CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST

THE OPERA HOUSE USED TO BE A FESTIVAL-OF-A -PLACE

As the boys, Andrew and Robert, get ready for their December 10th fundraising concert, at the Gravenhurst Opera House, in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank, we'll all experience the panic, revisions, splicing-together, trouble-shooting, and last minute re-writes, to pull it off successfully. There are a lot of tense moments in the days leading up to the Christmas theme event, and a few minor arguments between brothers. Mom and pop are the roadies, so we just pick up the pieces, spiritually and literally. When you're co-ordinating a lot of youngsters, in this kind of event, well, stuff happens. There are cases of the nerves. Last minute cancellations. And while we expect our students to be a little jittery, in front of a big crowd, some of the seasoned performers can run into unexpected situations prior to the show, that can leave a rather large and gaping hole in the evening's line-up. The boys seem to be able to roll with it, and always have back-up plans just in case. But behind the scenes, we cover our faces a lot, whenever the phone rings, and cross all our fingers that the situation won't get worse…..but better would be nice. It's for a good cause. In our postmortem we always laugh about the stressful moments and resolve to improve this or that, for the next concert.

As music promoters, with a lot of show ideas buzzing around throughout the year, we've talked for hours and hours about projects we might like to develop at the Opera House in the near future. While I love a good concert, and there are a lot of groups I'd like to see at the Opera House, one day, I occasionally remind them about the good old days of the Muskoka Festival. Andrew isn't fussy about theatre and Robert is just unsure how to react, when I talk about the great performers and performances on the same stage as we're planning to occupy, on December 10th. I really get them worked up, when I suggested how great it would be to re-visit those exciting old days of the summer-time run of the Muskoka Festival. They think dad is dangerous, talking like that, about a venue best suited to musicians. I agree with the musician part, because of the wonderful acoustics of the great arched-hall, of the Opera House, but suggest vigorously how entertaining it would be to play host to both…..good theatre, and good musical entertainment. We've got twelve months each year to fit it all in!

As I wrote about the musical / performance influences of John Rutherford, former band director at Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School, (so generously bestowed on Suzanne and I, while at the school), when I talk with our sons about my own history with the Opera House…….I dwell a lot on the good graces of the theatre I was once connected to, back in the 1980's. As a reporter / editor of The Bracebridge Herald-Gazette, and feature editor of The Muskoka Sun, I spent a lot of time at the Opera House, during the Festival runs, doing all kinds of theatre reviews. Artistic Director Michael Ayoub and General Manager Michael Cole always made sure I had lots of tickets, to see whatever show I wanted, and later, public relations co-ordinator, Christina Dixon made sure I got good seats for every opener. Those years were magic to me, and in its heyday, it was a major Ontario attraction….not just a local theatre company doing modest productions……although that's okay as well. There were some swell actors here, like George Buzza, Frank Ruffo, Cynthia Dale, Mary Bellows, Silver Brobst…..I hope I spelled it correctly. I was a Muskoka Festival groupie for quite a few years. Sadly, I was on the last theatre board, when there wasn't much left in the coffers other than memories. In fact, the Festival was in deep financial distress, and they'd just lost a warehouse of theatre props, the result of a devastating fire. I had begun a promotional / historical project for the theatre, just before the end, working as a volunteer with Public Relations Director, Linda Boon, and it seemed for awhile, as if something might re-ignite, to put it back on the provincial map of thriving theatre towns. It wasn't to be.

Do you know something? I'm really sorry we lost Muskoka Festival. I'm profoundly sorry we lost the collaboration of Michael Cole and Michael Ayoub, because they gave us some exceptional shows, and made the Opera House a destination….and a lot of restaurants in this town did pretty good, from the spin-off of full houses. It was a tough haul for these folks, and most of the writers, in this region, felt pretty much the same……that we were a lot better off because of Muskoka Festival than without it! We just didn't think it would falter the way it did, and a shortage of money can do that…..as we continue to see in our town and region. But there was a real magic here, and I can remember the excitement outside, as the society of the hour mingled and connected with friends and neighbors. It brought the tourists, the second home owners (cottagers) and local residents together…..the politicians, the business magnates and the theatre critics from the city…….taking in all the rich, cultured ambience of theatre in the hinterland. (The Port Carling venue of Muskoka Festival was also well received for years). It was a neat social scene, and as members of the press, frankly, we felt as if we got the utmost respect from theatre management, and all the actors who made themselves available for interviews. Theatre historians would call me crazy for saying it was a "golden era" of theatre, in Muskoka, because the Straw Hat Players owned that distinction; but the combined history of it all, at our very own Opera House, is something to be proud of…….and show-off. But we don't any more, apparently. Where is our wall of fame? Where are all the wonderful pictures of the performers who graced that old stage? Well, for one, I had the entire scrapbook collection, and many, many photographs, under my care and control, during those final days of the Festival organization, and I'm pretty sure they're still in the same boxes I left on the shelf. What a terrible shame if they were lost. There is a museum of theatre in those boxes.

There are successful theatres in operation throughout Ontario, and Theatre Orangeville comes to mind; and I really think a plan to re-invent the Muskoka Festival years, would be a worthwhile investment for the town…..and free enterprise. As Michael Ayoub used to say……there's the artistic side of theatre, and then the challenge of "putting bums on seats." But where there is a will, there is a way. To suggest the reason for not trying, with a new theatre focus, is that patrons won't attend, is faulty and convenient logic. It is an assumption that needs to be challenged. It will most definitely take a subsidy arrangement……(and this is necessary even for music events), to attract the attention of theatre promoters, proving in part, that the host community is serious about a long-term, reciprocal relationship……of good theatre, and good business traffic to town. If it works in Orangeville and Penetang, it can work here as well. We need folks like Ayoub and Cole again. We owe them a long over-due thanks for the successes they did have…..far outweighing what may have been perceived as misadventures. You don't get winner productions every time.

I have told this story to the boys so many times, they run, and tumble for the exit, when I start recalling the great Muskoka Festival Gala. Christina Dixon made sure I had great seats, for the Muskoka Festival fundraiser, that was just a "for-fun" variety show. I took a female friend, and we laughed from beginning to end. The best skit of the evening? I'll tell you. It was the work of two well known citizens of this town. Here it was, the localized "Odd Fellows," (after the show / movie of the same name), starring Jack Puntis as Oscar, and Richard Corcelli as Felix. I thought I was going to pass out, I laughed so hard. It was a most amazing, low budget, community-oriented variety show, and the Opera House was packed. Sometimes simple…..works pretty well too.

I'm always bugging the boys about putting together a similar variety night, made up of local cast members, doing similar skits. The Opera House deserves this kind of rekindling, I argue. They just nod, wink, and say something like……"we'll get together soon dad…….we'll have a good time then dad!" Ah, they're pretty good lads, and listen patiently to the sentimental yarns of an old fart. But they're musicians. I'm a theatre buff! Suzanne as well. Her favorite Muskoka Festival show was "Curse of the Mummy's Revenge."

I'd be the first to volunteer to join a new festival board……and the first historian to volunteer to pull the Opera House history out of the boxes, from the pages of the seldom looked-at Opera House book (written in the 1990's), and show visitors, by immersion in actuality, just what kind of entertainment hotspot our hometown was………and could be again with some eager volunteers.

Moreso than forming an actual theatre company, in the same format as Muskoka Festival, I think, with Town endorsement, a better and more adaptable plan, would be to establish an Opera House Liaison Committee, to promote and facilitate relations with numerous theatre groups operating presently in the province, and within our region……at least as a start-up to a new theatre future. I have a hunch that a theatre-friendly liaison committee, working in goodwill between the town and the Opera House, to foster new relations with user groups, would be a refreshing development…….that may draw theatre companies to this excellent venue, in one of the most beautiful places in Canada. The creation of an Opera House Liaison Committee might also pull some weight, facilitating the needs of high profile music entertainers…..wishing to bring their shows to South Muskoka. I don't think it would be too hard to get five or six citizens to sit on such an exciting committee. Hey, it's just a thought.

I'll be thinking about this while the boys undertake their December fundraiser, at this wonderful, storied venue in Uptown Gravenhurst. It's just too precious a resource, to deny it the entertainment revitalization it deserves. We deserve.

Hope to see you at the show. The Food Bank sure needs our help!