WESTLOCK - While Westlock Cultural Arts Theatre Society members are eagerly looking forward to their 2022-2023 six-performance series which kicks off this Friday, Oct. 14, with The Gift, a tribute to Ian Tyson and his 60-year music career, season-ticket sales have yet to rebound to pre-COVID-19 totals and remain sluggish.
Long-time society board member Lorraine Robinson said they’ve only sold around 60 per cent of the available $165 season-ticket packages, a number that simply won’t allow them to remain sustainable long term. In mid-September the society did a mailout to past season-ticket holders “to broaden their scope of contact within the community” and asked for not only their support, but for them to pass the word on to their friends, family and co-workers.
Robinson, who’s been a part of the society for two decades, said that while COVID-19 has definitely been a factor in the lacklustre sales, there’s many in the community who don’t even know the series exists.
“Our goal each year is to sell at least 200 subscriptions because that provides us with a really good budget which allows us to offer some really good entertainment and put money back into the theatre. In all of those years, this is the first year that we’re well below that,” said Robinson, noting they had a booth set up at the recent Community Showcase to drum up interest.
“We had a really solid season subscription base as people had been coming to the theatre for over 20 years. But I think due to COVID a lot of us did a reset on where our priorities are, and we all got really comfortable staying at home.”
The Westlock Cultural Arts Theatre Series has been running since 1984, the year after the $600,000, 244-seat theatre opened at R.F. Staples School. In the years since, the venue has hosted everything from awards nights and political forums to locally-produced plays and dance recitals, while the society, via the series, has hosted all forms of “internationally-acclaimed artists” who’ve delivered “a welcome diversion to the snow and cold.”
The theatre itself, with funds from the series, plus dollars from the school, service clubs and grants, has been continually upgraded over the years, with new sound and lighting equipment in 2004, followed by an $80,000 spend on new seats in 2015 and a further $60,000 on new LED lighting and a lighting console, plus new stage flooring and curtains in 2018.
“We get the opportunity to find the up and comers … we’ve had performers who we wouldn’t even have the chance of being able to afford now. But we got to see them on the way up and we’re proud of the fact that we’ve been able to showcase them to the community,” Robinson continued. “We have a whole group locally who are (Canadian) Tenors fans because we got them before Oprah did,” she added with a chuckle.
Season or individual tickets, priced at $35 per show, can be bought in person at MTech Printing and Signs, 10039 - 107th Street, or by visiting www.WestlockCulturalArtsTheatre.com, then following the links.
On tap for the coming year
The Gift opens the season Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. and is led by pianist and vocalist Stewart MacDougall who has written, toured and recorded with Tyson.
This critically-acclaimed show has wowed audiences across Canada and features fellow Tyson alumni: Thom Moon (drums), Gordie Matthews (guitar), Myran Szott (fiddle), and Julian Kerr (bass). Additionally, former One Horse Blue lead singer and guitarist Ian Oscar; celebrated Alberta country vocalist Tracy Millar and award-winning folk-roots singer John Wort Hannam have become part of the cast for the last eight years. The Gift has been called "a brilliant troupe of musicians who get to the heart and soul of Ian's work" by Big Valley Jamboree producer Larry Werner, while CKUA's Wide Cut Country host Allison Brock calls The Gift, "a special evening that is a must for all Tyson fans.”
The second show will be Misery Mountain Boys, Nov. 4, a group that touts a “collaborative soundscape infused with humour, tongue-in-cheek wit, nostalgia, and playfulness.” With a mix of catchy originals and contemporary songs reimagined in driving swing, the melodies of the MMBs deliver themselves as both surprising and inevitable. The band offers a diverse range of sonic experiences, “urging audiences to gyration in the tassel-clad, sweaty swing numbers, and swaying in the velvety jazz tunes.”
The third, and final show of 2022 on Dec. 2, will feature Horizon Ridge, a group of accomplished multi-instrumentalists and seasoned singers known for their intuitive tight harmonies and polished a cappella whose music covers the range of traditional and contemporary folk, country, blues and gospel.
Swinging into 2023, the first show will be Jan. 23 and features the soulful Canadian vocalist and songwriter Ellen Doty. Her music incorporates everything from jazz to soul, folk, pop and Indie.
Frahad Khosravi and Daniel Stadnicki will be in town Feb. 17 with their Prairie Debut show — if you’ve never heard a santur played live, this is your opportunity. The resonating tones of Farhad’s santur weave naturally with the earthly sounds of Daniel’s percussion, creating a collaborative, seamless musical journey taking you all the way back to Babylonian times.
The sixth-and-final show goes March 10 and features singer-songwriter Maddie Storvold. Full of wit along with a splash of spice and vinegar, her goal is to “unite the hippies and the cowboys” through her music.
