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The Citizen, 1996-03-20, Page 23HAPPY 104TH BIRTHDAY Charlotte Bell March 27 ENDS THURSDAY /`` ENDS Piehert 19AI 41/2K 1.9isers. Air • PARK THEATRE •• • .p.• GODERICH 524.1811 MATINEE THURS., MAR. 21 2 PM ALL SEATS PAR ENTAL $ $4.00 Sponsored by Blyth United Church Free Admission Lunch Available Fri.-Thurs. Mar. 22-28 ACADEMY AWARD' NOMINEE BEST ACTOR - Richard Dreyfuss "TWO THUMBS UPP.p\A-z_ Mr. Holland's Opus 8 PM Nitely fir FAmILY 1 Mal& EMIT 2nd WEEK Richard Dreyfuss FREE FAMILY SHOW March 24 2 PM Sponsored by Goderich Optimists "LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY!" P•S/ 55555 1/11111/11W1 ouN Torn TN1 WOAD 11 K11 MM. 14. FAMILY LONG DISTANCE? CALL 1-800-255-3438 FOR TOLL FREE MOVIE INFO SPRING MADNESS TALENT AUCTION Blyth Community Centre REG BADLEY 527-2904 Friday, March 29, 1996 7:30 p.m. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1996 PAGE 23. E ntertainment Rita MacNeil comes to Blyth Amos announces Blyth's season First reading Blyth Festival's Artistic Director Janet Amos and her husband actor Ted Johns give a preview reading of one of this season's offerings Ma Belle Mabel, the story of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, who was deaf. The season was announced at a pot luck dinner on Thursday evening. A western Ontario cultural insti- tution of the current era will salute a western Ontario cultural institu- tion of the past when the Blyth Fes- tival opens it season June 21 with Barndance Live! The play, a salute to the CKNX Travelling Barndance will be creat- ed by Paul Thompson and members of the cast in a "collective" method in which all members of the com- pany contribute. Thompson, who grew up in Listowel, remembers those days when the coming of the barndance, with stars like Al Cher- ney, Johnny Brent, Earl Heywood and Ernie King, was an event of huge proportions in local commu- nities. He's been planning a tribute for years and this year, the 70th anniversary of Barn Dance creator Doc Cruikshank first putting CKNX on the air from a little radio repair shop in Wingham, seemed the perfect opportunity. Speaking at a ceremony unveil- ing the 1996 Festival season, Jack Gillespie, general manger of CKNX radio, said his company was honoured by this remembrance of the Barn Dance and had decided to centre its anniversary celebrations around the opening of the play. "There is a great parallel with Blyth Festival and the station: start- ing with vision and succeeding through good years and bad." Janet Amos, artistic director of the Festival said the play hopes to recreate the positive energy of the Barn Dance, the tradition of creat- ing western Ontario's own stars. Barn Dance Live! is one of three CAPITOL THEATRE 291.3070 All Seats $4.25 LISTOWEL . Dolby Surround Sound Stereo STARTS FRIDAY March 22 - 28 7 p.m. Saturday - Sunday Matinee 2:00 p.m. • MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS (F) (Richard Dreyfuss) • 9:30 p.m. BROKEN ARROW • (John Travolta - Christian Slater) (AA) new plays and one play being pre- sented at Blyth for the first time. The season's second opening, open- ing June 26, will be Ma Belle Mabel, written by Maritimer Cindy Cowan and first presented by the Mulgrave Road Co-op Theatre on Cape Breton Island. It tells the story of the love between Alexan- der Graham Bell and his wife Mabel. Bell, besides being famous for his invention of the telephone and other creations was a teacher of the deaf, and was hired to teach Mabel Hubbard who was deafened at age five by of scarlet fever. He soon fell in love with her (she took longer to fall in love with him). Their summer home, Beinn Bhreagh at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, became a place of joy, frustration, heartbreak and triumph as they built a life together. "He didn't want special recogni- tion because of his inventions," Amos said. "She never wanted spe- cial treatment because of her dis- ability." The third play of the season will be a return of one of the most popu- lar playwrights developed by the Festival over the years. Colleen Curran, who wrote Cake Walk and Local Talent, will bring her newest madcap comedy, Villa Eden, to the Festival opening July 24. Villa Eden is a ramshackle bed and breakfast run by a ditzy warm- hearted proprietor who loves movies and Italians (Villa Eden is named after a hotel in the 1950s movie Three Coins in a Fountain). To the newly opened B&B comes a rush of strange guests including an obsessive archeologist, a mysteri- ous movie star travelling incognito, a budding architect and a set of quarreling triplets. In the midst of all the fun a shocking death occurs, raising the question, was it death by poison or death by dessert? Gordon Portman, an Edmonton writer new to the Festival, is author of Fireworks, the final play of the season. Opening July 31, it is the story of three generations of men from one family and one woman, who is the light of her husband's life, a solace to her son, and a life- line to her grandson. Her death shatters their world but her vivid presence in memory lingers to guide them in their new lives. The opening celebration was attended by several dozen local res- idents, friends of the Festival and regional media. Festival president Keith Roulston thanked everyone who had played a part in the remarkable turnaround of the the- atre in the past two years, from a deficit of $229,000 to a healthy financial picture. With government cutbacks, however, the danger isn't over, he said, and that's why the Festival will be launching a major campaign to write-off the mortgage remaining from the expansion pro- gram of the late 1980s. If the mort- gage can be burned the money now used for mortgage payments can be used to offset the effect of grant cuts from government agencies, he said. ' CA H SAVI GS 0. 07. ON '3.00 THURSDAYS Drop into either of our offices any Thursday With your word classified (maximum 20 words) and pay only $3.00 (paid In advance). That's 61.00 oft regular rates. C t • Engagement TERPSTRA-VAN DYK Charlie and Catherine Terpstra and Jim and Alice Van Dyk would like to announce the forthcoming marriage of their children Anna Marie to John Peter. Marriage to take place on March 30, 1996. St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Brussels. By Janice Becker For fans of Rita MacNeil, they can expect a little old, a little new, more acoustics and selections from her latest release Porch Songs, when they attend one of two con- certs to be staged at Blyth Memori- al Hall, March 23, says the Cape Bretoner with the lilting voice. "I am looking forward to per- forming in Blyth again and to going on tour this spring," said MacNeil, in a telephone interview from her home on Cape Breton Island Other stops on her province-wide tour, which runs from March 19 through April 6, includes such places as Keswick, Kingston, Thunder Bay, and Brantford. MacNeil, a recent recipient of a Gemini award for her highly-rated television variety show Rita and Friends, has just been renewed for another season. "We have a broad range of talent (on the show) and I really enjoy doing it," she says. Another change in her life recent- ly is her signing with EMI Canada. When asked what she expects or hopes for with her new recording deal, she laughingly replies, "After years in this business, I expect nothing and hope for the best." Seriously though, MacNeil says she is excited to be with EMI. "I can continue to do what I want to do for the love of music." The event is sponsored by the Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary. TRACK haul, 7 Days' ',WAGERING Friday 1st Appearance at Jonny's... MIDNIGHT RAMBLERS "An evening of Rolling Stones" THE BEST "STONES" TRIBUTE IN CANADA! Tickets $5.00 On Sale Now!