HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-07-25, Page 18Point and click
Corner Green sound designer Marilyn Lerner sits before her
instrument of choice, the computer. (Mark Nonkes photo)
Composer paints music
for 'Corner Green'
A message from The War Amps
For more information about the
PLAYSAFE Program, call:
1-800-250-3030
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`Citizen' hires new reporter
The Citizen is pleased to announce that
David Blaney has joined the staff as a
reporter/photographer.
Blaney has had a varied career working in
politics, the theatre and in the antique and
si auction trades. He has previously written
411 articles and copy for several organizations
and publications.
"Although I have worked in a number of
jobs that required writing copy this will be
my first venture into news reporting," said
Blaney.
He has only lived in the area for three
years but his family's roots are in the
Huron/Bruce area. "I hope to bring a sym-
pathetic outsider's view to my work at the
newspaper."
Blaney is a resident of Brussels where he
lives with his wife, Sheana and two sons David Blaney
appl l o t nniverJarl
Donna
Lynn
(Armstrong
Brian
Merkley
love, lour
E7,1rierul):
Eric Trask
1/Veddingszinnouncentent
Rebecca Ruth Morrison and Scott Kenneth Dixon were joined in
marriage on June 2, 2001, at Blythe Brooke Orchards by Pastor Les
Cook. Rebecca is the_ daughter of Robert and Mavis Morrison of
Blyth. Scott is the son of Linda Dixon of Holmesville and Ken Dixon
of Berkley. The maid of honour was Zoellyn Onn, friend of the bride.
Bridesmaids were Pamela Morrison, sister of the bride, Rachel
Morrison, sister of the bride and Jenn Dixon, sister of the groom. The
best man was Darryl Wise, friend of the groom. Groomsmen were
Matthew Morrison, brother of the bride and Mark Nonkes, friend of
the bride and groom. The reception was held at the Blyth Lions Park.
The couple honeymooned in Cuba and now reside in Toronto. Ont.
Rebecca and Scott want to thank everyone who helped to make their
day go smoothly and thank everyone for coming.
PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2001.
shows and films.
Exploring sounds is something
Lerner loves to do.
"It's like painting, sound paint-
ing," she said.
By Mark Nonkes
Citizen staff
For Corner Green composer
Marilyn Lerner, capturing sounds is
like taking a picture.
Lerner takes her tape recorder and
gets sounds from the natural envi-
ronment, sounds like birds flapping
their wings or like the wind.
When Lerner sits down to com-
pose a piece for a show she uses
sounds from instruments and natural
sounds from the world.
As she reads the script, certain
sounds will come out. She thinks of
colours and shades in terms of
sounds.
"I take the sounds we hear around
us and cast it in a different light,"
Lerner said.
After Lerner gets the sound on
tape she downloads it to her comput-
er. From there she mixes the sounds
with instruments and other sounds to
create a soundscape for a piece.
In Corner Green there are a lot of
physiological aspects, Lerner said.
Lerner translated those aspects in the
play into evocative and textural
sounds.
Lerner is known for her improvi-
sation with sounds and music. As a
piano player Lerner creates music
on the spur of a moment.
She has collaborated with some of
the biggest names in jazz and is a
member of seven different perform-
ing ensembles.
She has released several CDs with
these groups and will be touring
across Canada with the Flying
Bulgars this summer.
One of the first art pieces Lerner
created was with the voices of peo-
ple who left hateful messages on an
answering machine.
Like taking pictures, collecting
sounds has its ethical dilemmas too.
Once Lerner heard some autistic
children in a pool and was just
amazed by the sounds they made.
However, since she didn't have per-
mission she felt that recording
the sound would violate the
children.
She has composed music for sev-
eral other theatre productions, TV
By Eric Coates
Blyth Festival's
Associate Artistic Director
My teenage
weekends were
spent just outside
of Guelph work-
ing as a hired hand
on a small, idyllic
farm in Puslinch
Twp.. My heart,
however,
belonged to the Eric Coates theatre.
After seeing a film on Theatre
Passe Muraille's The Farm Show, a
ground-breaking production that
brought the lives of Huron County
farmers to auction barns and stages
in the Blyth area, I knew that my
specific arts niche already existed.
Still, I laboured at the farm, saving
enough to buy a small motorcycle
that helped fuel my dreams of star-
dom.
One afternoon another motorcycle
showed up at the farm, ridden by a
friend of the farmer. The bike was
bigger than mine, the rider a few
years older and far cooler than me.
He was also a bona fide farm boy
from Elora, and, much to my horror,
already establishing himself as an
actor.
Despite the intrinsic rivalry
between all young actors, Eric Trask
and I became friends and compared
notes-on our local arts influences as
well as the quickest way to the top. I
had spent a few years kicking around
Guelph's Road' Show Theatre, a
semi-professional company, while
the other Eric had worked extensive-
ly with the Elora Community
Players and Elora Poverty Theatre.
Soon after, we both pursued for-
mal training in. Toronto. Trask shone
in the well-rounded York. University
theatre program while I opted for
Ryerson Theatre School's intensive
approach to acting.
We next crossed paths at the
Stratford Festival where we were
both hired as apprentices in the 1986
season. An actor's apprenticeship,
however brief, is arduous. Eric and I
silently hauled furniture, spears and
armor and stood quietly in the back-
ground or roared rhubarb during the
crowd scenes. We did our best to
shine during weekly play readings
and understudy rehearsals.
And the work paid off. Our paral-
lel journeys from farm to stage were
rewarded when we shared the Jean
Chalmers Apprenticeship Award,
given to Stratford's most promising
newcomers.
That was in 1986. Since then
Trask has worked around the coun-
try, including long stints in Calgary
and Vancouver. His partner and the
mother of their three children is
Lorretta Bailey, one of Canada's
most versatile actresses.
I have stayed closer to home, set-
tling with my wife and two children
in Stratford. For the last seven years,
the Blyth Festival, where I work as
an actor and director, has been my
second home.
Fortunately for Blyth, Trask
stayed in touch over the years. This
season, while casting the classic
Canadian musical, Cruel Tears, I
needed to find a singing, handsome
villain who could double as an affa-
ble and hapless small town cop
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named McGillicuddy in a comedy of
the same name. Trask has the intelli-
gence and chameleon quality to
deliver both in spades.
He arrived in Blyth this summer
riding the vintage Suzuki 750 that he
rode when we met. I am heavier, but
his hair is thinner. We still share a
fondness for railing on the state of
the arts at 2 a.m. Our families moved
into a magnifi-
cent, rambling
farmhouse
together this sum-
mer and some-
how managed to
endure the noise
and revelry of
four theatrical
adults and their
collective off-
spring. It has been
glorious.
Watching and directing Trask at
work while our kids tear around, I
often reflect on the chance meeting
of two young actors who left the
farm and made their way in a diffi-
cult business. And it happened
because their home communities,
like Blyth, believed in the arts.
Eric Trask appears in Cruel Tears
and McGillicuddy through
September 15. Visit the Blyth
Festival website at www.blythfesti-
val.com for more details or call 523-
9300.
A Tale of Two Eries
Blyth's ADD reminisces