HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-05-18, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017. PAGE 19.
Entertainment & Leisure
Festival cast features new, familiar faces
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Ready for the new show
For many, the first glimpse of the newly renovated upper hall at Blyth Memorial Community
Hall will come this Friday, May 19 when a special open house is held. The hall has been
completely revamped from a new floor, to new seats to a new lighting grid for performances.
The stage has also been redone and will offer this year's incoming Blyth Festival actors a new
experience on the stage be they new to Blyth or familiar with the Festival. (Denny Scott photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The cast for this year's Blyth
Festival season is an important one
as it's a collection of people who
will help usher in a new era for
Memorial Hall and the Blyth
Festival.
As Artistic Director Gil Garratt
has said in past interviews, he hopes
the tone of the season's first show,
Mr. New Year's Eve: A Night With
Guy Lombardo, will be celebratory
and he has assembled a cast he hopes
can help make that happen.
Ron Kennell, a newcomer to
Blyth, will play Guy Lombardo.
Garratt says he first met Kennell in
Toronto in the mid-1990s when they
were both working their way around
the city acting in various
productions.
When the Lombardo role came up
in Blyth, Garratt said Kennell
immediately came to mind. Garratt
says Kennell is an extraordinary
actor and physically is destined to
bring Lombardo to life.
The show will follow Lombardo
from his humble beginnings in
London and Grand Bend to
becoming the go -to house band for
New Year's Eve in North America.
The challenge for Garratt in
casting this show was to not only
find excellent actors, but those who
are also capable musicians. The
actors will be performing a number
Singers to perform May 27
Continued from page 11
public appearances during 2014
while further honing Mike's tunes,
and preparing to record their first
album.
The Blyth Festival Singers will
also pay tribute to music from this
area that we call home—music both
near to Huron's shoreline and far
beyond. Artistic director and
conductor, Sharon Poelstra, has put
together a musical program that
features full choir and smaller
ensembles.
Seating for this event is limited so
reserve your seat soon. For a full
course meal and concert, tickets are
a bargain at $30 for adults and $15
for children ages six to 12. Call the
Blyth Festival box office at 519-
523-9300 or go online to their
events page www.blythfestival.com.
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Bluegrass Show & Open Stage
May 27th, 2017
Barn Dance Show & Dance
May 28th, 2017 - Gospel Show
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Tickets are also available from choir
members. After Monday, May 22
call 519-482-9265 or 519-482-9306
for availability.
The Blyth Festival Singers
are a community-based choral
organization under the umbrella of
the Blyth Centre for the Arts.
of Lombardo hits on stage as the
show weaves its way between telling
the man's story and presenting a
New Year's Eve concert to the
Memorial Hall audience.
Garratt, however, thinks he's
found capable jazz musicians who
can help bring this vision to life.
Birgitte Solem, J.D. Nicholsen,
Rebecca Auerbach and Jason
Chesworth are all returning Festival
actors who will perform in Mr. New
Year's Eve, while newcomers
Nathan Howe and James Thomson
round out the cast.
For The Berlin Blues, a comedy
about German developers aiming to
turn a Native reserve into a
culturally -inappropriate theme park,
regulars Tony Munch and Catherine
Fitch will be back in town to play the
German developers.
Nicole Joy Fraser, who was last in
Blyth acting in Kitchen Radio and
Stag and Doe just a few years ago,
will return for The Berlin Blues. She
will act alongside newcomers
Jonathan Fisher and James Dallas
Smith.
The season's third show, The
Pigeon King, will tell the story of
Arlan Galbraith, who defrauded
millions from farmers across
southwestern Ontario.
The show is a collective and is
being created by director Severn
Thompson and the actors involved.
Included in the list are Garratt,
Nicholsen, Auerbach, Chesworth,
Gemma James Smith and Solem.
In addition, George Meanwell has
been brought on to assist with the
music in the production. He will also
be in Blyth serving as the musical
director for Mr. New Year's Eve.
Ipperwash will tell the story of the
shooting of protestor Dudley George
and the land dispute at the heart of
the matter, which only just came to a
resolution last year.
Starring in Ipperwash will be Joy
Fraser, Fisher and Smith, all of
whom are set to perform in The
Berlin Blues.
The season begins with the
world premiere of Mr. New Year's
Eve on Friday, June 30. For
more information on this year's
season, or to buy tickets, visit
blythfestival.com.
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Blyth Memorial Community gall
1 rida�, May. 19, 2017
OPENING CEREMONIES - 4pm
OPEN HOUSE 4:15pm - 7pm
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Hosted -by fhe Renovation Committee, including: Blyth 14/19 Inc., Blyth Centre for the Arts, Legion
Ladies Auxiliary to Branch 420, Royal Canadian Legion - Branch 420, Township of North Huron
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