In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the performing arts departments at G.W. Graham middle secondary school are putting on a special gala featuring an eclectic mix of entertainment.
“I think the most important thing about why we’re doing this is, it’s like a reunion,” says teacher Damon Fultz. “The gala is friends getting together to perform and to have fun again in a classic kind of cabaret night style. The nice thing about cabaret nights is… it’s a low-pressure, very positive evening.”
The G.W. Graham 10th anniversary Gala will take place on the evening of Saturday, April 29.
Performances will be by current GWG students, GWG alumni, and community members and groups.
Fultz put the word out via email and social media and he received an incredible reaction.
The audience will see “music, and dance, and musical theatre, and theatre. They’re going to hear rock, and pop, and blues, and symphony, and classical, and jazz, and country,” says Fultz.
“There’s school kids, there are community members, and of course the alumni. And (alumni) from other schools; there are people who are going to be on this stage who went to other schools, not just our school.”
There will be a lot of music, but there will also be dance performances and scenes from past GWG theatre productions. For the most part, students who played the roles in those former plays will be returning as their characters to once again take the stage and perform scenes from Oliver and Bye, Bye Birdie.
“For the gala, we’re getting the cream of the cabaret experience because all of these people have gone on to perform and become professional,” he says about the GWG alumni. “The quality of the performances is going to be quite remarkable.”
The lineup includes alumni like Dion Weisbrod and MaCleod Reynolds, community members like Lori Paul, Creative Outlet, and Project Dance, plus a barbershop quartet, and various GWG school groups.
“The gala is an expression of what this theatre is about. Look at those performers — they are a reflection of who has used this theatre in the last 10 years,” says Fultz.
Two local bands, Unbranded and Butter Bandits, are made up of musicians from GWG and other schools within the Chilliwack school district.
Everyone has volunteered their time as the gala is a fundraiser for the GWG theatre department.
There will also be a video slide show tribute in memory of two theatre students, Patrick O’Brien who died in 2013 and Emily Janzen who died in 2015. Allan Meldrum will play the piano during the tribute.
“It’s old friends getting together, making music and theatre, and being creative together,” he says.
The G.W. Graham 10th anniversary Gala starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Doors open at 6 p.m. and before the show, guests will be entertained by the music of a jazz combo in a coffee house which will be set up in the main lobby featuring specialty coffees and snacks for sale.
During intermission, GWG’s vocal jazz group will perform in the coffee house while guests enjoy a piece of the school’s “gigantic” birthday cake, says Fultz.
Tickets for the gala are $5 for students and $10 for adults. Call the school at 604-847-0772 for more info.
