"We can hardly wait until next year!" says Karen Ulmer, chair of the board for the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts.
Over the weekend, a cast of local talent, under the direction of producers Dianne Gryba and JoAnne Kasper, delighted their audiences as well as left them surprised at just how much talent can be found in the area.
Chosen from 40 auditioning acts, performing artists for On Stage at the Dekker were country singer Will Ballantyne of Unity, classical singer Melanie Hemmerling, contemporary pianist-composer and vocalist Sarah Whitbread, dancer Cayla Ellis, singer Cammie Vany, singer Dave Tupling, Calvin Wuttunee rapping as Yung-C, singer-songwriter Kjelti Katherine, busker and ukulele player Dylan Sylvester and instrumentalists Greg Corcoran on euphonium and Jim Shepherd on trumpet.
Accompanying Will Ballantyne were Neil Penny, Keith McConnell and Chris Studer.
Accompanying Dave Tupling was pianist Gary Gansauge and accompanying Cammie Vany were Patrick Whalen on violin, Andrea Whalen on piano, Angie Delaire providing harmonies and Blair Vany on guitar.
"From the very first moment of the concert, which featured Will Ballantyne playing a lament on his fiddle while David Dekker’s voice-over introduced the theme 'Home,' the audience was mesmerized," Ulmer said Monday. "You could feel the anticipation in the air!"
Ulmer, who chaired the showcase committee whose members included David Dekker, Jim Walls and Len Taylor, says comments from audience members were universally positive. Many, she said, could not believe the level of talent they were seeing and hearing. The variety presented – old country, hip-hop, classical, pop and everything in between – also impressed everyone, she added.
"I think the way Dianne and JoAnne wove the singers, musicians and the dancer together was quite magical."
Undertaking the project, Gryba and Kasper had intended from the beginning to create a cohesive and interesting show featuring solo performances, collaborations and the technology made available by the Dekker Centre as well as staging and set design by Sherron Burns and Holly Hildebrandt.
"At the end of each performance, the audience leapt to their feet to show their appreciation," said Ulmer. "The performers mingled with the crowd in the lobby after the show and received many compliments and encouragement."
The performers were all really happy with the experience, too, she said.
Gryba said, "I think the event was a success. The performers were so happy to have the chance to perform at the Dekker Centre, and they started some friendships, too."
Like Ulmer, she was happy with the reception from the audience.
"All in all, a really worthwhile venture," said Gryba.
Kasper agreed.
"Everything went really well," she said. "Moe [McGuinty] and Heather [Anderson] from the Dekker Centre said people came out of the theatre excited and amazed at the talent that the Battlefords holds."
Kasper said the Dekker Centre board members no doubt felt their goal had been achieved.
"It was a pleasure for Dianne and I to be backstage and see the performers prepare themselves to go on, give extremely good performances, and then come off excited, because they had had so much fun!"
The show, presented Saturday and again on Sunday, culminated in a finale featuring all the performers. There was also a tribute to the late Allen Sapp, Cree artist.
Amid the performance of music genres from country to classical, all of which have been seen on the Dekker Centre stage before, came a new genre — rap.
David Dekker introduced Calvin Wuttunee as the man who introduced rap to the Dekker Centre stage.
Rapping as Yung-C, Wuttunee says he is an independent, self-made, self-taught rapper and dancer.
"I make my own beats at home, record my own music," he says.
He was excited to be on the stage of North Battleford's performing arts centre.
"Since high school, when they opened up the Dekker Centre, I always thought the theatre was really cool and one day, I thought, 'I am going to be on that stage at some point,' and now my day has finally come," he says.
Variety among its offerings is one of the ways the Dekker Centre is encouraging a wider representation of the community as an audience. With a mandate that includes encouraging and fosterer local artists, On Stage at the Dekker has a twofold goal. The success of this year's show will mean more to come.
The majority of a $50,000 donation made by the Rawlinson Foundation a year ago in honour of the retirement of radio executive David Dekker was used to initiate this year's showcase, with the idea that it would be a three-year initiative that would support itself beyond that time.
