The Citizen, 1992-06-24, Page 30PAGE 30. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1992.
TheatreReview
Way superbly cast in role of Maria
BY LARRY CARDIFF
The Rogers and Hammerstein
musical classic ‘The Sound of
Music’ opened the 21st season of
the Huron Country Playhouse. The
play marks the 200th show that the
Playhouse's Artistic Director and
General Manager Tony Lloyd has
directed.
The Sound Of Music originally
starred Mary Martin when it first
opened in New York city on Nov.
15, 1959 and ran for 1,443
performances. It won six Tony
He takes the cake
Wally McSween, the eldest actor to appear at Blyth Festival celebrated his 70th birthday,
Friday with members of the company. Mr. McSween will be appearing as Dad MacKay in The
Glorious 12th which opens at Blyth Festival on July 10.
Richard Monette announced as new
artistic director for Stratford
Mr. Thomas C. O'Neill, President
of the Stratford Festival Board of
Governors, announced June 15 in
Toronto the appointment of
Richard Monette as the eighth
Artistic Director of the Stratford
Festival. Mr. Monette will succeed
David William, who completes his
fourth season as Artistic Director
on October 31, 1993.
“I take great pride and pleasure
in announcing this appointment”,
said Mr. O’Neill, “which represents
the fruition of a seed that was
planted almost 40 years ago, when
Tyrone Guthrie said of the newly
formed Stratford Festival, ‘Finally,
we decided that the project must be
demonstrably a Canadian one,
carried out not merely by Canadian
initiative, and with Canadian
finance but by Canadian actors.’
Jean Gascon was the first Canadian
to lead this great theatre, but
Richard Monette is the first Artistic
Director who could truly be called
a child of Stratford. He is an actor
and director who was trained and
nurtured at the Festival and who
has contributed enormously to the
community of Stratford and to the
theatre since he first appeared on its
stage in 1965.”
“I am particularly pleased that
prior to commencing his three year
term on November 1, 1993, Mr.
Monette will serve as Artistic
Director Designate beginning on
January 1. This will give him the
opportunity to work with Artistic
Director David William throughout
1993 and ensure a smooth and
efficient transition to the 1994
Stratford Festival season.”
Richard Monette was born in
Montreal in 1944. He began his
professional acting career playing
the title role in Hamlet at the Crest
Theatre in 1964. Since that time he
has acted in over 40 roles al the
awards, including best musical. The
film version, starring Julie
Andrews and Christopher Plummer
in the starring roles, won the
Academy Award for best film
1965. This final collaboration
between Rodgers and Hammerstein
was destined to become the world's
most beloved musical.
Myself, I have never been a big
fan of the movie version but I
found myself pleasantly enjoying
the Playhouse production. The
energy and enthusiasm of the cast
more than shows why the play has
Stratford Festival, including Henry
V, Romeo, Mercutio, Caliban and
Hamlet. He has also appeared in
productions throughout Canada, the
United Kingdom and the United
States, including roles on
Broadway and in the West End. In
addition to performing in or
directing 30 of Shakespeare's 37
plays, Mr. Monette has appeared in
over 30 film and television
productions.
He first began work as a director
in 1978 with Come and Go four
plays by Samuel Beckett. He has
since gone on to direct eight
productions at Stratford, including
his acclaimed Taming of the Shrew
in 1988, which was taped for
broadcast by CRC, and his
innovative As You Like It (1990),
set in 1758 New France. Monette
has directed for Young People's
Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre
Plus, the Grand Theatre and the
Citadel Theatre Young Company.
He was an Associate Director of
the Stratford Festival in 1988, 1989
and 1990, Artistic Director of the
Citadel Theatre Young Company in
1989, and in 1990 directed St. Joan
at Theatre Plus, for which he won a
Dora Mavor Moore Award.
In 1991, Mr. Monette directed his
first opera, Beethoven's Fidelio, for
the Canadian Opera Company. This
season at Stratford he directed the
great Shakespearean tragedy
Romeo and Juliet and is currently
rehearsing the contemporary
comedy Shirley Valentine. In late
summer he will direct Power Play,
a new Canadian play by Martin
Hunter, at the Tarragon Theatre. At
the end of the year, Monette will
direct his own adaptation of
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,
from the novel by Henry Farrell,
for the Grand Theatre.
In commenting on his delight at
been brought back by popular
demand.
The play opens in Salzburg,
Austria in the last peaceful days of
1930's post-war Europe. When a
postulant, Sister Maria, proves too
high-spirited for the religious life
of a convent, she is sent to serve as
governess for the seven children of ;
the widowed naval captain Von
Trapp. Her freedom of spirit
coupled with her increasing rapport
with the youngsters gradually
captures the heart of the stern
accepting this challenging position,
Richard Monette said, “This is a
very special day for me. It
represents a maturing of my work
at the Stratford Festival, where my
talent has been nurtured for 20
seasons. David William gave me
my first speaking role at Stratford,
and has been a mentor ever since. I
am grateful for his continuing
support. The opportunity to lead
the committed team of theatre
professionals who work at the
Stratford Festival is, to quote Juliet,
“... an honour I dreamed not of.”
Run extended
for Stratford play
The Stratford Festival announced
June 18 the extension of its
production of Gilbert & Sullivan's
H.M.S. Pinafore for a further two
weeks. The final performance will
now take place on Sunday,
November. H.M.S. Pinafore,
directed and choreographed by
Brian Macdonald, opened to
exuberant notices on June 4.
This classic Gilbert & Sullivan
operetta features Marsha Bagwell
as Little Buttercup, Michael Brian
as Ralph Rackstraw, Douglas
Chamberlain as Sir Joseph Porter,
David Dunbar as Captain Corcoran,
Joanne Hounsell as Josephine, and
Thomas Goerz as Dick Deadeye,
with Doug Adler, Danny Austin,
Lori Chiles, David Connolly, Allan
Craik, Bruce Dow, Barbara Dunn-
Prosser, Timothy French, Pamela
Gerrand, Liz Gilroy, Kristina Marie
Guiguet, David Hogan, Ellen
Horst, Melanie Janzen, Monique
Lund, Brian McKay, Martin
Murphy, Michael Querin, Ian
Simpson, Donna Starnes, John
Watson, and Shawn Wright.
captain. There is a most touching
moment when she flees back to the
Abbey, confused and unsure of her
true feelings. After the couple
marry, they return from their
honeymoon and discover that
Austria has been invaded by the
Nazi's and that Von Trapp has been
drafted for immediate service in the
Germany Navy.
Although a musical comedy
about love, The Sound Of Music
has a very serious undertone
reminding us of a time when the
Nazi's were beginning their mad
campaign across Europe. The play's
inspirational finale, truly
emphasizing the theme of love and
love of freedom, relates the
family's narrow escape over the
mountains to Switzerland on the
very eve of World War II.
Nearly everyone by this time has
been exposed to the musical score,
but Musical director Jim Hill must
be praised for the beautiful
renditions of the title song, “Climb
Every Mountain”, “So Long,
Farewell” and “Edelweiss”, itself a
touching tribute to a nation under
siege. It was a pleasure seeing the
songs so well performed in the
atmosphere they belong.
Leisa Way, with her beautifully
clear voice, has been superbly cast
in the lead as Sister Maria the
flighty postulant prone to whims of
fancy. Ms. Way has played many
musical roles including the lead in
Canada's most famous musical. She
starred as Anne Shirley in ‘Anne of
Green Gables' at the Charlottetown
Festival in Prince Edward Island
for five years. She has a fantastic
soprano voice with a vocal range
from low G to high C. Ms. Way's
formal training includes Voice and
Drama training from the University
of Toronto/Royal Conservatory of
Music and the opera program al Sir
Wilfred Laurier University.
Playing opposite Ms. Way in the
role of Captain Von Trapp is Steve
Yorke. Mr. Yorke last appeared at
the Huron Country Playhouse in
‘Brigadoon’ and ‘Babes In Arms’
in 1987. He was the recipient of a
Tyrone Guthrie Award at the
Stratford Festival in 1983.
The quality of the singing and
acting of the seven children
portraying the Von Trapp children
touches not only the character of
Captain Von Trapp but the
audience as well. Ashley Erb and
Lisa Cameron as the two youngest
Von Trapp children, Marta Gretl,
steal the show with their adorable
performances.
Helen Beavis brings fresh
A reminder from your your
’’Chimney Dentist”...
If you don't take care of the safety of your
chimney you could run into some very
serious problems...just as you can run into
problems if you don't care for your teeth
regularly.
STU'S CHIMNEY SWEEP
’’Stove Shoppe”
Whitechurch 357-2719
humour to the role of Mother
Abbess, the sympathetic head of
the convent. Veteran performer
David Mallis provides comic relief
as Uncle Max, whose affiliations
lean which ever way the wind
blows and who seeks to exploit the
musical talent of the children.
There are great supporting perform
ances by Dianne Latchford as the
housekeeper Frau Schmidt, and
John McHenry as the Franz the
butler, who turns out to be a Nazi
sympathizer.
Set Designer D'Arcy Poultney
must be commended on a job well
done. The elaborate sets of the Von
Trapp home were quite impressive
in all it's elegance and splendor.
The costumes and wardrobe by Jo
Zvonkin are colourful and authentic
right down to the Nazi uniforms
and brown shirts.
The cast brought forth a truly
great performance in a fast
entertaining pace. They appeared to
be really enjoying themselves and
this is perhaps the true secret
behind the play's popularity and
success. Applause was quite
frequent throughout the perform
ance and quite lengthy at the play's
end, the intensity increasing for the
characters of Maria Von Trapp and
Mother Abbess.
‘The Sound Of Music’ will be
running at the Huron Country
Playhouse from June 16 to July 4.
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Gary Walden
482-7675
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING
Wingham and
Area Seniors Day
Centre
Monday June 29th
7:00 p.m.
350 Josephine St.
Wingham, Ont.
Guest Speaker:
Beverley Brown
On:
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