HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-01-25, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018. PAGE 19.
Entertainment & Leisure
Brussels singing group to host first meeting Feb. 7
A trio of Brussels musicians are
working to create a new singing
group for musically -inclined village
residents beginning on Feb. 7.
Don Chesher, alongside Jim Lee
and Zoey Onn, will be heading up
the group, which will be holding its
inaugural meeting on Wednesday,
Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Brussels,
Morris and Grey Community
Centre.
Chesher says there is no
Just a bit faster
The Novice Crusaders of the Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association (BBMHA) welcomed
the Drayton Defenders to the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre on Saturday.
Unfortunately, it was the Defenders who came ready to light the lamp and stop the home team
that day, as the Crusaders were downed 6-3 by the Defenders. (Denny Scott photo)
commitment to joining the group.
There won't be any performances (at
least for the time being and unless
the group decides it wants to
perform) and the group is open to
potential singers of all ages and
abilities.
At that first meeting, Chesher says
he hopes to have a small
introduction to the group and its
goals, but that the majority of the
meeting will be used to do what the
group is being set up to do: sing.
He says the songs will be mixed
evenly between oldies, show tunes,
country and popular music every
first and third Wednesday of the
month in the upper room of the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre.
Don says that the idea for the
group came to him just before
Christmas when he and his wife
Dale, who sings in the Brussels
United Church choir, welcomed
some friends over to their house. The
night quickly turned musical and ran
until late into the night.
Chesher felt there might be
interest in a singing group in
Brussels and asked Lee and Onn if
they would be involved. Onn will be
the group's conductor and
Marguerite Thomas will work on
some of its administration work.
He said this was something he had
hoped to bring to his home
community of Brussels for decades.
Festival plays on stage across Canada
Plays that were developed and
premiered on stage at the Blyth
Festival are receiving encore
productions across the country this
year.
"This year, a half dozen plays that
were born at the Blyth Festival will
be performed by other Canadian
theatres in the 2018 season. That
reaffirms the Blyth Festival's magic:
selecting and developing plays that
resonate with audiences at home and
across Canada," said Blyth Festival
Artistic Director Gil Garratt. "The
reach that plays from Blyth have had
over the years is astounding. Blyth
Festival plays have won Governor
General's Awards, been produced in
29 countries worldwide, and have
been translated into dozens of
languages, including American sign
language," said Garratt, "but 2018 is
shaping up to be one of our biggest."
Harvest, which premiered at the
Blyth Festival in 2008, is receiving
two productions. It plays at Palace
Theatre, London, Feb. 1 - 10 and at
Thousand Islands Playhouse, July 6
- 29.
Based on the real-life experiences
of the playwright Ken Cameron's
parents, Harvest tells the story of a
farming couple who trade their lives
in the country for a condo in the city.
When they rent their farmhouse to a
young pilot intent on raising a
different "crop," they begin a
journey filled with an assortment of
unforgettable characters.
Ipperwash which premiered at the
Blyth Festival last season, plays at
Native Earth Performing Arts in
Toronto, Feb. 6 - 18, in partnership
with the Blyth Festival.
The play, by Falen Johnson, tells
the story of the Government of
Canada's use of the War Measures
Act to expropriate a 2,400 -acre tract
of land from the Stony Point First
Nation in 1942, and the impact it has
had on the community. Told partly
through the eyes of a veteran who
returned from World War II to find
his home farm gone, the play
chronicles part of the ongoing
rehabilitation of the land that
became Camp Ipperwash.
The Lonely Diner: Al Capone in
Euphemia Township, which
premiered at Blyth Festival i 2012,
plays at Vertigo Theatre in Calgary
from March 10 to April 8.
The play, by Beverley Cooper, is
set in a quiet diner close to the U.S.
border in 1928, the year prohibition
is lifted in Ontario but still held firm
in Chicago.
Prairie Nurse, which premiered at
the Blyth Festival in 2013, plays at
Factory Theatre in Toronto, in April
and May, and Gananoque's
Thousand Islands Playhouse, in
August and September.
Prairie Nurse by Marie Beath
Badian, is a comedy about two
Filipino nurses who come to work at
a small-town Saskatchewan hospital
in the late 1960s. Cultural clashes,
personality differences,
homesickness and the amorous but
dim-witted goalie from the local
hockey team complicate the
women's lives. Based on the true
story of her mother's immigration to
Canada, Beath Badian's play is part
romantic comedy, part farce, and
part cultural history.
Innocence Lost: A Play About
Stephen Truscott, which was first
produced by the Blyth Festival in
2008 and remounted in 2009, plays
at Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre in
May and June. The play, by
Beverley Cooper, tells the story of
Steven Truscott, who was found
guilty and sentenced to be hanged
for the rape and strangulation of 12 -
year -old Lynne Harper.
The Birds and the Bees, which
premiered at the Blyth Festival in
2016, plays at numerous summer
theatres in 2018, including Drayton
Entertainment's Huron County
Playhouse II in August, Theatre
Orangeville and Theatre
Collingwood in May, Port Dover's
Lighthouse Festival and Showboat
Theatre, Port Colborne, in June.
The play, by Mark Crawford,
centres around four characters on a
weekend that may be the last -ever
Turkey Days Festival. Set in two
adjoining bedrooms on a modern
Canadan farm, it tackles sex, love,
science, family and the artificial
insemination of turkeys.
"We're hugely proud of the
singular contribution Blyth plays
have made to Canadian theatre,
coast to coast to coast," said Garratt.
Church hosts Callaway
Phil Callaway is coming to
Wingham to share his wit and
humour for a unique community
event! Phil has written several books
and magazine feature stories.
For 20 years, Phil has been
bringing his trademark humour with
a message to corporations,
conferences, churches, couples,
healthcare workers and sports
teams. "Pure joy!" says the
Canadian Cancer Society. "Phil was
rated number one by our usually
hard -to -please attendees," writes the
president of one large corporation.
"We haven't laughed this hard in
years. It brought our staff together
and helped us rethink our goals, our
definition of success and how to live
a rich life."
"I wish everyone could have the
opportunity to see Phil Callaway
speak in person. His stories not only
amused us, they touched our hearts.
We walked away with a new
perspective on life, with a sense of
the impact we can have on others,
and knowing that someone gets
what we do and values us. In the end
we were brought to tears by Phil's
stories of love compassion, and
loss." — Michelle Hill, President,
Lodge Activity Co-ordinators
Association of Alberta.
Known for a heart-warming mix
of humour and inspiration, Phil's
words revitalize audiences of all
ages — plus he's clean! Information
about Phil can be found on his
website: philcallaway.ab.ca
St. Andrew's is pleased to host
Phil for this community event at the
newly -renovated Wingham Town
Hall Theatre, 274 Josephine Street,
Wingham, on Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30
p.m. Spokesperson Merle
Underwood states that the group is
thrilled that Phil could make time in
his schedule to address the local
community. Tickets are available at
The Gift Chest and The 2 Step in
Wingham for $10 each. Phone
enquiries may also be made to the
church, 519-357-2011.
GODERICH 519 524 7811
FOR MOVIE INFORMATION...
www.movielinks.ca
long distance?? —800-265-3438
After travelling the world and
seeing how impromptu singing
parties would break out in countries
like Ireland and Germany, he
thought the same thing would work
just as well in Canada and he
wondered why it wasn't more
common.
With the help of Lee, who has
been bringing music to Brussels for
the last decade, and Onn, who used
to teach singing, Chesher was
confident the group would have a
strong foundation on which to build.
Chesher says he's hoping the
group will attract a good number of
people will come out on Feb. 7 and
help the group start out on the right
foot.
For more information about the
new group, contact Chesher at 519-
887-8473, Lee at 519-887-9181 or
Onn at 519-887-6336.
PROCEEDS
SUPPORT
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Graduation
Aaron Gross, son of Steven and
Shirley Gross of Blyth, and fiance
of Christine Petersen of Gorrie,
graduated from Western University
with a Doctor of Medicine
degree. Aaron is currently working
as a family medicine resident
at the Chatham Kent hospital.
Congratulations Aaron on your
hard work and achievement! We
are very proud of you. May God
bless you in your career.
Love, your family