Rock to great ’50s and ’60s sounds at the Algonquin Theatre this weekend

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Sept. 24, 2008.)

By Gillian Brunette

Join Freddy Vette and the Flames for a rock 'n' roll revival in Huntsville on Friday night, Oct. 3

The Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) is bringing back the dynamic Freddy Vette and the Flames to the Algonquin Theatre on Friday, Oct. 3, beginning at 8 p.m.

Last here on Aug. 22, 2007, Vette will again be resurrecting the ghosts of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley and others when he and his musical entourage kick back to the 1950s and ’60s. The dynamic costumes and creative choreography allow audiences to relive this classic era with their favourite jukebox hits.

Following last year’s show, HFA general manager Rob Saunders noted: “After the show, our audience members left still singing and asking us to bring them back. Freddy is wonderful with the audience. Everyone loved the performance. It was a really great night.”

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! Freddy Vette, in this photo taken at last year's show, brings his band the Flames, plus three backup singers, to the Algonquin Theatre Oct. 3. [Photo by Jon Snelson.]

So, how does a guy born in 1972 end up as the real-deal front man for a ’50s rock 'n' roll show? That seems to be the most-asked question when it comes to Vette.

“Good music is good music, no matter what kind it is or when it was made. You don’t have to be from the 1700s to play Mozart, you don’t have to be from the ’30s or ’40s to play jazz, and you sure don’t have to be from the ’50s to play rock 'n' roll,” Vette says in reply.

“There’s such a huge audience out there who are hungry for this music and aren’t able to see it performed live. We continue to discover them, and they continue to discover us. It’s a great relationship that keeps rock 'n' roll alive.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Vette came from a musical family. His mother and father had a country music band, so there were always instruments around the house. The first thing Vette tackled was the drums, then guitar, and piano along the way.

At 14, Vette played with his parents on the road and that was the beginning of his performing career. He appeared in various bands playing various kinds of music, until the music of his childhood – rock and roll – came back to him.

Over the next few years, Vette joined several rock and roll bands, and during that time he re-acquainted himself with the piano, an instrument he had played as a child but gave up for guitar.

“Piano rock 'n' roll is such a big part of this music and I knew I had to learn that style of playing. As I started learning from those old recordings, it gave me a new love for the piano. Now, it’s my favourite instrument to play.”

In 2002, Vette formed his own band featuring drums, upright bass, sax, guitar, three female singers and himself on guitar and piano.

The show is a musical journey through the beginnings of rock and roll, not only featuring the biggest hits from the biggest artists, but telling the story of the music along the way.

The three women who share the stage with Vette perform all the great ‘girl’ hits from the rock 'n' roll era including songs from Leslie Gore, the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las and Patsy Cline. Four outstanding musicians round out this high-energy, exciting eight-piece act.

Tickets for Freddy Vette and the Flames are $25 for adults and $15 for youth under 18, plus GST, and are available at the Algonquin Theatre box office on Main Street, by dialing 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca. The festival blog at www.trumpeterhfa.blogspot.com also features past festival stories and photos.

Popular musical Anne and Gilbert stops at the Algonquin Theatre Sept. 23 and 24 only

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Sept. 17, 2008.)

By Gillian Brunette

Ontario tour is part of the celebrations taking place for the 100th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables

For the past 100 years, young girls have fallen in love with the adventures of Anne Shirley, the heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, and her home on Prince Edward Island (PEI).

Known for her braids of fiery red hair, unending chatter, limitless imagination and unshakable optimism, Anne has been a beloved friend for readers of all ages since Montgomery published the first edition in June 1908. The novel has since been published in 33 languages and become an industry that made PEI famous around the world.

SHOW STOPPER: Anne and Gilbert, a musical about Anne of Green Gables growing up, is touring through Ontario this fall, making its only Muskoka stop in Huntsville on Sept. 23 -24.

Anne and Gilbert, co-written by Nancy White (of CBC fame), Jeff Hochhauser and Bob Johnston, is a lively and engaging musical sequel based on the second and third books in the series Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island.

The musical picks up where the original novel left off and tells the story of Anne Shirley’s journey into young adulthood and her romance with Gilbert Blythe.

Blythe is the young man who is destined to be the love of her life – a prickly relationship that has been brewing ever since an 11-year-old Anne broke her slate over Gilbert’s head when he called her Carrots.

The precocious redhead is now a young woman wanting to go to university. However, she first takes a position as a schoolteacher in Avonlea in hopes of saving enough money. Everyone assumes that she and Gilbert will get married but, ever the contrarian, Anne resists.

Reaching Redmond University, Anne makes new friends, including a wealthy suitor named Roy. Gilbert also turns up at Redmond, waiting patiently for Anne to see the light.

This musical sequel to Anne of Green Gables (itself a perennial fixture in Charlottetown theatre), has been playing in Summerside, PEI, for the last three summers to sold-out houses and rave reviews. The first off-island production of Anne and Gilbert at the 1000 Islands Playhouse in Gananoque last summer also played to sold-out audiences.

Now, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Anne of Green Gables and courtesy of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts, the 1000 Islands Playhouse is taking Anne and Gilbert on an Ontario-wide tour, making its only Muskoka stop for three performances at the Algonquin Theatre on Sept. 23 and 24.

Some of the very popular cast members of the original production will appear on the tour. Ashleigh Ireland and Adrian Marchuk take up the roles at the heart of the story, as the feisty Anne Shirley and dashing Gilbert Blythe.

“We always call the show a family show, but it does have a lot of edge,” said White. “It’s not a kids’ show, but kids do love it.”

“We are very pleased with the enthusiasm of theatres across Ontario for Anne and Gilbert,” said senior producer David Malahoff. “What began as a modest production at the Victoria Playhouse (in PEI) in 2005 is quickly becoming a national phenomena.”

PEI entrepreneur Campbell Webster, who mounted the sequel, recently announced that Anne and Gilbert is being translated into Japanese for a production in Japan. He also has plans to tour the show in Western Canada, possibly in 2009.

Toronto Star critic Richard Ouzounian said Anne and Gilbert “keeps the essential tone of L.M. Montgomery’s work without seeming like a fusty museum piece. The music has real melodic grace and invention, often veering off into unexpected harmonies and rhythms that lift it above traditional musical theatre fare. The lyrics are well crafted, serious when called for, but often wryly amusing.”

The result is a lively and authentic island-style musical, full of laughter and romance and a brand new take on a heroine Canadians have loved for years.

Anne and Gilbert takes the Algonquin Theatre stage for three performances on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for youth 18 and under and area available at the theatre box office on Main Street, by calling 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.

Huntsville Festival of the Arts supporting literacy project in elementary schools

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Sept. 10, 2008.)

The Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) is supporting a literacy project next week involving elementary students in three local schools: Spruce Glen, Pine Glen and VK Greer.

Students at all grade levels in the schools will be encouraged to expand their literacy skills by exploring their own stories and writing about them. This exercise will culminate in an exciting activity where a compilation of stories will be bound into a book form for all to read.

In order to kick-start this initiative, two gurus of the storytelling genre will be on hand to work with the schools on Sept. 18 and 19. Bob Barton of the Storytellers’ School of Toronto and Larry Swartz, a teacher and consultant with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto, will be travelling to Muskoka to spend time with students and their teachers in order to work through the nitty gritty of the storytelling genre.

The two champions of literacy will be hosting a workshop at Pine Glen on Thursday, Sept. 18, between 4 and 5 p.m. which is open to all teachers. Those who plan to attend should contact organizers Mary Spring or Terri Howell.

This initiative is a pilot project which will no doubt open up similar opportunities in the future for other elementary schools in the area.

Huntsville Festival of the Arts announces fall lineup of shows, beginning Sept. 23

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Aug. 27, 2008.)

Variety of world-class artists to perform at the Algonquin Theatre, September through December

Summer coming to a close does not mean the end to entertainment opportunities.

The Huntsville Festival of the Arts has an aggressive fall program that offers a variety of world-class artists, all coming to perform in Huntsville’s lovely Algonquin Theatre.

Responding to many requests from theatre patrons, the festival is bringing in a professional theatrical production in late September. The iconic Canadian story of Anne of Green Gables is presented in three performances of Anne and Gilbert.

ANNE AND GILBERT: The cast of Anne and Gilbert, a musical about Anne of Green Gabes growing up, is seen here during the show's lengthy run on Prince Edward Island. The show is touring through Ontario this fall and making its only Muskoka stop at the Algonquin Theatre, Sept. 23-24.

This new Canadian musical tells the story of Anne Shirley’s journey into young adulthood and her romance with Gilbert Blythe. After its inaugural presentation in the fall of 2005 at the Victoria Playhouse in Prince Edward Island, the play continued for 48 consecutive sold-out performances.

The Gananoque Theatre Festival acquired the rights to the play last season and decided to tour it throughout Ontario this fall, with Huntsville being the only Muskoka stop. There are evening performances on Sept. 23 and 24 and a matinee on the Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 24).

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the writing of the original Anne of Green Gables books, this timely play is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Mark Friday, Oct. 3, on your calendar for the return of festival favourite Freddy Vette and the Flames. A great hit the last couple of years, Vette is returning by popular demand and will once again recreate all those rock and roll favourites by Buddy Holly, Elvis, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley, among others.

Vette’s rollicking piano playing, while sitting atop the piano, is worth the price of admission alone.

The next Friday, Oct. 10, Canadian fiddle supergroup Leahy will return to the festival after an eight-year absence. The festival first presented Leahy just as the group was gaining popularity. Since then, they have toured the world and played with a host of international stars, including a tour with Shania Twain.

All brothers and sisters, Leahy’s music features great fiddling and step dancing and their stage energy is unparalleled.

Closing the busy month of October is Spirit of the West, performing on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The ultimate feel-good party band, Spirit of the West became one of Canada’s most successful alternative rock groups, successfully blending hard rock, Brit-pop and Celtic folk influences.

Known for songs such as Home For a Rest, If Venice is Sinking, Five Free Minutes, Save This House, and The Crawl, their concert will be a must-see event.

On Thursday, Nov. 27, the Celtic Tenors return to the Algonquin stage. Following two previous sold-out shows, the Tenors provide a mix of amazing voices and a wide-ranging repertoire that goes from classical to pop. Originating in Ireland, this trio has performed internationally and establishing themselves as masters of their art.

Closing out the festival fall season is a very special presentation of the Soweto Gospel Choir on Saturday, Dec. 20. This 26-member ensemble is dedicated to sharing the joy of faith through music with audiences around the world.

With Archbishop Desmond Tutu as their patron, the choir performs in English as well as six of South Africa’s 11 official languages. The evening is sure to leave those in attendance stunned with emotion.

Tickets for all festival shows are available through the theatre box office on Main Street, by calling 789-4975 or online: www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.

For more information on any of the shows visit the festival website.