Live Theatre

     We always like to attend live theatre in each province. Local theatre offers great entertainment at reasonable prices but every once in a while we go to the big theatre. This is what we saw while in Nova Scotia. 

      Just like most dinner theatres, the performers act as your server as well as perform all around the theatre weaving the story through the tables and chairs. This adaptation of the Sound of Music had the basics of the original but the story location was set in Nova Scotia therefore the songs were changed to fit the story.

     Here is one of my favourite song versions that was performed:

Dese Are A Few A My Favorite T'ings  (Tim Horton style)

Honey-dipped Timbits and jelly-filled donuts

Bowties and e-clairs so good, you'll go right nuts

Crammin' down muffins until your ears ring

Dese are a few a my favorite t'ings

Specialty coffee or small double doubles

Caffeine at your age will get yas in trouble

Steeped wit' the bag in or leave out the string

Dese are a few a my favorite t'ings.

(Chorus) When the dog bites, when the bee stings

When I feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite t'ings

then I don't feel so bad.

Cruellers and Dutchies

And cookies wit' sprinkles

Keep eatin' sugar 'til everything twinkles

Hear all the gossips there twitter and sing

Dese are a few a my favorite t'ings.

Red hot chili

Or a bagel

Or a cheese bis-cuit (pronounced "quee")

You roll up the rim and you hope for win

But sorry, please play, a-gi-ii-ii-ii-iin.

     It was a fun evening and great meal!

    When Iris and her best friend Natalie arrive in Lunenburg from their home in Maine, they find an unpleasant surprise. Recently widowed, Iris discovers that her husband had a house in this charming Nova Scotian  town. The charismatic neighbour, Charlie, fills in the gaps of the mystery while romantic sparks fly and laughter abounds.

Click here to see preview of the play that we saw

     Romance is in the Keppoch Mountain air this summer as stylish Bessie brings home an Irish lad to marry. You can be sure there will be fiddles, dancing, stories and songs. But with the church gone, the marriage will have to take place in the ceilidh house with three generations of MacLeans hosting the gathering. Bessie has a list of ideas for as elegant an event as ever happened along Boston’s Charles River, but you may be sure matriarch Maggie MacLean has organized a wedding or two in her days so sparks are apt to fly. The cast, musicians and crew are all back from past shows. The priest is on his way. The bride is getting dolled up. It is likely that word of a wedding will draw out an odd character or two. If you’ve been with us for the ceilidh and the anniversary / wake, you certainly won’t want to miss a wedding. If you’re new to the Keppoch shows, pull up a chair, tune your ear for the Gaelic and enjoy the wit and warmth of highland hospitality.
   
     This play was filled with Celtic music and dance. It was quite enjoyable. One performer only spoke in the Celtic language, a dying language, which was translated as part of the play. Nice touch!

     When a human skeleton is found in the wall of the United Baptist Church, Sister Vivian Salter is call into unravel the mystery. As she coaxes the town to get up its secrets, she butts heads with the local officer, nursing staff, farmhands and an eccentric mute who claims he convenes with spirits. No one seems to be missing and the locals want to focus on enjoying their recent Hockey Championship win. The case tests Sister Vivian's spiritual strength as she tries to determine who and what to believe. The more she digs, the more ghosts, murders and memories she unearths.

     This play was performed at a local theatre in the basement of a church. We always attend and enjoy local theatre.

     Called "the funniest farce ever written," Noises Off presents a manic menagerie of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called Nothing's On. Doors slamming, on and offstage intrigue, and an errant sardine all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play.

     I really enjoyed this play which was performed at the Halifax Neptune Theatre. I laughed so much. A traditional British farce.

    It's 1979, and New York's hottest A-listers are lining up for the opening of a floating casino and discotheque. Also attending is a faded disco star, a sexy nightclub singer with her eleven-year old twins, a disaster expert, a feminist reporter, an older couple with a secret, a pair of young guys who are looking or ladies, an untrustworthy businessman and a nun with a gambling addition. What begins as a night of boogie fever quickly changes to panic as the ship succumbs to multiple disasters such as earthquakes, tidal waves and infernos. As the night turns into day, everyone struggles to survive and, quite possibly, repair the love that they've lost... or at least escape the killer rats. This musical featured many unforgettable songs of the '70s. Knock on Wood, Hooked on a Feeling, Sky High, I Am Woman and Hot Stuff are just a few of musical treasures offered.

     This was one of the "must go to" shows for me because one of the stars was Al, who played the husband in the older couple. He did an outstanding job acting, even speaking with a New York accent.

Al pictured here in his '70s outfit with his on-stage
wife who had the big secret. I won't tell you
what it is. You will have to see the musical yourself.

Taking a bow with the rest of the cast.

     For many years, we have attended the local theatre in Newmarket, Ontario where we lived for 28 years. It can be great fun and outstanding entertainment. Our son, Aaron, also is an actor in local theatre in Ontario. He has been in many plays which we have attended. Al says that it was Aaron who inspired him to try his hand in local theatre.