As the lights came up over stage Thursday night, it marked a milestone for the Western Canada Theatre.
The first show of the season, Miss Caledonia, officially started the 40th season of Western Canada Theatre (WCT) when it opened at the Pavilion Theatre on Thursday.
“The main excitement is of course that it is our 40th anniversary. The fact we have had this collaboration with the city and the arts community here, and the various corporate and business communities for those 40 years is a celebration in so many ways,” said Catrina Crowe, Marketing and Communications Director for WCT. “That a town this size can support a professional, non-profit theatre company for so many years and with a healthy sense of the future is probably the great highlight.”
All seven of the WCT subscription series shows this year was chosen with the 40th anniversary celebration in mind.
One focus of this season is to have a local connection in the shows. The beginning and end of the season will feature a strong Kamloops connection.
Miss Caledonia, which runs until September 26th, features Kamloops’ Holly Lewis as the lead character Peggy Ann Douglas. The second-to-last show, Habib’s Unforgettable All Night House Party, was written by Kamloops’ own Janet Michael. Finally, the last show of the season, In A Blue Moon, will feature local actress Anita Wittenberg and her daughter Emma Tow in a play set at an old cottage at Monte Lake.
“It’s essential (to have a local connection) because we’re a regional theatre with part of the mandate helping the arts grow, especially the performing arts, and giving back to the community,” Crowe said. “To be able to recognize such great talent in town, and then part of that is by doing this co-production, we’re giving them a chance to be seen elsewhere.”
Another part of the celebration will be focused on shows that have seen success in the past.
Boeing Boeing was successful, so WCT will produce the sequel, Don’t Dress For Dinner, in October. I’ll Be Back Before Midnight was extremely successful when WCT produced it more than 30 years ago, so a new version will take to the stage in January.
“It’s one big celebration,” Crowe said. “Every (show) has been chosen for something that is special with what we expect the audience to get from it, has been special to the audience in the past, and the holiday show is always the big one.”
This year the holiday show will be Mary Poppins. It will run from November 26th until December 8th at the Pavilion Theatre.
“It has been a bit of a tradition over the past five or six years to have a great big musical at Christmastime for the holiday season. With Mary Poppins this year, we’ve had a big buzz around that one already,” Crowe said.
WCT will also pay a tribute to Kamloops’ country roots with the production of A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline beginning in February.
The High-Wire Festival, which is not part of the subscription series, will feature three First Nations artists on September 27th, October 4th, and October 24th.
Finally, WCT will be putting on a show for kids between the ages of three and eight, The Velveteen Rabbit, on May 14th.
Tickets can be purchased through the Kamloops Live Box Office.
For more information, visit the Western Canada Theatre website.
