When the folks at Theatre By the Bay (TBTB) say they have something for everyone, they mean it.
Starting today, kids can watch the colourful and enthusiastic performance of Adventure Island and adults can revel in the historic drama that is Faust.
Adventure Island is a choose-your-own-adventure type play where you never know what’s going to happen. 17-year old Connor Jesso plays the dastardly Captain Blackheart and is happy to be a part of a great production with many other Barrie kids his age.
“I love working with this cast so much,” said the recent Innisdale graduate. “It’s really neat to keep doing shows with each other, grow with each other and maintain friendships as it happens.”
Adventure Island will be Jesso’s last play before heading off to St. Lawrence College for musical theatre. The stage is always where Jesso has wanted to be and he is up for the challenge of anything whether its comedy or drama, but he admits to wanting to recreate one performance.
“I would love to be in a recreation of School of Rock, the Jack Black movie,” said Jesso. “That would be really cool to produce on stage I feel.”
The exciting news for theatre lovers is that Goethe’s masterpiece Faust is here in Barrie for a near two-week stay. Faust is the story of a man (Faust) who makes a deal with the devil (Mephistopheles) and the view of his descent into the perils of his decision. TBTB Artistic Director Alex Dault knows that audiences will love the play that rarely gets seen in North America and is widely acclaimed in Europe.
“This is historically a long play and one that is relatively difficult to produce,” said Dault. “Fortunately we have one of Canada’s greatest composers in Leslie Arden who has created music for the Faust play and made it into a musical.”
With eight actors and an orchestra of four, seasoned veteran Jeanette Lambermont-Morey will direct what could end up being a classic. Dault credits the TBTB’s Passion Project with choosing the artists to present great plays for the city. While Faust is certainly some of the biggest news to hit the city’s thriving arts community, it certainly won’t be the last.
“The Passion Project funds the time and space for a great Canadian artist to come to Barrie and give us wonderful plays and performances,” said Dault. “It’s great for me as I’m from Barrie originally and seeing the young actors in Theatre By the Bay come up and perform as well as watch national icons bring plays here is so exciting.”
Dault credits an overflowing Toronto arts community with why Barrie is enjoying a boom in their arts programs.
“We are benefiting from the fact that Toronto has almost too much arts to handle, their cup runneth over type thing,” said Dault. “And truthfully, Barrie audiences are open for anything. We have an intelligent arts fan base but they also feel like even if it’s been done elsewhere, let it be done here now and see how it does. The city is also so beautiful that it attracts folks from Toronto to make the 45 minute drive up and the cottage country people to drive down and enjoy a show, some dinner and head back.”
Adventure Island runs from July 5 to 8th at 11:00 a.m. and July 9 to 16th at 2:00 p.m.
Faust runs from July 5 until July 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Check www.theatrebythebay.com for ticket info
