The two main stage shows at the Souris Valley (SV) Theatre’s Frehlick Hall attracted good crowds this summer.
Approximately 1,100 people attended the musical comedy Chickens, which ran from July 6 to 9 and July 12 to 16. Another 900 people were there for another musical comedy, Volstead Blues, which was performed from July 25 to 29 and Aug. 2 to 6.
“It was more or less the same attendance that we had last year,” SV theatre board president Maureen Ulrich told the Mercury. “In a year of a recession, we are happy with those numbers.”
The largest crowd for Chickens was around 145 people, while the peak attendance for Volstead Blues was around 140.
“The midweek nights seem to be the best for us,” said Ulrich. “Our Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and the Thursday afternoon (show), seem to be very popular.”
She noted Chickens had the strongest response on social media of any production they have done since they started using Twitter, Facebook and other platforms. Ulrich suspects the popularity of Chickens might be partially due to its rural setting.
The theatre wanted to bring back Volstead Blues this year because it portrays Estevan during the days of Prohibition, and the theatre wanted to have a show with some sort of local connection during the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games in late July.
“We had hoped that we’d have a few more of the Summer Games visitors, but considering all the stuff that was going on, and we didn’t know until the week before that the sporting events ran in the evening too, such as the ball games, and that was a huge draw for people. We were happy with the numbers we got.”
But the theatre believes it was better to run something during the Games, when there were so many visitors in the city, than to do nothing.
“Why not show them how vibrant our community is, and how many different things are going on?” said Ulrich. “I think all the cultural organizations put their best foot forward, and those who participated will hopefully put the word out that this is a good place to come and visit during the summer.”
The theatre was worried about attendance a few months ago, because presale numbers for the two shows were not very good. They sold a lot more vouchers for the productions in 2015. But the ticket sales for this year’s shows picked up in the weeks prior to the start of the season, and they wound up with good crowds.
Ulrich praised artistic director Kenn McLeod for bringing productions to Estevan that the public wanted to see, and for finding the right performers.
“He brings a really great group of people who work well together and get along,” said Ulrich. “They spend a lot of time together and they work very hard. And he worked really hard on Volstead to kind of spruce it up and dust it off.”
The choreography and the singing were excellent for both shows, too.
“I think those are shows you could watch a few times and just see different things and notice different things that the actors are doing,” said Ulrich.
The theatre still has a couple of events remaining. The first is an appearance by touring musical theatre group Saskatchewan Express on Aug. 10. The other is a concert with Brad Johner and the Johner Boys on Aug. 12. Both performances will start at 7:30 p.m.
