HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-02-14, Page 1Brides ’90
16 page Bridal
Section enclosed
See page 13
Winners
Bulls, Crusaders, Blyth
Atoms and Novice all win
See page 29
Museum popular
Best attendance
in years
See page 38
refurbished and padded and reinstalled in the Hall By the time
summer rolls around there will be nearly 500 padded seats in the
theatre waiting for patrons who want to see the Festival’s new
plays, announced last week.
What a seat sale
When the Blyth Festival announced a seat sale to get new seats at
Blyth Memorial Hall nobody thought they were going to sell the
seats. But last week as Jane Gardner, Director of Communications
for the Festival shows, thehall was empty. Actually the seats have
just been removed and sent to Toronto where they’ll be
3 premieres included in 1990 Festival
Three premieres of new plays, a
repeat of last year’s biggest hit and
a classic comedy from Quebec
make up the 1990 season at the
Blyth Festival announced last
week.
The season will open on June 15
with the return of one of the
Festival’s most popular play
wrights, Colleen Curran with a new
play, “Local Talent’’. The author of
“Cake-Walk” and “Miss Balmoral
of the Bayview’’ returns to the
Bayview Hotel for another madcap
comedy. The hotel is the setting for
the Mrs. Canada contest as four
women, all of whom have decided
for various reasons to stay home to
look after their families, vie for the
title of the best homemaker, show
ing off their recipes and mothering
skills. Running the contest is an
ultra-modern career woman. The
play provides a look at the contrast
ing lifestyles while having a good
time.
“In A Field Of Flowers” by
Laurie Fyffe is described by Kath
erine Kaszas, the Festival’s artistic
director, as a cross between “The
Incredible Journey” and a my
stery. Set in the 1930’s it sees three
young children fight against society
and its institutions to try to keep a
family together. As Arthur Staples
searches for his missing daughter
with police and social workers hot
on his heels, he is embroiled in a
web of mystery and deceit. There
is, however, a happy ending, Ms.
Kaszas says.
For the first time the work of
Canada’s foremost playwright will
be presented on the Blyth stage
with “Albertine, in Five Times” by
Michel Tremblay. The play looks at
a woman at five critical periods of
her life as she relives being
widowed by the war, having to
raise her young children alone. The
play is laced with humour and
tenderness. The translation is by
John Van Burek and Bill Glassco.
Of high interest locally will be
the season’s musical presentation,
“Firefly” by Carol Sinclair with
music by John Alcorn. In 1910 a
small rural community struggles to
build an independent telephone
company because, none of the big
companies will service the com
munity. Battling to become the
company’s first switchboard opera
tor and the only woman in town
with a job outside the home is
Emmy McFadden.
The play was researched by
Carol Sinclair in the local area,
especially through conversations
with Luella McGowan of Blyth, a
one-time operator with the Blyth
telephone system.
The season will wind up with the
return of “The Perils of Perse
phone” by Dan Needles which was
one of the hits of the 1989 season.
Eldon Currie likes the idea of fame
and glory as reeve of Persephone
township until the night a truck
thought to be carrying nuclear
waste goes into the ditch on his
farm. The situation escalates when
provincial politicians come into the
scene and get carried away.
The price of tickets will go up
this year to $13.50 on weeknights
and matinees and $17.50 on Satur
day nights but voucher packages
are still available for a limited time
at $44 for four performances.
Wheeler,
Menzies 4th
in Canada
With a fourth place overall finish
and an award for Most Outstanding
Program at the Canadian Figure
Skating Championships in Sudbury
last week the free-skate pair of
Kevin Wheeler of Brussels and his
partner Michelle Menzies have
once again made an indelible
impression on skating judges and
audiences throughout Canada.
This is the third year that the
pair who belong to the Preston
Club have skated at the senior level
and for the second consecutive year
they came in fourth place after
three well-knowm pairs who have
all been Canadian champions, have
all been to the World and Olympic
competitions, and who have all as
the judges remarked “had more
experience and paid their dues”,
according to Mr. Wheeler’s mother
Shirley, of RR 5, Brussels.
Out of eight free-skate pairs at
the Canadian competition, Mrs.
Wheeler said that Wheeler and
Menzies were the only one to skate
a clean program. “They knew they
had skated really well and were
pleased with their standing,” she
said. And the crowd knew' it as
well. “Even before they had com
pleted their long program they got
a standing ovation,” Mrs. Wheeler
added.
In recognition of their flawless
performance Wheeler and Menzies
were given a Canadian sculpture
and $500 each to be used for figure
skating expenses, at a banquet on
Saturday evening.
Mrs. Wheeler says that the pair
would have liked to have come in
third place so they could have been
on the Canadian team but knowing
the competition they were not in
the least disappointed with the
final standing.
Hullett Reeve
in middle of
English only
debate
Hullett Reeve Tom Cunningham
was at the heart of the French
debate when he attended the Rural
Ontario Municipal Association
(ROM a) convention in Toronto
early this month.
As second Vice-Chairman of the
Association at that time, (he is now
first Vice), Mr. Cunningham chair
ed the resolution session of the
convention which was attended by
approximately 400 of the 670
delegates, according to Mr. Cunn
ingham.
Because of the controversy sur
rounding the French issue in
Ontario and Bill 8, there was a
great deal of pressure put on
Municipal Affairs Minister John
Sweeney to convince Premier
Peterson to attend the convention,
Mr. Cunningham stated, and he
did take time on the last morning to
speak to ROMA delegates about
that particular topic of concern.
“Basically what he said reiterat
ed what we had already said many
times during the convention,”
Reeve Cunningham said. “And
that is that Bill 8 does not apply to
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