Trying to put together a selection of performances that appeals to the diverse Nelson community can be a pretty daunting task, but Capitol Theatre executive director Neil Harrower thinks they have a season with something for everyone.
“It’s not always easy because we try to determine what people in Nelson want to see,” said Harrower. “Over the six years that I’ve been here, I think we’re starting to narrow it down, and what we’re really trying to do is attract a young audience and an audience that includes kids and young families.
“Nelson is sort of a baby factory in a lot of ways. People come here and they have a family, so we want to have something for everyone. We want to have something for the kids that are four years old and up and we want to have something for their folks that tend to be between 27 and 30 and we want to have something for the people that have been coming to the theatre for years and years.”
An important part of the upcoming season at the Capitol is the children’s series which includes everything from storytellers to jugglers to clowns.
“We’ve really sort of honed in to what kids in Nelson want to see and it’s storytelling. We had Kathryn Popham here last year with the Velveteen Rabbit and this year she’s coming with The Wizard of Oz. We have a comic/mime/clown called Diana David and also Monster Theatre from Vancouver, who are essentially doing all of Shakespeare’s works in an hour,” said Harrower.
For the grown-up crowd, Harrower is particularly excited about one musical performer who will play at the Capitol on March 18.
“I’m the most excited about Steven Page. I’m very excited, I love the guy. He was a Barenaked Lady of course, and he’s touring with a friend of the theatre’s, Kevin Fox, who we had here with Barney Bentall two years ago,” he said.
In addition to musical acts, the Capitol Theatre will be presenting two distinct dance performances.
“The quality of dance that we have coming through Nelson is also really important because we have two or three dance schools in town. So we have this large audience of kids who are in dance, that want to see professional dance,” said Harrower.
“We have Ballet Jorgen with Anastasia which is a full length classical ballet and we have Move: The Company which is a contemporary dance company and they have a work called Allemande which is going to be fantastic.”
The Arts Club Theatre, which brings its productions to the Capitol every year, will be showcasing The Buddy Holly Story on November 8.
“The Arts Club Theatre is a bit of a standard fare each year because they bring the best high quality theatre that you’re going to find,” said Harrower. “Part of our mandate is to bring the best possible to our crowd, because there is nothing more valuable than our audience especially in light of the fact that ticket sales keep the theatre afloat and in an economy where funding to the arts is being cut left right and centre, we really need to sell those tickets.”
Season tickets for the Capitol went on sale this week, and the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue will help officially launch the season on September 24.
“They are a group of women that started this revue in Victoria and they’ve toured from Berlin to Vegas and it’s just what you’d expect. It’s a burlesque show. There is a lot of audience participation, it’s very high energy. We had them here the year before last and everyone really enjoyed it,” said Harrower.
For more information about the upcoming season at the Capitol visit their website at capitoltheatre.bc.ca