Entertainment Archives - Wandering Wellington County

The Drayton Entertainment Disney Beauty and the Beast

August 17, 2019 by nancy Leave a Comment

Photo By: Hilary Gauld Camilleri

The Drayton Festival Theatre, a renovated 1902 Opera House was at full capacity last evening for the opening night of the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast. Entering the former Town Hall and Opera House the building was lit up ready for its audience to watch “A tale as old as time”.

The Drayton spin on the old tale was magnificent. The audience was captivated from the very beginning until its final bows. Entering into the old building it was bustling with preshow activity, 50/50 draw tickets, people purchasing admission at the box office, as well as patrons having a few beverages before the show.

Hearing the bell we knew it was time to quickly find our seats. The theatre is very accessible with one of our attendees who required the elevator to bring us to the balcony seating. As always we found the staff to be so welcoming and helpful during our evening.

The show began with the iconic voice of Lloyd Robertson narrating the opening act where we met the handsome looking fellow who played the beast by actor Tony Edgerton. Within minutes the Prince is transformed into a hideous beast after a spell is cast on him.

The tale begins when we are introduced to Belle, played by Jessica Gallant who discovers her father is missing so she sets out on a search to find him.

Later at the castle we find the beast staring at the enchanted rose wondering how he will ever return to normal. Meanwhile in the basement of the castle Belle’s father is trapped in a cage.

The set was ever-changing with quick scene changes that brought the tale to life. The set designer Christine Peters, definitely utilized the magic of Disney in all her designs. The costumes were colorful and added to the fairy-tale appeal, including the debut of Chip, who played the cup of tea.

The first set was a full of musical acts and we enjoyed the antics of Belle’s hometown. There were the Village silly girls, Gaston, Lefou and lots of singing and dancing of course.

We watched Gaston’s flex his muscles throughout the show all the while trying to win the beauty’s heart to no avail.

Photo by: Hilary Gauld Camilleri

Belle gave up her freedom for her father, we knew little about the journey it would take her on. The musical stirred all the senses and emotions like any good fairy-tale does. Like all good ending we hoped that love would be found.

The Drayton musical adaptation of the Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is wonderful for all audiences, including both younger and older. We were transformed into a magical fairy-tale world for 2.5 hours. The cast, crew and director Jayme Armstrong certainly deserved the standing ovation.

Go see this creative performance playing until August 31st at the Drayton Festival Theatre. You can purchase tickets here at 1-855-DRAYTON or check out the website to purchase tickets, https://www.draytonentertainment.com/Online/default.asp.

You will have to come and see for yourself if love will safe the day!

Talk soon,

Nancy

In Conversation With Santee Smith

November 8, 2018 by nancy Leave a Comment

The River Run was very lucky to have an Internationally recognized Indigenous performing arts leader Santee Smith to launch the new, Miijidaa Life Stories speakers series. Entering the Cooperators Hall you could sense it would be an intimate evening filled with insight into the life of a creative soul.

The stage was set with beautiful costumes and 2 chairs one which was guest, Santee Smith and the other was taken by host, Cameron Smillie who wears many hats in both the corporate and the performing arts world. The night began with host asking Santee a few questions about the very beginnings of her life. Here is a link to one of her past performances, https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcasa&p=santee+smith+performances#id=1&vid=dc32e16c556d47d42d02114c9a408845&action=view.

Santee shared with the audience that she is from the Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River, Haldimand Treaty territory. She shared with us that she is a proud Mother to a 20-year-old daughter who is currently studying at the University, and like most parents could not believe where the time went.

It was hard to imagine what the early years of life were like for the beautiful women who took centre stage. She had endured much hardship in the early years and mentioned many of the events she did not remember. At age 3 she had endured the first of three accidents which left a major impression on the life of such a young soul.

At the young age of just 3 years old she was run over in a car by her Grandmother. She endured many injuries and was hospitalized for over 3 months and many weeks of rehabilitation to learn to walk again. Then recovering from this injury she was riding on a bicycle with her father who was at the time a carefree 20 something year old riding down a hill with his baby girl strapped on the back of his bike with a homemade carrier and by the time they had made it down to the bottom she had somehow fallen off the bike with her ankle caught in the spokes of the wheel facing the opposite direction.

With three accidents at the age of just 3 years old she needed to regain strength and with her dancing ability at such a young age she began her journey of entering the world of ballet. She shared with the audience that thru her natural talents and her dedication she was accepted in the National Ballet School at age 11. So at that preadolescent age she left home and studied. Her close-knit family would call her and tell her she, “She could come home at any time, that they would just come and pick her up”. However by the end of the call she shares she would feel better and carry on with her love and passion of the dance world.

Dance and the performing arts was Santee’s whole world and left little for much else. She finally became disillusioned with the dance world, and left at Grade 11 to explore other options. She didn’t realize there was another world outside of dance until she began exploring what every other young women at the age explores, which she giggled and said “included a few parties along the way!”

She ended up going back to school and entered University and gained a degree in Kinesiology and thought she would work a physical therapist until she entered the profession and realized it was not for her. Her love of psychology that she minored in allowed for more schooling and she eventually realized that she wanted to return back to the performing arts.

We watched 3 short films which showcased a few of Santee’s work. The audience could gain a better insight into the creative force who sat in front of us, with the host describing how Santee’s ability to process the start and finish of each production with all of the elements such as idea, dance, choreograph, design, execution many times are the sole work of the multi talented artist.

When asked what is next by host you could tell that may take a whole other evening of conversation with Santee to delve into her world and share her vision for the future of her arts, including the Kawa:wi Dance Theatre which has served as a vehicle for Smith’s practice for than a decade. She founded the theatre in 2005, Kaha:wi means “to carry” in Mohawk.

She was available for a VIP experience of post show Meet & Greet which took place in the Sleeman Atrium. Here is a link with some of her students at her performing arts centre, https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcasa&p=santee+smith+performances#id=5&vid=921d0693d8a508735bff8388abea67f5&action=view

I look forward to more performances at the River Run Centre, here is a listing of upcoming “WHAT”S ON”, http://riverrun.ca/events/whats-on/?event_search=&event_month=&event_category=river-run-presents

Talk soon ~

Nancy

Jason Raso “Funktet”

October 27, 2018 by nancy

I attended my first Jason Raso performance last night, and I can tell you it will not be my last. What a wonderful intimate evening with local Guelphite Bassist, Jason and his “Funktet”, http://riverrun.ca/whats-on/the-jason-raso-funktet/. They kicked off the Borealis Music Series at the River Run Centre last night to a full house of Jazz loving attendees.

My daughter Meaghan who was my date for the evening, is in grade 7 and just starting her musical journey. She chose the trumpet as an instrument to play in her music class. She was watching the 6 piece band playing and I knew she had her eye on the trumpet when she nudged me and whispered, “Mom could I get my own mouthpiece?” I gave her a hug and whispered back, “of course Meaghan!”, being that I played trumpet in the high school band I knew the importance of having something of your own in the musical instrument world. I secretly can’t wait for her to come home for the first time carrying thru the door her school loaner trumpet for the weekend.

Jason the bassist lead guitar player and his band, include a trumpet, keyboard, guitar, saxophone, and a drummer. They began their first set with the spotlight on the trumpet soloist. Band leader, Jason Raso began strumming along, slowly introducing all of the 6 piece “Funktet”. I had always wanted to attend one of Jason’s performance’s. He has been performing for crowds for over two decades and is very well-respected within the local community and is a very busy professional playing worldwide. Check out his website here, https://www.jasonrasomusic.com/.

Memories of my first live Jazz performances came flooding back during the night. My first real introduction to live Jazz was in Montreal nightclub, I will never forget the first time I sat and listened to a bluesy live jazz performer in a smokey club in Montreal. My mother’s love of Diana Washington & Ella Fitzgerald playing loudly in the background of my youth also helped to in grain the love of Jazz.

One of my favorite songs of the night titled Eviction, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DET6ZZf3NoY . He shared with the audience his inspiration for the writing of the song came from a photo he saw of a beautiful shiny expensive guitar sitting in a room of what looked to be someone who was down on their luck.

During this song I had visualized a troubled soul who had to choose to sell their instrument at a pawn shop just to survive. This image along with the haunting sounds of the band conjured up feelings of loss and sadness of long forgotten dreams. Oh, the power of music to paint such a vivid portrait of the human condition.

Later in the evening he dedicated a song to his father. Pointing him out in the audience he joked that the last time he had done that his father had excused himself to the facilities, the audience roared. These comments and others felt like you were part of his family and maybe sitting in his living room watching the live performance, which I am sure many of the attendees in this cozy venue would agree upon. If you ever get a chance to attend or listen to his music I highly recommend that you do so.

Talk soon,

Nancy

An Evening with Norman Liota at Café Creperie, ELORA

March 5, 2018 by nancy Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard a musician and the next day you are still replaying their music in your head? The power of music certainly evokes intense emotions and stirs the soul. How beautifully haunting the sounds of Norman Liota; when he played one of his original composed songs last evening. It was an intimate evening at the cozy, Café Creperie, downtown Elora.

Norman shared with us some of his fond memories of his travels in Mount Rushmore, the Badlands and Deadwood in South Dakota, the song he played called “Through the Hidden Door”, was one of my favorites of the night. He described to us, his inspiration of the song, came from an interesting day he had spent in the company of a 74-year-old good friend, who shared with him the sacred legends. Chills were sent thru my body as he sang the song, accompanied with a combination of unique musical bells and chimes.

I was mesmerized, as I think most of the room was as I looked around. I felt like I had been transported to the Village in South Dakota with him that night to hear the legends, played for only a select few. Oh the power of music certainly evokes emotions and stirs the soul.

I had the privilege of being invited by a very good friend of Norman’s to watch his performance at the Café Creperie, on Mill Street in Elora. Norman truly lives close to the earth and his passion shines in his musical performance.

My girlfriend invited me several weeks ago and told me we had a reservation for 7pm. I had heard Norman many years before and hardly recognized him as he had much longer hair at the time. This was one of his trademark looks that I fondly remembered of this gentle soul when I had met him last. Here is a YouTube video of him with the long locks singing Blackbird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9kYALiqDQA

The lovely waitress who was helping out for this special event, asked what we had wanted to eat. I had already ate, not realizing that my Girlfriend and I had a dinner date. I just thought we had a cocktails type of evening with Norman. The cafe smelled of savoury and sweet yummy entrees. If you get the chance you must check out their famous Crepes, at Café Creperie. A wonderful little café on Mill Street, with a view of the Grand River in the heart of Elora.

One of the owners, Kathy performed with Norman for the last encore performance last night. They host many wonderful community artisan works and host many talented local musicians. The cover for the evening was only $5.00 and it was worth every penny, thanks neighbour for a wonderful night out. Check out their performance together with the link to the Wandering Wellington FB link. https://www.facebook.com/wanderingwellingtoncounty/videos/vb.937543713088127/1014082708767560/?type=2&theater&notif_t=page_post_reaction&notif_id=1519577532274830

I purchased a gift certificate for this lovely little café at the end of the evening, as I plan to take my daughter Meaghan there for a little Parisian Crepe luncheon or dinner experience. Perhaps I will take her there for a dinner date to hear one of the next performers on a Saturday night. She had wanted to come with my last night, as she has been there with her French Class before, for a French experience in our little Village. Just one of the reasons I love living in this community is the local community is so supportive of one another and has so much to offer.

If you are looking for a professional Classical Guitarist, composer and vocalist, here is the link, http://www.normanliota.com. He is simply a wonderful soul-stirring musician who is available for local weddings, concerts and special events. Echo Magazine describes Norman Liota as, ” a real virtuoso”.

Talk soon ~

Nancy

My Mad Men Journey

May 13, 2014 by nancy Leave a Comment

I love MAD MEN! I am addicted to this ICONIC series. I have one of the episodes playing now, like any addiction I use this television series for my escape, ( I am not hurting anyone?) Well maybe myself a little when I stay up too late watching too many hours of this show. I don’t even watch a lot of TV, but this somehow has me “hanging by a thread.” The episode I currently have playing My “Don Draper” is just interviewing a person alongside Peggy. Love Peggy and Love Don Draper. I have a love/ hate relationship with Mr. Don Draper. He is so bad and yet we see his good in many situations too!

My crazy journey with Mad Men began late in the game, which really sounds just like my life, (I am a late bloomer). I finally discovered this amazing show just this year. It is has just started its final season this past April. I have rented the DVD’s ( actually loaned them from the Public Library). I have made many donations to the “New library building fund”, for my late fees. Like my many things in life, I am late returning videos.

I rented all of the videos. Following in my Mother’s footsteps, (she is also a big Mad Men addict). She gets up in the wee hours of the morning and puts one of her shows on. Unlike myself she is privy to the actual TV times and does not know how to operate her DVD player, nor does she have the luxury of the PVR. I sound so technical (haha)! My 7-year-old daughter just showed my how to operate the PVR. This special device, really amazes me – I love it!

My mother keeps asking me if I have seen this episode? Or what did I think of this? I would kind of give her a blank stare and wonder – mm did I miss something? My good friend Henrietta (a.k.a. – “my neighbour”), who is also a huge fan would ask me some of the same questions. We have spent many a lunch hours discussing this, and wooing over Mr. Draper! She gifted me the DVD of season 6 to borrow (unlike the library she doesn’t charge a late fee). Being a library fan herself she is donating the series to the local library. Who does that? Henrietta of course, (she is really something else – my Henrietta!) I am sure her and Don would make a lovely couple. But that is another story, left for another time. Did I mention she was a Marketing Executive for an agency for many years, (believe me she has her stories!)

Yes I missed many episodes as I would watch one or two of the DVD season, and then on to the next season. I guess “Miss Technical”, couldn’t figure out there were more than one show per DVD. I would think to myself “My …this show jumps, quickly”.

To be perfectly honest I didn’t figure out my misfortune of the lost shows until I went to put on the new 6th season DVD from my neighbour. I questioned “what the heck was going on?” I emailed my neighbour and told her how silly I was, but like the good neighbour and friend she is she didn’t make me feel like such a looser. She told me I was lucky because I could still watch the new shows!

So when the new season started this year, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it, as I haven’t officially watched all the episodes. So luckily we recently got Netflix, (another new addiction now). All my episodes are there – anytime I want. It is really is overwhelming. I must admit I am kinda of missing my weekly trips to the library.

I love all the characters, the story lines, the smoking, drinking, sex and the pure entertainment factor. I put the kiddies to bed, “My Matt” usually works late nights in the shop. That is OK, because I have My “MAD MEN”. I am thrilled I can escape for a few hours. It is just me and “My Don Draper”. So if you want you can take this journey with me please come on board. If you haven’t watched – you can always join me (it is never too late)! I have officially launched the MAD MEN Addiction with you! I hope you enjoy – as much as I do.

“Eat Life by the Bowl Full!” – Don Draper’s Tagline Pitch to Life Brand.

Talk soon ~ Nancy