HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-04-25, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013. PAGE 23.
With their opening ticket week
behind them, the staff at the Blyth
Festival is reporting that this was
year’s launch was much more
succesful than last year’s.
“We’re up approximately 20 per
cent over all,” Marketing and
Development Coordinator Lisa
Hood said. “We’re up 21 per cent for
paid ticket sales.”
The box office has also hit their
quota for season passes, whereas last
year they were 10 per cent short of
their goal.
Interim Artistic Director Peter
Smith, who will be replaced by
Marion de Vries nearing the end of
the season, said this won’t be the end
of the success either.
“We’re not sitting back now,” he
said. “We’ll be pushing tickets. We
have an attractive playbill with
humour and heart and we’re looking
forward to the season.”
He said the success of the
ticket sales is due to the great
experience that the Festival offers
but also because this year they
have made everything bigger and
better.
“It’s a neat thing this year, we have
more shows, more seats and more
variety,” he said. “There is literally
something for everyone.”
One of those changes is that
Bonanza weekend, the annual event
which allows theatregoers to take in
several shows in a three-day period
during the first weekend in August,
will feature the Young Company on
the main stage.
Young Company is the Festival’s
annual youth program which allows
young theatre aspirants to get a taste
of professional theatre.
This year the company will be
directed by Martha Ross, of whom
Smith speaks highly of, and for the
second year in the row it will be
performing on the Festival’s main
stage instead of the Phillips Studio.
The Festival will also be starting
things off with a bang as, on May 25,
Fred Eaglesmith will be taking to the
stage.
Eaglesmith’s music, considered by
many to be quintessentially
Canadian, was the basis for last
year’s break-out hit Dear Johnny
Deere, which will be remounted at
the beginning of this season, running
from June 11 to June 22.
“It’s a neat marriage, to have him
here and be remounting the show,”
Smith said. “Getting him to play will
be fantastic.”
Following that, the new season
begins with Beyond the Farm Show,
a re-imagining of The Farm Show
which was first staged in Huron
County 40 years earlier.
After that Yorkville - The Musical
will take the stage on July 3,
Garrison’s Garage will begin on
July 31 and Prairie Nurse will be the
last main-stage show of the
season.
Garrison’s Garage has generated
a lot of pre-season interest according
to Festival staff.
“We’re bringing back a Ted Johns
show and it’s one that people want to
see and haven’t seen here since
1985,” Smith said. “We’re really
excited.”
Hood said that the show has been
a talking point for many people
calling in to get their tickets.
“People are really excited for the
show,” she said. “We’ve had people
calling in telling lovely stories and
reminiscing about how the show
brought people together.”
The success of the season’s sales
thus far could be for any number of
reasons according to Hood and
Smith, ranging from the fresh take
on the Festival with many new staff
members to the end of the recession,
however neither were convinced that
there was any one contributing
cause.
“There are a bunch of answers to
why we’re doing well,” he said. “I
think it’s just people responding to
the plays and the research being
done for Beyond the Farm Show. It’s
got people talking.”
Hood said the same, stating that
having people out in the community
researching roles has really drawn a
lot of attention to the show. She also
said the huge variety of shows likely
has a lot to do with the good ticket
sales.
The 2013 Blyth Festival season
marks its official spring kick-off this
Friday. Walt Wingfield and his
neighbours of Larkspur return to the
Blyth Festival stage on Friday, April
26 at 8 p.m. in the hilarious stage
production of Wingfield’s Progress,
written by Dan Needles, directed by
Douglas Beattie and performed by
the captivating Rod Beattie.
For most people, the Blyth
Festival is “open for business” on
June 11 when the first preview of the
theatre season hits the stage, but for
General Manager Deb Sholdice,
Blyth Festival General Manager,
“this is our first big weekend!”
“This is really when the season
kicks off for us,” says Sholdice.
“Most people think it’s not until the
summer but really, this is when the
stage officially opens for the Blyth
Festival.”
Hosted in the Blyth Memorial
Hall, the Blyth Festival season runs
June 11 to September 7 but you are
able to catch Wingfield’s Progress
before the summer heat hits. Always
a sensational hit, the Wingfield
series has become a Blyth Festival
favourite. Popularized by the
television series aired on Bravo!, the
touring stage show is performed by
one man: Rod Beattie.
Wingfield’s Progress is the second
installment in the Wingfield series
and follows Walt Wingfield and the
residents of Larkspur as the loom of
urban development threatens their
small town life on the Seventh
Concession. Walt rallies to mobilize
the residents to defend their rural
oasis, but can Walt mobilize the
neighbourhood to save the rustic
splendour of Larkspur? Does
Larkspur want to be saved?
Wingfield’s Progress is the story of
Walt's passionate response to a
threat only he perceives.
Tickets are $33 each and are
available at the Blyth Festival box
office at 1-877-862-5984 or order
online at www.blythfestival.com
Wingfield returns to Blyth
Festival ticket sales up 20 per cent this year
Rocking for a cause
Memorial Hall was the host for Blyth’s annual Me to We event on Friday night. The evening
featured many performances, both musical and spoken word, all in the name of raising money
for the Free The Children initiative. Here, Broken Remarks take the stage and turn up the
volume on the event. (Jim Brown photo)
Bud and Laura May
Chamney
April 25
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Entertainment Leisure&
By Denny Scott
The Citizen