‘Something Rotten’ kicks off Stratford’s 2024 festival season
‘Something Rotten’ kicks off Stratford’s 2024 festival season
There is a buzz - and some brass - in the air in Stratford as the doors opened to audiences on Tuesday for the first preview shows of the 2024 festival season.
This year, CTV News has followed the cast of Something Rotten as they went from their first rehearsal to live on stage.
“We are just so excited,” one audience member told CTV News.
But it’s not just the audience that’s filled with excitement.
“So you can hear the mumbling from the audience, the energy, the laughter, the discussions,” said Something Rotten actor, Dan Chameroy. “The city starts to come to light, the downtown area starts to come to life, like energy is palpable in here.”
Just over two months ago, the cast and crew of Something Rotten met for the first time.
“I'm so excited,” said actor Henry Firmston. “We've been rehearsing for what feels like a year.”
Since then, they’ve added a set orchestra and costumes.
“I think the costume for me in this show at least made me so much more brave as a performer,” said actor Olivia Sinclair Brisbane.
The cast added the final element Tuesday.
“We have our first big audience today,” Brisbane said. “It’s the final piece of the puzzle, it’s the final cast members as some people say.”
For Brisbane and Firmston, being cast in Something Rotten is like a high school reunion.
“So, Olivia was the older kid and I was a scared little boy,” Firmston said. “I don’t know about cool kid, but was certainly older.”
12 years ago, the two H.B. Beal Secondary School students shared the stage in a high school play.
“And it's kind of surreal to actually get to meet back up and be doing what we knew we were going to do,” Firmston said.
It’s a familiarity off stage that became a secret weapon on stage.
“I would say, because we feel comfortable enough to be the same kids that we were when we were in high school just doing a show together,” Brisbane said. “But it also brings a kind of sense of security.”
The two talented local actors are getting to live out a dream.
“I think the two of us knew this is what we wanted to do,” Firmston said.
A testament that although hair styles change, dreams don’t have to.
“Even if you think it sucks and you think you're no good at it, you have to keep going,” Brisbane added. “It never comes down to the people who are good at it right away, because if you're good at it right away, then you never have to fight for it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.