>>PREVIEW
DIE WILDE NACHT
Saturday, September 30
The Grand (Theatre Junction)
"I’ve been to a lot of fundraisers, and the typical fundraiser is a silent auction and a bit of a party," says Theatre Junction’s artistic director Mark Lawes. He isn’t often impressed by such events.
On September 30, Theatre Junction will be hosting a theatre fundraiser that Lawes hopes will go beyond the familiar mode by departing to 1920s-era Berlin for Die Wilde Nacht (The Untamed Night), a cabaret-themed evening where 40 artists will perform throughout The Grand for its 600 guests.
While Lawes is careful to point out that the evening is not a direct recreation of the German cabarets that inspired the night, Die Wilde Nacht alludes to an environment in which artistic creation is combined with a kind of reckless revelry. While The Grand itself may not have originally been the "culturehouse" Lawes hopes it will become, nonetheless its reference to a bygone era is inherent.
"I think everything we do in there is in some way a tribute to the people who came before and performed before in that building," he says, "and this is a nice way to use that as a springboard for our creation in there."
Included in the night’s performances will be Theatre Junction’s new Resident Company of Artists, a showcase of local and national talent from theatre, prose and music. While the company only recently completed a weeklong retreat, its members are already in the process of creating individual pieces, reflecting the diversity of the company’s disciplines.
Following performances by the Dandi Orchestra, Old Trout Puppet Workshop, body painters and dancers, the evening’s headlining act will be the Parisian-born Michael Hermon, a classically trained cabaret singer who has performed across the world. Together with an array of food and wine provided by The Grand’s resident restaurant and bar, Velvet, the evening’s price tag will be $250 per ticket, with Lawes hinting that a selection of "underground" tickets will also be made available at a lower price to encourage the kind of diverse crowd that the evening’s entertainment will embody.
"We want people to be able to experience what we’re doing," he says, adding, "but the intent is to raise some funds to sustain that building."
From The Grand’s ruined foyer to the exposed brick of its main stage, Die Wilde Nacht is designed to be a night that begins on its audience’s entry – paid for by money that will go toward maintaining the work done by Theatre Junction in one of Calgary’s newest, oldest landmarks. Sans silent auction, Lawes says his company’s fundraiser speaks to the work his company aims to provide in its new home.
"Coming in, we want to provide an experience for the public to come into a world that they’re not familiar with. They don’t know what it’s going to be when they arrive," says Lawes. "That’s what live performance is about, taking people somewhere they haven’t been before." |
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