The Citizen, 2003-06-25, Page 35PAGE 10. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2003.
Franken plays A self-made man who never made much’
By Sarah Mann
Citizen staff
Having lived out east for five
years in a house with no running
water is coming in handy for Jerry
Franken as he tackles a major role at
the Festival this summer.
For five years Franken lived in an
old house just outside of Halifax.
The house was heated by a wood
stove and had no running water but,
despite the hard winters, he loved
the east coast.
That love for, and experience of,
the east is proving to be an asset as
he takes on the role of
Newfoundlander Jacob Mercer in
Leaving Home.
Franken describes Jacob Mercer
as a “self-made man who never
made very much.”
After grade three, Jacob quit
school and went to work because his
family was poor and, “has just gone
about his life.”
He loves his wife and children
very much “but he gets frustrated
Festival Orchestra brings region’s
musicians together to perform
Adding a sweet song
Blyth Festival orchestra brings musicians from across the
region together to practice and perform and stretch their
musical talents. Here the orchestra performs in the courtyard
of Blyth Memorial Hall for an opening night performance.
The Blyth Festival Orchestra dates
back to September 1996. Musicians
from Huron, Bruce and Perth
Counties came together for the
express purpose of playing music
together.
“In order to give ourselves a
purpose,” says president, Maarten
Bokhout, “we offered to accompany
the Blyth Festival Singers in their
performances of Messiah at Knox
Presbyterian Church in Goderich in
the fall of 1996.”
With Wade Whittaker conducting
the Blyth Festival Singers and
Orchestra, and Ian Sadler providing
the accompaniment for both at the
organ, the performances were a good
beginning.
Additional rehearsals followed,
because he can’t think things
through the way his children can. It’s
not that they are any smarter than
him, he just grew up differently.”
It is in this sense too that Franken
can relate to his role. As the father of
a son and two daughters, “I get
frustrated in raising children and I
went past grade three.”
Franken Says when taking on a
role, “you have to find something in
yourself, part of you that connects
with that character.”
Although Jacob is a happy fellow,
everything goes wrong around him
and “he doesn’t realize it’s because
of him until the very end.”
Franken likes that Jacob “is very
clearly a man who believes a certain
way, has those beliefs, and sticks by
them even if it hurts him later.”
Franken doesn’t usually do
research before a play. In this case,
he’s already read a lot of
Newfoundland literature and knows
some people from there.
“I go by what is in the play with no
background information. A good
says Bokhout. “We did two concerts
with Craig Winters in Goderich and
in Stratford in October of 1997. This
was followed by a performance of
VivaMi’s Gloria in Goderich in
November of that year.”
James Ford who had joined the
orchestra as conductor in the fall of
1997, left due to health reasons and
“the realities of working with people
who led busy lives in their day jobs
and did not always have as much
time to rehearse as a retired
professor of music would have
liked,” says Bokhout.
The next year saw the orchestra
performing in Stratford and at the
United Church London conference
in Huron Park. They also did a fall
concert with a German o-
play should lead you in the right
direction.”
For Franken, every play is a new
venture for him, whether it’s a new
script or Shakespeare.
He is “proud” to be a part of this
play and cites the only difficulty in
doing a play that’s been done before
as “an audience with expectations
and that those expectations might
not get filled.”
Franken is also a director and will
be sharing the stage with Caroline
Gillis, someone he’s worked with
before as a director rather than a cast
mate.
“When I direct I learn an awful lot
more about acting. As an actor you
are responsible for one character.
The director is responsible for all the
characters and the rest of the
production. . . I would like to direct
more.”
Bom in Edmonton, Franken
studied theatre in San Francisco.
Franken worked for three years at
the Manitoba Theatre Centre in
Winnipeg before he moved to Nova
Konrad Lorenz. The following year
they accompanied the Blyth Festival
Singers for a final time in
performing Faures Requiem.
The orchestra became part of the
Blyth Festival in 1997 and has
performed for the opening of a play
at each of the theatre’s seasons since
then.
Concerts, since 1998, are
performed on average twice yearly.
As well the orchestra participates
with other groups. “We have done
fundraisers for nursing homes, the
Children of Chernobyl and the
Foundation of the Clinton Public
Hospital. We have provided music
for church services in Wingham,
Stratford, Seaforth, Clinton, Blyth
and London.”
The orchestra has played with
flute, horn, organ, piano, trumpet,
violin and voice soloists. In addition
to the Blyth Festival Singers, the
musicians have participated in
concerts with the Men of Note, the
Huron String School, the Bayfield
Winds and a number of church
choirs.
Several conductors have waved
their batons to lead the orchestra.
The current conductor, Sean Kim,
has just completed a Master’s degree
in music and composition at the
University of Western Ontario. Once
the current season is complete, Kim
is planning to study in Sydney,
Australia, so the orchestra will be
looking for a replacement.
The membership has stabilized to
a core group of eight to 10 players,
mostly strings. They have, as well,
recruited other instrumentalists
Continued on page 11
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Scotia. He now lives in Stratford.
After all these years, Franken
keeps coming back to Blyth because,
“there is always a good company of
people and a family-type
atmosphere.”
Experience handy
A stint living in a sparce east-coast home will come in handy
for Jerry Franken in creating his character in Leaving Home,
David French’s classic drama from Newfoundland.
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For Franken, playing Jacob in
Leaving Home is more like coming
home.
“I’m close to several people in
the area so it’s a bit like coming
home.”