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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-03-03, Page 19it 'to 15'0: 'ales. s i° 'M. its t rets t, its son Ltal. tali` KY, 'r.., e xi ai ,e THURSDAY, MARCH 8,1877' rna club to eaford 77 19• $11 $1` 9 '5 0 9 :yy IUANNE FRAYNE lovely leading lady EARL SALTER ... strong performance ROB BUNDY ... great comedy The Bruce -Grey District of the Ontario Collegiate Drama ,,,`Festival, going into its sixth .,,,:season, continues to expand PHIL MAIN its horizons pAtd open doors ... terrific for fuller creativity . and development`of skills. The curtain will go up at eight o'clock at the Meaford Town Hall on March 2 for the first of three consecutive evenings. School participants will be from Port Elgin, Meaford, Kincardine, Owen Sound, Hanover, Goderich and Walkerton. The purpose of the Festival is to privide a showcase for the dramatic talents of teachers and students, and to improve thestandards of live theatre in the high schools. Several innovations in the organization promise to make this an exciting year for drama in the district. The auditorium, the first to be used outside a school, is a fine example of Canada's ar- chitectural heritage. On Thursday evening there will be, at intermission, dramatic exercises for entertainment. On Friday a spectacular assembly prepared by The Bruce• County Audio-visual Department, is planned in the Meaford School for the students and their guests from other schools. The adjudicator for the Bruce -Grey Festival will be Frank. Canino, currently directing Waiting for Godot in Ottawa, coming to Owen Sound .to direct Guys and Dolls in March, going to stage the premiere of an opera at the Guelph Festival in May, and continuing on to direct a documentary at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto in June. The winner of the District Festival will compete next at Trent University on April 21, 22, 23 -- in that case the Host School will be Lakefield College. The all -Ontario showcase is scheduled for May 12, 13 and 14 at the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto. The Ontario Collegiate Drama Festival is sponsored by Simpson -Sears Limited. This company provides the trophies° for the district festivals, sponsors the regional festivals, and un- derwrites the entire cost of the Final Competition, in- cluding awards, travel; ad- judication and " ad- ministration. ;;"� .��w the Fantasticks. ted standing ovation RLEY J. KELLER so much reality that one could almost see it materializing. Fantasticks was ab- Marianne Frayne as Luisa fantastic at the GDCI and Earl Salter as Matt made orium last weekend. a suitably sweet young e most fantastic of all ;,..,couple. Miss Frayne, • a 1 Gallo -, or as his 'talented" soloist, carried the ch friends know him, part well and was at her best in. in duet numbers with Salter, ut a doubt, Phil Main, a good singer and- a corn - standout in the GDCI petent performer. Especially club presentation of pleasing was their version of pular musical that Soon It's Gonna Rain and the scene at some time There Was You. ost drama groups Playing the fathers of the here. Main is corn- young couple were Paul at home on the stage; O'Brien and David St. Jean. • and Jack _Broumpton, Lon- don, the percussionist added immeasurably to the total show. Director Philip McMillan said he was pleased with the show. He expressed his deep satisfaction that from Thursday evening , to Saturolay evening, the quality of the performance im- proved.'' "Sometimes performances tend to go downhill and I•don't tented actor who has Together they were very good Co unty CO �} o pe rate RadishThey moved easily in sty to make audiences in Never Say No and Planta im and love him; and : like this to happen because I feel it cheats the audiences," said Mr. McMillan. "But each night, in my opinion and in the opinion of the musicians who accompanied the cast, the show got a little better." Assistant -director and stage manager was Leslie . Hogan; stage manager was: Marva Jackson; costumes were by Margaret McMillan; and lighting was by John Kloeze. me er to boot His sin ' g thea rtines, singing lustily ber was certainly :noya:e. onRural. Outreach _osion of Try To ndinne throughout. Most able. Seldom ,has the h f i two een sung with lunge,64.44 l oun as enry ant"' David Smith as Mortimer - lloalso captivated the,, added just the right touch of e in It Depends On humor to the show. Bundy is ou Pay with Paul ' always a strong actor in and David St. Jean Round' and Round e only female in the ctiorlk Marianne In .his black pants and his large black Gallo stole the show er he appeared on hile El Gallo was the xciting actor on the stage, he was well ed by the seven other ers. cEwen as The Mute - asked pantomime er - was excellent. hitt spoke not a word, manded the attention e audience as ,he d the props for the ecame a tree or a *all oment's notice; and nasium. Louise McGregor,' imaginary blocks and Clinton, the pianist; Mary .. imaginary wall with V Hearn, .Clinton, the harpist; comedy parts and Smith managed to "die" with some elegance for the audience's pleasure. Two things gave the production some additional polish, taking it somewhat out of the""realm of the usual high school shows. First of all, the stage was tastefully and expertly decorated. Miss Doreen MacKenzie and her art students take the credit for this and deserve much praise for a job well done. Secondly, the musical accompaniment was delightful, although sometimes a trifle over- powering for the singers; in the accoustically bad gym - Everybody does love Opal Huron County has agreed to co-operate with the University of Guelph in a Rural Development Outreach Project to be carried out in the county over the next three to six years. County councillors voted to give the project their support when they met in regular session at Goderich last Thursday. The project, funded by a $577,350 grant from the Kellogg Foundation, is aimed at developing means by which resources and ex- pertise at the University can be put to use in the rural development process. Huron was chosen because it is an area already in contaotpwijh the University of Guelph and one which is advanced in its planning process. Now that the University has been assured co-operation they are expected to appoint a project director in the near future and County council has athy Jenkins RLEY J. KELLER tan one adequately the authenticity and Kathy Jenkins always to Goderich Little e production in which ays? There'sonly one hat suits Mrs. Jenkins - professional. Y Jenkins was . what "Everybody Loves so entertaining. While ther . five performers. in good,; strong; efforts, ,, Kathy sparkled like a diamond amid clever IS. From , the second p`ed onto the -stage t final hoist of the tea athy; Jenkins was in and, of the audience. lied her. cted by Jennifer Black, involves�,an aging bilector named Opal ,Jenkins ' who ,rents.. ln.her out•of-the-way fta, three . shady Berg Gloria :Gulock wean) • Brad Winter Nicholson)-. and Bozo ;(Frank his trio of by dera'� aplin to insure Opal's. life for $30,000 and then see that she is the victim of a fatal accident. The plan was to split the $30,000 three ways to allow Gloria, Brad and Sol to have their chance at living it up, each in his or her own fashion. But Opal whose motto it is to ' look for the good in everyone, loves her three tenants and one by one, she wins them over. As Sol puts it, "First I wanted' to kill her. Now I'm thinking about marrying her. Funny thing. It 'usually 'the other way around." Frank" Bissett as Sol turned in a 'solid performance. Not quite so convincing as Sol the crook, he.was just excellent as Sol the softie. His proposal to Opal was tender yet fitting. "I' want to pull;: your wagon." Perhaps; his best scene was the one in whichhe actually hauled Opal's little yellow junk wagon across the stage.. in "a. 'purposeful demon - titration of his deep feelings for^the lady - 4a t'o K ai the... c ew a : Gloria., gave ih audience appointed Goderich Reeve'f Bill Clifford as its representative on theproject advisory board. The county planning board is to act as the liason agency between the council and the University team. Annual progress reports are to be submitted to council and the agreement approved on Thursday provides that the County or the University may withdraw,from the project if differences are encountered which cannot be resolved by adjustment or dialogue. Council also voted to establish a subcommittee to conduct a review of the Ontario Building Code. It was agreed that this sub- committee should consist of three members 'and G.H. Stirling, R.M. Williamson and H. Knight, along with Warden D.A. McNeil in his ex officio capacity, were appointed to the new body. 1Ima Young. (right) of Goderich watches with interest as Barbara. Moerbeek completes the elderly woman's income tax forth. Mrs:'Yo'ung. as: one of about 20 senior citizens In - Goderich who took advantage of the Huron Volunteer Bureau's income tax service operated Monday morning at MacKay Hall. The seniors were able to catch the Lions' bus tor a ride to the hall to have their income tax form filled out. The clinic will be open again from 9:30 a.m. to 11: 30 a.m. on the four Mondays in March. (staff -photo) - Seniors tax clinic open The Huron Volunteer Bureau is helping out senior citizens once a week through the month of, March by setting up weekly income tax clinics at MacKay Hall in Goderich. The clinic will operate from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. through four Mondays in March and is open to all seniors to come in and have their income tax forms completed. Isobel MacDonald, spokesman for the bureau, said similar clinics will be open in Wingham, Clinton, Seaforth and Exeter, all operating on volunteer help. She said the service is sponsored by the bureau which operates out of a Clinton office which can be reached at 482-3037. The service kicked off last Monday when about 20 seniors brought their complicated invome tax forms and their Queen of GLT c�medy good insight into the character she portrayed. Although she may have carried the Brooklyn -type - accent just a little too far for the taste of some in the - audience, she did show that Gloria was a product of a loveless background. She also did a terrific job of allowing Gloria to accept love when it was offered, and the audience couldn't help but, be touched by ,.:her performance when Opal drank the kerosene to save;,Brad's hide, The author of the play in- tended for Brad to be a pitiful character, but Don Nicholson in the role just missed the mark. Nicholson didn't come across well as the educated refined chemistry professor who through a stroke of fate had been sent to prison where he developed lung problems. Instead of portrayingl3rad as a bitter man wliro held the good of the world in con- tempt, Nicholson made Brad into sor'newhat of an egotist for whom the audience never realty did develop any. warm '-feelings a Was by' far the most believable` as a villan, ,but he just didn't bridge the gap to become a repentent soul who understood and admired Opal's efforts to _. save,his life. The cast did co-operate well together to make Opal's hit- and-run accident into an hilarious moment. And the Amy iENKciNS professional scene with Opal and the doctor (Dan Worthy) was probably the best in the entire show. Although the program noted that Dan had stepped into the part when another actor had become ill, Dan managed to carry off with some style the role of the doctor who was to do Opal's physical examination for her insurance policy. In his minor role as police officer Joe, Chris Cavanaugh made another appearance on the GLT stage. His per- formance was adequate for the part although the audience might have preferred a tougher approach in his final scene where he finds Opal lying helplesson the couch in a room doused 'With kerosene and Brad ready to strike a match. "Finally, set construction by Rtith Leonard, Andrew 'Telford, Kevin Telford, Terry Toombs and Dan Worthy was "'absolutely excellent. It was a tricky set, requiring a portion }of the, roof to fall in. and Completely hide Opal who 'gS�Hv y makes an astounding escape and emerges through an• opening under the stairs. Not only must the ceiling cave in, it had to be quickly and easily raised again for the following scene. Mrs. Leonard and her assistants did a great job and deserve the commendation of the audience for this bit of workmanship. All in all, Everybody Loves Opal was a treat for GLT goers. The audience on Thursday night received the production well and as ex- pected, gave raves to Kathy Jenkins whose talent as a comedienne is appreciated and cherished by her many fans. GLT ' buffs now hook for- ward to the next production in the spring which is to be directed by Frank Bissett. There's lots of rush seats now that the troupe has moved to a four -night format, so plan right new' to get out to the third play ,to ' e a look at `�eis really local th atr like. T-9 earning slips into MacKay Hall for one of seven volunteers to work on. The helpers include Barbara Moerbeek, Mary Robinson, Vera Larder, Frank Washington, -Carl Worsell, Auleen Currie and Mrs. MacDonald. The service is open to people over the age of 65 and in some cases to disabled people getting disability pensions. Mrs. MacDonald said the volunteers will go to homes. to help with the forms but if it is at all possible the people should come to MacKay Hall since the volunteers can work more efficiently there. She said the seniors can catch the Lions bus for a ride to MacKay adding that this is the fourth year the `no charge' service has operated in Goderich. Frank Bisset, left, plays the part of Saul, the head of a crooked perfume company and here schemes with his head chemist, Don Nicholson; on ways to continueathett operation of watering down perfume and selling it door in London without attracting the attention} police.