Last month my husband and I took our two young children to the Capitol Theatre for the youth performance of The Secret Garden.
I was so impressed by the production and so moved with guilt that I feel compelled to write this.
You see, I’ve discovered that I am a snob. I am a lover of theatre, music and art. After seeing ballets on the Paris stage, operas in Sydney, theatre in London and musicals on Broadway I was all but enthusiastic about the wee little small town stage.
Frankly, I didn’t bother to attend a performance here unless it was a touring artist from elsewhere. Foolish me.
Early in the first set I was smacked in the face with shame. As a child and teenager I had been on the Capitol Theatre stage more times than I can count. Every performance I took part in was very important to me, I worked hard and I loved the experience. Sitting there my eyes misted up at the realization that it is my duty to honour those wonderful memories through supporting local productions and talent.
And the local production did not disappoint. Everything from set to score was well done and the acting of the young lead playing Mary was impressive. The voice of the actress who played Lily was nothing short of “Get that girl a recording contract!” The role of Archibald was played by a young man who truly has a gift for acting and singing. He put on a phenomenal performance. He’ll go places with his great talent that we helped him develop by just showing up and buying a ticket.
Forgive me for not writing out the names of the actors as they deserve praise for their work. My son ate that page of the program while taking a break from kicking the chairs during the performance — sorry people in row I.
Melissa Duarte, Nelson