We’ll be celebrating a very successful 2009/10 season, and you can also meet some of the cast members of our 2010 fall production of The Sound of Music!

If you are already a member, you can renew your membership before the AGM. If you would like to get involved with our company and to become a member, you can download the Membership Signup Form from our website.

Date: Sunday, August 22, 2010
Time: 1pm to 1:30pm
Location: North Burnaby Legion, 4356 Hastings Street, Burnaby (View Map)

Please RSVP to info@footlight.ca by Thursday, August 19 if you plan to attend. Hope to see you there!

Maria Rainer (musical theatre mix/soprano, dance, 20-35)
A postulant at Nonnberg Abbey – young, free spirited, warm, gentle and kind with much determination.

Captain Georg von Trapp (baritone, moves well, 35-45)
A retired Austrian naval captain. Polished, yet very military in the way he runs his life to repress his sadness over the death of his wife; underneath, he is warm, understanding, and determined.

Max Detweiller (tenor/baritone, moves well, 30+)
Charming and vital; a man of sophistication who enjoys the good life; true and loyal friend to the von Trapp family.

Elsa Schrader (mezzo soprano, moves well, 25-40)
A baroness of taste and elegance, sophisticated, dignified and mature.

Mother Abbess (legit soprano, wide vocal range, 40+, very strong actress)
Motherly, understanding, strong and authoritative, but kind.

FEATURED CHARACTERS:

Sister Berthe (alto, moves well)
Mistress of Novices, prudish, straight laced with a quick tongue, she is less tolerant than other nuns.

Sister Margaretta (mezzo, moves well)
Mistress of Postulants, very kind, understanding and concerned.

Sister Sophia (soprano, moves well)
Neither demanding nor critical, sticks with the rules.

Franz (non-singing, 30+)
The von Trapp butler, rather formal but not without spirit, he is very German and loyal to the Fascist cause.

Frau Schmidt (non-singing, 30+)
The housekeeper, stoic, very little personality; she does her job efficiently but without affection. Strong and somewhat dominating.

Herr Zeller (non-singing, 40+)
Stern and unsmiling, a typical Nazi official whose primary concern is to see that everyone toes the line.

Rolf Gruber (low tenor, dance, 17)
Suitor to Liesl, telegram delivery boy, later Nazi soldier. A very pleasant young man, somewhat aggressive but in a gentle way.

LEAD CHILDREN’S ROLES:

All children, apart from their character description must be able to be conservative with their emotions and “serious”.

Liesl von Trapp (mezzo, dance, 16)
The oldest child, blossoming into a young lady with an interest in boys. She has a maternal edge to her and cares very deeply for her younger siblings.

Friedrich von Trapp (age 14)
Tough exterior, very much trying to be “the man” of the family.

Louisa von Trapp (age 13)
Rebellious attitude.

Kurt von Trapp (age 10, falsetto)
Gentle and mischievous.

Brigitta von Trapp (age 9)
Smart, reads a lot.

Marta von Trapp (age 7)
Very sweet and gentle.

Gretl von Trapp (age 6)
Must have the cute factor.

CHORUS:

3-4 Austrian children (who will understudy the roles of the von Trapp children)

5-10 male chorus members (16-60+ years) – Nazi soldiers, neighbours, Salzburg
citizens and Georg?s friends (of naval background)

5-10 female chorus members (16-60+ years) – Salzburg citizens, new postulant, nuns,
novices, postulants and contestants in the Festival Concert

Director: Lalainia Lindbjerg Strelau
Musical Director: Monique Creber
Production dates: November 5 – 20
Production location: Michael J. Fox Theatre

Audition dates:
Friday June 11, Saturday June 12, Sunday June 13

Audition times:
Children: Friday 4:30 – 6:30 pm, Saturday 10:00 – 12:00 pm, and Sunday 1:00 – 3:00 pm.
Adults: Friday 7:30 – 9:30 pm, Sunday 3:00 – 9:00 pm

Callback dates:
Friday June 18 (5:00 – 10:00 pm) and Sunday June 20 (1:00 – 9:00 pm)

Audition location:
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (map)

Requirements:
We will be seeing Equity members for the roles of Maria and The Captain.

Click here for character descriptions

Notes

Please prepare two contrasting songs from the musical theatre genre, one of which will be chosen for you to perform. As time will not allow your whole song to be performed, please prepare a 1 to 2 minute section of your song which highlights your strengths. Sheet music in the correct key is required, an accompanist is provided.

Please bring comfortable clothing and footwear for the dance portion of your audition.

A hard copy of your resume and headshot are to be handed in to the reception table upon arrival. Children without a headshot or resume, please bring a snapshot, a list of past experience/skills and the child?s age, height and weight.
Contact: To book auditions or for more information please contact audition@footlight.ca

Music by RICHARD ROGERS
Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
Book by HOWARD LINDSAY and RUSSELL CROUSE
Suggested by “The Story of the Von Trapp Singers”

November 5-20, 2010 at the Michael J. Fox Theatre, Burnaby

One of the best-loved musicals of all time comes to Burnaby in Footlight Theatre’s fall 2010 production! The engaging and dramatic tale of rebellious Maria and the Von Trapp children has charmed generations. The score includes some of the most memorable songs ever performed on the musical stage.

Check back soon for audition and ticket information
or subscribe to our mailing list to be notified!

Footlight Theatre Company has been proudly producing plays at the Burnaby Village Museum for over forty years.  Every Christmas it is our pleasure to produce an original Christmas themed play, for families and patrons of the Village to enjoy.  We are excited to announce that this year we will holding a script writing contest to select this year’s show.

We have decided to reach out to others in the artistic community to canvass for submissions.  The winner will see their play on stage at the Burnaby Village Museum from mid November to just before Christmas.  The play will also be put in the New Plays contest with Theatre BC in 2011.

During Footlight’s 40 years with the Burnaby Village Museum, we have also produced a Vaudeville show which runs from Father’s Day in June until Labour Day in September. Both shows are very important as often they are the first live theatre experience for young children and may shape appreciation for performing arts.  In these days of television and movies, live theatre may be lost to the very young.

Footlight Theatre Company hopes this will encourage those who are looking to write professionally, as well as those who are just beginning, to consider entering. We would like to become a company which reaches out to others in the community. Please consider the thrill of seeing your script on stage!

Criteria:  What are we looking for?

• Must be a Christmas-themed story
• Family oriented and suitable for all ages
• Can be musical or non-musical

Should be set somewhere between late 19^th century and 1930 to coincide with the historical setting of Burnaby Village Museum.

How To Enter

Download complete Contest Regulations. (This is a PDF file which requires Adobe Reader to view.)

In every show that is performed there are always incidents that the audience is unaware of.  Sometimes it occurs because the actor makes a mistake, at other times it happens when something quite unexpected goes wrong.  Those of you who have acted on stage know that the show the audience sees is sometimes unrehearsed.

FOOTLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY had its beginning in 1965 or 1966 as BURNABY CIVIC OPERA, performing excerpts from light operas such as “Trial by Jury”, “La Traviata, Act II”, “The Gypsy Baron”, “The Count of Luxembourg”,“Pink Champagne”, “The Merry Widow”, and many others.

In 1971 Burnaby Civic Opera put on an original show called “Bonanza Creek 1871” for British Columbia’s Centennial year. It was written by Harry Mossfield with music by Theo Gould. At that time I became a member and sang in the chorus, learning a lot about community theatre, and actor’s egos. I was quite taken aback when a young female lead of 20 complained to me about how upset she was, being cast as a 40 year old. I must admit  I was quite surprised, because she looked 40, and I was 40.

In  the fall of 1975 the group changed its name to HERITAGE MUSICAL THEATRE. As the club wanted to start performing Broadway musicals,  they staged ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. I was cast as  Mrs. Sylvia Potter-Porter, the “over-the hill Gibson Girl” who is trying to steal Frank Butler (Gary McGill) from Annie Oakley (Roxanne Harper). Backstage I was affectionately known as “Porta-Potty”!

In the final show during the scene onboard ship when Annie shoots a seagull, someone dropped a facsimile of a seagull from the catwalk. The cast was surprised, as this hadn’t happened in previous performances; however the audience thought it was part of the show…..too bad it wasn’t!

We took ANNIE GET YOUR GUN to Nanaimo, complete with a truckload of scenery and costumes, only to find there had been little or no advertising done. Our venue was a high school gymnasium, and there were three other concerts going on in the city at that time. We had a total audience of 25, and needless to say we lost a lot of money on this venture! We had to put on many fundraising projects to get out of debt.

Some of us girls formed a group called “The Fabulous Frowzies” and we would close these fundraisers by coming through the audience as “charwomen”, ad-libbing with the audience and ending up on stage. We’d sing “Hey, Big Spender” and do a pseudo strip-tease. One of the girls fastened water filled balloons inside her top, and one night the wife of a plastic surgeon spoke to her, suggesting that she have plastic surgery to correct her problem before she got any older!

In the spring of 1976 we performed a lesser known musical, ANNIE LAURIE. It is the story of the courtship of Jean Armour by Robbie Burns. I was Mrs. Armour, Jean’s mother. Our director was attending Drama classes at UBC and took no fee for directing the show. He had his professors attend a performance for this “thesis”, which helped us with the loss of revenue from ANNIE  GET YOUR GUN. There were winners all around!

And so we embarked on a theatrical journey to raise money for our club. We traveled to the PNE, nursing homes, conventions, senior’s activity centers, and even to Hope for the Hope Brigade Days. Slowly but surely we began to build a bank account for future shows.

We decided to do a big popular musical in the fall of 1976, so we chose FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, which was a huge success. I was in the chorus, and also had the great pleasure of playing Grandma Tzeitel in the dream scene; this was a lot of fun!

We rehearsed the complicated opening number “Tradition” for one month, only to learn we had to do the routine set down by the original Broadway Choreographer for that song. That’s what we were told; so back we went to square one to unlearn, then learn a new, different and complicated opening.

In 1977 we staged GODSPELL in the spring, and HERE’S LOVE for the Christmas Season. HERE’S LOVE is a delightful musical which was based on the classic film “Miracle On 34^th Street”. I played Miss Crookshank, secretary to the psychiatrist, who was to assess Santa Claus’ mental stability. The scene immediately following the intermission was one in which Santa was to teach me a song, while waiting for the doctor.

One performance, I was waiting behind the closed curtains, wondering where Santa was. The orchestra started to play our music and I knew we should begin singing as soon as the curtain opened. In the meantime Santa Claus was standing behind the mid-stage traveler, telling the crew they were setting up the wrong scene.

On stage, the curtains opened and I said “Where is that man? He’s late for his appointment”. I went to the desk and frantically started dialing the telephone. Meanwhile one of the crew realized what was happening and pushed Santa on stage just in time for me to look up, hang up the phone and say “There you are, you’re late!”. We then started with the dialogue that followed the song. The audience never suspected what had happened, but I sure did!

In another scene, Fred Gaily (Roy Fairbairn) and Doris Walker (Adele Clark) had a romantic scene which ended with a kiss. Roy had touched up the white spots in his beard; after the tender scene Roy gazed fondly at Adele and realized that the colour had come off his beard and onto her mouth. Roy fully intended to apologize as soon as they were off stage, however as Adele took a deep breath to sing, her blouse popped open, and Roy’s good intentions flew out the window!

For the final scene, the Stage Manager had devised a snowfall of artificial snow to fall on the cast as they walked along singing “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”. Every night the crew had the tedious job of cleaning up this “snow” for the next performance, so they had placed a tarpaulin on the stage to make the task easier. However no one had told the actors! During the court scene when the judge said “Do what?”, Roy turned abruptly, and hurrying to the bench to deliver his reply, skidded from downstage to upstage without taking a step, bringing a loud “Whooooo!” from the entire audience!

Mark Turpin returns as director, along with several of Footlight’s Vaudeville alumni. This year’s show will be full of classic Vaudevillian songs from the early 1900’s that you’ll find yourself singing along to. It’s also spiced up with plenty of comedy that will not only keep you laughing in the aisles but – true to Vaudeville – will also make you groan.

As always, it’s an original show built around the music and comedy of the Vaudeville era, produced to entertain people of all ages. The cast and production team look forward to seeing you all there this summer to partake in the crazy antics of this year’s Vaudeville Varieties!

Over the years she has worked as musical director, artistic director, producer, and performer with various other groups, including Douglas College, Vagabond Players, and lately Dogwood Drama Club in Coquitlam. Beverley also directed and performed in the Vaudeville Variety Show at Burnaby Village Museum for 28 years. Beverley is now one of only three Life Members of Footlight Theatre Company.

President Judy Chang recently asked Beverley to relate some anecdotal stories from previous FTC productions for their newsletter. The result is a six-part series, which can be enjoyed right on our website. Click here to read them!

I am Roy Fairbairn (there will be a short pause while everyone says “WHO CARES?”)  I have been an active member of your theatre group for many years and a member of Community Theatre for 33 years.

Some of you know that I wrote a book based on family genealogy, autobiography, theatre experience and extensive travel which I had printed after years of preparation.

I sent copies to close relatives.  The cost of printing was about $50.00 per copy.

During the writing period, some expressed a desire to obtain a copy.  Obviously I cannot afford to make further gifts of the book, but would like to know if anyone is still interested and how many.  If someone definitely wishes a copy (either personally or as a group) please contact me at 604-525-8451. Thanks!

Do you have an idea for a scene or number to run in this year’s show? If so, please email your scripts and scenes to vaudeville@footlight.ca by Feb 25th. If your script is selected for the show, you will receive a small honorarium from Footlight Theatre Company, and you’ll be recognized in the program and marketing materials associated with this year’s show.

Guidelines for material:

• Suitable for family audiences of all ages.
• Content and references must fit the historical timeline of the Vaudeville era 1890-1930.
• Scenes should be no more that 3-4 mins in length.

Content we are looking for:

• Comedy, Comedy, Comedy. Remember that vaudeville was the birthplace of many great comedians such as George Burns, Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges.
• Musical Numbers. Many great singers came from Vaudeville including Judy Garland and Bing Crosby along with many great composers like Irving Berlin and Lorenzo Hart. If you have an idea for a song out of the vaudeville era (1890-1930) and how it should be performed, please send it forward.
• Comedic Songs. Even better! Know of a funny song from this era that will have them rolling in the aisles?  Please share your ideas with us.
• Gimmicks! Many Vaudeville performers didn’t have talent per se, but gimmicks brought the people in. Fire breathing, contortionists, ventriloquists, hypnotists, etc.

Have an idea but not sure it will work? Throw it at us anyway.

Once again, we need to hear from you by February 25th. So don’t delay – contact us today!