Roger Ley recalls being at a rehearsal of the Capitol Theatre’s summer youth theatre production of Les Miserables in 2008. He had just moved to Nelson.
“The kids were singing one of the chorus numbers. I had seen the show in Toronto in professional theatres. These kids sounded better than the professional shows. There was so much energy and excitement and passion. It was incredible, in a town this small, to find a theatre that had put those kids on the stage for a month.”
Ley has appeared on the Capitol stage many times since. Now he’s a board member at the Capitol and one of the organizers of the theatre’s 30th anniversary celebration coming up on March 10.
Performers at the anniversary concert will include Allison Girvan, Kathleen Neudorf, Sydney Black, Pat Henman, Roger Ley, Michael Graham, Slava Doval and DanceFusion, Dance Umbrella, Lucas Myers, Cottonwood Choir, KLDH Doctors, Noemi Kiss, Stephen Fowler, David Edgington, Bessie Wapp, Susie O’Donnell, Karen Agnew, Marg Stacey, Mary Audia, Christoph Martens and more.
Wapp, a musician and actor, is also one of the organizers and also a board member. She’s appeared often on the Capitol stage. She says her most memorable experience was singing in an opera.
“I got to play Orpheus, in Orpheus and Eurydice,” Wapp says. “In the big city, if someone is going to do that production they are going to have singers audition, who are just singers. That does not include people like me who also dance on stilts and play the accordion. And I got twice weekly vocal coaching from Kathleen Neudorf, for months leading up — incredible.”
Wapp says that’s an example of how the Capitol has allowed artists such as herself to do things they never would have had a chance to do if they lived in a big city and grow artistically in the process, and how it invites the whole community in. And she thinks that’s one of many good reasons to celebrate the 30th anniversary.
The event will include a season series ticket giveaway ($280 value), a 50-50 draw and prizes for best theatre/show-related costumes. Audience members are invited to drop into the Capitol Costume Shop and choose from thousands of items for rent.
Executive director Stephanie Fischer points to last Thursday as an example of the Capitol’s variety and reach.
“We had Ballet Jörgen Canada (sold out in the theatre) and we had Theatre for Living (sold out at the LVR gym) on the same night, and so we provided education and entertainment for 750 people in two different venues.”
She calls the Capitol a cultural cornerstone for Nelson culture.
“We engage a lot of people, a lot of communities, we have a variety of programs, from education to entertainment, youth engagement, outreach, offsite programs, we provide a facility that is a rental for many community groups and professional and emerging artists, the schools, and everybody in between.”
The theatre’s annual report to city council for 2017 counted more than 20 professional touring performances (audience: 7,950), four family theatre shows (audience: 800), four classical music concerts, and six video screenings from international theatre companies.
They also reported audiences of 1,970 for the 29th annual Christmas Pantomime and 1,950 for the 28th year of the four-week summer youth theatre program. An estimated 3,000 people have participated in those two programs over time, and many have gone on to careers in the performing arts.
The theatre sold 26,242 tickets in 2017 and was occupied for 200 days of the year.
Related:
Ten things you didn’t know about the Capitol Theatre (May, 2013)
The Capitol on its 20th anniversary (North by Northwest CBC Radio podcast, 2007)
“Theatre brings together a range of ages,” says Ley. “It takes the shyest kids, and that is left at the doors and they go on stage with not a care in the world. I have seen 80 year olds practically with walkers and they jump on stage and are suddenly dancing.”
Margaret Stacey, a past executive director of the theatre, likes the way the programs connect people.
“You get a lonely kid who comes into a summer program and they immediately have 35 friends by the time they go back to school. Or a bunch of people who never met each other before in the Pantomime and they have to trust each other for a period of weeks and make it happen. It’s social glue.”
The Capitol Theatre was originally built in 1927 and enjoyed a heyday in the ‘30s as a movie theatre, but wartime and the years took their toll on the city-owned building and by the 1960s it was a dilapidated, leaking mess, serving as an auction hall and a furniture warehouse.
After a massive volunteer-driven funding and construction campaign in the the 1980s, the doors opened again 30 years ago in 1988.
It wasn’t easy: the city council and many citizens thought it was a waste of money. But the Capitol Theatre Restoration Society, spearheaded by Margaret Ormond, eventually got the job done.
And the restoration continues. During the past five years Fischer has led a focused renovation initiative, including improvements to equipment, air conditioning, and technology.
Tickets for the event are $30, and are available now at the Capitol box office.
