HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-12-15, Page 27Recently hired Communications
Director for the Blyth Festival John
Bezaire has some new ideas about
how to better use the theatre
company’s annual brochure and
program to promote the area.
“Far and away, the brochure is the
number one reason for people
coming to the Festival,” Bezaire
explained to North Huron Council
during their Dec. 5 regular meeting.
Bezaire explained that of the
60,000 copies they produce, 25 per
cent of them are mailed to their
database of past ticket-purchasers
and, as far as targetable audiences
go, the database is a very lucrative
one.
“Our patrons are extremely loyal
and purchase based on quality,” he
said. “They have a desireable
income, are 50 or older and will
continue to buy from people who
sell them a good product.”
Bezaire said the typical patron has
more expandable income and that is
something that North Huron and
stakeholders that would benefit from
in terms of advertising.
To better reach that audience, he
said that several changes will be
happening.
“We’re in the preliminary stages
of looking at our distribution
methods,” he said. “We don’t want
to waste a penny and it’s getting
more expensive to send things out.
We will be taking a very focused and
comprehensive look at how we’re
doing it this year and next.”
Changes will also be happening to
the brochure itself.
“We’ll be looking at a new format
and layout for 2012,” Bezaire said.
“It was felt by Eric [Coates, Artistic
Director for the Blyth Festival], and
all of us really, that it was time to
refresh the brochure. It’s been in the
format it has been for a number of
years.”
Bezaire stated that the Festival
would be “playing” with size and
layout, but would aim for a unique
design every year.
“We’re going to see if we can raise
the bar another notch with a new
design,” he said. “We’re going to
plan ahead for future expansions and
we’re going to look to the past to see
what has worked.”
The brochure has “evolved, re-
evolved and devolved” since 1975
according to Bezaire and the group
wants to look back and see what has
worked and look at revamping or
reusing those techniques.
The reason for the upgrade is that
Bezaire feels that Blyth can no
longer market itself as its own entity.
“In order to get the demographic
we want, the 50+ audience with
expendable income, we need to
round out their experience,” he said.
“They need to see everything we
have to offer so we need to market
Main Street North Huron, or
Highway 4.”
Bezaire said that Blyth, Belgrave
and Wingham need to be sold as an
experience for day-trippers and
overnight visitors.
“Blyth, Wingham and Belgrave
being independent draws just won’t
work anymore,” he said. “It’s time to
start laying out the snapshot of what
the area has to offer, not just what
the individual centres have to offer.”
He said that the township has the
geography to do it as Highway 4
could be considered the backbone of
North Huron, and everything can be
reached from it.
“The opportunities are on that
corridor,” he said. “Even Belgrave
has some, there’s a lot of
opportunities on the main street
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011. PAGE 27. Blyth director’s play wins Governor General’s Award
Blyth’s Duncan McGregor, fresh
off the success of his Christmas-
themed fundraising play The Best
Present of All, received notice that a
play he directed earlier in the year,
Narcisse, was receiving kudos on a
national level.
The play, which centres on
Narcisse Cantin, a man who had the
intention of carving a channel
through Ontario from Lake Huron to
Lake Erie which would have turned
St. Joseph near Grand Bend into a
centre of major commerce, was
recognized by receiving one of two
Governor General’s History Awards
for Excellence in Community
Programming.
The award, new this year, is
presented for “programming
developed by volunteer-led heritage,
community and cultural
organizations at the grassroots level”
according to Canada’s National
History Society, who is responsible
for the award.
It is given to one French event and
one English.
The award was presented to the St.
Joseph Historical Society for work
in bringing playwright Paul Ciufo’s
vision to life and it was a true
community effort according to
McGregor.
“This is a real situation of
communities within communities
working together,” he said.
“Everyone from the lower-tier
municipalities to local business
owners and artisans get involved and
their backing made it possible.
Without them, it would not have
happened, it’s a simple as that.”
Several of the members of the cast
and crew attended an awards
ceremony in Ottawa earlier this
week to receive the award on behalf
of the huge cast of the play, but the
celebrations started long before that
when representatives from Canada’s
National History Society showed up
in St. Joseph with the hope of
interviewing one person about the
play.
“They were supposed to visit the
winners and interview them on
camera,” McGregor said, stating that
the headquarters for the society is in
Winnipeg, so it was a trip. “They
wanted to interview one person for
four minutes, but the society brought
in more than 25 people, including all
the children involved in the play, to
Brentwood on the Beach, a resort
near St. Joseph.”
McGregor said that the members
of the society interviewed every
single person and that they hadn’t
seen the video, so no one involved in
the play knows what the final
product looked like until it was
debuted at the awards ceremony.
“We found out in early October
about the award, but I don’t think
any of us were aware what the scope
of the award was,” McGregor said.
“We had applied for it, but we didn’t
know how sweeping of a category it
was. I’ve subscribed to History
Canada, formerly known as The
Beaver, the publication put out by
the society, for over a decade and I
didn’t know what it was all about.”
McGregor went on to say that this
was a very high honour and that they
would have been overwhelmed to
just make the short list of 12 to 17
candidates, however he believes that
the play being as successful as it was
was due to a convergence of the right
time, the right place and the right
people.
“It was such a community
program and we had just got the
right place and the right time with
exactly who we needed in the play,”
he said. “I don’t think we could
repeat it to the success we did for its
first run.”
The play was a challenge to bring
together according to McGregor, but
that was due to it being an outdoor
production. He feels that everyone
worked so well together and that
played a large part in the success of
the play.
“It became a lovely experience by
the end instead of a fight that you
can sometimes run into,” he said.
“There were a lot of creative
challenges instead of fighting.
People all worked together and
recognized each others strengths and
we just let people do what they were
good at.”
Other reasons he feels the play
was successful was due to how much
it connected to the community.
“Narcisse really had all you could
ever want in a story,” he said. “He
was an interesting individual in an
interesting community that really
has died and been reborn.”
The play also crosses the language
boundary in Canada using both
English and French. McGregor
explained that they wanted to keep
French-Canada a big part of the play
as it was a huge influence in the area
during Cantin’s rise and fall.
“It was really fortunate that we
had Claudette [Léger, a member of
the women’s chorus who took on
several other roles in the play],”
McGregor said. “She worked with us
on our French and we were able to
have the songs in French and have
the correct accents.
“Our French parts became so
polished thanks to her that we had
WOW! 62 Years
on December 24
Love,
Brenda, Bob,
Bonnie, John,
Debbie, Kevin
and families
Tickets at The Centennial Hall Box
Office. Call: 519-672-1967
or online: www.centennialhall.london.ca
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 – 7:30PM
CENTENNIAL HALL - LONDON
Makes
A Great
Christmas
Gift
Makes
A Great
Christmas
Gift
Makes
A Great
Christmas
Gift
Tickets at The Centennial Hall Box Office.
Call 519-672-1967
www.centennialhall.london.ca
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011 – 7 PM
(550 Wellington Street – London)
Tickets at the Blyth Festival Box
Office or by calling 1-877-862-5984
Also available online at
www.blythfestival.com
MON. MARCH 19, 2012 – 7 PM
BLYTH MEMORIAL HALL
Entertainment Leisure&
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Festival to change its direction
Continued on page 28
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 28