Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Audiences in Muskoka this July will be captivated by the famous Canadian play “Billy Bishop Goes to War”, written by John MacLachlan Gray in collaboration with Eric Petersen, of Corner Gas fame. This play won the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Award, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award and the Governor General's Award for English Drama. The show runs four Friday nights in July at The New Baldwin Resort in Windermere. It is a revival of the acclaimed November 2017 production by Dot The T Productions, Muskoka/Parry Sound’s new professional theatre company.
“Billy Bishop Goes to War” brings to life the story of the Canadian World War I fighter pilot and top flying ace, who was born in Owen Sound. Bishop’s military service began in the cavalry, “I could ride a horse!” But one day in July 1915, Bishop saw an airplane land in a nearby field and take off again. “It was the mud, I think, that made me take to flying... I had succeeded in getting myself mired to the knees when suddenly, from somewhere out of the storm, appeared a trim little aeroplane.” Wrote Bishop in his memoir Winged Warfare. “...how long I stood there gazing into the distance I do not know, but when I turned to slog my way back through the mud my mind was made up, there was only one place to be...up above the clouds in the summer sunshine.”
Bishop was no stranger to Muskoka: he often docked his plane in Port Carling to visit his wife Margaret at her Eaton family cottage. After the war, Bishop went into business with fellow Victoria Cross winner William Barker. They created Bishop-Barker Aeroplanes Limited, providing passenger service from Toronto to the Muskoka Lakes. “Billy Bishop” stars award-winning actor William Colgate. For Colgate, this role holds special meaning, and pays homage to his family’s history in Canada’s military. A professional actor for more than 30 years, Colgate has appeared in productions with Canadian Stage, Tarragon Theatre, The National Arts Centre, and many others.
Colgate is also a film, television, and CBC radio drama veteran; he has shared screen time with Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Keaton, Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Polley, Gordon Pinsent, Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack (to name a few).
Colgate brings Billy Bishop alive in his story of WW I. “Colgate does not really ‘play’ Billy Bishop, he BECOMES Billy Bishop. His portrayal of Bishop took my breath away.” - Ben Harrison, Bracebridge Examiner and MuskokaRegion.com.
Colgate appears with Cameron Gibson, who plays The Piano Player, a 17-year old flyer. Gibson himself is only 16, but already an accomplished performer, happy to be part of Dot The T’s mentoring program for emerging artists, which gives exceptional new talent the chance to work with professionals. Gibson, a Huntsville High School student, plays his part with the tenderness of youth “...and it is not lost on audiences that young Cameron is the same age as many of the so very, very young men who enlisted... and soon lost their lives.” Says Jan Jacklin, Producer.
The show is directed by Joan Bendon who works in both the theatre and corporate worlds. An accomplished actor and director, she also owns Flip Events and Meeting Planning Inc., based in Toronto and Muskoka. Her clients include TD, RBC, Industrial Alliance, Stikeman Elliott, Northwater Capital, O.L.G and Videotron, where she has created and directed an impressive array of original and adapted live entertainments and films for the corporate sector. Bendon’s acting and directing credits include “Hedda Gabler”, “Waiting For Godot”, “Private Lives”, “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Cyclos Theatre), “The Ivy Room” (Lighthouse Festival Theatre), and many others. She has directed “What The Butler Saw”, “Lion In Winter” (Cyclos Theatre), numerous children’s shows (Cycle Children’s Theatre)
“Billy Bishop Goes To War” will play each Friday night in July from the 6th to 27th at the New Baldwin Resort in Windermere, Ontario as a Dinner Theatre. A full buffet dinner will be served in the dining room. The Resort is charming, rustic, and dog friendly. The property overlooks Lake Rosseau. There is a public dock – arrive by boat! – and a fully licensed bar.
• For tickets and more info visit https://DotTheTPro.ca
Photo: William Colgate. ©2018 Linda Scott.
2018-06-15
Windermere: "Billy Bishop Goes to War" plays historic resort this July