The Cappie Awards salute the best of Greater Edmonton area school productions. And this year five students from St. Albert brought honour to their school and their discipline.
The Cappie Gala hosted at the Maclab Theatre on Sunday, June 9 paid tribute to Thilian Wijesinghe and Jordan Poirier of Bellerose High for The Wizard of Oz. As well, Shane Pon, Alexandra Dawkins and Marie Mavko of St. Albert Catholic High each took home hardware for The Trojan Women.
Debbie Dyer is drama director for St. Albert Catholic High. She attended the ceremonies with her three students and lauded their achievement.
“I felt sheer pride for them knowing so much commitment went into it. First, they put in so much time understanding the language of Euripides, and that was done before the character work. So it was a double commitment.”
Student reviewers critique the high school plays and award each production points based on a predetermined system. Dyer adds about 1500 actors, writers, musicians and technicians are considered.
“For our students to bring home three awards is so rich. It’s overwhelming to think other students chose our three people saying ‘They’re the best.’ ”
Dawkins is a two-time winner for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Mavko won for Lead Actress in a Play, and Pon is a recipient for Creativity in composing and recording the soundtrack.
Wijesinghe and Poirier of Bellerose picked up a joint nod for Special Effects and Technology.
There were 41 categories in total.
Darrell Barr, one of the areas best-known and accomplished singer-songwriters, is featured on Mark Ammar’s Tuesday Moosehead Barsnbands Open Stage this coming Tuesday.
A familiar face on the local scene for three decades, he has been a club, concert hall and festival regular. Among his musical adventures have been performances on The Tommy Hunter Show and The Nashville Now Show as well as opening for Herman’ Hermits, B.J. Thomas, Chilliwack and Tommy Roe.
“He takes his music very seriously and it sure shows in his live performances and recordings. I always enjoy his groovin’ style and his recognizable voice whether it is a sultry mellow song or a train shufflin’ boogie groove,” says host Mark Ammar.
The open jam runs at new time of 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at LB’s Pub. No cover.
Singer-songwriter Doug Hoyer’s, new album To Be a River, is a thoughtful look at the passage of time.
But instead of morphing into a Zen state, the former St. Albert hometown boy is excitedly taking his music to the masses tonight at the Haven Social Club in a gig with Cantoo.
Now in his mid-twenties, and spending many of his introspective days on the banks of the Saskatchewan River instead of the Sturgeon, he looks at what it means to get older and the differences and similarities of generations.
The muse behind Hoyer’s second pop-art full-length album is fiancĂ©e Maureen Murray. In addition to playing trombone on a couple of tracks, she’s inspired To Fall in Love and The One for Me.
Hoyer received his first popular acclaim as a teen when he appeared on Rock Camp, a reality TV show about young musicians. Since then, he’s released several EPs and digital tracks in addition to full-length albums.
One of his latest forays was writing the theme for Felt Up, an Edmonton-based TV show starring puppets acting out adult situations.
The Hoyer-Cantoo concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 plus fees at yeglive.ca or $10 at the door.
Pianist Tommy Banks and saxophonist Kent Sangster have played in every Edmonton concert hall. But this coming Monday, they team up with jazz quartet Sketches of Eternity at the Citadel’s Shoctor Theatre.
The occasion is a benefit concert for Hope Community Centre, an orphanage in Kenya. The orphanage, located 170 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, cares for 320 children who have lost parents to AIDS or are abandoned by families due to poverty.
All profits go towards a scholarship fund that will allow students to enroll in post-secondary education or obtain small business loans.
The concert is Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $25 for students/seniors. Call 780-425-1820 or go online at www.citadeltheatre.com. For more information visit www.kenyanscholars.org.
