Stage Door News
Stage Door News
GANANOQUE — The Thousand Islands Playhouse turns 30 next year with the help of singing nuns, a voracious man-eating plant and the return of a romantic couple.
The theatre recently announced its lineup for the 2012 season, which will not only be the official 30th birthday of the Playhouse, but the 31st and final season planned by co-founders Greg Wanless, the current artistic director, and Kathryn MacKay, the associate artistic director. The Playhouse opened on June 25, 1982.
"This year we are attempting to celebrate the past and the beloved, while introducing the new and provocative," Wanless recently told the media.
The Springer Theatre season kicks off May 11 with, as has been the "habit" of late, a musical comedy — Nunsense II by Dan Goggin.
The revue follows a group of nuns who have been seriously bitten by the theatre bug, and are trying to impress a talent scout, while carrying on their usual bingo game on the side.
From June 22 to July 21, the Playhouse features the premiere of Douglas Bowie's Somewhere Beyond The Sea, in which a close encounter of the culinary kind is disrupted by some not-so-subtle climate events.
Bowie's most recent comedies, Till It Hurts and Rope's End, also premiered at the Playhouse and have gone on to subsequent productions.
The new premiere is followed by another 30th birthday – that of Little Shop of Horrors. The legendary musical plays at the Springer from July 27 to September 1.
Created by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, and directed by Wanless, Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of Seymour Krelborn, his bandaged-beloved Audrey, an evil dentist and a hungry plant that mysteriously arrives to solve everyone's problems.
Ending his stage career on a decidedly ironic note, Wanless, along with directing the show, will also play the hungry plant.
The Springer's fall lineup actually starts September 7 with the return of the dauntlessly adventurous couple from Sexy Laundry in Henry and Alice: Into The Wild, written by Vancouverite Michele Riml. The show runs until October 6.
The season closes with a limited run of the world-travelled production of Tempting Providence, the real-life story of Newfoundland's legendary nurse Myra Bennett, written by Robert Chafe.
It will be performed by the acclaimed company Theatre Newfoundland Labrador, and star Deidre Gillard-Rowlings as Nurse Bennett.
Meanwhile, just up the hill from the main theatre, the smaller, edgier Firehall Theatre will begin its ninth season with a production that originates from Festival Players of Prince Edward County: Amelia, The Girl Who Wants to Fly, the acclaimed musical by John Gray.
Telling the story of Amelia Earhart, the production, from the writer of Billy Bishop Goes to War, runs from June 28 to July 28 and features the original cast of Eliza-Jane Scott, Stephen Gallagher and Karin Randoja.
From August 10 to September 8, Stephen Massicotte's award-winning romantic mystery The Clockmaker will take to the Firehall stage, directed by MacKay.
The play, which won the inaugural Toronto Theatre Critics' Award for Best Canadian play in 2011, tells the story of a humble clockmaker who unravels a mystery when a married woman brings a shattered cuckoo clock into his shop.
Wanless and MacKay recently announced their resignation, effective at the end of the 2012 season, after 30 seasons with the company they founded. Playhouse officials say the search for a successor to Wanless will begin in the near future.
Subscriptions for the 2012 Season are on sale now through the Box Office at 613 382-7020. More information on the season and the company's history can be found at www.1000islandsplayhouse.com.
By Ronald Zajac in The Gananoque Reporter, www.gananoquereporter.com.
2011-10-13
Gananoque: Thousand Islands Playhouse unveils its 2012 season