Drama Beat

Lethbridge and District Kiwanis Music and Speech Arts festival in good hands with Beth Cook

Wednesday, 14 March 2012 13:52 Richard Amery

Beth Cook is well suited to be the new executive director of the 72nd annual Lethbridge and District Kiwanis Music and Speech and Arts Festival.
“I’m a retired teacher, so I’ve been on both sides,” said Cook. Executive Director Beth Cook places a poster. Photo by Richard Amery
“So I’ve had a lot of experience bringing hundreds of groups to perform at the festival. There are numerous hours going into getting things prepared for one two to five minute performance,” she continued.

The well established festival runs March 19-31 in seven different venues across the city. It features approximately 1,200 young up and coming performers participating in bands, choirs, handbell choirs, theatre arts, musical theatre and playing a variety of solo instruments like piano and much more for a solid two weeks of entertainment.
Cook spent last year shadowing long time executive director Carole Roberts, but before that spent a good 10-15 years as a teacher with Park Meadows School, preparing choirs and handbell choirs to participate in the festival.

“I’m really enjoying being involved. There are always new challenges and something to learn,” she said. Many of her colleagues are involved with bringing groups to the festival and she knows enough about music to be able to keep things running smoothly and eliminate problems like spelling errors of pieces in the program.

There are a few changes this year including having Écolé Agnes Davidson as a new venue for this year’s French poetry performances.
“It’s a win win situation,” she said.

The school came to them expressing interest in getting involved, promising there would be many more entrants if they were a venue. They were true to their word as there were only 11 French performances last year and a lot more than that this year.

“They said we could have more entrants (if they held the French Poetry segments there) and they wouldn’t have to pay for bussing,” she said.
As a young girl growing up near Westlock in northern Alberta, she was a singer who participated in the festivals up there.

“Edmonton was 100 miles away, so I participated in the local competitions and in local talent shows. When you love music, you just love to do it,” Cook said.
She is loving being involved with the Kiwanis Music and Speech Arts Festival.
“We’re the third biggest festival in Alberta,” she enthused.

New West brews up a cauldron of laughs in the Kitchen Witches

Wednesday, 07 March 2012 17:24 Richard Amery

New West Theatre is winding down their season by cooking up a delicious recipe of a cup of laughs, a couple heaping tablespoons of giggles with just a dash of of audience participation garnished with improv with Caroline Smith’s “The Kitchen Witches.” Karen Johnson-Diamond, Jeremy Mason and Erica Hunt. Photo by Richard Amery

The production, about two laid off and very different cooking show TV hosts forced to work together and engage each other in a constant battle of one upmanship, runs March 8-17 in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.

“ It’s going to be our funniest play in five years. We haven’t done an outright comedy in a while,” said New West Theatre general manager Jeremy Mason, who plays Stephen Bittle, for his first role in an adult production since 2007 He plays the producer of Baking with Babcha and is the son of the host, Dolly.

“It’s an homage to cable access television shows,” described Karen Johnson-Diamond who plays Dolly Bittle.

“I’m the only certified chef. She’s very serious about it cooking, but my show is cancelled,” described Erica Hunt, of her character Isabelle Lomax.
“ So I come down and ruin Dolly’s show, ‘Baking with Babcha,’ ” she said.

Johnson-Diamond noted her character is the complete opposite.
“She’s more interested in the audience and fashion than being a successful chef,” she said.
While the show is about cooking, the actresses note they have nothing in common with their characters.
“We can’t cook,” Hunt laughed.

Have a bloody good time and audition for Evil Dead— The Musical

Wednesday, 07 March 2012 16:38 Richard Amery

If you have a thirst for blood and being on the stage and are dying to get a laugh from people then get involved with the Evil Dead.

Brian Quinn of Hatrix Theatre is bringing Evil Dead the Musical to Lethbridge in October, just in time for Halloween, but auditions take place this week.

Go to Westminster Elementary School (402- 18 St N, Lethbridge) on March 7 or March 8 at 6:30 p.m. with either a prepared script or be prepared to do a cold read from the script.

Just remember to bring your sense of humour and a basic singing ability.

While you don’t need to be a great singer, you do need to able to have fun with trying to sing and be more or less on key.
The cast includes two men and three women between the ages 18-30, one man and woman in their 30s and one man aged 30-40.

People are also needed to play zombie trees and help manipulate various parts of the moving stage and set during the Necrocomicon. There will even be a singing moose.
It’s going to be a bloody good time.

The Evil Dead the Musical opens Oct. 30 and runs until Nov. 3 at the Moose Hall.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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Theatre Xtra incorporates film into Wide Awake Hearts

Tuesday, 28 February 2012 13:56 Richard Amery

Theatre XTra is going multi-media for their latest production “Wide Awake Hearts, which runs in the David Spinks Theatre, March 1-3.
“It‘s been a challenge,” said director Kyle Schulte, praising his team for making the production work, especially as there is a very minimal budget for Theatre Xtra productions. Jon Martin performs a monologue in Theatre XTra’s Wide Awake Hearts. Photo by Richard Amery

“It’s about a a film maker who suspects his wife is cheating with his best friend so he writes a film and casts them as to see if they have any chemistry, so he can watch what they do. He spies on them through the camera lens.Then the best friend’s girlfriend show up and stirs the pot a bit,” Schulte described.

The four characters, named ‘A,’ ‘B,’,‘C’ and ‘D’ are played by Greg Wilson (A), “Shelby Carlson (B), Danielle Martens (D) and Jon Martin who plays C, the lead character who both the female leads are attracted to.
The Brendan Gall penned play, “Wide Awake Hearts,” which concludes Theatre XTra’s season has been nominated for a Governor General’s Award.

Old Favourites help Nord Bridge and LSCO

Sunday, 12 February 2012 13:25 Richard Amery

The Lethbridge Senior’s Centre Organization is looking forward to seeing a few old friends performing a few of their old favourites at the Yates/ Sterndale Bennett Theatre, Feb 17-18. Scott Carpenter looks at a couple of carvings by his dad Don. Carpenter is part of the Old ‘folk’ favourites fundraiser for the LSCO and Nord Bridge Senior’s Centres, Feb. 17-18. Photo by Richard Amery
For Scott Carpenter, one of the organizers and performers of the event, helping out the LSCO and Nord-Bridge Senior’s Centre has a personal connection.

“ All of our parents use the services of either Nord Bridge Senior’s Centre or the LSCO. And my dad, Don Carpenter, teaches carving at the LSCO. I go for lunch there every day,” Carpenter said, showing off a couple of his dad’s carvings, which usually sit on his desk at city hall, where he his responsible for booking city facilities like hockey rinks and theatres. Scott Carpenter, Jeff Carlson, Jordana Kohn, Erica Hunt, Arlene Bedster, Andre Royer and Kelly Roberts have been “reuniting ” for the past two years just for this event and to revisit some of their favourite moments on stage together.

While the Old New West performances aren’t affiliated with New West Theatre, a handful of New West Theatre veterans enjoy revisiting some of their old favourites from the early days of New West Theatre for this popular annual event.
“You can’t throw a stone without hitting a song that New West has done,” Carpenter laughed.
“These shows are a lot more intimate. A grand piano, a few chairs and us and out instruments is the only set,” he said.
It is a challenge as most of the group holds down full time jobs, so rehearsals must be scheduled around them.
“We‘ve been rehearsing since December for this. Usually when I’m in a New West production, I’m only rehearsing for two weeks to a month,” he said.

They decided to have some fun with the “old folk theme,” as most of the songs they will be performing fall into the folk or acoustic vein, they thought they’d throw the word ‘folk’ in between the show’s title ‘ Old Favourites and have some fun with the double entendre.
Selections include ‘Blowin’ In The Wind,’ ‘California Dreaming,’ ‘Big Yellow Taxi,’ ‘King of the Road,’ ‘Landslide,’ ‘Turn, Turn, Turn,’ ‘Walk Right In,’ and many others.

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