HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-12-24, Page 43THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015. PAGE 43.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for your loyal patronage
this past year.
We look forward to you visiting us
again in the New Year.
Closed December 24
Opening January 5 at 11 am
422 Queen Street, Blyth
519-523-9381 www.blythinn.ca
The place to be.
HAVE A BALL
This Holiday Season
Open EVERY DAY at 10 am
Let us help you throw the party no one will want to miss!
Group Bowling Options • Group Menu
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Christmas Trees to Gather Around • Music to Suit Every Taste
AND MORE!
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Blyth United Church
MINISTER: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. OFFICE: 519-523-4224
All Welcome
Rudolph
invites you to join him for a
Family-friendly
Christmas Eve
Experience
Thursday, December 24
Open House at 7:30 p.m.
Traditional Candle Lighting
Service at 8:15 p.m.
Happy
90th Birthday
Mom ~ Grandma
(Marie Blake)
January 5, 2016
Love from
your family
Entertainment Leisure&
Festival to begin work on 161st Battalion project
A Jazz Christmas
Blyth’s Annie Sparling, who’s no stranger to performing in front of a crowd, put her singing
skills to use last week for “A Jazz Christmas” part of a special evening featuring world class
musicians, excellent food and plenty of Christmas cheer, all in the name of raising funds for
Campaign 14/19. Sparling was accompanied by saxophonist Jason Hunter, right, and Clayton
Peters and Dave Klassen, not pictured. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
The Blyth Festival presented its
2015 report and 2016 co-operative
marketing plan to North Huron
Township Council during council’s
last meeting of the year on Dec. 21.
Festival Artistic Director Gil
Garratt led the presentation,
outlining the work the theatre does
throughout the year and the spinoffs
the community receives from the
Festival.
Of note was the fact that the
Festival has produced 125 world
premieres in 41 seasons, or
approximately three new plays every
year since the Festival started
and the fact that more than
$45,000 goes back to the
community through country supper
programs and ticket donations.
Garratt said that the 2015 season
was impressive for the Festival as,
for the first time in 10 years, there
was national press coverage of a
play with a review in The Globe and
Mail.
“That was a great boon,” he said.
“It’s been a long time since we
attracted that.”
He also pointed out that more than
1,000 new patrons attended shows in
2015 which was important to him.
Pass revenues, or the number of
people who bought tickets to all the
main stage shows, increased by 17
per cent and the number of patrons
travelling frommore than two hours
away to attend shows increased by
six per cent.
Garratt said the season was a
success in his opinion and that The
Wilberforce Hotel was the number
one show last year.
“It sold twice as many tickets as
Fury and Mary’s Wedding,” he said.
“The big takeaway from that is the
success of the story is it’s very much
one about our place in the world. A
lot of people called and said they had
driven past the Wilberforce Hotel
and wanted to see the play.”
Garratt also said that Ronnie
Burkett’s Edna Rural’s Church
Supper show was sold out and that
the man himself was brilliant.
The Festival operates rentals
throughout the year at Memorial
Hall, however, due to the fact that
renovations were scheduled to start
earlier this fall, there were reduced
bookings for the hall. The same
situation will occur next year,
according to Garratt, as those
renovations were pushed back to
next fall.
Garratt then mentioned that the
Festival had run a deficit in 2015, but
mentioned that was an expected
outcome for a not-for-profit
organization. He said that the
accumulated debt of the
organization was less than 10 per
cent of its annual operating budget.
Garratt outlined the 42nd season
including the four new plays, Our
Beautiful Sons: Remembering
Matthew Dinning by Christopher
Morris, If Truth be Told by Beverly
Cooper, The Birds and the Bees by
Mark Crawford and Last Donnelly
Standing by Garratt and Paul
Thompson.
He also announced The Fighting
161st, a new production which
which the Festival will be involved.
The performance, which will be a
site-specific production created in
co-operation with the Huron Arts
and Heritage Network will be about
the formation of the 161st (Huron)
Battalion, a unit in the Canadian
Expeditionary Force during World
War I. The unit started recruiting in
1915 and sailed to England in 1916.
It was later absorbed into the 4th
Reserve Battalion on Feb. 15, 1918.
“We will be developing it as a
collective creation, directed by Paul
Thompson, and we will be
developing it in Blyth this January,
February and early March,” Garratt
said in an interview with The Citizen
after the presentation. “There will be
some workshop presentations in
March for schools and invited
groups, [similar to] an open
rehearsal with audiences.”
Garratt said the show’s details are
still be hammered out, however it
will be performed in the fall of 2016.
Garratt then outlined the joint
marketing program which would see
North Huron highlighted in several
publications and promotional
material for the 2016 year for
$12,500.
Council will deal with the request
during its upcoming budget
meetings in the new year.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen