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Page 24 Times -Advocate, lune 22, 1994
Rural location is the trend for special effects
Craig puts on explosive demonstration for firefighters, Motion Pictures could be made in your community
By Erin Lobb
T -A staff
DASHWOOD - 1t was out before
it was even going. That was what
most onlookers had to say about the
car explosion in Dashwood Mon-
day evening.
The demonstration was part of
Ron Craig's presentation to Mutual
Aid, a Huron County Firefighters
Association.
Craig, who operates a special ef-
Ron Craig, left; spoke with local firefighters before blowing up
a car in Dashwood Monday night.
Peter Pan brings a new
dimension to theatre
Huron Country Playhouse
starts season with
musical -comedy
Reviewed by Fred Groves
T -A staff
GRAND BEND - Can you crow like a rooster?
Do you always dream about being a child and
never growing up?
Well if that's the case, then the Huron Country
Playhouse's production Peter Pan is for you.
Last Wednesday night, the Playhouse opened it's
1994 summer theatre season with the musical
which, although had several outstanding cast mem-
bers, will no doubt be remembered for it's inagural
use of the flytowcr.
Peter, played by Leisa Way, bursts through a win-
dow into thc bedroom of Michael (Jon -Erik Lap-
pano), Wendy (Cara Hunter) and John (Benjamin
Canny) and immediately has the audience captivat-
ed.
While the cast is good, it is once again the behind
thc scenes work led by set desinger Robert J. Ivey
and production stage manager Gloria Day which
makes this play a hit.
At the Playhouse until July 2, Peter Pan. was
written in England by Sir James M. Barrie in 1904
but it was not until 1954 that it appcard as a mu-
sical -comedy. Among thc famous names who have
played the role of Pctcr arc Sandy Duncan, Mary
Martin and Cathy Rigby.
There arc several hidden messages in the story
one being why. in the dream of the children, their
father who is a kind and gentle soul, is also the kid-
napping Captain Hook.
Also, a bit of history accompanies this story as
Barrie wrote Peter Pan when England had a pro-
gram called Bernardo Boys in which orphaned boys
were sent to Canada to livc.
Wednesday night i asked someone during the in-
termission why Pctcr has always been played by a
female._
The answer I received was that it takes a person
with a great deal of agility and someone, in Way's
case who has a wide vocal range.
Huron Country Playhouse's director -
choreographer Max Reimer is no stranger to this
play as he was the Associate Director of Peter Pan
when it was a Jessie -Award winner in Vancouver
and Seattle.
One of Rcimcr's talents, as illustrated in his first
year at the Playhouse last year, is to recruit talented
supporting actors.
Salvatore Scoz.ari who plays the pirate Smcc is
hilarious and he looks a lot like the late Saturday ,
Night Live great John Bclushi. Smee is the sidekick 3
of the crocodile -fearing Captain Hook played by
David Nairn.
You can't teach someone to be funny on the stage
and Nairn has a wonderful gift much like another
gentleman who has graced the Playhouse, Paul
Brown.
if there is one complaint I have about this play,
it's that the opening act spends far too much time in
the children's bedroom. The dialougc between Peter
and Wendy is just too long. I wanted to sec Never -
land.
This three -act production has a little audience
participation as Peter has the crowd clap loudly to
bring his companion Tinker Bell hack to life.
Wednesday night, 1 heard a young theatre -goer
say to Pctcr, "I believe in fairies."
Believing in fairies and believing in being able to
never grow up is what this play is all about. It
makes you think a little, it makes you dream a lot
and among everything else, it makes you laugh.
(he Iluron Country Playhouse is a believer in
using local talent and for those who were Pirates
and Lost Boys, congratulations on your acting de-
but. Those are Kerian O'Rourke. Sandra Steele.
!Hilda Steele, Bill .Steele. Greg Bryden, Jonathon
Morton. Ben lloogenboom, Andre Mayer, Joey De
nomme, Christopher Gorza and Ashley Keld-
ers.)
"I'm flying!" Jon -Erik Lappano (Michael), left; Cara Hunter (Wendy), Benjamin Canny
(John), and Leisa Way (Peter Pan) star in Peter Pan...the musical playing at Huron Country
Playhouse until July 2.
fects company in Toronto spoke to
firefighters about what to expect if
a motion picture company ap-
proached them to help with film,
and the procedures and safety to be
aware of.
"The new trend in motion pic-
tures is moving toward using rural
locations for special effects, instead
of Toronto, New York, L.A., or
London, England," said Craig.
Craig, who has dont effects for
movies such as Death Wish 5 star-
ring Charles Bronson, said that ex-
plosions he sets up in Toronto re-
quire emergency task force bomb
squad members to be present.
Similarly, in Califomia the Fire
Marshall, or a representative, must
be on hand for any explosions.
Craig adds that in rural Ontario the
Fire Marshall shows no interest in
these projects.
Special effects that Craig pro-
duces have created explosions that
have generated 20 million BTU's of
heat in five seconds.
He explained to firefighters how
to ensure the safety of the crew and
the arca by freeing the arca of haz-
ards such as underground gas tanks,
overhead gas mains, or other flam-
mable liquids.
He explained a special technique
he uses to prevent overhead sprink-
lers from going off without neutral-
izing the enure system.
Says Craig, ''It's important not to
turn your sprinklers off in case of
an emergency in another part of thc
building."
He advised the fire departments
to examine a copy of the script first
to get a sense of the type of effects
that are going to be involved.
"If there's one thing you can
count on," says Craig, "its that mo-
vie crews always downplay how
big the effects will be."
The car explosion Craig prepared
involved stripping down the intcr-
ior of the car, to expose the crew to
minimal toxic material, and pre -
weakened the body to allow it to
come apart easily.
Whcn Craig isn't working on sets
he is teaching a visual effect.; class
to third -year university students, or
working on a tire recycling project
in Huron Park.
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