New West Theatre “light up” the season
Tuesday, 27 December 2011 12:06
Richard Amery
New West Theatre, Lethbridge’s answer to Up With People or any beach side all inclusive resort revue show, are guaranteed to light up your holiday season with their winter music/ comedy revue, ‘Light it Up.’
Jay Whitehead and Erica Hunt will get you laughing right form the opening bit as they riff on the phrase “Light It Up” as it pertains to a stressed out looking Whitehead’s quitting smoking.
 But it is only an act.
The cast kicks things off with a hot version of Kiss’s “Shout It Out,” done Broadway style.
Everybody gets to shine equally in “Light it Up.”
Erica Hunt unleashes her leather lunged lethal pipes on a hot version of “Stand By Your Man.”
Jocelyn Haub dons a guitar for a beautiful version of Taylor Swift’s “White Horse” and shines on Adele’s number one hit “Rolling in the Deep.”
Vocal director Kathy Zaborsky beams ear to ear like she couldn’t be happier anywhere else before bringing a tear to your eye on a version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” backed by Bente Hansen on a grand piano.
Jessica Ens shows some top notch dance moves backing Devon Brayne singing “Jessie’s Girl and heads up a hilarious send up of “Let’s Get Physical” near the beginning of the show as well.
Meanwhile Kyle Gruninger returns to New West to show he can hit those high notes on a couple songs including a duet with Hunt on “Don’t Stop Believing” and on a medley of John Denver hits including “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” Rocky Mountain High and Country Roads.
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“If You Give Mouse a Cookie,” complete chaos results
Tuesday, 20 December 2011 17:49
Richard Amery
New West Theatre is bringing a beloved children’s book to life for their annual winter Theatre for Young Audiences performance of “If You Give The Mouse a Cookie.”
The production runs in the Sterndale Bennett theatre Dec. 26-Jan. 7.
“It’s adapted from a pretty well known book ( Laura Numeroff’s “ If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,”) so it’s pretty well known by children,” said director Glenda Stirling.
She teaches movement at Mount Royal in Calgary to numerous students including Kelsey Flower, who stars in the show with Willie Banfield, who has been in the previous couple Munsch productions.
“When I hired Kelsey for this, he said it was his favourite book,” she said.
“A lot of the kids who come to this show will have read the book,” she continued. She said the costumes are very much inspired by the illustrations in the book.
“It just a little book about a little boy who is left home alone for the first time. He makes friends with a mouse,” she said adding together, they end up almost destroying the house.
“It’s the mouse’s fault, because it could never be the boy,” she laughed.
“ It’s very cool acting in this story,” said Flower, who plays the boy and who grew up reading the Numeroff’s books.
“It’s great seeing the world in the book come to life. It’s the closest I’ll get to playing something like Harry Potter,” he enthused.
He is enjoying how much movement and physical comedy there is in the show.
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Light It Up is a homecoming for New West Theatre
Tuesday, 13 December 2011 12:51
Richard Amery
New West Theatre’s December production has not only become part of Lethbridge’s Christmas tradition, but it is also a  homecoming and a chance to catch up with lost cast members and old friends for the members of the Lethbridge theatre troupe.
New West Theatre will be lighting up The Yates Theatre with “Light It Up, Dec. 15-31.
“Light It Up Is a really delightful Christmas celebration with friends and family,” described director Nicholas Hanson.
The cast includes a lot of familiar faces like New West mainstays Scott Carpenter, Erica Hunt, Jessica Ens and vocal director Kathy Zaborsky plus relative newcomers like Jocelyn Haub, Devon Brayne and Jay Whitehead, who directed the two summer productions and Kyle Gruninger, who moved out to Vancouver to pursue a music career with his band Incura.
“ We’ve got some of the usual suspects. But we’re really excited about some of the ones who haven’t been around for a few years,” Hanson continued.
“ Kyle Gruninger performed with us in the early part of the decade, but he moved out west to pursue a very successful music career. So it’s great to have him home for the holidays to share his incredible rock star abilities,” said director Nicholas Hanson.
Gruninger is excited to share a stage again with old friends like Scott Carpenter and Erica Hunt.
“I’m singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ by Journey with Erica (Hunt) and a John Denver medley and ‘Don’t Stop Me Now,’ by Queen. I’ll be doing a lot of other things and wearing ridiculous costumes,” Gruninger noted, adding the last show he did with New West Theatre was back in 2006.
“ I got an opportunity to see some of my best friends in the world,” he said adding he jumped at the opportunity to get involved when Hanson called him up and asked him if he wanted to perform with them again.
Coming back to New West is like returning home to the bosom of a long lost family.
“It was Erica’s birthday and there were balloons and cakes. Coming to rehearsal was like walking into a party. Of course you have to work at this party,” he continued. It has been a challenge.
“We’ve had to learn 20 songs, 20 dances and all of the comedy in about two weeks, so it has been a challenge. But there is a big support system,” he continued.
“ There are no barriers, you can bring anything to the table, any joke, any song and it will be looked at. The first thing they asked me was ‘what do you want to sing,’” he enthused.
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A Christmas Carol brings some Christmas cheer to Lethbridge Food Bank
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 13:06
Richard Amery
The Sunrise Rotary club looks forward to bringing a little bit of Christmas cheer to Lethbridge’s food banks, with their annual reading of “ A Christmas Carol.”
The fourth annual event at Southminster United Church, Dec. 9 has not only attracted more people every year (464 in 2010) but has also raised more money for each of the food banks ($5,699 in 2010.)
“It’s an unabashed extraction of money from people‘s pockets to give it to the food bank,” drolly deadpanned Richard Tamkin, a complete contrast to Ebenezer Scrooge, who he usually dresses up as during the event. He will be the MC this year.
Several local personalities and actors dress up as the characters from the Charles Dickens penned Christmas classic, and read the story.
This year the readers include Sheila Matson, George Mann, Jordanna Kohn, Kade Hogg and Jeff Carlson.
There will also be a variety of live music from Bridge Brass, Con Moto Choir directed by Patti Caven, Olivia Earl, David Elniski accompanied by Eleanor Lawson, Bill Laycock, Adam Mason and David Mikuliak with Sheldon Arvay
Tamkin was inspired to bring the idea to Lethbridge after being part of the CBC sponsored reading of a Christmas Carol, which brought a lot of famous voices together to read the story.
“I thought it would be a wonderful fundraiser for the food bank, so I introduced it to Lethbridge,” Tamkin said.
Like the original CBC version, the live event was a huge hit in Lethbridge as well, earning $3,000 in the first, year in 2008, $4,275 the next year and $5,699 last year, with more people coming out for it each year.
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