Happy Holidays!

As we darken our theatre doors for the holiday season (December 23 to January 4) we want take a moment and thank you all.

Your support is appreciated.

We especially want to thank all of you that made a donation to our fundraising campaign this winter.  Your support plays a major part in the creation of our productions and ensures that we can keep our theatre affordable.

All the best for the holidays and Happy New Year from all of us here at Theatre Network.

We look forward to seeing you in the New Year as we begin the second half of our 2011/2012 Season.  

December in the Arts

December marks the time of year when we’ve just completed our operational grants for the City of Edmonton. Actually the grant writing starts in the middle of November for Arts Festivals and then organizations on the first of December. So after writing and reporting on our past season and the future, we all take a breather and begin to enjoy Christmas - that is if you’re not working on a Christmas show.

I was working in the lobby on our Edmonton Arts Council grant when Paul Welch (who is in our Roxy Performance show With Bells On by Darrin Hagen, presented by Guys in Disguise) walks by in heels and warns me “I have to yell now” and I replied “You do what you have to do. After all it is a theatre and I think I can-” Then he yelled – like seriously yelled - and even though I was warned, it still shook through me. It’s moments like these that make me thankful for the career path I’ve chosen. Where else is it completely normal to work away while a 7-foot tall drag queen wearing a Christmas tree bellows at the top of his lungs? Life is truly bizarre and awesome all at the same time.

That yell - from the seven-foot man in drag (when Paul is in his high heels and a head dress that lights up, he is SERIOUSLY seven feet tall) - comes from behind the audience at the top of the show upon his/her entrance. The show is wonderful. It celebrates the holiday season with a fresh twist of fate for the two characters in the play (James Hamilton and Paul Welch). It’s a play with a seven-foot drag queen that is not about what sexual preference you are or are not, but about going for it - stepping out of your normal or safe life and discovering that you’re made of more than you thought you were. And with that comes a new you and a new start to your life. Something we all often wish for during the holidays when we make promises and such. The secret in the play With Bells On? (In my humble opinion, of course.) If you want a new life, you have to risk that you will look stupid, feel ridiculous, but be largely rewarded for your attempt to make something new in your life.

The actors, the design and the play With Bells On make for a special night out and not something you will see anywhere else this holiday season – kind of like a seven-foot drag queen wearing a Christmas tree, for example. I hope you catch it!