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April 04 2008
It’s déjà vu at Rosebud Studio Stage as the play that started Rosebud Theatre 25 years ago is reborn
Rosebud, Alberta – Twenty-five years ago, Allen Desnoyers, a Rosebud Theatre instructor and one of the theatre’s original founders had a dream. He wanted to turn the hamlet’s abandoned community hall into a theatre to produce his two-act play When the Sun Meets the Earth. He achieved his goal and Rosebud Theatre was born. Beginning April 11, Desnoyers unveils a new version of his Rosebud classic for the Studio Stage. Desnoyer’s evocative, moving, and often-humorous drama features students from the Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA) Mentorship Programme, and includes a stunning original score crafted by Desnoyers himself.
Set in the dust that choked the Alberta prairies in the 1930s, When the Sun Meets the Earth delves into the heart of the extreme challenges faced by farmer, family, and the pursuit of adventure. We watch, as the Stockman family tries to get by, in a time that was very unkind to people living on the prairies. John Stockman, played by veteran Rosebud actor Nathan Schmidt, must painfully endure the rapid growth of his young daughter, the departure of his son for the rosy promise of the big city, and the agony of seeing his farm being blown away a little more each day.
The revival of the first When the Sun Meets the Earth play done on the Rosebud Studio Stage, promises to deliver an adventure of the heart that audiences have come to experience over the past 25 years. Director Paul F. Muir, comments on the play, “The opportunity to produce a new version of this play in Rosebud so many years after the original, and to be directing it, is a real honour for me. It's a story full of pathos and heart, and actually asks some very important questions. It's not a musical, but rather a play with music. Allen has even written some new music for this production. There's really something for everyone to enjoy in the play. I think people will be surprised and touched personally.”
RSA produces two shows each year at the Rosebud Studio Stage as part of its course curriculum. Schmidt, a graduate of Rosebud School of the Arts, chose to play a key role in When the Sun Meets the Earth, because “this show is exactly what is great about Rosebud and the work we do. Company actors working directly with the students in shows. It’s a great experience for everyone involved!”
Audiences will remember Schmidt from such roles as Daddy Sherry in The Kite, and Chekov in The Good Doctor. RSA students must not only act in the play, they are responsible for key elements of production including costumes, set, lights, and props. When the Sun Meets the Earth features RSA students Kendra Hutchinson, Justin Born, Jonathan Kobewka, Dan Derksen, Sammantha Isaman, Kelsey Krogman, Scott Schreiner, alumna Nathan Schmidt, as well as musicians Angus Wilson and Aaron Krogman.
When the Sun Meets the Earth plays at the Rosebud Studio Stage at 4:30 pm, Wednesdays to Saturdays from April 11 – May 3. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and can be purchased by calling 1-800-267-7553.
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March 12, 2008
“Trying” breaks the ice in Rosebud
25th anniversary spring production to thaw and warm the heart
Rosebud, Alberta – Out of the depths of cold and darkness that is winter comes the warmth and light that signals new life and the emergence of spring. It is also a time to celebrate as Rosebud kicks off it 25th anniversary season with the affectionate comedy -Trying by Saskatoon playwright Joanna McClelland Glass.
From March 14 to May 17 Rosebud patrons will be entertained by a fresh-faced and feisty Sarah Schorr (played by Cari Russell) who develops an unlikely friendship with the cantankerous and condescending Judge Biddle (played by roger hamm). Hearts will touched and warmed as both characters overcome generational, cultural and personality differences to allow their unlikely friendship to blossom into one of mutual respect for each other.
Set in the political and social unrest of the ‘60s, Trying is the true story of celebrated western Canadian playwright Joanna McClelland Glass. Using wit, humor and a healthy dose of reality, Glass chronicles a chapter of her personal life journey as a 25-year-old resilient Saskatchewan farm girl who finds herself in the unlikely position of personal assistant to the octogenarian Judge Francis Biddle, one of the most influential and domineering judicial figures of his time.
“We all run into people who make our lives terribly ‘trying’,” explains Artistic Director Morris Ertman. ”And often they are our bosses. It doesn’t occur to us at the time that these people could well become the key to our continued journey towards success. But hindsight often proves that the most difficult people in our lives become our greatest blessing. The same is true of the opposite. We certainly don’t very often see our subordinates as being important to our life’s journey. Trying is the story of two people who must try, and it’s exactly through the trying that they become very important to each other’s life journey.”
Ertman adds, “We all know there are seasons in life. It’s hard to accept them sometimes. Trying is the story of two people in very different seasons in life that rub up against each other in ways that redefine them. And the beauty, fun, and wisdom of Joanna McClelland Glass’s story lies in the fact that two very different people - who would have not met under any other circumstance - wind up needing one another for entirely different reasons. A secretary develops the grit she needs to become the writer she wants to be, and a lonely, cold, old giant of a judge becomes a human being again.”
Trying opens March 14 and runs until May 17 at the Rosebud Opera House.
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Spunky Canadian Woman versus Bullying American Giant
Rosebud presents an affectionate comedy about a cantankerous judge
and the fiery female who showed him the light
Rosebud, Alberta - Canadians are dependable: at least that’s what America Judge Francis Biddle believes in Trying, by Joanna McClelland Glass the latest production at Rosebud Theatre. When the octogenarian Judge Biddle meets Sarah Schorr, a 25-year-old Saskatchewan woman with grit, his suspicions are proven right.
As Judge Biddle enters the final years of his life, he finds himself in need of a secretary and the two headstrong people from opposite sides of life and social status are thrust together. Unknowingly, Sarah is more than Biddle bargained for. She faces up to the pride and bullying of this American giant and holds her own as they make their way through the mountains of paperwork on Biddle’s neglected desk to write his autobiography which focuses on the highly controversial Nuremburg Trials.
Rosebud Theatre’s Artistic Director Morris Ertman knew that he would need a special woman to play Sarah and he found her in Cari Russell. “Cari was cast as Sarah Schorr in Trying because she is a bright light. The role requires someone who is sympathetic, caring and transparent, but able to stand up for herself. It requires someone with a good sense of humor. Cari’s ability to spar is probably her most endearing quality. And that is the one quality that Sarah Schorr needs to ultimately penetrate Judge Biddle’s crusty exterior. Cari embodies a Canadian spirit of reconciliation and care, but is tenacious as tenacious can be.”
In fact, Russell is a lot like the playwright herself. Both hail from prairie cities. Cari is from Calgary. Joanna is from Saskatoon. Both possess a similar free, independent, adventurous spirit and love a challenge and an opportunity to experience life to the fullest. Trying, is about Glass’s real-life experience as personal secretary to the brilliant and irascible Judge Francis Biddle, former Attorney General of the United States.
Audiences will delight in watching the feisty Canadian tame the American ‘beast’.
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February 26, 2008
Rosebud Theatre on track to set record sales for third straight year
“Big Stories in Little Places” Highlight 25th Anniversary season
Rosebud, Alberta -- Hot on the heels of record breaking seasons in 2006 and 2007, Western Canada’s largest rural theatre is gearing up in 2008 to offer live theatre that is quickly resonating with audiences in record numbers. In a fitting tribute to the ongoing success of the Rosebud community, Rosebud Theatre is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with five plays that offer audiences “Big Stories in Little Places”.
Ticket sales are already well ahead of last year’s record pace. “The line up of shows for 2008 has sparked a lot of attention,” says Executive Director Bob Davis. “Our summer show – Fiddler on the Roof – has sold almost twice as many tickets as our 2006 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which was our largest selling show. In addition, Christmas on the Air is already on track to be one of our best selling Christmas shows. Total ticket sales to date put us ahead of our two most recent, and best, seasons.”
Morris Ertman, Rosebud Theatre’s Artistic Director is equally excited about the meaning of community in Rosebud’s 25th anniversary celebration. “2008 is our season of big stories in little places, because that’s exactly what Rosebud Theatre and the valley that cradles us is about. We are a big story for such a little place, but if we really think about it, so many great stories have their roots in humble beginnings. So, in celebration of our 25th anniversary season, we’re bringing a collection of stories that all, in one way or another, celebrate the humble roots of stories that have become very big.”
The 2008 the Rosebud Theatre adventure kicks off March 14 with the affectionate comedy Trying by Canadian playwright Joanna McLelland Glass. For the summer, Rosebud offers its biggest show ever on the Opera House stage: Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein, beginning May 30. Also running July 3 to August 30 at the Studio Stage will be the true to life comedy For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again by Michel Tremblay. Beginning September 5 is the poignant drama Damien by Aldyth Morris. For the grand finale, Rosebud Theatre offers Christmas on the Air by Lucia Frangione starting November 7.
If there is one community in Alberta that knows how to celebrate success, it’s Rosebud. With a line up of plays that feature comedy, music, drama and a Christmas celebration, there is something for everybody in 2008 in Rosebud. It is hard to believe that this cozy artistic community of barely 100 people can host and entertain 40,000 people annually; quite an accomplishment in 25 short years. Perhaps even worthy of being considered a big story in a little place!
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