Rosebud ready for 2011 season, opening of Mercantile

Times Reporter

 

This year the Rosebud Theatre promises to be ‘beyond your wildest expectations,’ and with the line up it’s easy to see why that is the theme for 2011. The season starts off with the production ‘A Bright Particular Star.’ It’s the story of 19th century writer George McDonald and his family, who inspired J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis. 

“What they used to do, this family, was do plays in their back yard and give all the money to the poor,” said Artistic Director Morris Ertman. 

“Lo and behold it turns out his daughter has a real gift. It’s the story of his daughter making her way into the rest of the world in her own way, as a professional actress.”

Ertman said it’s a bit of a Hollywood story in some ways, about how a person goes from being really good in a small town to being good in a big city. 

“It’s a really, really fun and poignant story,” said Ertman.  

‘A Bright Particular Star’ begins on March 25, and is the first show of the New Year. 

In the spring, Ertman said, theatre goers can look forward to a few different things in Rosebud, including a production of W.O Mitchells ‘Jake and the Kid’. 

“Of course W.O Mitchell was our beloved Canadian prairie writer.”

‘Jake and the Kid’ is the story of a hired hand and the kid, a young boy whose dad is off in the war. The hired hand, Jake, is like a surrogate dad and a huge storyteller. Jake and a character by the name of Old Man Gatenby, get into arguments about making a rain machine and that you can’t make it rain, and so Jake decides to make a rain machine. 

“It’s all about upping the ante,” said Ertman. 

There will be three different Jake and the Kid stories being told during the performance, including a touching story about Christmas.

“Another really important part of our season this next year is going to be the fact that when people come, they will be able to dine in the new Rosebud Mercantile,” said Ertman. 

It’s taken a number of years to plan, fundraise and construct the Rosebud Centre, and many people are looking forward to the new building. 

“I just think it’s going to feel reinvigorated because of the opening of the new Rosebud Mercantile,” said Ertman. 

People will still be dining in the old area, but it will all be connected. Instead of having a buffet, there can be a plate service and people will all be able to sit and dine at once. There will also be new shops for people to browse while waiting for the show. 

‘The Diary of Adam and Eve’ by Mark Twain, will be running alongside ‘Jake and the Kid’, but will be performed in the studio side of the centre. 

Adam is just a guy working in the Garden of Eden, naming animals and whatnot when along comes this girl who talks a lot and is actually smarter than he is. The two end up together and have children. When Eve dies, Adam realizes that she was actually Eden and was the best thing that ever happened to him, even though he fights it the whole way through. 

“It’s a funny story about the way men and women just miss each other even though they are in love,” said Ertman. 

‘Queen Millie of Galt’ will be the show to see in the fall and is based on a true story. The story is about Edward VIII visiting Galt, Ont. Bored with the celebrations he went for a walk and met a teacher working in her garden, instead of celebrating. 

“She doesn’t like the royalty at all because her fiancé was killed in World War One, so she has nothing to do with the Brits,” said Ertman. 

Not knowing he is the prince, she tells him exactly what she thinks of the Brits. They fall in love and then suddenly he is called back to England to take the throne. 

“There is actually a headstone in Galt, Ont. that has her name and his name side by side, because they were engaged to be married,” said Ertman. 

The final performance for 2011 is a musical that will take place from Nov. 4 to Dec. 23, called ‘The Gifts of the Magi’. It takes place in New York City around Christmas time and is the story of Jim and Della. 

“They are a mouse poor family, a couple newly married and he really wants to do something great for her for Christmas,” said Ertman.

“He winds up selling something that’s really precious to him so that he can buy her combs for her hair.”

He sells his fathers watch to buy her combs and she sells her hair so she can buy a watch fob for his watch.  

“It’s utterly romantic, they both give away the most precious thing they have for the other person, and wind up with each other.”

While that may be the core story, it is also filled with other characters, such as a homeless person who is trying to go to jail because it is warm, and a paperboy who is stuck in the cold, slinging papers.  The upcoming year is filled with lots of romance and feel-good stories, which Ertman said wasn’t the concentrated effort some might think it would be. 

“I think the theme kind of emerges after you start putting the stories together. You start casting and think who would be best in this, and who would be best in that. All of a sudden these plays emerge and they sort of float to the top and then you go, oh look at the common ground.”

Ertman said there are great casts lining up for all of the productions, and he thinks people are going to have a great time at the theatre. Season tickets are already on sale to find out more go to rosebudtheatre.com.