As I write this, I have just returned from Special Woodstock at Providence Farm
As music festivals go, this one is unique.
The Farm is already well-known as the home of the therapeutic riding program, where you can see individual special needs children and young people enjoying the thrill of riding a horse. Their glowing faces are enough to light your day.
But, at Special Woodstock, you get to see them all together. Those that can walk are clustered in front of the stage, those who are in wheelchairs are placed so they can share in the fun.
The sight of these very special people singing along with songs they know, dancing, playing air guitar, high-fiving the performers, and generally behaving like we all do when we hear our favourite songs proves once again that music reaches us all in our own way.
Attending Special Woodstock is one of the most uplifting experiences you can have. I’m grateful that I get to go every year.
•••
And, I’ve received a happy note from the Kaatza Lakeside Players. There have been a few worries that the Kaatza Lakeside Players might not be able to continue.
But this fall, the group is celebrating their 33rd year with an evening of three very funny plays for all the family to enjoy.
And they’re calling for auditions so you can join the fun, according to the Players’ ultimate insider, Dena McPhee.
There are more than two dozen roles that need filling.
Here’s her description of the plays: “Cinderella! Cinderella! by E. Weiss is a unique and hilarious adaptation with a new twist. Throw out your fairy tale ideas of dainty glass slippers for this one! Big Bad (wolf) by A. Strum is set in a courtroom where the trial of the notorious big bad wolf provides actors and audience of any age with a smart and wickedly funny play. And, a seasonal musical melodrama by M. Slater entitled Rollin’ in Dough in Mistletoe or Don’t Crack Jingle Bell Rock! It’s Christmas Eve and Rolland N. Dough is foreclosing on the entire town of Mistletoe which has everyone dreaming of a black Christmas! Horrors!”
Wow, that sounds like some kind of flake at the Lake to me.
Auditions for all three plays take place September 11, 12, and 13 and the Players are in search of folks aged 10 years to adult to fill the 25 roles available for all 3 plays.
“Whether you’re an ‘old pro’ or a beginner to the stage, come and try it out,” McPhee urges.
Also the Players are inviting anyone with some spare time to help out with sewing, painting, hair, typing, designing, and marketing.
Can you use a staple gun, or paper cutter? Are you a good people wrangler or do you enjoy meeting new people?
Come on out to an audition night and or call KLPS President Bruce Bunting at 250-715-7098 for more info.
“The Players always welcome newcomers,” McPhee says.
Always looking for a great deal, the Players have found wonderful rehearsal space in the Cowichan Lake Community Services Building at 121 Point Ideal Rd. in Lake Cowichan. This new space is where auditions and rehearsals will be held.
On Nov. 1, the casts and crews move to the Centennial Hall for a very busy two weeks of finalizing dress and technical rehearsals.
The shows open Nov. 15 and run through to Nov. 24.
An exciting bit of news for the Players is that each short play will have its own director at the helm. New members Lesley Lewis-Street and Alan McKinnon will be directing Cinderella! Cinderella! and Big Bad respectfully and McPhee herself will be in charge of Rollin’ in Dough in Mistletoe.
•••
Woody Reimer has also slipped me an important message.
The Cowichan Camerata String Orchestra has a new musical director for 2018, and now they’ve got one.
“Chris Redsell, a Canadian born in a Northern Ontario mining community, dreamed of making a career in music playing the viola, against the advice of his engineering father – who eventually became his greatest fan. He studied viola at the University of Toronto, then went on to Rome, Italy, where he continued studying with Dino Asciolla, the last violist of Quartetto Italiano,” Reimer writes.
“Chris started his professional career in Rome at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia where he was exposed to conducting maestros like Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Carlos Klieber. An audition for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in England landed him a co-principal viola position, which he held for six years. Following that period, he took the opportunity to go back to Italy to conduct a string orchestra, the Orchestra da Camera Luigi Boccherini; a little later, he conducted another, the Archi Italiano.
“While continuing to enjoy chamber music as a violist, Chris also spent more time working with and coaching string orchestras, mostly in Basel, Switzerland, and with young, European musicians at the Bedstone International Summer Youth Orchestra Camp in England. Between 1989 and 1997, Chris also founded and ran a chamber music festival, Giambori, in the hills outside of Lucca, Tuscany.
“A health scare prompted Chris to rethink his life, and in 2013 he and his wife moved back to Canada.
“Pulled by the West Coast, which he had enjoyed while still a student, Chris now sails year-round throughout the Gulf Island region and beyond. Because he can’t help it, he has resurrected Giambori in the Gulf Islands where he lives, and is now excited and greatly looking forward to working with the Cowichan Camerata String Orchestra.”
And we’re looking forward to hearing all of you, Woody.
