The Citizen, 1994-04-20, Page 27Theatre review
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1994. PAGE 27.
Little ones enjoy
puppets antics
By Ashley Gropp
On Saturday, April 16, Lampoon
Puppet Theatre presented Clowning
Around at the Blyth Memorial Hall.
Humor and music, combined
with puppets made this show
unique.
The performance opened with a
demonstration of puppets you can
make at home, with such things as
an umbrella, spoon, floor mat,
paper and the classic sock puppet.
The first act the puppet did was
using balloons. Balloons flew every
where and bounced off two clown's
heads.
The clowns then moved on to
building blocks. While one clown
would take blocks to build a castle,
the other would take it off the
castle and put it back on the pile.
This brought shrieks of laughter
from most of the kids there. After
the puppets did a routine using
stilts, then magic was the name of
yet another game. This part I
thought was the best.
I'm sure we've all seen the tied
handkerchief trick. Well, it was the
first trick the puppets performed in
this segment.
The next thing they had up their
sleeves was a bubble machine, and
finally, they had moving plants.
Music was then played by the
clowns; one on bells, the other on
the horns. They played a version of
Mary had a Little Lamb.
Finally, in the last act it was
bedtime. The clowns kept taking
each others' covers and bed. After
they got to sleep they woke up to
morning. They lifted an easel up
and a sign that said The End.
They then asked if there were
any questions. One question was
why wasn’t there talking. The
answer was because children all
over the world, who see the show,
all speak different languages.
Another question was "How do
the puppets work?" Some ways the
puppeteers showed us and other
things they told us.
Although I thought I was too old
for this particular performance I
was delighted by how much the
younger children enjoyed it.
Broadway, film actor
plays lead in6 Othello’
Hollywood actor Ron O'Neal,
one of the first talents to debut on
Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize
winning No Place to be Somebody
for which he won the coveted Obie
Award, has been cast by Stratford
Festival Artistic Director Richard
Monette to play Othello.
As an accomplished actor Ron
‘Miracle
Worker*
at Grand
London presents William
Gibson's endearing true-life story
The Miracle Worker, inspired by
the lives of Helen Keller and Annie
Sullivan, at The Grand April 26
through May 21.
It is Alabama in the 1880s.
Stricken with a mysterious illness,
Helen, the infant daughter of
Captain (David Fox) and Mrs.
Keller (Kate Trotter), is left both
deaf and blind. Rather than
abandon her in an asylum, the
Keller family members, including
Helen's brother James (Ben
Carlson), Aunt Ev (Carolyn
Hetherington), and household staff
Viney (Marcia Johnson) and Percy
(Darryl Patrick), tolerate her wilful
antics.
In desperation, the Kellers
contact the famous Perkins
Institution for the Blind, from
which young Annie Sullivan
(Brooke Johnson) is dispatched by
Dr. Anagnos (Nicholas Rice).
Arriving in Alabama, Annie is
determined to break
Helen (Maggie Blake)
her mind.
This enduring true
human courage and perseverance
has inspired countless audiences
world-wide.
has appeared in numerous stage
productions including Othello in
Connecticut, The Taming of the
Shrew in Philadelphia, Macbeth in
Los Angeles and The Dream on
Monkee Mountain in Munich,
Germany and New York. Mr.
O'Neal's stage appearances have
earned him Obie, Theatre World,
Drama Desk and Clarence Derwent
awards.
With over 20 years as a leading
actor in film and on television, it
was his starring role in the film
Superfly that earned national and
international acclaim, followed by
starring roles in The Final
Countdown with actors Kirk
Douglas and Martin Sheen, and The
Master Gunfighter with
actor/director Tom MacLaughlin.
Ron has also appeared in and
starred in such television series as
Murder She Wrote, the Equalizer,
Hill Street Blues, Red Dawn, North
& South: Part 11, Sinbad and A
Different World.
When not studying his craft or
working as actor this Cleveland,
Ohio native can be found writing or
on the tennis court.
This will be Mr. O'Neal's
Canadian debut as Othello which
opens on June 25 and plays through
Oct. 1 lat the Avon Theatre.
Othello is directed by Brian
Bedford and will feature set design
by Ming Cho Lee, costume design
by Ann Curtis, music by Alan
Laing, lighting design by Michael
J. Whitfield and sound design by
Keith Handegord. This production
is generously sponsored by Shaw
Communications Inc.
through to
and unlock
miracle of
B LYT HTF ESTIVAL
presents
The Canadian Red Cross Society
has recently launched a new
national First Aid training program
called First Aid: The Vital Link.
An innovative new program
designed to be accessible for all
Canadians regardless of age,
background or previous training, it
is flexible, practical and fun. For
details, please contact your local
Canadian Red Cross Society.
Colours
in the Storm
ONE SHOW ONLY
8 p.m. Sunday
May 8,1994
Tickets $17.00
523-9300
Al '■
5.
E ntertainment
Centre adds
2nd week
for ‘Les Mis’
"I am pleased to announce, that
due to popular demand, we are
adding a second week of
performances of the mega-musical
Les Miserables, said a jubilant Dan
Donaldson, general manager of The
Centre In The Square today.
Les Miserables was originally
scheduled for eight performances
the week of Sept. 7 to 11.
Performances have been added for
the week of Sept. 13 to 18.
Les Miserables is based on the
classic novel written by Victor
Hugo. It is the story of Jean
Valjean, a good man who falls
afoul of the law and is pursued
relentlessly by the rigid policeman
Javert.
Valjean's initial crime was
breaking a window and stealing a
loaf of bread to feed his sister's
starving children. For that, and for
several failed attempts to escape,
the former farm worker spent 19
years in chains.
Although he leaves the prison at
Toulon embittered and
dehumanized, he is inspired by a
saintly bishop, who feeds and
shelters him and protects him from
the police when Valjean steals the
cleric's silver. The shock of the
bishop's forgiveness restores
Valjean and provides him with a
model for his life.
It is also the story of Cosette,
daughter of a young woman whose
tragic decline into prostitution and
death Valjean feels partly
responsible for. He raises the girl
as his own, eventually taking her
beloved, a student filled with
revolutionary fire, under his
protection, at peril to the aging
Valjean's own life and anonymity.
Les M iserables was the
inspiration for the popular 1960s
TV series "The Fugitive" and for
"Kung Fu". It was the late Alfred
Hitchcock, who knew a good yam
when he saw one, who saw another
potential for the classic novel.
"That book," he mused to a friend,
"would make a
musical."
Les Miserables
Broadway on March
has won 32 major
internationally, including the 1987
Tony Award for Best Musical, and
Best Musical honors from the New
York Drama Critics Circle, The
Drama Desk and The Outer Critics
Circle.
wonderful
opened on
12, 1987 and
awards
Rk
XU* a musical play
, about Tom Thomsom "Jfc
f » by Jim Betts
Director Richard Greenblatt
Music Director Stephen Woodjetts
Produced by Tapestry Music Theatre
CARLTON
SHOWBAND
30th ANNIVERSARY TOUR
SATURDAY
MAY 28 - 8 P.M.
MEMORIAL HALL - BLYTH
Tickets
$20.00 ea. Advance $25.00 ea. At Door
Available at:
Blyth Festival Ticket Office &
Carol's Candies & Collectables - Blyth
Visa/Mastercard phone orders 1-800-465-7829
Rita MacNeil
IN CONCERT
FRIDAY
JUNE 10TH 8 P.M.
BLYTH & DISTRICT
COMMUNITY CENTRE
Tickets: $25.00 Advance $28.00 at the Door
Available at:
Carol's Candies and Collectables
Blyth Decorating - Phone Orders -1-800-465-7829
in Association with Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary
I
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LYCETJM ’TBlATJM! !
II a a a a a a a a
Phone 357-1630 for 24 hour movie information
/W MIGHTY
PC «».___r .. _
THE
MIGHTY DUCKS
ARE BACK!
EMILIO ttWiU
STARTS FRIDAY APRIL 22
Friday & Saturday 7 & 9 p m
MATINEE - SUNDAY
Family Entertainment - 1:30 p.m.
Sunday to Thursday One show, 8:00 p.m.