Local actors, singers and musicians are stepping up on Saturday to help the cash-strapped Central Alberta Theatre survive.
A big Save Our Stage fundraiser is being planned. An afternoon of “wonderful and unique” entertainment will run from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Memorial Centre. Admission is by donation.
Rock, blues and jazz music will be played upstairs at the Nickle Studio, with the cash bar and concession open. The musical lineup of bands includes Crossroads, Shiv Shanks and Claude Godin, Tyler Duffy, Friends of Jesus and Underside Pattern.
A variety show will also run on the Memorial Centre main stage, featuring performances from the Wildrose Singers, Canada’s Got Talent contestant Olivia Smith, Over the Rainbow finalist Tevra Plamondon, as well as Blaine Newton, Konstantin Vorosmarty, Craig and James Scott and other local actors.
Some one-act plays (Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First and Seth Kramer’s Prelude to Thirty-five) will be performed, as well as a CAT season promotion by Erna Soderberg.
The MC is former radio personality Jim Claggett.
The variety show will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. performance of the red-neck comedy Greater Tuna, by Joe Sears, Jaston Williams and Ed Howard. Tickets for the show are $25 from Black Knight Ticket Centre, as well as at the door. (Appetizers will no longer be served in the lobby, due to low sales. Those who bought the more expensive show tickets that would have included hors d’oeuvres will have their money refunded.)
CAT recently announced it is $700,000 in debt, mainly through going over budget with City Centre Stage renovations. The 42-year-old theatre company needs community support to keep going.