Sleeping Beauty and Steel City Rovers at the Station Theatre

Sleeping Beauty and Steel City Rovers at the Station Theatre - theHumm December 2016

A villainous villainess, two fabulous felines, and a host of delightful characters brought together in a zany slapstick comedy. That, in a nutshell, is Sleeping Beauty, the British-style pantomime playing at The Smiths Falls Station Theatre from December 2 to 11. Written by the legendary Ben Crocker and interpreted by experienced director Emily Duberville, the panto offers holiday hijinks for the whole family. And to make it easier to bring along the youngsters, they are offering matinées at 2pm on both Saturdays and Sundays. In the best tradition of British pantos, the audience is encouraged to get into the act by heckling the villains and urging on the good guys. Kids and adults alike love it!

As the curtain opens, Princess Aurora is about to be christened, and royals, assorted fairy godmothers, and people of the land are gathered to celebrate and bestow their gifts. But it appears that someone has been forgotten, and soon Carabosse storms in with her disreputable feline companion Spindleshanks; they are not happy. Things go from bad to worse when Carabosse puts a curse on the princess to die on her 18th birthday.

In classic pantomime the “Dame” (Queen Dorothy) is played by a male actor, in this case veteran Mike Adams. The beautiful and awfully tired Princess Aurora is played by SFDCI grade 11 student Bethany Duberville; her handsome but slightly bewildered prince is SF graduate Justin Yanosik. Krista Duff takes on the supremely evil Carabosse, and traditional comic antics are provided by Billie the Butler (Ursula Rice Leech) and King Norbert (Stef Robar). Rounding out this stellar and experienced group are newcomers Jennifer McCloskey as Spindleshanks and Maya Gordon as Kitty. Heather Mitchell Adams returns to the stage as fairy Peaceful, and her magical sisterhood is completed by Lela Fox-Doran, Emily Chatwood and Caitlyn Lesnick/Hayley Allan.

A talented group of high school students and area veterans makes up the versatile chorus, performing music by Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Pentatonix.

Sleeping Beauty features superb Victorian Steampunk-style costumes, created by experienced costumer Susan Adams, which bring a striking visual decadence to this very funny and engaging family show.

Tickets for the show are $20 for adults and $10 for children and students. Special group rates are available. Tickets are available from Seasons Greetings, 8 Russell St. E. (cash only), online smithsfallstheatre.com (Paypal/credit card), by phone 283–0300 (credit card), and at the door a half-hour before the performance (cash only).

Winter Tidings Concert

Coming to the stage of the Station Theatre for the fourth and final concert in the 2016 Music Series are the Steel City Rovers, a Celtibilly musical group offering a toe-tapping, sophisticated and hypnotizing cross-pollination of Celtic and North American traditions. Their musical arrangements and expressive, clever lyrical compositions have delighted audiences at home and abroad.

In their ambitious first few years, the Rovers have risen to perform internationally on coveted stages, to be nominated for numerous music awards, and to have their original works top the traditional radio charts. Commanding and dynamic performers, this act is a blend of both seasoned and young talent who are simply electric to witness in person.

Their performance is at 8pm on Friday, December 16. Tickets are $30, at the outlets listed above.

2017 Play Season

The 2017 season of plays has now been announced by the Smiths Falls Community Theatre and it’s a delightful mix of a farce, a classic psychological drama, a comedy, the world première of a play of local historical interest, a mystery, and a British-style Christmas pantomime — in that order.

The season opens in late February with the farce No Sex Please, We’re British, by Anthony Marriot and Allister Foot. The hilarious play, which ran in London for eight years and also delighted Broadway audiences, is directed by Nancy Keech.

Next up is Enid Bagnold’s classical psychological drama, The Chalk Garden, directed by Lynda Daniluk. The play explores the secret world of childhood through the prism of a British dowager. Following that will be Bare Bear Bones, a Canadian comedy written by Michael Grant and directed by Sheila Jasiak, which exposes the lack of spark in the marriage of two empty nesters.

The August slot is filled by Fort Hemlock, written by Emily Duberville and directed by the author and Lynda Daniluk. The characters are fictitious, but the play is based on a true story about early life in what came to be known as Smiths Falls — an offering that fits right in with the town’s 150th anniversary.

The fall brings Who Dunit? by C.B Gilford — one of the most original comedy-mystery plots of all time — which will be directed by Katharine Coleman. Closing out the year is another Ben Crocker pantomime, Aladdin, directed by Emily Duberville. Great comic parts abound, including a feisty Kung-Fu fighting Princess. More fun for the whole family!

The theatre is offering patrons an opportunity to attend all six plays for just $99. This season ticket comes in the form of a “Six-Pack Flex Pack”. Patrons can select how they want to use their six vouchers to purchase tickets to any of the six shows in the 2017 season. The deal — which offers a savings of almost 20% compared to the regular adult ticket price — begins now and will available during the run of Sleeping Beauty and until the last day of the first play in 2017 (March 5). For details of the ways to purchase the vouchers and the many different ways to use them, visit smithsfallstheatre.com .

Happy Local Holidays! - theHumm December 2016

By Kris and Rob Riendeau

Here at theHumm we’re big on local economies. The retail and service businesses in the small towns that we cover play a huge role in the cultural life of those towns. Each store, restaurant, or sma......

Sleeping Beauty and Steel City Rovers at the Station Theatre - theHumm December 2016