The Sault Opera Legacy

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1997

Sault Opera presented two shows in 1997: "Hansel and Gretel" by Englebert Humperdinck and "Annie, The Musical" by Thomas Meehan and Charles Strouse. A fixture on the local theatre scene for many years, Diane Wysynski becomes the new president of Sault Opera.

Heather Young as Hansel and Carli Disano as Gretel

"Hansel and Gretel" was the first ever joint production between Sault Opera and the Sault Symphony Orchestra. The cast featured a combination of fresh new young talent along with seasoned veterans such as: Carli Disano as Gretel, Heather Young as Hansel, Sonya Ostrowski-Masotti as the Witch, Norene Morrow as the Mother, Alan Murray as the Father, Lisa Berto as the Sleep Fairy/Dew Fairy, and a chorus of 30 children. Dr. John Wilkinson conducted the Sault Symphony Orchestra that featured over 35 talented local and out-of-town musicians. Joan Foster produced the show with the assistance of Norene Morrow as the director and vocal coach, Bonnie Guzzo as the production consultant, Mary Jane Hannah from the Kiana School of Dance Arts as the choreographer, Jeff Summerhayes as the stage manager, Ken Godmere as the set designer, and numerous others working behind the scenes.

According to Sault Star theatre reviewer Robin Waples, this show was "...as yummy as the gumdrop-and-icing-coated gingerbread on the cottage of the witch" and "...a tasty treat that combines lots of glorious music, both orchestral and vocal, with a little bit of hocus pocus, and the result is a distinctly delectable delicacy."

"Using a translation that is sung in English, Sault Opera presents a candy-coated version of the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. In this simplification, the parents are not protrayed as evil. They are interpreted as more ordinary folk, struggling with the hardships of poverty. When The Mother sends her children, Hansel and Gretel, out into the woods, it's to collect strawberries for supper." (Robin Waples, "Group brings fantasy opera to life", The Sault Star, Thursday, March 6, 1997)

This delightful childrens' opera brought in over $19,000 in gross ticket sales and over $4,000 in program advertising revenue. Now for the bad news. Production costs of the show exceeded the revenue, resulting in a loss of more than $300. The biggest expenses for the show were: advertising costs, salaries for artistic professionals, salaries for rehearsal and show musicians, rental costs for the office and theatre, materials for stage and sets, and box office supplies.

Despite the artistic success of the show, there were some challenges in the collaboration between Sault Opera and the Sault Symphony, which included show scheduling that made it too difficult to get skilled out-of-town musicians to participate if the performances were not scheduled too close to the weekend and rehearsal scheduling with the Sault Symphony. Sault Opera would usually start its rehearsals earlier to build upon a foundation for rehearsal after rehearsal and then get to production time with the program in a nearly finished state. Sault Symphony, on the other hand, did not have the same luxury of time as they only had two full rehearsals prior to the first rehearsal with singers, which was barely enough time to read the music or do a lot of detail work as the orchestra has well-developed musical skills but is inherently busier and has much less time to learn new material.

The children's chorus from "Annie"

In November, Sault Opera presented the popular family musical "Annie" based on the comic strip character. Starring in the title role was 10-year old Angela Duncan who, according to Sault Star reviewer Robin Waples, was "pure dynamite, belting out her hope-filled songs in true Annie tradition. She also deserves credit for keeping her Annie child-like and not actress-like." (The Sault Star, Thursday, November 6, 1997) Annie was joined by Teresa Caughill as Miss Hannigan, Robb Fisher as Daddy Warbucks, Judi Travaglini as Grace, Gary Hogan as Rooster, and Cathy Deresti as Lily, along with a cast including 25 orphans, 6 dogs, and numerous other secondary roles, bringing the cast total to 66.

Susan Barber,who previously directed "Fiddler on the Roof" and directed music for several Sault Opera shows, directed the show with the assistance of Fred Pelletier directing music, choreography by Lucas Beaver and Judi Travaglini, Sue Rajamaki as stage manager, Louise Griffith as producer, Phil Routh as set designer, and numerous others working behind the scenes.

Despite the energy and hard work that everyone put into this show, the review turned out to be a letdown. Although Ms. Waples praises the individual efforts of the leads, especially newcomer Angela Duncan, she criticizes the show for falling short on heart and criticizing the performers for going through the motions so that the audience doesn't really believe them. (Robin Waples, "Sault Opera's Annie falls short on heart", The Sault Star, Thursday, November 6, 1997)

In response to this review, cast members, Sault Opera members, and people in the audience wrote letters to the editor of the Sault Star to object to the tone of the review and the attitude of the reviewer, as well as tell everyone how much they really enjoyed the performance. The people who wrote the letters include Robb Fisher (Daddy Warbucks), long-term Sault Opera member Jo-Ann Egan, and Greg LaCrosse.

In spite of all this, the show's overall box office take exceeded $57,000.

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