Bel Canto will be presenting its 2010 Music for All Times performances at St. Andrews’ The Kirk on Friday, May 7th at 8:00pm and Saturday, May 8th at 8:00pm. This year’s Affair is to be held under the Patronage of Sir Arthur, Deputy to the Governor General of The Bahamas and Lady Joan Foulkes. Tickets are $35. These concerts mark The Bel Canto Singers’ fifth anniversary. The concerts will be recorded as the group endeavors to reach more persons through the sale of compact discs (CD’s). The events promises to be enjoyable as music from various countries and periods will be performed.

The Bel Canto Singers are fortunate to present international recitalist and operatic soprano, Carmen Balthrop, as the featured artist for this Concert Series.

Mr. Eldridge McPhee directs the vocal ensemble of 16 singers. He is again about to fulfill another one of his visions: to bring a consortium of music to the Bahamian stage. When the evening opens, the audience will be thrilled with a rendition of Gloria by modern-day composer, Randall Bass; Mark Haye’s All Creatures of Our God and King; Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing arranged by Mack Wilberg. This has been performed by the internationally renowned Morman Tabernacle Choir, and is a choral masterpiece. This year, the singers will present various forms of Spirituals by some of the world’s leading composers such as Moses Hogan, Hal Johnson, Norman Luboff and Jester Hairston, arrangements in beautiful six and eight part harmonies that highlight the rich and robust singing style that Bel Canto Singers Bahamas has become well known for executing.

Mr. Dionne Cunningham, an accomplished and lettered musician, who is quickly making a name for himself in this community, will accompany the group. Mr. Cunningham will again thrill our patrons with his competent renditions of works by Beethoven for piano.

Mr. McPhee comments… “For the past three years, I have been realizing my vision; to work with individuals, through musical productions, to have an impact on the lives of our members thereby impacting their communities.  The mark of a good leader is one who is disciplined, and after having studied music for some 35 years, I know that talent and discipline create success.  This formula is not unique to music.”

International performing artist Lee B. Callender, pianist – vocal and piano coach said “Bel Canto exemplifies its Italian name, “beautiful singing” at its best. This group with its rich full bodied expressive sound is a delight to the ear – An exhilarating, captivating listening experience.”?

Bel Canto Singers, through its annual production of Christmastide has raised more than $47,000 net for charities including The AIDS Foundation over the past five yuletide seasons.

Mr. Mcphee further comments… “I have seen BCS members grow as musicians as well as husbands, wives and partners and parents.  More importantly, I have seen members of this group come to learn and to understand what it means to become points of light, in their workplaces, churches, civic organizations and at play.”

Bel Canto completed its first international concert, which was held in Columbia, South Carolina on April 27th, 2008.  Dr. Sandra Teel, Min. of Music and St. Simon and St. Jude Episcopal Church said, “It was a marvelous pleasure to welcome such a professional, talented group to perform for us. The breadth of repertoire was fantastic – from Broadway to the stairway to heaven. How wonderful! And I’m looking forward to our next (and annual) event!”

… another patron said, “The sound of the group was unparalleled. I could hardly believe my ears – so few voices, such a powerful sound.”

For tickets or further information, please write us at info@mbproductionsbahamas.com or call us at 242.376.2772 or 242.431.6440.

Our signature Shakespeare production this year is the comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It portrays the adventures of four young lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the local ruler, Theseus, the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. All of this of course will be imagined with a Bahamian touch. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

Our signature Bahamian production is Telcine Turner Rolle’s award winning play, Woman Take Two. Love and greed are two elemental passions Telcine deals with in this exciting three-act play. It tells the tale of a few people forging alliances for themselves – for love and/or money. Rolle writes with sensitivity and insights into her characters. Suspenseful and intriguing, Woman Take Two provides a glimpse into the darker side of the human character and is even more poignant with the recent events in Haiti. This is a work that thousands of Bahamian students, present and former, are familiar with and would have had their first introduction to in High School.

The third work we are announcing is a production of James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones, which is also sometimes known by its full title, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. This production, written in 1927, is based on a book of poems by Johnson patterned after traditional African-American religious oratory. This work has delighted audiences in theaters, churches and other venues for over 80 years and never grows old. Our production will not only feature the junior choir from St. Francis Church, under the direction of Francis Richardson, but we will have a very talented group of actors preaching the sermons. We are presently working on having one or more of the sermons delivered, at each performance, by some very special guests. More on that will be announced later.

This is our first announcement concerning this year’s festival. You can expect to hear a lot more from us in the months to come. We expect to be announcing at least one more local work, a work from the Caribbean and a work from North America to round out the productions for this year’s festival. We will also be announcing audition dates for all of the shows being directed by Shakespeare In Paradise directors and we will let you know how you can become involved in the festival, either as a performer, a backstage worker, front of house or many of the other areas where volunteers would be needed throughout the festival.

You can find out more information, get in touch with us or keep up to date with what’s going on with the festival online here and at these various sites:

Shakespeare In Paradise Official Site
YouTube: ShakespeareParadise
Facebook: Bahamian-Shakespeare
Facebook Page: Shakespeare in Paradise
MySpace: shakespeareinparadise
Twitter: shakesparadise

Photos by Peter Ramsay

Driving Miss Daisy is a 1987 play by Alfred Uhry about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish lady and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Colburn, from 1948 to 1973. The original off-Broadway production starred Dana Ivey and Morgan Freeman. The first production took place at Playwrights Horizons Theatre on 42nd Street in New York. It later moved down the street to the John Houseman Theatre. Ivey’s performance garnered her an Obie Award as Best Actress. The play was the first in Uhry’s “Atlanta Trilogy” dealing with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. The play was Uhry’s most successful, winning him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was performed in London’s West End in 1988, with Dame Wendy Hiller as Miss Daisy Werthan.

In 1989, the play was adapted for a Warner Brothers film with Morgan Freeman reprising his role and Miss Daisy played by Jessica Tandy. The story defines Daisy and her point of view through a network of relationships and emotions by focusing on her home life, her synagogue, friends, family, fears, and concerns. Hoke is rarely seen out of Miss Daisy’s presence, although the title implies that the story is told from his perspective.

The film won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also, as of 2008, the last PG-rated film to win that title.

There will be THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY!
at The Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts:

Thursday, July 3rd – 8:30 p.m.
Friday, July 4th – 8:30 p.m.
Saturday July 5th – 8:00 p.m.

The play runs 90 minutes, without an intermission.

This production features, in order of their appearance:

Daisy Werthan – Jane Poveromo
Boolie Werthan – David Jonathan Burrows
Hoke Coleburn – Anthony “Skeebo” Roberts

The play is directed by Philip A. Burrows

Because there are only three performances, seats are limited for this production. Ticket sales information will be released to the general public in few days.

Advanced bookings are available to the readers of this blog, members on our Ringplay mailing list and subscribers to the Ringplay discussion board.

Tickets are $20 (Purchased by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the performance) or $25 if purchased at the door.

Ask about our group rates for groups of 20 or more.

There are no student discounts available for this production.

For further information, you can email us at onstage@ringplay.com or admin@artsbahamas.com.