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! <abgs 8:30 to 5:30 0; Sat. till 1:00 wl B t seems like eve Two months ag« 1993 soldâ€"out seasc of for a smallk:town. company), "the announced it wo season production. And oug ey knew ve 0o o o 0o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 006 0o 0o 0o 0/b 0o 0 o 0o o 0o o o o o 0o o o o o o "It was the first time I‘d seen anything like it. I couldn‘t believe € Canada the opportunity To wnte a snow how it had its own culture â€" hundreds of these trailers follow these we‘ve given a young director the jamborees from town to town qill summer, And I couldn‘t believe the opportunity to collaborate and work on callber of the fiddling and stepâ€"dancing. And as a theatre company it, we‘ve brought together two tu going to see it â€"as outsiders â€" we just had a bail. That night, it n 4 tures, and we‘re using it as a leaming popped into my head, wouldn‘t it be neat if I could combine the two * ground for our cast and crew regard â€"If I could combine theatre with the stepâ€"dancing and fiddling culture. ing what goes into what | call a work And that‘s what we‘ve done." in progress. If anything, we should Jamboree! features Canadian National Fiddle Champion Frank Lleahy get a tip of the hat just for that." and 13â€"yearâ€"old fiddle/stepâ€"dancing wonder Mathew Johnson. Jamboree! opens at the Drayton Festival Theatre Leahy recently teamed with Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Symphony concert April 20 and continues through May 7. All seats are $14 (or $12 master Edward Minevich to record the CD Bending the Bows, and the two for groups of 20 or more). For reservations or more ticket information petp(modmesvmphmypoptd\oworthommhtondonm.m wmnmmmmmemmmmmmenemmmmmmmememmmmmmmnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmemmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmme FW" to rave reviews. (Leahy and Minevich will perform Bending the Mathew Johnson (fop) and Frank Leahy (bottom) team up for Jarnboree. .'&COO..O........_.QQ';.OQ...0..000...O.....0.0.0.Q And though they knew very little about Jamâ€" / # boree! â€" a new work by Canadian script \ s wiiter/lyricist/composer Ciiff Jones â€" local theâ€" ) aftegoers pounced on tickets, making it necâ€" € l/ essary for more dates to be added to the / . / P wd 4 show‘s 10â€"day run. * f . £ f ie "We were only going to do 10 perforâ€" ? 6+A bosad mances," says Drayton Festival Theatre‘s / 3{' ike . R artistic/managing director Alex Mustakas. /. â€" . +3 h *But they sold out and we added another / / . :_â€" tive. And I‘m assuming that if people / _ . {©: j E. don‘t call for tickets by early next week, & e they‘ll be gone. it looks like it‘s going to & _ _ ... _ || [ be a sellâ€"out run." â€" > f im : i o E Mustakas commissioned Jones to write gim â€" l0 f ; Jamboreel.two years ago towards the end of Drayton Festival‘s Inaugural season. Though Jones would M . _ wiite the music, lyrics and book, much of the story was based on, and inspired by, Mustakas‘ experiences in a small community. Jamboree! is set in a smaill Ontaflo town during preparations for its 100th annual fid dling and stepâ€"dancing competition. *The major theme is about two fiddle champlons â€" one in the 12 and under category and one in the 70â€"and over.category. And it‘s basically about how they see fiddling," Mustakas says. "The young one sees It as a way to fame and stardom and money, whereas the old man really believes you should play the fiddle from your heart, simply for.the love of the music. in the end, the young boy grows up and understands what the old man is trying to say." The premise of the show was inspired by a jamboree which Mustakas and the cast of Pirates of Penzance attended. "After one performance, the entire company went over to the fair grounds to our first Jamboree. There‘s one that‘s held here at the end of summer, as they are throughout Ontario," Mustakas By Deborah Crandall Drayton Festival holds a Jamboree t seems like everything the Drayton Festk / ! / ;" val Theatre touches turn to gold. i t Iwo months ago, on the heels of a f 6 1993 soidâ€"out season (virtually unheard . [# of for a smallâ€"town, professiqnal theatre : / e : { Company), the Drayton Festival : /« pald announced it would stage its first oft. / | ""__ :s *Our regular rehearsal period in the summer is just two weeks â€" we mount a:show in about 14 days," Mustakas says. "But doing a brand new work is quite a process, so we thought we‘d do it over a longet rehearsal period. There‘s writing and rewriting and new musical numbers â€" if something doesn‘t work, we rewrite. The script that | got to start with is nothing like it‘s ended up being. | would call the playwright or meet him in Toronto and say, ‘This is great, this is great, but this just does not work‘. Sometimes when you‘re wiiting a show, what‘s on paper doesn‘t work when you try to have the actors deliver the lines â€" is not the same. So there‘s a lot of rewriting in the process and that couldn‘t have been done in the (usual) twoâ€"week rehearsal period." Mustakas says he‘s confident the show is going to be great and will enjoy longâ€"term success. But regardless, he‘s proud of what M the Drayton Festival Theatre and Waterioc A ‘\' Regional Gilbert and Sullivan Society have s been abie to accomplish *What we‘ve done is very notewerthy," he says. "We‘ve given a writer from \/ Canada the opportunity to write a show we‘ve given a young director the opportunity to collaborate and work on it, we‘ve brought together two Cu tures, and we‘re using it as a leamning ground for our cast and crew regard ing what goes into what | call a work in progress. If anything, we should get a tip of the hat just for that." Jamboree! opens at the Drayton Festival Theatre April 20 and continues through May 7. All seats are $14 (or $12 for groups of 20 or more). For reservations or more ticket information "They‘re amazing, too" Mustakas says. "These are the Canaâ€" dian stepâ€"dancing champions, along with the Canadian fiddle champions and some very good theatre talent." Taking into consideration the difficulties involved in creating o new work, Mustakas decided it would be best to debut Jamboree! â€" a coâ€"production with the Waterlioo Regional Gilbert and Sulivan Society and the Drayton community Players â€" during the off season €: *They just amazing. Obviously, their expertise is in fiddling _2 /# ‘an stepâ€"dancing. But now, they‘ve had to become actors _# and singers," Mustakas says. "So it‘s been a good experiâ€" ence for them, as well." P The production also features seven of the nations top stepâ€" J gancers. Rainbow Connection is a group of Canada‘s four top teenage stepâ€"dancers, and Family Ties is a group of three (two sisters and a first cousin) six and sevenâ€"yearâ€"old stepâ€"dancing *Continuous Fevourites of the 70‘s, 80‘s and Today" oarchunufm