RRTC In the News

Sold-out crowds flock to Constance Bay

Last Resort a first Rural Root production for some in attendance

May 30, 2010
By DEREK DUNN

Opening night for The Last Resort at the Len Purcell Community Centre in Constance Bay, was a sold-out affair complete with a champagne reception to start, and promised to set the stage for a successful four-night run for Rural Root Theatre Company. Even special guest Robin Riddihough, chairman of the Ottawa Community Theatre Association – representing almost two dozen theatre companies in the region – was impressed with Rural Root. "Community theatre like this is just wonderful," said Riddihough, also past president of The Ottawa Little Theatre. "When you get people like this it will do just fine. "Community theatres put 100,000 bums in seats a year, way more than the NAC or other professional organizations."

After hors d'oeuvres that included scrumptious smoked salmon on cucumber, much laughter and excited chatter about the musical to come, the audience on the evening of May 12 settled in for a night of superb singing and rollicking good times. The piece is classic Norm Foster. A group of apparent strangers is staying the night in Saskatchewan's Last Resort, a hotel in the middle of nowhere that will serve as the perfect hideout for mob informant Nick Galeazzo.

On the run with FBI agent Angela Miller, Nick is paranoid that every other guest in the hotel is out to kill him. Freda Heitz, who operates the rundown hotel, has her work cut-out for her in trying to keep all her guests happy. Her Brazil night festivities unexpectedly provide both party and motive. Certainly, the Barzinis, a couple celebrating their 25th anniversary get more than they bargained for, and poet, Trent Balfour, finds inspiration at last.

Inspector Closely is the RCMP attaché who has to sort out the situation. A tough case to crack indeed. Sexual innuendos were bountiful (the parking attendant was merely "validating my stub"). But it was Inspector Closely (played by Ivo Mokros), who showed the best comedic timing. Nick Galeazzo (played by Ron Gardner) and Sid Barzini (Lee Powell) aced the slapstick scenes.

However, the show was all but stolen by Julia-Jessica Youngstead (Shannan Collins-Vig) and Angela Miller (Katherine Ross) who seemed to vie for strongest singing pipes. The wow factor was nailed over and over again. All actors gave solid, professional performances, even though some hadn't taken to the stage since high school, said director Martin Weeden. He said the almost 500 people who purchased tickets, some for the first time, seemed impressed.

"It's been going incredibly well. We are getting very favourable responses and the cast and crew are having a great time," Weeden said last Friday. "It looks like others have heard about it and will want to come out. People are very impressed, especially with the singing and the zaniness of the costumes."

In the audience that first night was West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry. His Lighthouse Restaurant was worked into the script by the actors, as were other gold sponsors during later performances. He is proud to call himself, as a councillor, also a proud gold sponsor since the company formed six seasons ago.

"I'm thrilled. It's a great event to get people out and interacting together," he said. "Overall I'd say the show was good. It was funny, a good show. You run into people in the restaurant or wherever and you don't expect them to be actors or funny. And they are."

El-Chantiry marvelled at the bravery it takes to participate in a full production. He said the cameo he had in Rural Root's last production was enough to test his limits. The one disappointment let down involved the matinee show, a first for Rural Root. Although a number of groups asked for it, only about 60 per cent of the seats were filled. (Others went beyond capacity, balancing it out with the all sold-out shows.) Nevertheless, Rural Root will offer a matinee in the fall as well.

Check in later at ruralroot.org to find out more about the mid-October production of The White Sheep of the Family, wherein one member of a family of thieves contemplates going straight. Auditions begin in June. All are welcome.

Deka on stage with Rural Root - Partnership deal proves mutually beneficial

March, 2010
By DEREK DUNN derek.dunn@metroland.com

CARP - Deka Builders and Suppliers wanted more exposure. Rural Root Theatre wanted materials to complete a long-anticipated upgrade to their Len Purcell Community Centre stage. So it was that necessity and community spirit brought the two together for a unique sponsorship agreement.
“The whole thing a sense of community, helping each other out,” Deka owner James Roy said, at his Carp area location.
Rural Root’s Martin Weeden agreed, pointing to a bundle of recipients; goods the store donated to the theatre troupe.
“I’ve always been a regular customer here for years,” Weeden said. “We have other sponsorships. This one means a lot to us. We can get stuff done and this saves us a lot of money.”
Another connection comes by way of Roy’s wife, a recent graduate of the Ottawa Theatre School, who got her first break when Weeden hired her for a play a few years back. She’s been bitten by the bug ever since.
“He gave me my first acting break. I was the Grim Reeper,” Lucy Roy said. “After that I was hooked. I like the opportunity of being in someone else’s skin, experiencing their emotions, which are really your own, too.”
Major sponsors are mentioned before every performance, have signage in the foyer and on posters and brochures. More than 300 tickets are sold on a given run, with some 125 people coming out nightly.
This spring’s performance – a comedy-musical called The Last Resort, by Norm Foster – will include two firsts: a matinee performance and a champagne reception.
“You don’t have to dress formally, but you will get a glass of wine,” Weeden said. “It’s a good play. It’s hilarious.”
Auditions for the May 12 to 15 run are still underway. Anyone interested in participating with Rural Root Theatre Company can find out more at ruralroot.org.

Rural Root Prepares for Show as Founders Reminisce

EMC April, 2009
By DEREK DUNN Associate Editor

EMC News - Rural Root members are putting the finishing touches on yet another production, to be staged at the end of this month; and while it may come as second nature to Martin and Helen Weeden, both of whom have been with the theatre company since it formed, they are the first to acknowledge that it hasn’t been an easy road to travel.

“We are getting a name for ourselves. People are looking for the next production. They are asking when the next play is. And from our side, there are enough people involved that it has taken on a momentum of its own,” said Helen, from the couple’s Carp home on a sunny spring afternoon. “But it wasn’t so easy in the past.”

She is referring to Rural Root’s first production, Council Chamber Capers, held – where else? – at the former township council chambers, now the Client Service Centre at Kinburn and Carp roads. It was the spring of 2005.

Area residents were upset that the city was considering converting the building into a P3 (public-private partnership), effectively taking away their right to utilize the facilities for community purposes. At the same time, theatre people in West Carleton like the Weedens were travelling to Arnprior or Kanata to participate in community theatre. That’s when Helen and Martin were approached with the idea of staging a production.

“In six weeks!” Martin recalls, laughingly. “And then we were told we’d only have to put it on for one night. So they had no idea what they were asking. You don’t put that much effort into something for one night.”

It was a challenge finding actors willing to participate, to say the least: a new theatre company, less than two months before curtains up.

“It was a bit of a hard sell,” said Helen, understating the situation. But the talent in West Carleton rose to the challenge. People like Bruce Buie, Valerie Jorgensen, Roy Ballantine and Marion Pogson all tossed their hat in. Helen even had a manuscript of her own, “The Madness of Moose and Mosquitoes,” ready to stage for the first time. Then there was the West Carleton School of Performing Arts, led by Melissa Demers, agreeing to bring its talented youth to the stage. Promotion and marketing were expertly done by amateurs unwilling to take no for an answer, sets were made to fit with the stage, the stage itself was built, the meeting room converted to a theatre house, lights and draperies were borrowed or rented. Then came the premiere. West Carleton raised the curtain on its first of many variety shows.

“We were packed. We ran out of chairs on closing night,” Martin said. “That’s when we said, uh-ho, we have a problem here. We have to keep this going now.”

Rural Root – the name Helen came up with when she started thinking about their country setting and traditions and growth of the group – has put on two productions a year since then, often staging unpretentious works by playwrights such as Norm Foster.

It quickly outgrew the client centre location as well, opting to accept an offer to stage their productions at the Constance and Buckham’s Bay Community Centre, on Len Purcell Drive.

“It’s really worked out well for us there, most of the members are from there now,” Helen said. But the audiences are still from all over West Carleton.

While getting audience members to come hasn’t been an issue, getting male actors has recently become one. “We understand that younger men are busy with work and family and all that. But once you get involved, you’ll make time for this,” Helen said. “We find men come to help out with the lights, the sound or set design, and they are amazed at how it all comes together in three months. It’s magical, it really is.” Martin says you learn a lot about yourself by being someone else. It is also a great confidence booster. And the rehearsal process is so thorough that no one ends up with stage fright. “If you ever need to make presentation at meetings or anything, acting is great for your self confidence. And it’s not like you have to learn your lines in one night.” They managed to convince at least one new male to this spring’s production. Councillor Eli El-Chantiry has agreed to make a cameo for one of the productions. “Bull in a China Shop” will appear April 29 to May 2, 8 p.m., at the Constance and Buckham’s Bay Community Centre. Tickets are $12; $15 for Friday and Saturday nights. To reserve tickets call 613.832.1070 or log onto www.ruralroot.org.