HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-07-16, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015. PAGE 19.
‘Fury’ to premiere at Festival on July 31
The Blyth Festival continues its
41st season with the world premiere
of a new musical, Fury written by
Peter Smith with music by Samuel
Sholdice. Directed by Micheline
Chevrier, Fury plays at Blyth
Memorial Hall from July 29 to Sept.
12.
The Great Storm of 1913 remains
the deadliest and most destructive
natural disaster ever to hit the Great
Lakes. More than 250 lives were
lost, 12 ships went down, and more
than 20 ships were driven ashore. Of
the 12 ships that sank, four have
never been found. The Wexford was
discovered nine miles off St. Joseph
on August 25, 2000, in 25 feet of
water. At the height of the storm it is
believed she struck bottom at
Black’s Point and in the collision
lost her propeller and rudder.
Drifting helplessly, she finally came
to rest at her current location.
Set against the fury of the Great
Storm, Judge Cassidy of Goderich
has pledged to care for his niece
Margaret. In an effort to secure her
future, he arranges for her to marry
an upwardly mobile young lawyer
from Toronto. At a debutante ball,
where the engagement is to be
announced, the wistful Margaret
meets another young man, only he’s
from the town of Carlow: the
infamous, Michael Grey, a notorious
bootlegger and bare-knuckle boxer,
with a reputation for trouble-
making. Michael also happens to be
a gifted singer, with a voice as clear
and colourful as a Huron sunset.
What follows is a story of forbidden
love, perseverance and passion in the
eye of the great storm of 1913.
Playwright Peter Smith (book and
lyrics) has been a dramaturge, story
editor, theatre director, actor,
screenwriter and playwright for the
past 30 years and has worked coast
to coast to coast. As the Artistic
Director of Playwrights’ Workshop
Montreal, the Blyth Festival on two
different occasions, and as Associate
Artistic Director of the Canadian
Stage Company, he has been
involved in the development and
production of many different stories
in a variety of venues. He is
presently the Project Director for the
14/19 Blyth Arts and Culture
Initiative.
Clinton native, Samuel Sholdice
(composer) is a composer, musical
director, sound designer, and
musician. Some of his recent credits
include Founding Father at the
Charlottetown Festival, Accidental
Death of an Anarchist for Toronto’s
Soulpepper Theatre Company, The
Boy in the Moon at Ottawa’s Great
Canadian Theatre Company, and As
You Like It and Titus Andronicus at
Canadian Stage’s Shakespeare in
High Park; as well as Beyond the
Farm Show, Yorkville: The Musical,
and Falling: A Wake at the Blyth
Festival.
After making her Blyth debut in
Seeds, Rachel Cairns plays the
ragged heroine role of Margaret
MacKay, a fiery young woman from
the Magdalen Islands who comes of
age in early 20th century Goderich,
and falls in love with the Carlow
troublemaker, played by Jeff Irving.
“When we were searching for the
actor to play Michael Grey, the
bootlegging bare-knuckle boxer,
director Micheline Chevrier said,
“he needs to have a voice like an
angel.” When we discovered Jeff
was available, Micheline
immediately leapt at the chance to
collaborate with Mr. Irving again,”
said Gil Garratt, Blyth’s Artistic
Director.
Jason Chesworth plays the
ambitious young lawyer engaged to
wed the indomitable force that is
Margaret MacKay. Chesworth is a
familiar face to Blyth audiences
having played in Dear Johnny
Deere, Kitchen Radio, Stag and Doe
and earlier this season, Seeds.
After playing many roles in Seeds,
Keith Barker is originating the
comic role of Bernard Smoke, a
raconteur and adventurer, with a bad
case of narcolepsy.
The cast is completed with Blyth
favourite, David Fox as Judge
Cassidy, Margaret’s uncle. Fox
redundant played Percy Schmeiser
in Seeds earlier this season at Blyth
and was Walter in last season’s St.
Anne’s Reel.
For over 30 years, director
Micheline Chevrier has had the good
fortune of working across Canada as
a director, dramaturge and artistic
director. She has directed at such
theatres as the Shaw Festival, the
National Arts Centre, the Citadel
Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects,
the Globe Theatre, Prairie Theatre
Exchange, Canadian Stage, Young
People’s Theatre, Centaur Theatre,
Geordie Productions, Imago
Theatre, Théâtre français de
Toronto, and Theatre New
Brunswick. Since 2013, Micheline
has been Artistic Director of Imago
Theatre in Montreal. This is Ms.
Chevrier’s first time at Blyth.
Tickets are available by calling
Blyth Festival’s Box Office at 519-
523-9300, Toll Free 1-877-862-5984
or online at blythfestival.com
The Blyth Festival Art Gallery will
be presenting paintings depicting a
Goderich-area artist’s “Vision of
Home”. Michele Miller graduated
from University of Guelph with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and
over the past eight years, she has
participated in a number of
exhibitions in various galleries in
Ontario, including a series of cow
paintings at the Agricentre in
Guelph. She has taught painting
classes for students of all ages and
has won several major awards for
her work.
Since moving to Huron County
three years ago, she is always
looking for new ways to see and
capture the beauty around her.
Michele works in water-colours and
oils, depending on the light and
mood of the subject. To her, they are
the most important aspects of her
paintings.
“ I am fascinated by what makes a
place a home. It is so much more
than just a building. A home
becomes a reflection of who we are.
So a sense of home for me can come
from a memory that is triggered,
from a strong connection with a
place I've been or when I am aware
of just feeling at home and
comfortable in my surroundings.
That perception of home could even
occur in a forest or by water where,
all of a sudden, I have this
connection or feeling of peace,” she
said.
She is intrigued by the way a
house can evoke the personalities of
the people that dwell within it. In a
way, the house becomes a form of
portrait of the inhabitants, and she
wants to capture that essence. Some
places exude a very strong
personality or character for her.
Many of the paintings are homes and
landscapes of Huron County. Since
moving to this county she has been
on a journey to redefine her
perception of home.
The public can view Michele
Miller’s exploration of what “home”
means to her, in the Bainton
Gallery, Blyth Memorial Hall, from
July 24 to Aug. 15. Her exhibition of
oils and water-colour paintings, “A
Vision of Home” is curated by
Lauren Marshall and sponsored by
Maarten Bokhout and Helena
McShane. The gallery is located
next to the Blyth Festival box
office and is open during box office
hours.
Parkland
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Amy Barnes, daughter of
Pat and the late Jim Barnes
received her Doctor of
Philosophy Ph.D. at the
June 1, 2015 McGill
Convocation.
The family is proud of her
achievement and wishes her
all the best in the future.
Graduation
Happy 50th
Wedding Anniversary
Bob and Donna Gibbings (Smith)
Married July 24, 1965
With love from your family
An Open House
will be held
Saturday, July 25, 2015
7:30 p.m. Londesboro Hall
Best Wishes only
Forthcoming
Marriage
Tommy is pleased to
announce the forthcoming
marriage of his mother
Joan Smith
to
Lisa Glanville
daughter of Lloyd and Mabel
on July 18, 2015
Open reception at the
Brussels Legion
8:30 pm
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New exhibit
Goderich-based artist Michele Miller’s “Vision of Home” will
open at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery July 24, featuring a
number of pieces based on the artist’s fascination with the
concept of home. Above is her painting entitled “Red Door”.
(Photo submitted)
Goderich artist to be featured