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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 28, 2008 - 33 Artscene · FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008 Sheridan students shine Rarely performed Two Gentlemen of Verona a solid show that boasts talented cast members By Mark Andrew Lawrence SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER In the summer of 1971, Montreal-born composer Galt MacDermot joined forces with playwrights John Guare and Mel Shapiro to create a new rock musical based on Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The musical was a summertime hit and eventually transferred to Broadway, where it surprised everyone by winning the Tony Award for Best Musical. The award remains controversial to this day, as the musical Follies was expected to take the top prize, but in the end, both shows had long though not profitable runs. Since then, however, the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona has seldom been staged. Today, more than 40 years later, it plays as quaint period piece with MacDermot's music proving to be a score of refreshing variety. The stu- dents of Sheridan's musical theatre program are offering a rare chance to see this offbeat musical, and it proves to be well worth checking out. If you know the show through its original cast album, you will enjoy a chance to hear the songs performed by a cast who can actually sing. Andrew Broderick and Pako Arizmendi play the two friends who have their friendship tested when both fall for the beautiful Sylvia. Broderick, as Valentine, shows off his powerful voice but seems less committed to the dialogue. This contrasts with Arizmendi, who seems to relish Proteus' speeches, and sings with a lighter, though still musical voice. There are short, bright comic interludes provided by the servants Ryan Jeffrey and Lucas Meeuse. Meeuse also doubles as Cupid in this production, scattering love dust as he prances about. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Actors page 36 CENTRE STAGE: Pako Ariz Mendi, left, as Proteus, and Rebecca Peters, as Julia, star in Sheridan College's production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Wright time of the year to celebrate Christmas through music By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Michelle Wright is coming to town, just in time for the holidays. The Canadian-born country singer is promoting her 2005 Christmas album, A Wright Christmas, with a month-long Ontario tour that kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 3 in Sarnia. She is making a stop in Oakville the next day. Although this is one of many tours Wright has done over the years to promote the album in Canada during the holiday season, she said she is as excited as though it was the first one. "Once the Christmas music starts, the whole band and I get happy," she said during a telephone interview from her Nashville ization of guys and gals that take good home. "I'm one of those people who care of me. I love to make music, the does not see a downside to touring. I audiences, the travel. I think if I had love it. I've done it for so many children, it would be a challenge. years, and it is a way of life for me Because I don't, there's very little and the band. We really love it." about touring I don't like." She said she loves going from Wright will be travelling across town to town, especially in a the province with a five-memreliable bus. ber band. She said her con"Maybe I love it because I cert is an experience for the came up from the clubs whole family, combining and tours with vans with musicianship with special alternators that would visual effects. break down in the middle "It is a great family event, of nowhere in the freezbecause we get kids involved ing cold in Canada," she in the show," she said. "On a said. "Now, I tour with a musical level, it is very bus and a wonderful organdiverse, from country and Michelle Wright contemporary to reggae and pop/rock. Then on a technical level, we have all the latest technology, from video walls to flat screen TVs, and then the special lighting and sound effects. The stage is also decorated like a winter wonderland." The show will feature traditional and new Christmas music. Certain yuletide tunes never lose their appeal, Wright said. "I love to sing The Christmas Song, which is timeless and beautiful to me, but we've also done a really cool version of Joy to the World," she said. "It's a wonderful evening out for people and their family and will make them feel good. It's such a special time of the year and live music makes it very memorable." See Wright page 35 The Me First GIC with a 4.3%* rate of return. (By me, we mean you). Earn 4.3% with the 22 month Me First GIC. All deposits are insured up to $100,000 by Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario (DICO). It's extra safe. It's extra smart. Visit a local branch for details or call us at 1-800-616-8878. Think First. *Rate as at November 10, 2008 and subject to change without notice. ThinkFirstNow.com