Author Archives: llpayette

Thousand Islands Playhouse Welcomes You In for “Bed and Breakfast”

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written August 12, 2015

“Maggie left me the house…”
– “Bed and Breakfast”, Mark Crawford

Andrew Kushnir and Paul Dunn in rehearsal for Bed and Breakfast

Andrew Kushnir and Paul Dunn in rehearsal for Bed and Breakfast

Get ready for warmth and familiarity, laughs and thoughtful moments as you face the trials and tribulations of running a B&B in small town Ontario. Leaving Toronto for the more peaceful atmosphere of a tiny tourist town, Brett (Andrew Kushnir) and Drew (Paul Dunn) lead us through the experience of having a dream come true when they inherit a house and turn it into a bed and breakfast. – to read more>

Get Ready to Party with Annual GDHS Fur Ball Cruise

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written July 30, 2015

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


A hoppin’ and a boppin’ to the Crocodile Rock!

(Gananoque, ON) In the dog days of August, there’s nothing better than hanging with all the cool cats at the annual Gananoque and District Humane Society Fur Ball! The costume cruise of the season, you glide blissfully along with the 1,000 Islands Cruises Rockport Boat Line, snacking on delicious homemade food and strutting like a peacock. It’s a chance to bring out your inner party animal while you dance the time away to the sounds of R-Banned, cover group extraordinaire, playing all of your classic party favourites from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Pussycat, Pussycat, we hope you’re ready to Crocodile Rock your way to helping a great cause. – to read more>

A Rollicking Romp at the TI Playhouse with “Don’t Dress for Dinner”

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written July 26, 2015

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Show Pictures by the Thousand Islands Playhouse

(Gananoque, ON) The Thousand Islands Playhouse has a new hit on its hands in the three theatre cooperative production of “Don’t Dress for Dinner” by Marc Camoletti. The Playhouse’s own little three-way in cooperation with the Gateway Theatre of Richmond, BC, and Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops had audiences laughing out loud as our favourite philanderers were up and at it once again.

More of a sequel than a spin-off, our friend Bernard (Todd Thomson) is now married to the glamorous Jacqueline (Alison Deon), but this doesn’t mean he’s given anything up. When his wife plans to visit her mother for the weekend, he decides to bring his best friend Robert (Kirk Smith) to act as a live-in smoke screen while he romances his sexy Parisian mistress, Suzanne (Krista Colosimo). But, Jacqueline discovers that Robert will be there, so she postpones her weekend away in order to spend some hot and heavy time with HER lover… – to read more>

“Don’t Dress for Dinner” Spicing Up the Season at the Springer Theatre

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written July 20, 2015

Krista Colosimo and Todd Thomson in rehearsal for Don’t Dress for Dinner. Photo provided by the Thousand Islands Playhouse
Kirk Smith and Todd Thomson in rehearsal for Don’t Dress for Dinner. Photo provided by the Thousand Islands Playhouse

Rehearsal shots provided by Thousand Islands Playhouse

(Gananoque, ON) Get ready for a spicy evening filled with nuance, double entendres and all your favourite tiddly bits as the Thousand Islands Playhouse happily brings you “Don’t Dress for Dinner”, a tasty little French farce with just the right amount of sauce.

Fans of 2013’s “Boeing Boeing” will fall in love with Marc Camoletti’s spin off. There are some familiar names and several familiar faces as the Playhouse once again works in cooperation with the Gateway Theatre of Richmond, BC, and Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops. – to read more>

Pirates of Penzance Stealing Hearts at TI Playhouse

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written June 30, 2015

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Show shots by Jay Kopinski

“Take any heart – take mine!”
– Mabel, “The Pirates of Penzance”

(Gananoque, ON) A gang of ruthless pirates/rum runners have landed in Gananoque and are out to steal your hearts at the Springer Theatre from June 19 until July 18. Well, not exactly Ruth-less, for without their dear, slightly addled Ruth (Shelley Simester) there would be no story.

As we enter the tale, we are about to celebrate Frederic’s (Adam Charles) 21st and it is she who tells us how it all began. A loyal, loving nurse, she only tried to follow her employer’s wishes and apprentice young Frederic as a pilot. But, being hard of hearing, she apprenticed him instead as a pirate, and so began his life of crime, running rum with the most tender-hearted pirates in the world as they go up against the American prohibition and the zaniest Coast Guard around. – to read more>

“Rose’s Clothes” Hanging Out in Town Park

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written June 7, 2015

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Performance in Town Park

(Gananoque, ON) There are certain unmistakable signs of summer in Gananoque – chip trucks, open air patios filling up at local restaurants, the fountains coming back on. One of the most welcome, however, has got to be the return of the Thousand Islands Playhouse Young Company and their free theatre in the park.

“The show, ‘Rose’s Clothes’, will be playing in Town Hall Park at 4:30 on Thursdays and Saturdays between now and July 11,” said Rob Kempson, director of the show and associate artistic director at the Playhouse. “There are a couple of exceptions with two performances on Canada Day instead of on the second, but mostly the Thursday and Saturday shows, weather permitting.” – to read more>

Pirates of Penzance – Swashbuckling in the Thousand Islands

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written June 20, 2015

“I know the kings of England, and I quote the facts historical…”
– Major General, “The Pirates of Penzance,”, Gilbert and Sullivan

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Rehearsal photos – The Very Model of a Modern Major General

(Gananoque, ON) Maybe that should be “facts hysterical” as the Thousand Islands Playhouse tackles that great piratical masterpiece, Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance”.

Poor Frederic (Adam Charles) finds himself in a mess entirely thrust upon him by fate, something definitely not of his own doing but which may very well become his undoing. Fate first came upon him in the form of Ruth (Shelley Simester), a well intentioned but hard-of-hearing, ditsy nursemaid who only had his father’s best wishes and Frederic’s welfare at heart. Asked to apprentice him as a “pilot”, she mistakenly signed him up with pirates, to be indentured until his 21st birthday. But unbeknownst to Frederic, this doesn’t mean that when he becomes 21-years-old he will be free to pursue his own life – no, no, no! For Frederic was born on February 29, and that means his 21st birthday won’t come for decades… – to read more>

Summer “Closer Than Ever” at Thousand Islands Playhouse

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written May 25

(Gananoque, ON) “Well what do you know?
In front of me now is an open door…
One day the doors are locked and you’re sick of them.
Next day they’re yours and you have your pick of them.
Finding the proper key that’s the trick of them.
Every where another door…”
– “Doors”, Closer Than Ever, Richard Maltby, David Shire and Steven Scott Smith

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Show Shots by Jay Kopinski for TIP

The Thousand Islands Playhouse (TIP) started the 2015 season in high gear as “Closer Than Ever” exploded onto the stage on May 15.

“I’m thrilled to present this captivating musical to open our 2015 season,” said Ashlie Corcoran, artistic director for TIP. – to read more>

Gananoque Rotary Club Assisting Nepal Earthquake Victims

Posted on by
Reply

by Lorraine Payette, written May 2, 2015

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

All photos copyrighted to Shree Krishna Dhital and associate

(Gananoque, ON) The disaster in Nepal has left the world reeling in its wake. A tiny nation of only 147,181 square kilometers, it was ravaged by a giant earthquake of 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale at 11:56 NST on 25 April, killing more than 6,500 and leaving more than 14,000 injured with thousands still missing. – to read more>

Take a Bite Out of Lyme Disease

Posted on by
Reply
A good baker’s dozen of people in Gananoque took time to “Take a Bite out of Lyme Disease” on April 19

A good baker’s dozen of people in Gananoque took time to “Take a Bite out of Lyme Disease” on April 19

by Lorraine Payette, written April 20, 2015

(Gananoque, ON) Wendy Yaxley Aitkin is small but mighty, just like the deer tick she is trying to eradicate from the planet. A chronic Lyme Disease sufferer, she knows just how powerful something as tiny as the period at the end of this sentence or the dot over an “i” can truly be.

“(We need to do) anything we can do to wake people up,” she said. “Ticks are small and they will take away your life, if you are not educated.” – to read more>