Lakeshore Advance, 2012-09-05, Page 18a,September2.zo11. Lakeshore Advance 13
Grand Bend United church takes to the staonce again
Lynda Hinman-Rapley
Lakeshore Advance
In the beginning there was
Paul -Seagrave that is. When he
dime to (rand Bend with his
wife Joyce they quickly joined
the United Church congrega-
tion. During this time the
church goers were told by Rev.
1tarry Risher there was a need
for new choir gowns and that
was where the acting bug took
shape --taking this church to the
['won Country Playhouse stage.
The last in a series of produc-
tions will run Oct. 14, 15, and
16.
Before Grand Bend, the Sea-
graves lived in the Chatham area
and were involved with a United
Church there. With the help of
writer Brian Hornick, (who has
since passed away) a production
company was formed called
Seahorn Music and the infa-
mous concert series came to be -
now seen throughout Canada's
United Churches. This, Paul
thought could help raise dollars
for those much needed choir
gowns.
A concert series tears) was cre-
ated with church members Paul,
Carey Eddy, Elva McIntyre, Rev.
1 tarry and Marion Ogilvie. 'there
would he five productions -
already tried and true thanks to
Seagrave and I lornick. All they
needed now were actors- or as
lvhat became church members
who wanted to be characters.
'these were ordinary people who
were willing to give up their
summers to rehearse, sing, wear
cool costumes and raise money
for the church all at the same
time. 'There are at least ten of
these people who have been in
all five productions.
'they did their rehearsals from
the basement of the Grand Bend
church and then transferred
those talents to the stage of Play-
house 11 at the Huron Country
Playhouse. "We could never
have done this without the end-
less support from Simon Day
and Richard Mcleod at the Play-
house," said Eddy. She says they
are so accommodating and
appreciate the fact these are not
Equity actors- helping every step
of the way. They both state how
fortunate they are to be able to
run their productions at the
local theatre. "It makes such a
difference," says Paul.
Eddy, as director had never
played that role, but uses her
20 -years as a high school coach
as her backdrop for skills.
The first production was The
Rev's Dilemma in October 2004,
The very next year they pro-
duced the Choir of Misfits. As
successful as those two plays
were- it was a lot of work and
this team decided to skip a year
and do The Parson's Predica-
ment In 2007. In 2009 they did
(Jur Choir's the Pits and this
year- a very ambitious 'The
Chorister's Chaos:
In I lighlights- Paul says he has
marveled at how this cast has
matured- "their lines, their
songs, their costumes- these people are
grown to real professionals in the past
eight years," he said. 'rile Concert Series
Team kept busy even when they were
not producing the musicals for the the-
atre- organizing church concerts and
Cantatas. They also produced a CD,
which is very close to being sold out.
Eddy's defining moments are when
she sees the cast from the original 1980s
plays, done in Chatham, sitting in the
seats for the (rand Bend productions.
One of those actors is Don Illman-
(rand Bend's Bob lilman's dad.
The dollars, with other church mon-
ies (11(1 buy the choir gowns and from
tomb IlMewes-Napirs Lakeshore Advance
Paul Seagrave and Carey Eddy check out some of the props for the upcoming production of The Chorister's Chaos
there they were able to purchase a dig-
ital piano, which would not have been
possible without the dollars from the
first four sold -out productions. They
were also able to donate money to
many overseas charities.
If you go:
Chorister Chaos is the last of the
series and it is billed as hilarious; deal-
ing with the merits of good and evil. It
runs October 14, 15 and 0 matinee on
the 16th. 'Tickets are $20 or $15 for a
student (JK -Ph1)). As every perform-
ance, the United Church Women will
take care of the reception after the
shows.
All You Can Eat
Sunday Brunch
Served from nam - zpm
X10.99
Includes Coffee or Juice
6d
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