BY JASON THOMPSON
In the midst of wrapping up their adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Theatre Cambrian announced plans for the 2006-2007 production season, unveiling five new shows at a press conference Friday.
The new season will feature three dinner theatre productions including Moon Over Buffalo, by Ken Ludwig, The Foursome, by Norm Foster and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, which Theatre Cambrian's president, Mark Mannisto is especially excited about.
"With The Odd Couple, it's going to be almost an auditioner-interactive process because there's two versions that Neil Simon wrote, a male version and a female version," he said. The version presented to audiences will be determined based on auditions.
"Regardless of what we do, audiences will be laughing," Mannisto said.
Dates for the dinner theatre productions have yet to be announced.
Theatre Cambrian will also break new ground this year, bringing the musical Cats to Northern audiences in February 2007.
"We're starting with Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats, which has just recently been released to amateur productions," said Mannisto. "We're going to be the first theatre group in Northern Ontario to produce Cats so it's a bit of a coup for us."
Theatre Cambrian's second main-stage musical production will be Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, scheduled for June 2007.
Mannisto also announced the March Break Dramafest, a camp for Sudbury youth looking to keep busy during their break from school.
"It's going to be a way for Sudbury's youth to get a lot of the inner-workings of theatre from professionals . . . To teach these kids what to do and what not to do on stage, and how to do things on stage so it's going to be a great learning opportunity for them," Mannisto said.
For more information on the drama camp or Theatre Cambrian's productions, phone 524-7317 or visit www.theatrecambrian.ca.
