The Sault Opera Legacy

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1996

This was a year of both transition and discovery for the company. Sault Opera revived two old favourite musicals: "Fiddler on the Roof" in March and "My Fair Lady" in November. After 26 years of faithful service, Sault Opera's founder and president Arno Ambel retires and the company honours him at a gala tribute dinner called "An Evening to Remember" on Friday, September 13. Norene Morrow takes over the presidency of Sault Opera and she quickly learned what a major undertaking and responsibility this job was as well as coming to appreciate all the hard work that Arno put in to bring Sault Opera up to the highest standard of musical theatre in Sault Ste. Marie.

Tevye's daughters: Julie Perkins as Tzeitel, Elizabeth Kinghorn as Hodel, Tracey Beltrano as Chava, Gillian Berman as Shprintze, and Andrea Caughill as Bielke

"Fiddler on the Roof" was performed in the last week of March, with Susan Barber wearing several hats including: director, co-producer (along with Maria Burgess), music director, rehearsal accompaniment, and set construction. Judi Travaglini did an excellent job of choreography, especially the major dance numbers. Wendy Lucenay designed the set, along with Kate MacNally designing the costumes, Chris Hinkewich and Robert Singleton on lighting design and technical direction, Maureen McGillivray as stage manager, Kelly Brown on props, Pat Cook and Arno Ambel managing the programme advertising and layout, and numerous others working behind the scenes. Richard Howard contribued his input for the show as a production consultant. Jeff Arbus also contributed his input on Jewish traditions and articles on Jewish history for the show.

TRADITION! - The company of "Fiddler on the Roof"

Shane Halpin really brought Tevye to life, along side Doris Chaumont as Golda, Teresa Caughill as Yente the Matchmaker, Mark Swift as Motel the Tailor, and Doug Rhodes as Lazar Wolf the Butcher. Julie Perkins, Elizabeth Kinghorn, and Tracey Beltrano starred as Tevye's daughters Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava. Sixty others rounded out the all-local cast and chorus. The show received a good review and was well attended by large and enthusiastic audiences for its four-night run. The quality of this show also got the attention of a theatre company in Toronto that was in desperate need for a Tevye for its production of "Fiddler" that they hired Shane Halpin for the leading role.

In November, Sault Opera performed "My Fair Lady" with Tiiu Sillavere making her debut as a major lead as Eliza Doolittle, along with Terry Mancini as Professor Henry Higgins, Dave Bates as Colonel Pickering, Mark Swift as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, David Cook as Alfred Doolittle, Debra Pollari as Mrs. Pearce, Moira Potter as Mrs. Hopkins, Rose Mary Rahilly as Mrs. Higgins, along with several others in minor roles and a chorus of over 30 members. Rutger Becker reprised his role as Professor Zoltan Karpathy from the 1984 production, curly wig and all.

The show was produced by Bonnie Guzzo, directed by Rick and Diane Conklin, choreographed by Jennifer Conklin, set design by John Patterson, lighting design and technical direction by Allan Armstrong, costume design by Lisa Kozak, properties by Colleen Halverson, and numerous others working behind the scenes. Rony Dal Cin directed the music and programmed the entire accompaniment into a computer which was used both for rehearsals and performances. Mary Capstick was also hired as a vocal and dialogue coach. Once again, the show received a great review and all performances were well attended. However, there was some mixed reaction to the computerized accompaniment as some claimed it sounded "too artificial and mechanical" compared to live musicians.

Also in this year, Sault Opera relocated its office from Arno Ambel's home to the Sault Ste. Marie Museum. After his "Evening to Remember", Arno Ambel received the Outstanding Achievement Award for volunteer service from the Government of Ontario at a ceremony at the Bushplane Heritage Museum. Volunteers also had to clean out the old set storage facility located at the old pump house. Finally Sault Opera closes the year with a float in the Sault Ste. Marie Santa Claus Parade.

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