KAMSACK — A Kamsack native, who is celebrating her eighth year performing with SaskExpress, will be back on the Kamsack Playhouse stage on Aug. 15 during the Kamsack Street Fair 2025.
Elizabeth Bishop is one of the 13 singers, dancers and musicians who perform in Lost in a Musical, which is the name of this year’s version of the SaskExpress summer tour. She is the daughter of Claire Bishop of Kamsack and Jeff Hilderman of Crooked Lake, and granddaughter of Dr. Michael and Sally Bishop of Kamsack.
Agreeing to close a portion of First Street in front of the Playhouse on Aug. 15 for events such as a barbecue, a refreshment stand and a display of wares being sold by craftspersons and home-based businesses, town council members indicated during their regular meeting of July 14 that they were pleased to see another event being planned for the community.
A highlight of the street fair will be the performance of Bishop and the rest of the cast of SaskExpress, which this year celebrates its 45th annual summer tour.
Lost in a Musical is a wonderful story of love, freedom and courage through musical theatre from its golden age to today, Bishop said. “They’ve reached out to the crazy corners of the musical theatre world and brought together a really touching story.”
Bishop said that in the show, she gets to sing Does Your Mother Know from Mamma Mia and Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat from Guys and Dolls.
The show includes numbers by Michael Jackson and from Funny Girl, she said, estimating that during most of her years with SaskExpress, the summer tour has performed at Kamsack and/or Madge Lake.
“Three friends working in a 50s diner in New York share a love of everything about the world of musical theatre,” says a synopsis of the show on the SaskExpress webpage. “Through the struggles of finding love, building self-confidence, and trying to land a theatre job in a bustling city, they come to the conclusion that life would be far better if they could live inside a musical.
“Taking a clue from their favourite fantasy movies, they decide to ‘wish upon a song’ in a magical jukebox that lives inside their beloved diner,” the synopsis says. “When they awake the next day, they are shocked to learn that their wish came true.
“After their initial excitement, they realize that not every situation calls for a song and dance. Three stories of love, self-acceptance, and searching for the spotlight collide in a fantastic musical endeavour featuring the best songs from all of your favourite musicals!
“These three friends must navigate this new world, and use their expertise of theatre to find their way out of this musical life. Will they find their way out? Or will they forever be Lost in a Musical?
Raised in Kamsack, Bishop started performing from an early age in Ukrainian dance competitions and later found SaskExpress. She is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Vancouver, B.C., where she received training in singing, dancing, and acting for both stage and screen.
Bishop said that her love of musical theatre began at an early age and while in school, she had performed in musicals until about eighth grade, when the students changed to staging plays rather than musicals.
“I remember having felt disappointed that the class didn’t want to do what I wanted to do most,” she said, adding that she soon saw a flyer from SaskExpress and although nervous and unsure, she auditioned.
Over the years working with SaskExpress, she said she has become a more confident performer, a more confident person and more independent.
Working with SaskExpress is a job, she said. One is relied upon and everyone is in a headspace of working together to create something.
“Each year I’m with SaskExpress, I feel validated in the choices I’ve made.”
Asked if she has ventured to larger centres of entertainment like Toronto, Vancouver or Los Angeles, Bishop said she has been busy working with SaskExpress, because in addition to the summer tours, she teaches musical theatre and acting to groups of students from September to June.
“I get the same satisfaction with SaskExpress as I would in Toronto or New York,” she said. “Here, I’m able to work with amazing choreographers, many of whom have been involved in big touring shows.”
She said that, like “an amazing melting pot of a community,” so many performers have met while doing SaskExpress.
Having begun with SaskExpress in 2022, she has worked as the production manager, involved in scheduling, emailing, booking and speaking on behalf of the company. From September to June, she teaches young students and was pleased to note that this year her senior group has won over $600 in various competitions.
She is teaching two junior productions and is hopeful that she will be included in the SaskExpress’s winter show.
“As a performer, you keep your options open,” she said when asked what she plans to do in the future. “I love SaskExpress and I’ll never fully close the door to it.”
“SaskExpress (originally named Saskatchewan Express) was founded in 1980 by Carol Gay Bell,” said information on the SaskExpress website. “It was the outcome of a successful touring show of Saskatchewan performers held in 1967 to celebrate Canada’s 100th birthday.
“In 1980, to help Celebrate Saskatchewan on the occasion of her 75th anniversary, a touring group was put together and called "Saskatchewan’s Greatest Little Travelling Birthday Party." In 1983, Saskatchewan Lotteries became a supporter and the group was named "Saskatchewan Express.”
SaskExpress remained a government program, supported by government and Saskatchewan Lotteries until 1994 when it became a non-profit cultural organization with a board of directors. SaskExpress was granted charitable status in 1998.
SaskExpress is supported primarily by SaskCulture through the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund. The organization raises 70 per cent of its budget through performance fees, sponsorship, grants, members and donors, and fundraising events.
“Our performers come from all parts of Saskatchewan, from the smallest communities to major centres,” the information says. “Many former SaskExpress performers have gone on to professional careers in entertainment around the world, including Broadway, cruise ships, touring shows and stage productions, as well as appearances in film, television and recordings. SaskExpress is proud to be a musical ambassador for this province and has appeared across Saskatchewan and from coast to coast in Canada as well as in the United States.
“Firmly believing in the education of young people in the performing arts, SaskExpress established Musical Theatre Studios in Regina in 1997 and Saskatoon in 2000. These studios train young people from the ages of three to 19 in all styles of singing, acting, and dancing. With both studios establishing their own junior versions of the touring group called the Mini Express and The Expressions.
