MEET THE CHRISTMAS CAROL TEAM! |
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We are so thrilled that we can once again present our annual reading of A Christmas Carol LIVE at First Presbyterian Church! It’s going to be a wonderful TWO evenings, December 20th & 21st (due to popular demand).
Tickets are only $25 (+HST) and are limited as we want to follow the safest of protocols, so please don’t wait to order yours. The Monday performance is already SOLD OUT, but we still have tickets for the Tuesday performance.
Last year, for our online streamed version, we had all females playing the roles. This time it is the men’s turn!
Join us for this special reading and tradition. To order tickets please call 705-445-2200 or shop online.
Please note that proof of vaccination must be shown at the door and masks must be worn. I promise you will still have fun!
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Did you know that the story “A Christmas Carol” was written in 1843. Charles Dickens was so thrilled with the idea that he wrote it in under six weeks! The first reading of it took three hours. Don’t worry, our version is just 90 minutes! |
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And now to introduce you to the STARS
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CORRECTION - Sorry David - Our first version of this newsletter had the wrong picture for David McFadden
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Harold Bickerstaff
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT, MAN, MRS. DILBAR, GIRL, READER-STAVE 3
Harold Bickerstaff is one of Theatre Collingwood’s longest serving Board Members, having joined the team in 1999. He enjoys working with a dynamic Board of Directors, management and office staff. Harold was Board chair from 2010 to 2015. Harold is the President of Bickerstaff Sales Agency and has been in the toy business for forty-five plus years, receiving many awards within the toy industry over his long career. His company serves the needs of major retailers across Canada. His senior positions at several toy companies (such as Fisher Price Toys for almost twenty years) led him to open his own agency in the late 90s. About this time he made the move to Collingwood and started to get involved in the community. Harold’s passion for acting and theatre got him involved in supporting Theatre Collingwood. He has seen many changes over the years, not the least of which has been the numerous venue changes. A frequent guest on local radio shows, Harold continues to “spread the word” about Theatre Collingwood, and we are thrilled to have this baritone voice in our show this Christmas!
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Andy Dumas
NEPHEW, YOUNG GIRL, MRS. CRACHIT
Andy Dumas is a versatile stage performer and a veteran of radio and television. He is the author of several sports & fitness books and was the resident fitness expert on ‘Real life’ on CTS-TV. Andy has been acting throughout the GTA for many years. Some of Andy’s recent favourite plays include Key for Two, Mousetrap, Murdered to Death and Noises Off. Andy is thrilled to be doing a staged reading of “ A Christmas Carol” again with Theatre Collingwood.
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Dean Hollin
SCROOGE
Dean wants everyone to know he loves Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. About two decades ago he began doing solo readings of an abridged version, as well as participating in various group readings like the one you’ll enjoy tonight. Five other loves in his life include his wife, Gayle and their four flourishing children. Yet another great love of his is music – especially that of the Great American Songbook, of which he’s layered on a lot of knowledge about over the years – as well as a rather hefty collection. Recently, Moses Znaimer and Zoomer Radio hired him for a bunch of on-air duties including taking over the reigns as host of “Big Band Sunday Night” – four hours of programming which includes an hour of his own creation “Radio Limelite – All Things Great American Songbook”. Go to www.deanhollin.com for more info! Continued thanks to Erica!
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Jake McArthur
READER-STAVE 4 PART ONE, NIECE, MAN, PETER
Jake McArthur moved to Collingwood in 2014. He has been a poet for most of his life. He has written and had two short plays performed by Gaslight Theatre and has been acting in Gaslight productions for most of his time in Collingwood. He has also performed with Quarter Century Theatre. Many will recognize jake from his performance in Love Letters at our 2021 PORCHSIDE FESTIVAL this past summer, alongside Leslie Worts. Now we get to hear him tell a great story once again!
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Brian McCrindle
SISTER, READER-STAVE TWO, JOE, TINY TIM
Brian McCrindle continues to be a pediatric cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto for almost 30 years now. He is an avid fan and patron of all of the arts, but started with theatre in high school before being shot down the tunnel of the sciences. He is an art collector, donating many works of art to the Art Gallery of Ontario. He is a regular attendee for performances of dance, music, opera and, especially, theatre. On Christmas Eve just before the first lockdown, he had the honor to see at the Morgan Library in New York, the original handwritten manuscript of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, open to the page where Scrooge first utters “Bah, humbug!!!”
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David McFadden
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST, GENTLEMAN, READER-STAVE 5
David became a director of Theatre Collingwood in 2012. He is the President and CEO of Generation Four Capital Corp and currently serves as Chair of the boards of directors of Toronto Hydro, 407 International Inc. and PCI Geomatics Inc. David also serves on the boards of Cricket Energy Holding Inc. and Makwa Development Corp. He is a member of the Board of Governors of York University and is a director of the Yonge Street Mission. David is a member of the Energy Board of MaRS and of the Council for Clean and Reliable Energy. David was a partner in Gowling WLG for 30 years where he served over the years on the firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. He previously served as Chair of the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Ontario Energy Association and the Canada-US Business Association. David particularly loves his time on the Board of Theatre Collingwood with its creative spirit and great sense of teamwork. We’re so glad to have this busy many participating in our reading of A Christmas Carol this year!
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Andrew Siegwart
MARLEY, YOUNG SCROOGE, CRATCHIT, READER-STAVE 4 PART TWO
Over the past 25 years Andrew Siegwart has worked with some of Canada's most innovative associations ensuring that communities, people and industries prosper. In his role as President of the Blue Mountain Village Association, Andrew oversees the delivery of the Association’s strategic plan, develops valuable programs and services for members, provides innovative and memorable guest experiences, partners with municipalities and organizations within the South Georgian Bay Region to ensure the sustainable growth of the local economy, and serves as a passionate advocate for Blue Mountain Village Association’s members and the tourism industry.
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Daniel Vnukowski
GENTLEMAN, FEZZIWIG, MARTHA, LADY, BOY
Daniel Vnukowski has enjoyed international recognition as a concert pianist, in a formidable career that has spanned five continents. These have included large-scale concerts for crowds in the thousands and outreach recitals for youth in remote communities throughout Canada, as a founder of the “Piano Six – New Generation” program. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the “Collingwood Summer Music Festival” and currently hosts the Classical Jukebox on the New Classical FM daily from 10am to 3pm, Mon-Fri. Growing up as a young boy in Niagara Falls, ON, he came across a grand piano made of transparent glass in a store at the age of 4 and begged his parents to start piano lessons. Soon afterwards, he wrote his first compositions for voice and piano. At the age of six, his parents gifted him with a microphone that became his most cherished possession throughout youth, allowing him to record his music and release cassette tapes on a homemade record label. Visit danperforms.com for more information.
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Erica Angus
DIRECTOR & READER-STAVE ONE
Erica came to Theatre Collingwood in 2013 as Executive Director, and has fallen deeply in love with Collingwood, it’s people, and it’s rich arts & culture sector. Since being a child, watching A Christmas Carol (with Alistair Simms) on Christmas Eve has been a rich part of her holiday traditions. This is truly why she wanted to make it an annual tradition in Collingwood. Erica lives in Barrie with her husband but truly considers Collingwood her second home. Her greatest dream at this point is to find a home for Theatre Collingwood in a new Arts & Culture Centre in Collingwood….and she plans to see that it happens! God bless us, EVERYONE!
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Catsue McBroom
COSTUMES & PROPS
Catsue is a historian, educator, trained seamstress and milliner. She spent the past year designing and fabricating custom hats and the inside panels and upholstery of a 1946 Aeronca Champ! Erica and Catsue have worked on many theatrical productions together over the years. Catsue just finished working with Gaslight Community Theatre to bring the Cemetery Stories to life – and is thrilled to be back with Theatre Collingwood, again, as part of this special performance. God Bless Us……Theatre’s Back!
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Anne Raciunas
FOLEY ARTIST, CHILD, SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME
Anne is so busy as our Box Office Manager that she has not had time to send in her bio! However, we want to tell you about this great woman. Not only does she steer our box office ship, she is involved with Gaslight Productions as an actor, director, and all round team player! Anne is also a member of the Theatre Georgian Bay collective, where they produce the works of William Shakespeare at the Collingwood Amphitheatre. Anne’s hidden secret is that she is a wonderful Foley artist. This involves a lot of research to find just the right item to make the perfect sound effect. Her talents amaze us and we are so glad she is a part of the Theatre Collingwood team!
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Jim Kinnear
ACCOMPANIST
Jim Kinnear is known in the Georgian Triangle as the “Piano Guy”. A piano tuner and volunteer with the Great Northern Exhibition (GNE) during the day, Jim started his performance career playing guitar with an old time fiddle band in Penticton, British Columbia decades ago. He moved his family to the Georgian Bay area from Guelph 30+ years ago, and has been playing in the area for years. In the late eighties, he teamed up with Bill Kinnear, performing delta blues & ragtime as one of the “Kinnear Brothers”, then started his own band, “Eh” Train, then the “Jim Kinnear Trio“ with Dave Watson on trumpet, and Ralph Johnson on upright bass. He has been playing for over 50 years, both with bands and as a solo performer. We are so happy that Jim will be supporting this reading with his wonderful accompaniment!
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