Waiting for the Parade

Waiting for the Parade

A Canadian Classic

August 29 – September 20, 2014
Springer Theatre

"Preparation, organization, concentration. That's what it's all about."

 

 

 

By John Murrell
Produced in Association with Western Canada Theatre, Kamloops, BC
Directed by Ashlie Corcoran

  • Set in Calgary during World War II, five women gather to work for the war effort while the men they love are away. Their tensions, secrets, hopes and dreams reveal the women’s inner-strength and heroism in one of our country’s most enduring and best-loved plays about these women who kept “The home fires burning.”
    Waiting for the Parade is ultimately dramatic, moving and funny, and features live music and songs made popular from during the war years.

    “Speaks honestly and directly to the heart.”
    - – The Toronto Star

    “A small masterpiece.”
    - – The Ottawa Citizen

    “An honest play that captures precisely the texture of ordinary hopes and despair.”
    - – The London Guardian


    Student Matinee – Presented by TD Bank Group

    September 17, 11:00am

     

    WOMEN AND WAR – A Panel Discussion

    Presented by PeaceQuest in partnership with the Thousand Islands Playhouse
    Sunday, September 14th, 1pm - Firehall Theatre Lobby (60 minutes)

    Join us at the Playhouse for an exciting and interactive panel discussion on the themes and questions raised in the Canadian classic Waiting for the Parade. Five experts will gather in the Firehall Theatre to discuss topics such as women's paid and unpaid work during World War II, the role of music in war, and the thoughts and feelings of women left behind, both then and now. 

    Refreshments will be served. Generously donated by the Waterfall Cafe.

  • Springer Theatre Logo

    Playing at the Springer Theatre
    from August 29 – September 20, 2014

    Evening Performances: Tuesday through Saturday 8:00pm
    Matinees: Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday 2:30pm

    Running Time:
 2 hours plus intermission

  • Cast

    Catherine: Shannon Currie
    Janet: Deb Drakeford
    Eve: Andrea Houssin
    Margaret: Janet Michael
    Marta: Anita Wittenberg

    Creative

    Director: Ashlie Corcoran
    Set & Costume Designer: Drew Facey
    Sound Designer: Doug Perry
    Vocal Director: Steven Greenfield
    Lighting Designer: Ross Nichol
    Choreographer: Shelley Stewart Hunt
    Research Dramaturg: Toby Malone
    Stage Manager: Nicola Benidickson
    Assistant Stage Manager: Monika Seiler




    NICOLA BENIDICKSON (Stage Manager)
    For the Playhouse: Boeing Boeing.
    Elsewhere: As Stage Manager: Waiting for the Parade, Harvest (Western Canada Theatre); The Graviational Pull of Bernice Trimble (Factory Theatre); This Is War (Tarragon/PTE): Leporello in Gehenna (Workshop); Decalogue Two: Name In Vain (Tarragon Theatre); The Lesson, Aurash (Modern Times Theatre Company); Binti’s Journey (Theatre Direct); The Skin of our Teeth, Hated Nightfall (George Brown Theatre School). As Assistant Stage Manager: Tribes (Theatrefront/Canadian Stage/Theatre Aquarius); Ubuntu: The Cape Town Project (Theatrefront/Western Canada Theatre/Tarragon); The Mill: Parts 1-4 (Theatrefront); Sanctuary Song (Tapestry New Opera/Theatre Direct); How it Works, Democracy, Molière, House of Many Tongues (Tarragon Theatre). 
    Upcoming: Abyss (Tarragon Theatre).

    ASHLIE CORCORAN (Director)
    For the Playhouse: Artistic Director since November 1, 2012.  Director for: The Ugly One, She Loves Me, Driving Miss Daisy, Salt-Water Moon, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Third Floor. 
    Elsewhere:  As Director: The Gay Heritage Project (Buddies in Bad Times); The Ugly One (Theatre Smash/TarragonTheatre); The Magic Flute (Opera Philadelphia); Don Giovanni, Le Lauréat, Three Sisters Who are Not Sisters (The Glenn Gould School, RCM); The Brothers Grimm, Isis and The Seven Scorpions, Cinderella, The Bear (Canadian Opera Company); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Western Canada Theatre). As Artistic Producer & Director: Tiny Dynamite, Tijuana Cure, A Boy Called Newfoundland, The Ugly One (Theatre Smash). 
    Upcoming: The Bremen Town Musicians (COC); Durango (Theatre Smash/fu-GEN Theatre).

    SHANNON CURRIE (Catherine)
    For the Playhouse:  Debut.
    Elsewhere:  The Seagull (Segal Centre); The Mousetrap (Theatre Aquarius); The Life of Jude (Summerworks Festival); Macbeth (Humber River Shakespeare Company); Doubt (Sudbury Theatre Centre); King Lear, Comedy of Errors (Driftwood Theatre); Three Sisters, Twelfth Night, Macbeth (National Theatre School).
    TV/Film: Saving Hope (CTV); Warehouse 13 (SyFy); Nostrum (Wright Productions); Falling for Caroline (Inside Out Festival).
    Upcoming: Iceland (Why Not Theatre).

    DEBORAH DRAKEFORD (Janet)
    For the Playhouse: The Importance of Being Earnest.
    Elsewhere: Some favourite shows include: Bea - 2013, Dora nomination, The City - 2010, A Kind of Alaska - 2006 (Actors Repertory Company (ARC) of which she sits on the Artistic Board); Great Expectations - 2013, Waiting For The Parade - 2010, A Christmas Carol -8 times (Soulpepper Theatre Company); and many others. 

    TV/Film: Deb has appeared in many tv episodics and films and has lent her voice to various animated series.  Favourites include the voice of Marigold on TVO’s Polka Dot Shorts, and appearances in CBC’s Cracked and David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.

    Upcoming: ARC’s The Moment and Deb will reprise her role as Mrs. Cratchit for Soulpepper. 
    Other: Deb also holds a BEd degree and teaches across the Greater Toronto Area. She lives in Toronto with her husband, actor Oliver Dennis, and their children, Charlotte and Philip.

    DREW FACEY (Set & Costume Designer)
    For the Playhouse: Debut.
    Elsewhere: Penelope (Rumble); Elizabeth Rex, Measure for Measure, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Antony and Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing (Bard on the Beach); Other Desert Cities, The Unplugging, Calendar Girls (Arts Club); Broken Sex Doll (Virtual Stage); Educating Rita, Putnam County Spelling Bee (Western Canada). 
    Upcoming:  Stickboy (Vancouver Opera); Conversations With My Mother (Gateway); Educating Rita (Arts Club).
    Other: A graduate of Studio 58, Drew has been designing sets and costumes for the past eight years. He has been nominated for 21 Jessie Awards for outstanding design and has won nine. 

    STEVEN GREENFIELD (Vocal Director)
    For the Playhouse: Debut.
    Elsewhere: Recent: Red Rock Diner (Arts Club); Bemused (Theatre North West); Clue: The Musical (Ghost Light Projects).
    Upcoming: The Chariot Cities (Vancouver Fringe); Darling (Springboard Theatre); James and the Giant Peach (Carousel Theatre); STATIONARY: a recession-era musical (Delinquent Theatre).
    Other: Born and raised in Calgary, Steven has been based out of Vancouver since 2006. A member of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association, his musical direction of Busytown, The Wizard of Oz and Seussical (Carousel Theatre), The Spitfire Grill (Pacific Theatre) and Edges (Streamlight Productions) has been recognised with nominations and awards from the Jessie Awards and the OVATION! Awards. He is a graduate of Grant MacEwan College's Theatre Arts program. Thanks to Ashlie. Special thanks to family, friends and JvRG for their love and support. And thank you for choosing live theatre as your entertainment option today!

    ANDREA HOUSSIN (Eve)
    For the Playhouse: Debut. 

    Elsewhere: Good Intentions (WJT); You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Fantastic Mr. Fox (Project X Theatre); La Marea (Boca del Lupo); 1984 (The Virtual Stage); Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare (White Rabbit Productions); Julius Caesar, The Crucible, The 13th Chair, A View with a Room (Studio 58). 

    Upcoming:  Munsch Upon a Time (Prairie Theatre Exchange).
    Other: Andrea grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she received a B.A. from the University of Winnipeg. She is also a regular theatre instructor at Manitoba Theatre for Young People. Special thanks to Ashlie, Daryl, Steven, and all of the Parade ladies. Andrea is a graduate of Studio 58. www.andreahoussin.ca.

    SHELLY STEWART HUNT (Choreographer)
    For the Playhouse: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, She Loves Me.
    Elsewhere: The Drowsy Chaperone (Exit 22 Prod.); How To Succeed In Business … (Theatre Under The Stars); Spring Awakening, (Studio 58); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, (Western Canada Theatre Company); I Love You Because (Intimate Theatre Prod.); Guys & Dolls (Gateway Theatre); Winter Sport (West Vancouver’s official Olympic celebration site multi-media show); motion capture choreography for Barbie: The Princess & The Pauper (Mattel).
    Other: Based in Vancouver, Shelley is a faculty member in Capilano University’s Musical Theatre Diploma program. Selected performance credits include Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies (Hero Tapper); The Full Monty  (Patrick Street Productions); Evita and My Fair Lady  (Arts Club/Stanley Theatre); CATS National Tour (Rumpelteazer); ABC-TV’s Bye Bye Birdie (Alice).

    TOBY MALONE (Research Dramaturg)
    For the Playhouse: Debut. 

    Elsewhere:  Selected, as Dramaturg: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear (Stratford); Endgame, Death of a Salesman, Oh What a Lovely War, Exit the King (Soulpepper, three seasons resident dramaturg); The Tempest, Macbeth, Twelfth Night (Driftwood, seven seasons resident dramaturg); Hamlet Variorum, Blast Shakespeare Series (Poorboy Theatre, Scotland); The War of the Worlds (Arizona Theatre Company) Kill Shakespeare: The Live Graphic Novel (Young Centre for the Performing Arts); Canadian Stage; Shaw; the Grand Theatre London.
    Upcoming:  Supervising faculty Dramaturg on the University of Waterloo’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Rhinoceros.
    Other:  Ph.D in Shakespearean performance historiography and dramaturgy from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies. Faculty member, instructor, and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo’s Department of Drama and Speech Communication.

    JANET MICHAEL (Margaret)
    For the Playhouse: Debut.
    Elsewhere: Waiting for the Parade, Noises Off, Wit If We Are Women, Witness for the Prosecution (Western Canada Theatre); Sexy Laundry (Richmond Gateway Theatre); No Great Mischief (Vancouver Playhouse); Joan Henry (Caravan Farm Theatre) Hot Flashes (Sunshine Theatre); Atlantis (Workshop West); Romeo and Juliet (Richmond Gateway Theatre); Midsummer Night's Dream (Rocky Mountain Shakespeare); The Hostage (Belfry Theatre); Dancing at Lughnasa (New Bastion Theatre).
    Upcoming: Presently working on the ninth draft of stage play Habib's Unforgettable All Night House Party about the joys and travails of a Newfoundland Lebanese family set in the year 1947. 
    Other: Singer and songwriter in the folk/blues genre. Performs original songs and traditional Newfoundland ballads regularly at the Princeton Traditional Folk Music Festival in British Columbia.

    ROSS NICHOL (Lighting Designer)
    For the Playhouse: Boeing Boeing.
    Elsewhere: Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, A Christmas Carol, Noises Off, The Woman in Black and 18 more (Western Canada Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (Persephone Theatre/ WCT); Home Ice, That Summer (Theatre Northwest) and almost another 200 across Canada.
    Upcoming: As Set and Lighting Designer: Closer Than Ever; The 39 Steps (Western Canada Theatre). As Set Designer: The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon (Theatre Northwest).
    Other: Ross has taught for Douglas College’s Stagecraft program and Langara College’s Studio 58, both in Vancouver. Ross is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology. He is also Production Manager for Western Canada Theatre, Kamloops BC. His thanks to the production staff here and at Western Canada Theatre for their work on this show! 

    DOUG PERRY (Sound Designer)
    For the Playhouse: Boeing Boeing.
    Elsewhere: Waiting For The Parade (Western Canada Theatre).

     

     

    MONIKA SEILER (Assistant Stage Manager)
    For the Playhouse: She Loves Me, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Suds, The Clockmaker, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Forever Plaid, The Mollycoddlers, The Russian Play/Essay.
    Elsewhere: Persée Tour to Chateau Versailles, France (Opera Atelier); The Country Wife, A Fond Husband, Munsched! (GBC); Race (Canadian Stage); The Winter Wonderettes (Theatre Kingston); Electro/Acoustic, The War of the Worlds, I Send You This Cadmium Red (Art of Time Ensemble); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Citadel); Beckett: Feck It! (Queen of Puddings/Canadian Stage); Other People (Mutual Friends Co-op),Topdog/Underdog (Obsidian/Shaw Festival); Jake and the Kid (Globe);  Ruined (Obsidian/Nightwood); What the Butler Saw, A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper); The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo (Opera Atelier); Eugene Onegin (Opera Lyra); Strong Poison, Pride & Prejudice, Rope's End (Manitoba Theatre Centre). 
    Upcoming: Alcina (Opera Atelier); A Christmas Carol (Soulpepper).

    ANITA WITTENBERG (Marta)
    For the Playhouse: Boeing, Boeing.
    Elsewhere: Noises Off!, A Christmas Story, Wit, A Christmas Carol(Western Canada Theatre); Mr. Pim Passes By, The Heiress, See how they Run, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hay Fever, Candida, Enchanted April, Lost in Yonkers (Chemainus Theatre Festival); Ethan Claymore (The Belfry); Circle Mirror Transformation (Arts Club), Mourning Dove, Agnes of God (Pacific Theatre).
    Upcoming: Patron Saint of Stanley Park (Theatre North West).
    Other: Anita is thrilled to return to TIP and lovely Gananoque. She dedicates her performance to the memory of her parents, Doris and Peter Wittenberg; grateful for all the sacrifices they made from 1941-1945.

     

  • [nggallery id=6]

    Shannon Currie, Anita Wittenberg, Janet Michael, Andrea Houssin and Deb Drakeford. Photos provided by Western Canada Theatre, 2014. Photography by Barbara Zimonick.

    Ashlie's Inside Story

    [embed width="640" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y2-1yG-HgA&theme=light&color=white&rel=0[/embed]

  • REVIEWS

    Review: A Captivating Offer from the Playhouse
    Kingston Whig Standard. September 3, 2014
    While Canadian soldiers bravely fought in the Second World War, life wasn’t put on hold for those left behind at home. Their loved ones faced challenges.... >Read More

    Review: A Unique Piece of Canadian Framework
    Blog Review: September 2, 2014
    Waiting for the Parade presents a group of women on the homefront during WWII each of them a unique piece of the time period and all of which are striving to... >read more

    Review: A Triumph for Those Who Stayed Behind
    'A Fresh News Start' Blog Review: September 2014
    Whether rolling bandages, practicing for possible blackouts, or trying out leg make-up to substitute for impossible to come by silk stockings, the women who... >read more

    REVIEWS FROM WESTERN CANADA THEATRE PERFORMANCES

    Review: Western Canada Theatre presents a show for all ages
    Kamloops This Week, 1 April 2014
    Waiting for the Parade is the kind of play that crosses generations in its appeal. There’s the nostalgia factor for the seniors, the revelation for teenagers ... and ..." >read more 

    PREVIEW ARTICLES

    Video Preview: Waiting for the Parade
    Eastern Ontario Network - August, 2014
    Eastern Ontario Network had the chance to preview Waiting For The Parade at the 1000 Islands Playhouse... > Watch the video preview and interviews.

    Preview: Waiting for the Parade Keeps the Home Fires Burning
    A Fresh News Start, September 2014
    World War II was a hard time for everyone involved, but it had a special significance for those who stayed behind, the women who kept the home fires burning..." >read more

    Preview: Play explores the women left behind
    The Gananoque Reporter, September 2, 2014
    “Much has been written about the joys and pain of Canadians who marched off to fight in two World Wars, but much less has been written about the women left ...” >read more

    Preview: Waiting for the Parade offers more than just a re-enactment of history
    The Omega Student Paper, Thompson Rivers University, 24 March 2014
    "Western Canada Theatre brings Waiting for the Parade, a play-meets-musical about the women on the home front ... For Ashlie Corcoran, artistic director for ..." >read more

    Preview: Western Canada Theatre portrays women in war
    Kamloops This Week, 24 March 2014
    It’s 1939, and war has come to Europe. But in Calgary, it’s the women who are at the front. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, John Murrell’s ..." >read more

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