Adam Prudhomme
Editor
The many talents of Greater Napanee’s residents will be on display at Selby’s Lennox Community Theatre next month during a two-week run of The Community Variety Show, starting Feb. 9.
The eight-show run will include 7 p.m. curtain risings on Feb. 9, 10, 16 and 17 with 2 p.m. matinees Feb. 11, 12, 18 and 19.
“We have musicians, we have singers and we have dancers,” said Nicole Butler, director of the show. “We have people who have been on stage before and people who have never been on stage. It’s quite a mixture.”
This will mark Butler’s second time directing a variety show, the last in February of 2020-right before the theatre went on a pandemic induced hiatus.
“I had never done a variety show before and I wanted to see how things went and it went very well,” Butler recalled of 2020’s show. “We decided that it was so much fun, we had a blast doing it and there’s so many extremely talented people who live in and around Napanee that it was lovely to showcase people that normally don’t have a venue to dance or sing or do comedy. We had a blast so we decided to do it again. I wanted to see if it would sustain two weekends instead of just one so that’s why we’ve extended it to eight shows instead of the four.”
A variety show is a bit of a departure from the typical plays that are staged at the Selby theatre. Butler says they are important though as they provide a venue for the many talents of locals who don’t always have the chance to showcase their gifts in front of an audience.
Along with the on stage talent, the show will feature the artwork of local artist Lisa Ray Koenig, known for her Groovy Cats series of paintings.
Tickets for the show are $20 and available at www.LennoxTheatre.ca/tickets or available at the door just prior to the show, cash only.
As other entertainment venues have struggled in the wake of the pandemic, the community support shown for the Selby theatre is a good sign for the future of the volunteer-run venture.
“We started last spring with The Circle which was written by Andy Palmer just to sort of dip our toe and see who was going to come back because we honestly weren’t sure if people were going to feel comfortable enough to come and sit in the theatre,” said Butler. “That was a great success….We are thrilled to see people are actually comfortable enough to come back and see the live shows again, it just warms our heart that people are supporting theatre.”
As has always been the case, the theatre exists solely through the dedication of those who love local community theatre.
“We’re all volunteers, nobody get paid we’re all just putting in our time because we believe in live theatre and we want to see live theatre,” said Butler. “The pandemic has really hurt a lot of small businesses and venues like ours but the support that we’ve had coming out of it the lockdown has been immense and we’re so grateful for that.”