Heather Latter
The “Kids & Company” entertainment series is gearing up for its 2014-15 season, which will feature five shows.
Season passes and individual show tickets are going on sale soon.
“I’m really excited about this season,” enthused new committee chair Tara Tolley.
“I think we have a really great variety of shows that both children and adults will enjoy,” she noted.
Tolley said the series’ aim is to introduce “children and their families to a wide spectrum of diverse entertainment to both foster an appreciation of the arts and to enhance the quality of life within our northern community through unique and creative music, dance, and drama.”
While the shows typically have been held Monday evenings at the Townshend Theatre, the first performance of this season has deviated from that and instead will be staged on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
But the following four shows will return to Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
“The first show is going to be something quite different than what we’re had before,” Tolley said of the award-winning, internationally-acclaimed production of “Where the Wild Things Are” by Presentation House Theatre of Vancouver.
It is dubbed as “an intimate ‘guided play’ experience” for children and adults.
“Adapted from the beloved classic, the audience helps transform Max’s bedroom into a forest, then becomes the ‘Wild Things’ as we are each given a mask and encouraged to ‘let the Wild Rumpus begin!’” notes the website’s description of the show.
“With the leadership of the performers, the audience also helps bring Max safely home,” it adds.
“It has received excellent reviews from across the country and surely will be a fun time for the little ones,” Tolley remarked.
The second show will feature the percussion group, “Envirodrum,” on Nov. 24.
Based in Toronto, “Envirodrum” is a group of professional musicians who have a passion for music and an eye for engaging performance.
“Things get interesting when the group takes their love of music and couples it with a passion for preserving the environment,” their website notes.
It adds the show offers many interactive and entertaining moments, wherein the group performs different styles of music while delivering environmental statistics in a way that is easy to understand.
“Envirodrum” uses strictly recyclable products as percussion instruments, such as plastic, metal, glass, wood, and paper products.
They also add keyboards and vocals in order to create the best performance possible.
“It’s a show you’re not going to want to miss,” Tolley promised.
The third show should provide plenty of laughs with the production of “Clip!” by the Centre de Recherche en Art Clownesque (The Clowning Research Centre) and Philippe Trépanier, and directed by Yves Dagenais.
The one-man production features Philip, an old employee in a theater where there will be a major international conference.
“While preparing the stage for this event, despite many blunders and incidents of all kinds, he is constantly distracted from his task, attracted by the only thing that interests him: playing,” explains the website.
“Playing in a theatre, playing at being a guest speaker, playing with a diabolo, playing the video producer; for the fun of playing.”
Trépanier, who plays Philip, is a circus artist and graduate of the famous Montreal National Circus School in 2003.
The next performance of the series focuses on music—particularly played on a ukulele.
James Hill, of Langley, B.C., learned to play the ukulele in school and it hooked him—honing his skills as a key member of the renowned Langley Ukulele Ensemble and earning a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia.
“A seasoned performer with a fan base in North America, Asia, and Europe, [Hill] has garnered wide acclaim for his ground-breaking approach to a chronically-underestimated instrument,” his bio states.
“Over the course of his first three genre-defying albums . . . he re-wrote every rule that had previously kept the ukulele in the realm of novelty and obscurity.”
The Edmonton Journal called him “a dazzling live performer with a genial, low-key sense of humour” while the Waikato Times deemed him “possibly the best ukulele player in the world.”
The final show of the season will end with some more drama, but with some cultural inspiration, in the presentation of “Baobab” by Montreal’s Théâtre Motus in co-production with the SÔ Company (Mali).
The story, inspired by West Africa legends, is about an ancient baobab tree during a drought.
“One day, the ancient baobab brings forth an egg and from this egg is born a little boy,” the website notes.
“The people in the village discover that he is the only one who can free the source of water.
“Then begins a quest during which only the courage of a child might change the history of the world.”
“Baobab” makes use of puppetry, masks, and percussive rhythms to bring the tale to life.
The St. Albert Gazette gave the performance four-and-a-half stars out of five in a 2011 review, calling it a “spellbinding puppet show that leaves you with a hopeful feeling that, despite all the adversity on Earth, anyone—even a small child—can change the world.”
“They come highly-recommended and should be a great way to end the series,” Tolley said.
“We had a great year last year and we are hoping for another fantastic one,” she added, noting attendance was what organizers had anticipated.
“We just want to keep expanding our audience,” Tolley reasoned.
All shows take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre, and Tolley stressed kids of all ages are welcome.
“The performances are tailored to families and kids,” she explained. “They only last about an hour, often including audience involvement.
“Children are naturally wiggly and giggly, and most of the performances embrace these qualities.”
Season passes for all five shows cost $35 while tickets for individual shows are $10 each.
Children three and under are free.
Passes are available at the Fort Frances Public Library, Betty’s, and Revco Carpet, The Coffee Landing in International Falls, as well as at the door.
Tolley also reminded that group rates are available, with groups of 10-14 receiving 10 percent off and groups of 15-19 earning a 25 percent discount.
Groups of 20 or more only pay half of the regular price.
“It can be a great option for a birthday party,” Tolley suggested.
“‘Kids & Company’ is a great introduction to live entertainment for kids,” she added.
For more information, contact Tolley at 274-4377 or via e-mail at ffkidsnco@gmail.com
