Showboat Theatre extends season
There will be an extra four weeks of entertainment at the Showboat Festival Theatre due to continued growth.
The theatre in Port Colborne has just passed 1,100 subscribers.
Artistic director Derek Ritschel, said it has been exciting to see the growth during the past four years. For Ritschel, the growth is a sign of the theatre company’s production quality.
“We are constantly talking to our audience members, we are constantly out there with them, finding out what they are thinking. We are always trying to find out what it is that intrigues them,” Ritschel said.
Due to the increase in patrons the Showboat Festival has extended its season to nine weeks, instead of eight. Ritschel said during the ninth week there will be a season topper — the play Hank Williams Live 1952, about Hank Williams. The performance focuses on country music entertainment.
The 2017 season kicks off June 15 with the comedy The Ladies Foursome. The season will also include the romantic comedy The Numbers Game, thriller comedy Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, and a world premiere comedy show The Full Mounty.
“(The audience) can expect to see some of the best performers this country has to offer,” Ritschel said.
Ritschel said he is excited about each show, but especially The Full Mounty, because it is an entirely new production. Showboat has begun producing shows from scratch, which Ritschel said adds something unique to the festival.
“It’s totally a blank page and a bunch of artists creating. So that’s the real draw of The Full Mounty is that no one in the world has seen this show until it comes,” he said.
The comedy, by William Matthews and Bruce Davies Gordon, is about a retired Mountie who can’t get away from his past. The Mountie is drawn into espionage and coverups while he performs in Vegas.
Ritschel said being part of something that’s never been done before is also terrifying. The group of artists continually worked on the performance, changing small details with the hope of creating something people will enjoy.
For more information on the festival and productions visit www.showboattheatre.ca/summer-season-shows.