Village Squire, 1978-02, Page 38UPDATE
It's been a year of disappointments on
the theatre scene in London (one might
even be tempted to ask what theatre
scene?)
First there was the crisis at Centre Stage
when an expected Canada Works grant
failed to materialize, and now it's a
decision by London city council to renege
on the last third of its expected donation to
help renovate Theatre London's home
base, The Grand Theatre.
The council had given a $160,000 grant
in 1976 and added a $157,000 grant in 1977
and had budgeted for a further $100,000
grant in 1978. Early in the new year,
however, the council voted not to go ahead
with the grant.
The loss of the $100,000 won't halt the
plans for the renovation of the historic
77 -year-old theatre which has been closed
this winter undergoing major changes that
will see two theatres built into the building
which once housed just one. The new
complex is expected to open on schedule in
November.
But the city's failure to come through
with the total $488,000 it had originally
pledged will mean higher costs for the
project since the theatre will have to
borrow money to replace the donation until
the money can be raised elsewhere.
The city's backing out of its promise is
the only case of pledes not being fulfilled,
the theatre says. The Federal department
of the secretary of state has come up with
S1.5 million, Wintario, $1.6 million and
$1.8 has been raised in private and
corporate donations meaning that only
$27,000 of the original amount was left to
be raised --until the city backed out.
The new theatre will have an 800 -seat
main theatre and a studio stage seating
150-200.
CENTRE STAGE GETS REPREIVE
Meanwhile over at Centre Stage in the
city's City Centre Mall, the news is good
for a change. With a little help from his
friends (including Mayor Jane Bigelow and
London West M.P. Judd Buchanan the
federal public works minister) Ken
Livingstone has managed to reverse an
earlier decision which had denied his group
a Canada Works grant to carry on this year.
The Centre Stage company had been
presented by the City Centre with a
renovated theatre this year but then had
been forced to cancel its planned
productions because of lack of funds,
despite small, first -time -ever grants from
both the Canada Council and the Ontario
Arts Council.
The new grant is for $40,994 and will
help pay the salaries of actors and crew for
the small theatre (seating about 100
persons). It was received because extra
funds became available and it was decided
36, VILLAGE SQUIRE/FEBRUARY 1978.
they should be given to the theatre
company after appeals that went all the
way up to Manpower Minister Bud Cullen.
The money will mean the theatre will be
able to reopen on Feb. 8 with a production
of two comedies by U.S. playwright David
Mamet: The Duck Variation and Sexual
Perversity in Chicago. That will be
followed on March 15 by Little Eyolf, a new
translation of Henrik Ibsen's play by
Londoner John Lingard. On April 19 the
British hit Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, by Pam
Gems will open. It's still playing in the
West End in London. All the above plays
will be making their Canadian premieres.
A final season ending studio scale
production may be added but no script has
been chosen yet.
Livingstone is grateful to be going back
to work this year but notes that there is still
no long-term security for the group. While
he hopes that the two arts coucils will
continue their support next year, there is
still no guarantee. "I really don't think I
want to go down to the wire like this
again," he said. "My nervous system is
getting too old for this kind of thing."
ANOTHER NEW RESTAURANT FOR
STRATFORD..OR MAKE THAT THREE
Stratford Festival visitors long complain-
ed about the lack of good restaurants in the
city but in recent years there's been an
explosion of new dining spots.
The latest addition to the list is a
three-story, three-room restaurant on
Downie street. The new venture is run by
Jim and Joan Carmichael both of whom
have wide background in the food
business: he after 11 years with Signet
Food Systems, which controls several
London dining spots and she as manager of
the Oil Rig in Petrolia.
The restaurant is called the James Inn
and will be decorated in a British colonial
theme, featuring a fireplace on the main
floor. The first floor, below ground, will
offer wine and snacks such as oyster,
shrimp and some sandwiches. The main
floor will have a formal, fully -licenced
restaurant and the second floor will have a
buffet -style service.
The couple hope to have the new
restaurant open April 1.
SUPER FAN HELPS MITCHELL
GLEE CLUB
Behind every good man there's a good
woman, the old saying goes. Does that go
for glee clubs too?
It would seem to in the case of the
Mitchell Glee Club where Brodhagen's
Margot Ballard has made it her cause to
make sure the glee club has the best
possible community support. Although she
went to the first glee club concert "with
trepidation" fearing she'd be bored stiff.
Mrs. Ballard quickly became a fan of the
group and was responsible for the forming
of a booster club to support the efforts of
the club.
At present there are 115 members in the
glee club which is very popular with local
audiences (usually drawing about 800 to a
concert) and was the first high school choir
to perform with the London Sinfonia.
Although she's never been elected
president. she's generally regarded as
head of the 40 member group that has
sprung up to help the club fight for such
things as new uniforms. The choir has had
to wear the same uniforms for seven years
"now and they're beginning to show it. Also
because there are only 115 uniforms there
can be only 115 members of the choir
although more are interested. One of the
criteria in selecting new recruits has even
been who would fit the uniforms, says
Lorne Dotterer director of music at
Mitchell District High School.
But aside from getting new uniforms.
Mrs. Ballard has even bigger goals in mind
for the group. "The Mitchell glee club is
already well-known in several areas around
Ontario and it is certainly well-known in
the Mitchell area but we'd like the choir to
become well-known across Canada --even
in Europe if it's possible." she says. "Who
knows? Some day we might even perform
with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra"
she says. although admitting that this
wouldn't be in the near future.
Strickland
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