Coming off a season which garnered more Capital Critics Circle Awards nominations than any other company in Eastern Ontario, Perth’s Classic Theatre Festival opens its 8th summer season June 21 with a combination of brand new historic walking plays and a collection of hits from the golden age of Broadway and the London Stage.

The Classic Theatre Festival returns for its 8th summer season, running June 21 to September 10 in Perth. Last year’s Arms and the Man, featuring Lindsay Robinson and Lana Sugarman, garnered Capital Critics Circle wards nominations for best show, best director, and best female performance (Sugarman went home with the award). Photo: Jean-Denis Labelle

Located at 54 Beckwith Street East (at Harvey) in Perth, the 2017 season opens with the most successful Canadian comedy ever staged on Broadway, Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year (June 23 to July 16). It stars Festival veterans Scott Clarkson and Lana Sugarman (who won the 2016 Best Female Performer Award for her portrayal of Raina in Arms and the Man.) Slade’s story about two people – each married to someone else – who meet for an annual weekend getaway over 24 years, was a Tony-Award winner.

Following is George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy Candida (July 21 to August 13), which will appeal to anyone who remembers the powerful pull of a first love that burns in their soul. The play features a stellar cast including Festival veterans William Vickers, Jeffrey Aarles, Fraser Elsdon, Sean Jacklin, and Anna Burkholder, while introducing Dana Fradkin in the title role.

The mainstage season closes with an Alfred Hitchcock-styled psychological thriller, Peter Colley’s I’ll Be Back before Midnight (August 18 to September 10), a “gaslighting” tale of a young couple who rent an old, spooky country farmhouse. It features Festival favourites Lindsay Robinson and Alastair Love while introducing first-time performers at the Festival, Chandel Gambles and Lauren Horejda.

All mainstage shows run Tuesday to Sunday matinees at 2 pm, and Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm at the wheelchair accessible, air conditioned space.

The Classic Theatre Festival’s family-friendly historic theatrical walking plays and ghost walks, which recreate characters and stories from Perth’s past during an hour-long stroll through town, return with Confederation themes as Canada and Ontario mark their respective 150th anniversaries. This year’s cast features features Keegan Carr, Emma Houlahan, Connor Williamson and Garrett Pipher.

The Festival’s popular theatrical historic walking plays return this year with expanded performance times. Perth through the Ages (June 21 to August 27, Wednesday to Sunday at 11 am) presents a new, hour-long story, A Nation Lost and Found, focused on the daily lives, concerns, and conflicts of Perth and area residents at the time of Confederation.

The Lonely Ghosts Walk (June 29 to August 25, Thursdays and Friday at 7 pm) will feature a new story featuring the unsettled spirits of Perth performing an hour-long, family-friendly romp through the town’s mysterious and haunted past. Music, comedy, and song are featured in this tale set at the time of Confederation.

This year’s walking troupe cast features Keegan Carr, Emma Houlahan, Connor Williamson and Garrett Pipher, in plays written by Laurel Smith and directed by Joanna McAuley Treffers.

Tickets to the Festival are available online at ticketsplease.ca or by calling toll-free at 1-877-283-1283.

As the Classic Theatre Festival gears up for its 8th summer season – following its award-winning season in 2016 – volunteers are being sought to both work at the theatre and also host visiting performers.

Billets are needed to host our troupe of actors this summer. A great way to be part of the CTF family of supporters!

While ushers and Front of House volunteers are welcome to join a team that has garnered top marks in the OHvation! customer service ranking, the Festival is also looking for anyone with a spare bedroom and kitchen and washroom access  to host one of the visiting professional actors with the Classic Theatre Festival.  Currently, the Festival has two actors who will be arriving in Perth for one six-week period, August 1 to September 10.  The Festival is hoping individuals or families with spare bedrooms and access to a kitchen and washroom are able to host one of the performers (all of whom pay for their own food). In return, host individuals and families receive free passes to the Festival all summer long as well as exclusive invites to special Festival social events.

If billets are only available for a three-week term, that could work too. In addition, a number of designers will require shorter, 14-day stays in July and August.

For Perth resident Helen Gamble, 2015 marks the 7th consecutive year she has hosted a performer.

“I’ve billeted at least one actress each year of the Classic Theatre Festival in Perth,” Gamble says.  “At first I wondered how it would work out and whether my guest room was adequate. It’s been a wonderful experience. I meet interesting, artistic people who are passionate about what they do. They are gone most of the day into the evening, busy with their work schedules. It’s fun to have someone coming and going, a bit of company, but someone I don’t have to entertain.”

Scott Clarkson, who has appeared in seven seasons with the Classic Theatre Festival, enjoys the experience of staying with local residents during his time in Perth. Seen here in 2015’s Wait Until Dark (with Alison Smyth), this year Scott will star in the comedy Same Time, Next Year. (Photo: Jean-Denis Labelle)

Gamble has gotten used to living with actors she sees turning into completely different people when they assume their characters on the Classic Theatre Festival stage. She, among other billet hosts, has also struck up close friendships with those she has hosted, and they often stay in touch via facebook, email, and reunion visits. And it’s always a nice surprise to turn on the TV or see a film in which one of the people who stayed with her has gotten a role.

“All they need beyond their room is a shelf in the fridge and one in a cupboard,” Gamble says. “They feed themselves, tidy and clean after themselves, and respect my house and routine. My friendly dog seems to be a bonus and often they practice their lines with him as their foil.

“Billeting costs me very little – really, just a bit of hot water for showers and a spare key – but I meet and interact with intelligent, outgoing people and am invited to casual get-togethers of cast, crew, other billeters, and volunteers. I’m gifted with tickets to the plays which are more interesting than ever, because I know at least one cast member. I’m glad I decided to billet that first year and look forward to meeting this year’s actress and becoming involved once again.”

Scott Clarkson, a veteran Festival performer returning for his 6th consecutive season, says “I had never been billeted for a show before my first time in Perth and wasn’t sure what to expect,” Clarkson says.  “The family I stay with is always so welcoming and cheerful that it makes a six-week stay away from home so much easier. This summer will be my sixth with them – and as much as I love Perth and the Classic Theatre Festival, this family’s hospitality is an equally large part of why I am so happy to keep coming back! I am so grateful to see such generosity to the arts.”

Even if hosts cannot provide a space for the complete six weeks, some performers may require only two or three-week stints. Individuals interested in hosting an actor should call (613) 264-8088 or email info[at]classictheatre.ca.

The Classic Theatre Festival’s 2017 summer season returns with comedy, history, and mystery, with Super Savings when you buy two or more shows!

The Classic Theatre Festival has announced its upcoming 2017 season, one whose programming will dovetail with Ontario and Canada 150^th anniversary celebrations while building on the strengths of seven successful summer seasons. In addition to adding a Tuesday matinee at the mainstage, the Festival will also be doubling the number of ghost plays.

A professional company that produces hits from the golden age of Broadway and the London Stage (a period roughly from the 1920s through the 1970s), the Festival will highlight the two most successful Canadian playwrights during its mandate period, opening the mainstage season with Canadian Bernard Slade’s comedy Same Time, Next Year (June 23 to July 16). Slade, from Beamsville, Ontario, played a significant role in the development of the post-war Canadian theatre, radio, and television scenes before hitting Hollywood, where he developed The Flying Nun and The Partridge Family before penning his epic Broadway hit. Same Time, Next Year ran three years and became an Academy-Award nominated film starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn.

It’s the story of two people, each married to someone else, who get together for an annual weekend over 26 years, sharing the ups and downs of their lives from the early 1950s through the mid 1970s as the world rapidly evolves around them.

The other Canadian work is the season’s annual closing thriller mystery, by Peter Colley, an acclaimed Canadian playwright whose latest work, a musical about Terry Fox, opened this fall. I’ll Be Back Before Midnight (August 18 to Sept. 10), originally produced at the Blyth Festival in 1979, has since played in 30 countries, become a Hollywood film, and was celebrated by The Globe and Mail as the most successful Canadian play ever. It’s a Hitchcock-styled thriller about a young Toronto couple who purchase an isolated country farmhouse with a mysterious history.

Sandwiched in-between will be another production of a George Bernard Shaw classic, the romantic comedy Candida (July 21 to August 13). Building on the applause for the Festival’s celebrated 2016 production of the Shaw comedy Arms and the Man (which won a Best Actress Award from the Capital Critics Circle for Lana Sugarman, in addition to nabbing a Best Director nomination for Laurel Smith as well as a Best Production nod), Candida will remind audiences of how fresh and fun Shaw’s stories can be. In this instance, the title character must choose between the affections of a passionate young poet and her clergyman husband in this skewering of Victorian notions of love and marriage. When first produced in London, the show generated such audience enthusiasm that the press coined the phenomenon “Candidamania.”

Mainstage shows will run Tuesday to Sunday at 2 pm, with 8 pm shows every Wednesday and Saturday. The very popular Pre-Show Talks will continue to occur a half hour before every performance.

The Festival’s highly praised theatrical walking plays will returns in 2017 as well, focused on characters and stories from Perth around the time of Confederation. Perth through the Ages will run Wednesday to Sunday at 11 am, beginning June 21 at Matheson House Museum and winding up August 27. Given the number of sellout performances in 2016, The Lonely Ghosts Walk will expand to run Thursdays and Friday at 7 pm, running June 29 through August 25.

For more information call 1-877-283-1283 or visit www.classictheatre.ca

The Capital Critics Circle awarded its Best Actress Award to Lana Sugarman (shown here with Catherine Bruce in the 2016 Classic Theatre Festival production of Arms and the Man). The Festival’s annual holiday sale, with savings up to 25% off for the 2017 season, is now on until December 31. Photo: Jean-Denis Labelle

The Classic Theatre Festival, the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company, last week picked up a Best Female Lead Actor Award at the prestigious Capital Critics Circle Awards, which annually recognize outstanding artistic achievement in the National Capital Region.

The winning performer, Lana Sugarman, who played Raina in the Festival production of Arms and the Man, was unable to attend the ceremony, as she was performing in a Toronto benefit that evening. Nevertheless, she says, “The win was delightful! It feels very rewarding to be recognized for a role that allowed me to grow and expand as a performer. To be able to work on such strong classical text is a gift, and the award is a reflection of the talent of my cast mates and creative team.”

Sugarman’s victory was a fitting follow-up to a highly-praised show that also won nominations for Best Director (Laurel Smith) and Best Production, which Sugarman says is a tribute to fellow performers Catherine Bruce, Scott Clarkson, Rachel Fischer, Alan Lee, Alastair Love, and Lindsay Robinson, as well as a production team that included set designer Lois Richardson, costume designer Renate Seiler and lighting designer Wesley McKenzie, with stage manager Alison Muir and assistant stage manager Emily Richardson.

”I loved playing Raina in all her feisty, stubborn, romantic, and vulnerable glory,” recalls Sugarman. “And I loved being in Perth last summer, because it offers such a sweet reprieve from the city. The environment feeds creativity and allows for a real immersion in the world of the play.”

The Festival also received a Best Actor nomination for William Vickers in the role of Herb in the production of Neil Simon’s comedy I Ought to Be in Pictures.

“It is great to receive this kind of recognition from some of the country’s most respected theatre critics,” says Smith, who notes that other companies included in the annual awards gathering included the National Arts Centre, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, and St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival. “It is also great for the Town of Perth, because the Festival plays such an important role as a summertime destination for people seeking quality, professional entertainment along with all that complements seeing a show with us, whether that’s a great meal and an overnight stay at one of our heritage accommodations or the unique shopping opportunities and natural attractions that bless this area.”

The Festival’s mainstage shows for 2017, in keeping with the Canada and Ontario 150 celebrations, will feature a majority of Canadian playwrights who made it big on Broadway and beyond: Bernard Slade, who penned the beloved comedy Same Time, Next Year (which ran over 3 years on Broadway) and Peter Colley, whose thriller I’ll Be Back before Midnight is considered the most successful play ever staged in Canada, with performances in over 30 countries abroad. The season also features George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy Candida, which pokes fun at Victorian notions of marriage and romantic triangles.

For more information, contact us at info[at]classictheatre.ca or 1-877-283-1283.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT (1)
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT (2)

Production Assistant (1 position available):

Reporting to the Artistic Producer, the Production Assistant will work with the Production Manager and Stage Manager for the 2017 summer season of the Classic Theatre Festival, the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company.

Specific duties include:

• setting up playing area during rehearsals and at every performance
• assisting actors backstage
• organizing and maintaining costumes during rehearsal and performances
• cleaning and maintenance of rehearsal space and sections of performance space as needed
• organizing backstage area, including props
• assisting stage manager during rehearsals and performances as needed
• during the remaining weeks of the season, assisting with Front of House duties

Qualifications, skills and interests include:

• interest in theatre and/or performing arts
• excellent organizational skills
• excellent people skills
• attention to detail
• ability to multi-task and work in relatively high stress situations
• willingness to train
• keen sense of responsibility
• able to work in a team setting
• punctual at all times
• able to be self-directed and motivated
• take instruction and direction well
• able to attend all rehearsals and performances

Wage rate:  $11.40 per hour
Preferred Age Range:  16-29 years of age (must be full-time student)
Hours:  Full-time with variable hours from June 5 to Aug. 27, 2017
Performance Times:  Tues. to Sun. at 2pm; Wed. and Sat. at 8pm
APPLICATION DEADLINE:  May 15, 2017
Email application to:  laurel@classictheatre.ca

Production Assistant (1 position available):

Reporting to the Artistic Producer, the Technical Assistant will work with the Production Manager and Stage Manager for the 2017 summer season of the Classic Theatre Festival, the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company.

Specific duties include:

• assisting with venue setup, set construction and technical equipment setup
• trouble-shooting technical issues during performance run
• assisting with strike for both mainstage shows
• assisting with Front of House duties as needed
• assisting Stage Manager with technical requirements as needed

Qualifications, skills and interests include:

• interest in theatre and/or performing arts
• excellent organizational skills
• excellent people skills
• attention to detail
• ability to multi-task and work in relatively high stress situations
• willingness to train
• keen sense of responsibility
• able to work in a team setting
• punctual at all times
• able to be self-directed and motivated
• take instruction and direction well
• able to attend all scheduled times during production schedule as well as all performances.

Wage rate:  $11.40 per hour
Preferred Age Range:  16-29 years of age (must be full-time student)
Hours:  Full-time with variable hours from June 5 to August 27, 2017
Performance Times:  Tues. to Sun. at 2pm; Wed. and Sat. at 8pm
APPLICATION DEADLINE:  May 15, 2017
Email application to:  laurel@classictheatre.ca

Buy today and save until May 15, 2017! Choose your dates later!

Enjoy Summer Theatre Savings Now and Pick Your Dates Later with the Classic Theatre Festival’s Early Bird Sale, on until May 15, 2017 only!

Buy one show: 15% off, or $29.50 per ticket
Buy two shows: 15% off both, or $59.00 for two tickets
Buy three shows: 20% off all, or $84.00 for three tickets
Buy any walking play/ghost walk: save 20% ($12 for adults, $6 for children)

To order your discounted early bird sale ticket vouchers for the Summer of 2017 (which can be redeemed any time up until the show dates), simply visit ticketsplease.ca or call us toll-free at 1-877-283-1283. (You can also pick your dates and your seats now if you’re ready.) The Classic Theatre Festival’s box office representatives are standing by to take your calls!

And what a season we have for you!

The 2017 season opens with the most successful Canadian comedy ever staged on Broadway, Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year (June 23 to July 16). Audiences will savour the sights, sounds, and sensations of the post-war “good years,” 1951-1975, in this story about two people, each married to someone else, who meet for an annual weekend getaway. It is celebrated as “genuinely funny and genuinely romantic” (New York Post) and “the funniest comedy to come Broadway’s way in years” (New York Times).

George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy Candida (July 21 to August 13) will appeal to anyone who remembers the powerful pull of a first love that burns in their soul. Long before the British exported Beatlemania, there was “Candidamania”, a phenomenon inspired by this delightfully warm and witty play in which Candida must choose between her clergyman husband and a passionate young poet.

The mainstage season closes with an Alfred Hitchcock-styled psychological thriller, I’ll Be Back before Midnight (August 18 to September 10), Peter Colley’s “gaslighting” tale of a young couple who rent an old, spooky country farmhouse. Is the heroine really seeing and hearing things, or are they the after-effects of her recent nervous breakdown? And just who is that mysterious farmer from down the road? You’ll discover why this is the most widely-produced Canadian play, a hit in over 30 countries worldwide.

NEW THIS YEAR! All mainstage shows run Tuesday to Sunday matinees at 2 pm, and Wed. & Sat. evenings at 8 pm. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and air conditioned, with free parking.

The Festival’s popular theatrical walking plays return this year with expanded performance times. Perth through the Ages (June 21 to August 27, Wed. to Sun. at 11 am) presents a new, hour-long story that allows visitors to breathe in the stories behind Perth’s award-winning heritage buildings with a play focused on the daily lives, concerns, and conflicts of Perth and area residents at the time of Confederation.

The Lonely Ghosts Walk (June 29 to August 25, Thursdays and Friday at 7 pm) will feature a new ghostly story featuring the unsettled spirits of Perth performing an hour-long, family-friendly romp through the town’s mysterious and haunted past. Music, comedy, and song are featured in this tale set at the time of Confederation.

To order your discounted early bird sale ticket vouchers for the Summer of 2017 (which can be redeemed any time up until the show dates), simply visit ticketsplease.ca or call us toll-free at 1-877-283-1283.

The Classic Theatre Festival in Heritage Perth (an hour south of Ottawa) is the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company. We are seeking applicants for auditions for two roles for our production of “I’ll be Back before Midnight” by Peter Colley:

Jan – Age 20-30, delicate and vulnerable, a very trusting soul, recovering from a nervous breakdown but essentially a rational, functioning human being with a spunky spirit.

Laura – Age 25-35, sister-in-law of Jan, cool and distant, but charming. She is a businesswoman who hides her vulnerability.

Rehearsals start August 1, 2017
Previews Aug. 18 at 2pm; Aug. 19 at 2pm
Opens Aug. 19 at 8pm
Closes Sept. 10 at 2pm

Performance schedule:  Tues. to Sun. at 2pm; Wed. and Sat. at 8pm

Auditions will be conducted on Friday, Mar. 3, 2017.

Please submit your headshot and resume by Tues. Feb. 28 to:
laurel@classictheatre.ca

CAEA members will be seen first. Please indicate which role you would like to be considered for, and what your preferred audition time would be. We appreciate everyone who submits; however only those who secure an audition time will be contacted.  No phone calls please; all inquiries by email.

The Capital Critics Circle has nominated Perth’s Classic Theatre Festival for four major awards, with three awards for Arms and the Man: Best Director (Laurel Smith); Best Actress (Lana Sugarman); and Best Production (left to right: Lindsay Robinson, Rachel Fischer, Lana Sugarman, Scott Clarkson, Alastair Love, Catherine Bruce, and Alan Lee). The Ottawa awards ceremony takes place on November 14.

The Classic Theatre Festival, the Ottawa Valley’s only professional theatre company, last week garnered four nominations in the prestigious Capital Critics Circle Awards, which annually recognize outstanding artistic achievement in the National Capital Region. The awards ceremony takes place in Ottawa on November 14.

Best Actor nominee (William Vickers) is seen swinging for a home run in I Ought to be in Pictures.

William Vickers received a Best Actor nomination for the role of Herb in the Festival’s 2016 production of Neil Simon’s comedy I Ought to Be in Pictures (in which he co-starred with Alison Smyth, who was nominated for a similar honour the previous summer for her role in the thriller Wait Until Dark). In addition, the Festival received three nominations for George Bernard Shaw’s comedy Arms and the Man: Best Director (Laurel Smith), Best Actress (Lana Sugarman, who played the role of Raina), and Best Production. Arms and the Man also featured a stellar collection of veteran Classic Theatre performers including Catherine Bruce, Scott Clarkson, Rachel Fischer, Alan Lee, Alastair Love, and Lindsay Robinson. The production team included costume designer Renate Seiler and lighting designer Wesley McKenzie, with stage manager Alison Muir and assistant stage manager Emily Richardson.

“We had a terrific summer with our expanded 7^th season of three shows,” says the Festival’s Artistic Producer Laurel Smith. “We were able to draw thousands of tourists to town who enjoyed the accessibility and flexibility of our staging shows in June, July, August and September, with the consequent economic benefits that flow to local restaurants, accommodations, shops, and other attractions.”

The Capital Critics Circle is a distinguished panel of some of Canada’s top theatre reviewers, including the prolific reviewer,  playwright and journalist Iris Winston, Alvina Ruprecht (veteran theatre reviewer including CBC Radio), Jamie Portman (a long-time writer with the CanWest chain of newspapers), radio station CKCU’s arts reporter Barbara Gray, and the Ottawa Citizen’s Patrick Langston.

Nominee for Best Actress, Lana Sugarman, sings an ode to her beloved in Arms and the Man

“Since we began, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing the top professional talent in Canada to Perth every summer, and audiences and critics agree that it is a very successful venture,” says Smith. “The golden age of Broadway and the London Stage produced so many plays that continue to appeal to a wide range of audiences, and we plan to continue producing those shows that still speak to us, inspire laughter, and provoke stimulating discussions.”

The Festival is currently running its annual holiday sale, with savings of up to 25% on 2017’s shows, with the option to pick dates later. The Festival’s mainstage shows next year, in keeping with the Canada and Ontario 150 celebrations, will feature a majority of Canadian playwrights who made it big on Broadway and beyond: Bernard Slade, who penned the beloved comedy Same Time, Next Year (which ran over 3 years on Broadway) and Peter Colley, whose thriller I’ll Be Back before Midnight is considered the most successful play ever staged in Canada, with performances in over 30 countries abroad. The season also features George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy Candida, which pokes fun at Victorian notions of marriage and a romantic triangle.

Vouchers for the 2017 season can be purchased with savings of up to 25% before December 31 at www.classictheatre.ca or 1-877-283-1283.