The man who sparked a popular TV series about nothing is part of this fall’s eclectic entertainment lineup in Red Deer — as is the straight-talking, duct-tape-wielding, squire of Possum Lodge.
Jerry Seinfeld plans to poke fun at life’s little foibles on Oct. 13 at the Centrium, while Red Green dispenses questionable advice on Sept. 18 at the Memorial Centre. Anyone who misses these big-name performers need not sink into a humour-less funk — a more regular laughter infusion can be had through monthly Yuk Yuk’s performances at City Centre Stage, or Against the Wall Theatre’s Bull Skit! sketch comedy shows at the Scott Block.
There are also live theatre offerings around town that promise to tickle some funny bones.
Central Alberta Theatre is opening its brand-new City Centre Stage on Oct. 7 with the one-act comedy Sexy Laundry, by Michele Riml, about a long-married couple’s attempts to put some sizzle back into their relationship. CAT’s dinner theatre season starts in November with the ever-popular Norm Foster comedy, Maggie’s Getting Married, about a bridesmaid’s sinking realization she has former, intimate, knowledge of the groom.
The same month, Red Deer College Theatre Studies will try spinning holiday magic with Toad of Toad Hall, an endearing comedy adapted by Philip Goulding from Kenneth Grahame’s book Wind in the Willows.
Ignition Theatre will mark Valentine’s Day with the sharp anti-romance Reasons to Be Pretty, by Neil LaBute. Meanwhile, the college will present Shakespeare’s comedy of unrequited love Twelfth Night.
Those who prefer more thrills and chills with their theatre fare can get them just before Halloween by watching Ignition’s Bug, a psychological horror thriller by playwright Tracy Letts.
A Spanish murder implicating a whole village is the premise of Fuente Ovejuna, a drama by Lope de Vega, staged at Red Deer College’s Studio A in October.
And CAT plans to close its season in April with Asylum, a surrealistic play about a drug addict’s fantasies by Keith Aisner.
While there’s no Alice Cooper, Tom Jones or other big-name musicians yet booked for the Centrium, some great talents in all musical genres are coming to smaller venues in the city.
These include rockers Sam Roberts and Matthew Good, who will perform this fall at the Memorial Centre. Blues rocker Johnny Winters will also perform there, while award-winning blues singer Matt Andersen will be playing at the Elks Lodge.
Also at the lodge, the Waskasoo Bluegrass Music Society will present The Spinney Brothers on Oct. 23. And Rita MacNeil will be performing a Christmas concert with the von Trapp Children at the Memorial Centre in November.
Classical music lovers will eagerly await the Red Deer Symphony’s season launch at the Red Deer College Arts Centre on Sept. 24, with Autumn Cruise, featuring the music of Richard Strauss and other Romantic composers.
Concerts by the RDC jazz, big band and Symphonic Winds will also be featured at the college throughout the fall, winter and spring.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com