One-Tank Trip
for Dec. 30/17
(c) By Jim Fox
The curtain is
rising on an epic season for a theatre company with seven stages in scenic,
interesting and can we call them “quaint” communities in southern Ontario.
Drayton
Entertainment theatres are a perfect one-tank trip to places with wonderful amenities
for day-trippers and weekend getaways.
 |
| The Drayton Festival Theatre is in a former 1902 opera house and town hall. (Barbara Fox photo) |
This includes the Festival
Theatre in Drayton; Huron Country Playhouse, Grand Bend; King’s Wharf Theatre, Penetanguishene;
and the renamed Dunfield Theatre, now known as the Hamilton Family Theatre
Cambridge.
There are also the Huron
Country Playhouse II, Grand Bend; St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre; and the St. Jacobs
Country Playhouse.
“Variety is key
next season,” said artistic director Alex Mustakas of the charitable theatre
organization’s
shows.
“There is something
for everyone, from Broadway blockbusters and hilarious comedies to classic
musicals and family fun with another beloved Disney classic and our annual
holiday panto (pantomime),” he added.
After a record-breaking
2017, the company is “reaching for the stars in 2018 with a
season that is bigger and better than ever before.”
 |
| Vancouver’s Colin Sheen starred in Footloose at the King’s Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene. |
Annual attendance
exceeds 250,000, making Drayton Entertainment one of the largest professional
theatre companies in Canada.
Over the coming
year, there will be 17 productions and 899 performances.
The company has procured
the Canadian premieres of major Broadway shows that will continue through next
year.
The new Irving Berlin
musical Holiday Inn will “continue this winning streak with its thrilling
choreography, huge dose of humor and legendary music,” said
marketing manager Amanda Kind.
 |
| The play Man of La Mancha is one of the highlights of the coming season for Drayton Entertainment. |
Sneak peek behind the curtain
Among an array of
musicals and comedies, the season will feature a new show, Canada
151: Better Late Than Sorry.
It’s billed as “celebrating
the true north strong and free” and stars local celebrity Neil Aitchison as the
ever‐popular
Mountie.
There’s also a “grand‐scale
production” of Disney’s
underwater musical the Little Mermaid and the regional premiere of Ghost: The
Musical, based on the hit romantic film.
Record attendance has
prompted the extension into the “fall shoulder season” in Drayton, Grand Bend
and Penetanguishene.
In Waterloo Region,
the next season will see the official launch of the renamed Dunfield Theatre to
recognize the philanthropy of long‐time supporters John and Terry
Hamilton.
 |
| Alex Mustakas is back in Man of La Mancha. |
As well, Mustakas
returns to the stage after five years to star as the deluded knight errant, Don
Quixote, in the epic musical odyssey, Man of La Mancha.
The season there
starts from March 14 to April 8 with Hairspray, followed by the courtship
comedy, the Birds and The Bees, May 23 to June 10.
Then there’s Cruisin’
Classics in July; Jonas & Barry in the Home in August; Man of La Mancha, from
Oct. 10 to Nov. 4; and Holiday Inn, Nov. 22 to Dec. 30.
The Drayton
Festival Theatre lineup features Holiday Inn from May 16; Canada 151: Better
Late Than Sorry, opening June 20; the Birds and The Bees, from Aug. 22; and Kings
& Queens of Country starting Oct. 3.
 |
| Hairspray opens the season in Cambridge. |
St. Jacobs Country
Playhouse has the Drowsy Chaperone from March 28; West Side Story; the
Rainmaker; the Little Mermaid; Out of Order; Ghost: The Musical; and winding up
with Jack and the Beanstalk: The Panto from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30.
At the St. Jacobs
Schoolhouse Theatre is the madcap Shear Madness from Sept. 12 to Dec. 23.
The shows will also
run at varying dates in the summer in Grand Bend and Penetanguishene.
Tickets for “regular
performances” cost $46; $27, ages 20 and younger. Details: draytonentertainment.com
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com
For more One-Tank Trips: http://1tanktrips.blogspot.ca
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