.finemusic.ca this coming week. Just click on the Calendar page and you'll find complete listings for many groups throughout the Niagara Region and beyond.
Just before we wrap up, a couple of other arts-related notes to pass along as well. This coming Wednesday afternoon, the latest plans for the new Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines will be presented at the site of the new venue on St. Paul Street. I plan to attend and will be writing about it shortly afterwards, but you can attend yourself and get a first-hand look at what is to come for the much-anticipated St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre. Also, the Niagara Wine Festival kicked off last evening, with lots of events planned throughout this weekend and next at Montebello Park in downtown St. Catharines. This evening, in fact, I will be emceeing the musical acts onstage at Montebello Park, beginning with Canadian musician Mark Lalama at 6 pm and the Eagles tribute band, Hotel California at 8 pm. If you have some wild vicarious thrill to meet me for some reason, that's where I'll be this evening. If you come by, be sure to stop and say hello!
Enjoy the weekend!
September 17th, 2011.
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