B8 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, December 13, 2000 Arts & Entertainment Oakville Beaver A & E Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Ext. 254); Fax: 337-5567: E-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com Photo by Barrie Erskine S arah M elanson is a m unchkin in this y e a r's alm ost sold-out production of The Wizard o f Oz at the O akville C entre for the P erform ing Arts. Local `Wizard of Oz' opens to a sell-out crowd By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR O ne hun d red years old and still a crow d pleaser. This year is the centenary of The Wizard o f Oz, and FanFare Theatrical Productions has proven the continued popularity o f the 100-year-old story by almost selling out all five perfor mances at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. (Last count revealed a few single tickets still available for the Sunday show at 5 p.m. and for both Saturday shows - 1 and 5 p.m.) Sarah Melanson, 9, is pleased to be part of the group that will be pre senting this tale of wishes, witches and wizards in her hometown on Dec. 15th, 16th and 17th. Although the Oakville ingenue is a munchkin with only one speaking line, it's easy to see that she's a pro as she sits quietly during a photo shoot, smiling broadly and taking direction without question or complaint. And she said in an interview after the shoot, "I don't have stage fright." Sarah, who won first place in vocal solo at the Toronto Kiwanis Festival last year, recently came home with a first in vocal solo in the film and Broadway category for age nineand-under at the Rotary Burlington Fall Music Festival. Although this is her first perfor mance with FanFare Productions, Sarah has been on stage with the Mis sissauga Youth Theatre group for the past two years, and she's also been in a short film during her brief acting career. Following in the footsteps of her two older sisters, who have both per formed in past performances of Mr. Scrooge, Sarah finally decided to audition for the Oakville production company's first presentation of The Wizard o f Oz and will soon join the line of Melanson girls to grace the Oakville Centre stage. Although Sarah takes dancing and vocal lessons, she says she prefers the former - modem, tap, ballet and international - but she's working her way to being a triple threat performer. And she's using all three, sort of, in The Wizard o f Oz, delivering her one line, singing with the rest of the munchkins and moving - not quite dancing more like "skipping or walk ing" - also with her munchkin family. As for the day-time rehearsals, the Sunningdale Public School student was delighted to have a bit o f a respite from Grade 4 English classes. "I don't like doing book reports," she said. "Math is my favourite subject." And math may just be FanFare Productions' favourite subject this year as it calculates the money com ing in from five all-but-sold-out per formances. "We're delighted, and from what we can gauge a lot of people are peo ple who just discovered us last year," said director Dia Frid, who claims Wizard' s centenary had nothing to do with it being chosen as an alternative to Mr Scrooge. However, she adds, the day that board members told her which play they had selected was the actual anniversary o f the The Wizard o f Oz book. "I thought that was kind of a sign." Frid warns people that FanFare is noted for adhering to an original story rather than following the popular Hol lywood version. However, some things from the classic 1939 Wizard o f Oz movie have become entrenched in the folklore of the story Dorothy's blue gingham dress, for example. "We have paid homage to the movie, indirectly, but I think our interpretation has much more empha sis on the American fable itself," she explained. "And we have tried to infuse the moral of the story, just as we did in Mr. Scrooge." Tickets are $22.99 for The Wizard o f Oz. Those who may want to grab one of the last few tickets while they are still available can visit or call the Oakville Centre box office at 130 Navy St., 815-2021. Entertainment website launched The Publicity Group recently launched Starsentertainment.com, a new entertainment website. Stars Entertainment is Canada's first online entertainment magazine featuring the latest gossip, news, CD reviews and celebrities biographies with a focus on Canadian talent. Using a youth perspective - the staff is made up o f people ages 16 to 19 - the site targets young adults, ranging in age from 12 to 24. This website created by teens for teens, highlights entertainm ent news and gossip of interest to this age group. Started as a hobby home-page in 1998 by president Nick Rico, Stars Entertainment has blossomed into a commercial entertainment site. Initially the website will profile the music scene, with plans for adding film and television stories by the end o f 2001. Eventually, the site will chronicle top 40 hits from countries around the globe. The aim is strength ening the foreign music industry while promoting talent through international exposure on the web. While still in its infancy, Stars Entertainment has already received press accreditation by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science in Los Angeles. In production for nine months, Stars Entertainment has already com piled an impressive roster of musical talents from major record labels. Interviews to date include J. Eng lishman, Westlife, soulDecision, b4-4, finger eleven, D-CRU, Innosense, Patria, B*Witched, and No Authority. km t/ie tfuA cJ W nieXtauim ent ea&on (QjbinrWi/f W7imtie (Q P axJlt BalletJorgeti Friday, January 12 $65.00* $60.00* Big T td fl Members Lisa Brokop Thursday February 1 $60.00* $55.00* Big Ticket Members TruthAbout Daughters Friday February 2 $55.00* $50.00* Big Ticker Members Victoria Tuesday February 6 $55.00* $50.00* Big Ticket Members W fim bw ( x M jwjul a l ~ C H O IC E O F - M ixed Green Salad or f*»*o>so The toys are back... ON ICE! B utternut Squash Soup -FO L L O W E D BY A C H O IC E OF: Paradiso Phyllo Layers o f phyllo pastry w ith roast tom atoes, spinach & feta OR f Olive Crusted Salmon A tlantic salm on roasted w ith an olive crust on a saffron basm ati bake OR Spaghettini Bolognese O u r hom em ade tom ato basil sauce w ith the traditional ground veal |-------- 1 -FO L L O W E D BY- Mon. DEC. 2 5 THRU Mon. JA N . 1 Wed. JA N . 3 THRU Sun. JA N . 7 Buy tickets at Venue Box O ffice o r call A ir Canada C e n te r SkyDome w w w .DisneyO nlce.com (416) 8 7 0 -8 0 00 ticRotmastor outlets, ticketmaster.ca, For Inform ation call (416) 8 7 0 -8 0 0 0 o r visit ww w.DisneyO nlce.com ig v ^QENTRE Chocolate Raspberry Tartufo - accom panied by coffee or tea 'Gratuities not included J K 5 3 * -- -----------* C a ll 9 0 5 - 8 1 5 - 2 0 2 1 for Tickets & Reservations proud media sponsor o f The Oakville Centre TICKET PRICES STARTING AT $15.00 I vice charges and handling fees m ay a p p ly; no service charge a t Venue Box < T h e O a k ville B ea ver r.r{Tr>fy7?Tr7?