HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-19, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012.Former Brussels student heads to Hamilton Fringe
After one “false” start, Bluevale
native Mandy Sellers is living her
dream on stages across Ontario,
which recently led her to Fringe
Festivals in Toronto, and now
Hamilton.
She just finished up a seven-show
run at the Toronto Fringe Festival
with her writing partner Laura
Salvas of Two Weird Ladies Bomb
The Fringe, and the pair will be tak-
ing the show to Hamilton beginning
July 20.
Sellers grew up just outside of
Bluevale and attended Brussels
Public School years ago before mov-
ing to Toronto to pursue her dream
of becoming a stage actor. However,
that’s not how it started.
Her love for drama really took off
when she left Brussels Public School
and attended F.E. Madill Secondary
School and participated in its drama
program.
In addition to her work with F.E.
Madill, Sellers participated in the
Sears Ontario Drama Festival sever-
al times over the course of her high
school career, and played an integral
role in the school’s production of
Fame in her OAC year.
After high school Sellers earned
her Bachelor of Arts and began
working full time, which didn’t last
long, she says.
Sellers felt the work she was doing
couldn’t be what she did for the rest
of her life and she decided to go
back to school for something artistic.
After school she began workingfor American Express by day andsharpening her dramatic skills bynight. She was working with improvtroupes, which eventually led her toCalgary.Sellers calls her life around thattime “one of those dream-come-truestories”. After being in Calgary for afew years, she made her way back toOntario and that was about the sametime that she met Salvas, her writing
partner.
After attending classes at Second
City, which she says is the top place
to work in improv comedy in
Toronto, in 2010 Sellers was brought
on with Second City in a paid capac-
ity, which she says is an actor’s
dream. She began doing family
shows, corporate shows and she was
an understudy at the time as well.
In 2011, Sellers began writing Two
Weird Ladies Bomb The Fringe with
Salvas just seven months before it
would eventually hit the stage in
Toronto. This came after the pair
won the lottery system which deter-
mines which shows will see the
stage at the Fringe Festival.
Once the ladies knew they had a
spot at the festival, they had to get
writing.
Sellers says she and Salvas really
leaned on real situations the two of
them had experienced to write the
show, learning that they didn’t have
to stretch the truth too far. She said
they would take something that actu-ally happened to one of them and“find the funny” in it, and exaggerateit from there.“We decided we weren’t going towrite a typical sketch show,” shesaid in a recent interview with TheCitizen. “We wanted to have athrough-line. We wanted to have astory.”One example Sellers gives is astory about a young girl singing a
“horrible” song to her grandmother
at her 95th birthday party. The story
was true, Sellers said, but the pair
needed to “find the funny” in it, so
they altered the story slightly and
wrote a sketch where a young girl
blatantly sings to her grandmother
on her 95th birthday about she’ll die
soon due to her old age.
“We would just take a story and
think ‘how can we make this
funny?’” she said.
Sellers says the response has been
excellent, saying that she never
thought she would get this positive
of a response.
After seven shows at the Toronto
Fringe Festival, the pair will bring
the show to the Hamilton Fringe
Festival for seven more shows. After
that, Sellers says, the pair have dis-
cussed potentially touring the show
around the province if it’s feasible.
She says the response from the-
atregoers in Toronto has been hum-
bling to say the least. Sellers says
she and Salvas would be relaxingafter a show at the Fringe Club inToronto and strangers would comeup to them, telling them how muchthey enjoyed their show, an experi-ence Sellers calls “amazing”.She says Two Weird Ladies BombThe Fringe is one of the best thingsshe’s ever done in her theatre careerand it’s something that she’s veryproud of.“To think I am 50 per cent respon-
sible for creating it is amazing,” she
said.
She said because of the workload
the pair have decided to take the
month of August off and then recon-
vene about potentially writing a sec-
ond project together.
Sellers says there’s no real reason
for her and Salvas to separate too
long for a break, because they get
along well with one another.
“We enjoy working together,” she
said. “We love it.”
For more information on the show,
visit the show’s website at
www.twoweirdladies.com
Two Weird Ladies Bomb The
Fringe plays seven times at the
Hamilton Fringe Festival: 7:30 p.m.
on July 20, 12:30 p.m. on July 21,
8:30 p.m. on July 22, 9:30 p.m. on
July 25, 8:30 p.m. on July 26, 7 p.m.
on July 28 and 1 p.m. on July 29. All
shows will be held at the Hamilton
Theatre Inc. Studio at 140 McNab
Street North in Hamilton.
Hot on the heels of the first fea-
tured art show of the 2012 season,
“An Encaustic Viewpoint”, which
opened to great public acclaim in
June, the Blyth Festival Art Gallery
is about to mount a second exciting
exhibition.
This year is London’s H. B. Beal
Secondary School’s 100th anniver-
sary. Their art department has pro-
duced many successful fine artists,
artisans, filmmakers and animators,
including Greg Curnoe, Jack
Chambers, Murray Favro, and film’s
Paul Haggis. “Beal Art” will high-
light the works of some of the people
who taught and helped mould these
individuals into the famous artists
they became. The exhibition will run
from July 20 to Aug. 13 and will
showcase the work of such
renowned artists as Herb Ariss, Ron
Milton, John Krygsman, Brian Fry
and Connie Jefferess.
The styles range from brilliantly,
coloured abstracts and detailed
totemic images to sweeping land-
scapes and woven fabrics. A few del-
icately-executed life studies which
are included may even arouse a bit of
controversy.
Ron Walker, the show’s curator,
stresses “Beal Art’s” importance in
Walker curates show
Bombing the Fringe
Bluevale native and former Brussels Public School student
Mandy Sellers, right, and her writing partner Laura Salvas
ended their successful seven-show run at the Toronto
Fringe Festival this week and will start a new seven-show
run at the Hamilton Fringe Festival on Friday, July 20 with
their sketch comedy show Two Weird Ladies Bomb The
Fringe. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Thom)
The CitizenBlyth
519-523-4792
Brussels
519-887-9114
Stop in a see our great selection of books at...
Lay back and enjoy a
great book
this summer...
We have lots to choose from
THE WILD FOOD GOURMET
Exciting new taste experiences are
all around you in nature. Recipes for
everything from Lamb's Quarters
Quiche to wild berries. $24.95
AGGIE’S DREAM
Donna Mann follows Grey
County’s legendary Agnes
Macphail to high school as
she shows her determina-
tion not to let town ways
intimidate her as she moves
closer to her goal of teacher
training. A sequel to Aggie’s
Storms. $20.00
THE ART OF
BIRDWATCHING
Here’s a humorous guide to
the fastest growing hobby in
North America including both
useful information and lots of
fun. Also included, a list of
contacts for naturalist clubs
across Canada. $11.99
NEVER SELL YOUR
HEN ON A RAINY DAY
Some of those old
weather sayings really
do make sense. This
book explains why.
$8.95
MAGICAL, MYSTERIOUS
LAKE OF THE WOODS
Heather Robertson and
Melinda McCracken
explore the past of this
jewel of Northwestern
Ontario with historic pho-
tos, maps, drawings and
colour photos. $24.95
TAN YOUR HIDE
Learn how to tan your
own leather and fur to
create handsome and
durable homemade
goods with little cost
other than your own
time: what tools and
chemicals you’ll need,
how to select the hide,
steps in tanning, how
to make your own
dyes, etc. $15.95
MAKING BENTWOOD
TRELLISES, ARBORS,
GATES & FENCES
Photos and drawings in
this 150-page book guide
you through the steps
required to make all sorts
of projects for your yard
and garden. A wide variety
of styles are offered for you
to choose from. $26.95
THE HOME WATER SUP-
PLY
More than 200 pages on
how to find, filter, store and
conserve water whether
the water is from a spring,
a dug well or drilled well.
Information on treatment
and storage, protecting
and conserving your water.
$28.95
THE GARDENER’S WEED BOOK
Learn time-saving tips for weed manage-
ment. Identify more than 70 common garden
weeds. Put weeds to practical use. Learn
how to control weeds organically by
mulching, hand weeding, and using smother
crops. $18.95
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 20