Station Theatre: 2020
Celebrating 10 Years of Entertainment - theHumm January 2020

Station Theatre: 2020
Celebrating 10 Years of Entertainment - theHumm January 2020

By — Katharine Coleman

We can’t believe that we’re here. It’s ten years since the Station Theatre finally opened its doors after ten years of preparation. In this past decade, we’ve been learning, growing and making every attempt to supply great entertainment for our audience, which has also grown over these years. 2020 will be a year-long celebration for us, with Gala Nights every second Friday of each play, where we will have a liquor license and serve appetizers. We will also encourage the audience to make the most of it and dress up a bit. All that we do, we do for the audience, and we want you to feel like you are a part of our celebration too! We’ve carefully picked six plays for this upcoming year that we think will just blow you away. Comedies, musicals, family shows, and a return of the first mystery we mounted ten years ago. We are looking forward to entertaining you and sharing this beautiful building with you.

We start our season in February with a British farce by John Chapman and Dave Freeman. Key for Two (February 14–23) is directed by Linda Pipher. Harriet, a divorcée living in an elegant flat in Brighton, solves her financial problems by entertaining two married gentlemen callers on different days of the week. The scheme faces collapse when her friend Anne, whose marriage is tottering, arrives at the flat hotly pursued by her husband. One of Harriet’s lovers is confined to her bed with a sprained ankle and the second lover turns up unexpectedly, closely followed by two irate wives in search of their itinerant husbands. The indescribable confusion that ensues builds to a rich complexity of mistaken identity, splendidly farcical situations and a climax of comic wizardry. Farces are a specific type of play where the action is ridiculous, but none of the characters involved realize it. If you need a laugh to get you through the worst part of winter, this is the show to do it for you!

In April Lynda Daniluk will direct the long-running Broadway musical The Fantasticks (April 24 to May 3), with story and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. “Try to Remember” a time when this romantic charmer wasn’t enchanting audiences around the world. It is a timeless fable of love that manages to be nostalgic and universal at the same time. The Fantasticks is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, and their two fathers who try to keep them apart. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart, and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo’s words that, “without a hurt, the heart is hollow.”

June brings big laughs with Joseph Stein’s semi-autobiographical comedy Enter Laughing (June 12–21), directed by Sheila Jasiak. This is the riotous account of stage-struck young David Kolowitz, originated on Broadway by Alan Arkin, working as a delivery boy in a sewing machine factory. Denying his parent’s wishes for a druggist in the family, he leaves their dreams and his devoted girlfriend Wanda behind and is soon enlisted (and paying for) a slot as the “leading man” in a third-rate theatrical company while being vamped by the resident less-than-leading lady, the daughter of the hammy “artistic director.” His baptism of fire is a hilarious first performance in which everything that can go wrong does.

In August, we share the stage with talented youth from the area for the family-friendly Alice In Wonderland (August 21–30). This one has book and lyrics by Sally Netzel and music by Beatrice Wolf, and will be directed by Lynda Daniluk. This show brings Wonderland to life through a two-act musical that deals honestly with Lewis Carroll’s stories and characters — even Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole. It’s an adaptation that pays wonderful attention to all the levels of Carroll’s story and will entertain not only children but adults also. John Neville, drama editor of the Dallas Morning News, reported: “thanks to Sally Netzel and Beatrice Wolf, here is theatre that kids can grab — it’s tuneful, colourful and peopled with characters they can understand”. Bring the whole family for this one.

The end of September brings our yearly mystery directed by Katharine Coleman. The Ghost Train (September 25 to October 4) by Andrew Ridley is special to us, as it was first produced here in October 2010. This will be a collaborative effort, welcoming back many of the actors who were in that first production. The Ghost Train was a long-running success in London and on Broadway, packed with thrills, chills and laughter. In Maine near the Canadian border there’s a legend of a phantom locomotive sweeping through a peaceful village leaving death in its wake. Rum and narcotic runners use this and the villagers’ superstition to their advantage, but a “not as incompetent as he seems” detective clears up the mystery of the spectre and its attendant deaths. His seemingly silly actions result in the apprehension of the evildoers, and the little village and its station are finally at peace. For sheer creeping mystery, it’s a play without peer.

We will finish off our 2020 season with our yearly pantomime — this year it will be Peter Pan (November 27 to December 6) by James Barry. Emily Duberville will direct this family-friendly tradition and will challenge herself even further than she has in past years. While it’s done in a modern panto style, the story remains faithful to the original. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell lead Wendy Darling and her brothers on an adventure to Neverland, leading to the final showdown with Peter’s enemy, Captain Hook (and Hook’s enemy, the crocodile). Boo and hiss our baddies and cheer and clap the cast in this traditional family panto that will delight with lots of singing and dancing. We can assure you that you’ve never seen Tiger Lily quite like this! It’s a magical adventure, and as previous audiences can assure you, the panto is something not to be missed!

Get information about these plays, as well as all the other events happening at the Station Theatre, at smithsfallstheatre.com . We have monthly movie weekends and a music series that promotes local and Canadian talent. Sign up for our newsletter so you’ll never miss a thing. Also, as we head into the new year, 2020 season vouchers are on sale. This is the best way to get yourself a great deal on live theatre in the area (or give them as a new year’s gift). We also have an Administrator at the theatre on weekdays from 9am to 12pm to answer any questions you may have, to assist with renting the space, or to just show you around to see what it’s all about. Katharine can be reached at 283–0300. We’re so grateful for the patrons who return over and over again to share a fun evening of theatre together. We look forward to delivering many more great experiences in 2020.

Links for this article at The Station Theatre,