Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Entrepreneur and politician William Gordon, educator and musician Cora B. Ahrens, and actors Pat Galloway and Peter Donaldson are being honoured with bronze stars on the streets of Stratford.
The stars will be presented during Canada Day celebrations in Market Square on July 1. The festivities begin at noon with the Bronze Star ceremony taking place at 12:50 p.m.
The Bronze Star Recognition Program was established by city council in 2002 to acknowledge those who have added to the cultural and social fabric of the city, or who have achieved national or international fame.
The Festival also takes part by selecting individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Festival.
Including the newest four, 56 names are on stars placed throughout the downtown. The names and locations of the stars can be found at www.visitstratford.ca/heritage-tours-interactive-map
Gordon was the first mayor after Stratford became a city in 1885, but is also noteworthy as the builder of the Gordon Block located on the south side of Ontario Street at the Downie Street intersection and as a leading member of the business community. He and his family lived in the large Victorian mansion at 198 Mornington St., which is now the vacated PeopleCare nursing home.
Ahrens, born Cora B. Bell in 1891, was a pianist and lecturer who published many books about teaching children how to sing, some of which are still widely used. She played in a trio which accompanied silent movies at Stratford's Theatre Albert and in the 1930s was one of the first itinerant rural school music teachers. She lectured at universities in London, Ont., Toronto and Montreal.
Actress Pat Galloway performed on the Festival stage from 1960 through 1993 in roles that included Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew, Lady Rosaline in Love's Labor's Lost, and Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII. Born in 1933 in London, England, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and in 1957 emigrated to Montreal, where she worked in French radio and television.
Peter Donaldson, who passed away from lung cancer in 2011, spent 24 seasons with the Stratford Festival, making his debut in Romeo and Juliet in 1977. His performance of Jamie in Long Day's Journey Into Night in 1995 was widely praised and earned him a Genie Award when it was filmed in 1996. Donaldson also appeared at the Shaw Festival and in a variety of series on CBC and PBS. He and actress Sheila McCarthy raised two daughters in Stratford.
From : www.stratfordbeaconherald.com
Photo: Pat Galloway as Lady Macbeth. ©1971 Douglas Spillane.
2016-06-28
Stratford: Bronze Stars to honour actors Pat Galloway and Peter Donaldson on July 1