The box office is open and many of the events are set for the Souris Valley Theatre’s upcoming season.
The theatre officially started selling tickets for its two main shows and their special events on May 15. People have several options for purchasing their tickets: visiting the theatre’s website at www.sourisvalleytheatre.ca, going to Henders Drugs in Estevan, or calling 306-461-6869 and talking to theatre summer marketing coordinator Breanne Van De Woestyne.
“We’ve sold quite a few tickets already…so we’re anticipating larger audience numbers this season, especially with our shorter show runs,” Van De Woestyne told The Mercury.
This year marks the theatre’s 25th season, and Van De Woestyne hopes to see more people at their shows this summer.
The first event will be a kick-off cabaret on Saturday, June 20. There will be live music, entertainment and cake to open the theatre’s silver anniversary season.
Two alumni of the theatre will be performing: Saskatchewan folk and indie pop singer Rebecca Lascue, who was a part of last year’s cast for The Marvellous Wonderettes and will be part of the main shows this summer; and actor, singer and comedian Sheldon Bergstrom, who has performed at numerous productions at the theatre in the past.
“It just shows how much support we’re getting from not only Estevan, but from all over the province,” said Van De Woestyne. “It’s really exciting for us to welcome back some performers. They take a lot of pride in the theatre, and they want us to succeed.”
The two main productions were announced earlier this year. The cast for both plays has been finalized, but Van De Woestyne said the theatre needs to iron out the details before all the performers can be revealed.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will run from July 8 to 11, and July 14 to 18. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a 2 p.m. show on July 16.
The play depicts six youths who share humourous and touching stories from their personal lives, while trying to win a prestigious spelling competition.
The other play is Dry Streak, which will have 7:30 p.m. performances from August 5 to 8 and August 11 to 15. A 2 p.m. matinee will take place on August 13. The play was written by Griffin’s Leanne Minogue, and it’s set in rural Saskatchewan during the drought of the late 1980s. A city girl vows that she would run naked through a small town if it would rain.
Speak Easy: An Evening in the 1920s is a musical that will be performed on Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. Kaitlyn Semple, who has been part of several SV Theatre productions, stars as sultry singer Lillian Fern.
Rounding out the show will be four musicians who also portray characters.
“We’re very excited to welcome Kaitlyn back this summer for this one-night only performance,” said Van De Woestyne.
The final event will be the annual Summer’s End concert on Saturday, August 16. Performers will include Jimmy G and the Cable Guys, Three Sharps and a Flat, Blair Wrubleski, Poor Nameless Boy (Joel Henderson), Keiffer McLean and Penny Buhr Johnson.
