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June 21, 2012 Volume 11 • Number 25 50¢ Newsstand Price
INSIDe
Lanterns light up the Loops – page 2
MERCHANTS MARKET July 11-14
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Embellish and Lounge – page 5 your neighboUrhood. your newspaper.
Destination Mainstage offers theatrical excellence The house lights lower. The anticipation builds as seasoned veterans wait for their opening cue. It’s show time at last. As the curtain rises, and the play begins, all of the hours of rehearsal transform words into a living production. This is Destination Mainstage - one of the longest-running theatre traditions in Canada. Sponsored by Theatre BC and returning for its third year in a row, this 8-day play festival runs June 30 to July 7 as the Annual Provincial Theatre Festival for community theatre groups. The word is that Kamloops will be the home of Destination Mainstage until 2015! Approximately 60 community theatre clubs participate in Zone Festivals with the aim of taking their winning play to Destination Mainstage for friendly competition with the province’s best. Thespian Trophies, Theatre BC’s equivalent to the Oscars, are awarded, as selected by the Adjudicator, in 16 categories, from best backstage to best production to category-winners from the competitive productions. Two specific awards, the Eric Hamber Award, the highest and most prestigious honour as well as the Theatre BC Diamond Award recognizes individual contribution to theatre over a lifetime and over the past year respectively. This awards event will be broadcast realtime online via the Destination Mainstage website. As Executive director Vance Schnei-
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Sponsored by Theatre BC and returning for its third year in a row to Kamloops, Destination Mainstage is one of the longestrunning theatre traditions in Canada. This 8-day play festival runs June 30 to July 7. Pictured is Cristina Ostapovitch, the poster girl for Destination Mainstage.
der points out, “This is a showcase of the best of the best. These productions are well polished. There is fine line between professional and community theatre. The people coming into this festival give their best show. They are on par with professional theatre in terms of their production values and quality.” A first matinee performance at noon on June 30 will kick off the festival. Opening ceremonies will be held later the same day, at 6:00pm at the Sagebrush Theatre. The Sabrina Weeks Trio will be the featured entertainment. Following each evening of theatre performance, a public adjudication is given by festival adjudicator, Jeff Hyslop. Audience members, cast and crew, staff and volunteers are invited after each show to Green Room Socials where all can share the electric energy, collaborate and wind down after the excitement of the evening. Traditional for the final Friday Night Green Room is the appearance of the “Grand Poobah”, who oversees the swearing of allegiance to the “Mainstage Oath” by all Festival “Virgins”. The following morning, each presentation is discussed in-depth by cast, crew, the adjudicator and the public in a Coffee Critique. A series of special courses, dubbed, Backstage at Mainstage, are also scheduled throughout the week and – continued on page 2
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