Vintage

2011.12.01 -- "Hana now lives on" || Michelle Ruby || Brantford Expositor

Stories can die if there is no one to tell them.  So says the character Fumiko in Hana's Suitcase, a poignant account of a 13-year-old Jewish girl murdered in the Holocaust.  This true story of Hana Brady, who died at Auschwitz on Oct. 23, 1944, is being told by Theatre Norfolk and Compass Theatre Productions.  The play is being performed for hundreds of local school children and there are four shows open to the public on the weekend.

"It's so horrific what happened," said director Lee Mac-Dougall. "It kind of gets lost over the years. The number of deaths is so large. You just can't fathom it. But you can understand one person's journey through the war."  Read more.

"In memory everything seems to happen to music."  At least that's what Tennessee Williams wrote in The Glass Menagerie. And November is the month of remembering: remembering the warm days of summer, and the hopeful plans of spring, and the day we celebrated two short weeks ago when one awful war ended.  Perhaps that's why Hana Brady went about humming the Centipede Song when, early in the second awful war, she lost her name and became "number 625, Waisenkind" (orphan), in Terezín. Except the Germans called this town halfway between Prague and Dresden, Theresienstadt, and built a concentration camp there to hold all the Czech Jews they had rounded up after invading their eastern neighbour in 1939.  Read more.

2011.11.18 -- Terezin, MacDougall and Hana’s Suitcase - So What’s the Connection? || Karen Wilson || The Silo

Definition of art is very difficult to pin down. As an oil painter I would look at art in one way. An actor would think of it another way. But really the definition doesn’t matter all that much. Art surrounds us wherever we are, if only we choose to see it. Sometimes though, we need to be reminded of that. Read more as Silo writer Karen Wilson meets the cast and team behind Theatre Norfolk's production of Hana's Suitcase, and reflects on her own experiences while visiting the Nazi-run Ghetto Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia.

2011.10.28 -- New act for Theatre Norfolk || Daniel Pearce || Brantford Expositor

Theatre Norfolk, which made its name staging big Broadway musicals using a mix of local amateurs and professionals, has gone into a rebuilding period and will focus on smaller non-musical shows for now, says the group's General Director.  Read more about Theatre Norfolk's exciting plans and latest theatrical offering as our General Director, Lisa Dent-Couturier, sits down with journalist Dan Pearce.

2011.05.01 -- Young actors from Theatre Norfolk land professional gigs

Theatre Norfolk is thrilled to announce that its mandate to mentor a new generation of actors is already being realized, with two of its young actors having secured professional roles this summer. 

Claire Couturier, who played the Artful Dodger in Theatre Norfolk's 2011 production of OLIVER! was cast in the Mirvish production of The Railway Children.  Read more about Claire in the Brantford Expositor and Simcoe Reformer. The Railway Children, based on the classic novel by E. Nesbit, is playing at Roundhouse Theatre in Toronto until October, with a 100% Canadian cast, plus Vicky the steam engine from England.

Talen de St. Croix, who played Chip in Theatre Norfolk's 2010 production of Beauty and the Beast, and Oliver in our 2011 production of OLIVER!, was offered the role of Lucius in Titus Andronicus at the Stratford Festival this season!  Read more about Talen's adventure in the Brantford Expositor. For more information on this and other productions at the Festival please visit the Stratford website.

Hats off to these highly talented young people!

2011.04.07 -- Private parts topic of global fundraiser || Barbara Simpson || Simcoe Times-Reformer

Theatre Norfolk is a proud sponsor of this important event.

The power of the Vagina Monologues has transfixed audiences for years.  The long-running women's play has even sparked V-Day, a global annual fundraiser to stop violence against women and girls. Every year, communities across the world stage benefit productions of the Eve Ensler play. Norfolk women will once again be staging their own annual production of the popular play on April 29.  Read more

2011.03.14 -- Revisiting Theatre Norfolk's Oliver! || Alan Gibson || The Silo

Theatre Norfolk is a local group with a mandate to combine amateur actors, singers, and musicians with seasoned professionals in a mentoring process that is both educational and creatively enriching. And, of course, entertaining.  The company's latest production was Oliver!, which ran at the Simcoe Lions Auditorium from Feb 10-13th. Oliver! is the musical adaption of Charles Dickens' novel about a young orphan in Victorian England who faces persistent adversity, but finally meets kind people who can give him a real life and help him find his identity.  Read more

2011.02.08 -- Two sides to this Oliver! || Daniel Pearce || Simcoe Times-Reformer

Theatre Norfolk will mix the dark and the darkly humorous in their latest production, the musical Oliver!, which opens Thursday night at Simcoe Composite School.  The often-done show has brought us such familiar upbeat tunes as Food, Glorious Food. But underlying the song and dance numbers is the story of Victorian London, a city where orphans beg for food at the poorhouse and are forced into organized thievery just to survive.  Read more

2011.02.03 -- This Oliver has a Brantford twist || Heather Ibbotson || Brantford Expositor

Eleven-year-old Talen de St. Croix of Brantford is nervous and loving it, as he counts down the days to his debut as the lead character in Theatre Norfolk's upcoming production of the musical Oliver.  "I like the feeling (of pre-stage jitters)," Talen said. "It gets me excited." Read more

2010.12.04 -- New use for historic building || Daniel Pearce || Simcoe Times-Reformer

Theatre Norfolk, the group that mixes professionals and amateurs to produce splashy Broadway- style musicals, has a home: the Ventin building in downtown Simcoe. The group moved into the distinctive 1900 Romanesque structure on Peel Street in October and since then it has served as the perfect place for rehearsals.  Read more

2010.12.01 -- Daring escapes! Audience members cut in half! It's all part of The Illusionist fundraiser in support of Theatre Norfolk! ||  Brantford Expositor

He's young, modern, fearless and taking the stage at Port Dover's Lighthouse Festival Theatre on Saturday, December 11th to perform some of the newest and hottest magic illusions in the world. When Lucas Wilson says he's 'Redesigning Magic' he isn't kidding!  Read more

2010.05.01 -- The Wright Stuff || Monte Sonnenberg || Simcoe Times-Reformer

Professional choreographer Amy Wright, formerly of Simcoe, is directing Theatre Norfolk's upcoming production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  Read more

2010.01.31 -- Theatre Norfolk bids farewell to one of its founders

On the heels of the final show of Theatre Norfolk's production of Buddy Holly, David Kent -- one of the organization's founders and spark plugs -- announced his resignation and outlined his plan to move on to pursue other interests.  The Board of Directors of Theatre Norfolk wishes David all the best in his future endeavours.

2009.12.15 -- Leading role comes to teen by chance ||  Daniel Pearce || Simcoe Times-Reformer

Actors have been known to beg, lobby, insist, and cajole directors to get a much sought-after part.  So how did Waterford's Ryan Bommarito land the title role in the upcoming Theatre Norfolk production of The Buddy Holly Story?  "I was coming to pick up my mom," explains Bommarito, 19. "She was running the reception area (for auditions)."  Read more