On the Road: First Tour of The Great Mountain

From January 25 to March 7, 2011, Red Sky’s newest work for family audiences, The Great Mountain, got off to a fantastic start on its inaugural tour to three provinces: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. After an intense rehearsal period in Toronto, the cast and crew set off for Calgary and Medicine Hat, Alberta to begin the first public performances of this new family production. Our first show in Medicine Hat had us at the Esplanade Centre for two capacity house performances. Here, we met the wonderful Deborah Lloyd – Director of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Education. This was more than just a meeting; it was a memorable exchange with a powerful, intelligent and dedicated woman whose passion in life is to support the education of Aboriginal peoples. Being only our second day on tour, it was a nice to have a familial touch, as she treated us very much like her own grandchildren. Here’s hoping we get to come back and see our ‘Kokum’ again.

Our stop in Medicine Hat and our one night stay in the beautiful Medicine Hat Lodge (with two massive water slides that Allyson fell in love with) were all too brief. We headed to Calgary for our first round of school tours, where we enjoyed the warm ‘chinook’ weather - a balmy 15 degrees or so in January! As if we hadn’t been spoiled enough by outstanding weather, we headed further west to continue our school tours in beautiful British Columbia, where we visited Surrey, White Rock and Coquitlam. Our brief stay in Coquitlam had us performing at the Evergreen Cultural Centre before an intimate crowd of parents and kids. Some graciously stayed afterwards to talk with the cast and crew, and little boys and girls expressed which part they liked best.

It was a sad day as we had to leave the west coast of Canada and it's beautiful warm weather, but our families, friends and fans awaited us back in Toronto. It’s always nice to be home. Showcasing new work to your home province is, quite possibly, the best feeling. Our first stop took us to London, Ontario where we performed at Aeolian Hall that is one of London’s oldest theatres. In an intimate venue, we performed for a small, but ‘determined to fight the snow storm’ crowd who thoroughly enjoyed both a night of theatre and a weekend of workshops, lead by three of the cast members.

On both Friday and Saturday, the three cast members led three dance, movement and voice workshops. Friday morning, the cast had the privilege of working with 15 high school students who all had an intense desire to learn. The afternoon workshops of grades 5 and 6 focused more on movement and the discovery thereof. Saturday afternoon’s workshop was filled with the Aeolian employees and volunteers. It was here that Meegwun had the fortune of meeting a gracious Elder who generously gave him a gift that was passed down through her family. With tears in his eyes, Meegwun humbly accepted her gift. These kind of special situations seem to be common on Red Sky tours. Although our time was short in London, the owners invited us for a quick post-show drink where we were regaled with ghost stories about a building over a hundred years old.

The second week of the Ontario leg quickly took us to Brantford, Oakville and Keswick, Ontario, and the cast and crew were excited to head back out on the ‘road’ as we prepared to fly back to Vancouver at the end of the week for a showcase.

The Great Mountain crew took a quick visit to Whistler to perform at the beautiful Squamish Lil’wat Centre. The performance was held in the Great Hall, a gorgeous space designed in the form of a Squamish Longhouse featuring authentic dugout canoes, wool and cedar weavings and exhibits that explore the relationship of the Squamish to their land. The crew performed a final BC school performance in Abbotsford before heading over to Edmonton, Alberta for a series of school performances.

The Great Mountain team returned to Ontario to perform at the Appleby College in Oakville to a group of students in Grades 10-12 who were in the middle of a mask workshop and also entering a playwright/story-telling unit.

Our final performance for this leg of the tour was at the Lebovic Centre for Arts & Entertainment in Stouffville-Whitchurch, Ontario. This show was performed to an intimate group of mainly adults who were incredibly receptive and appreciative of the show. They even demanded an encore at the end! A lady also came up to one of our actors crying, saying how beautiful and informative the show was!

Now we’re off to the Edmonton, Alberta with Tono to open for the 2011 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards! Stay tuned for more details on how to catch the show on Global TV and APTN!