The Gravenhurst Opera House

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls – Presented by Fine Films February 21st

Manager — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:30:18 +0000

The Topp Twinns: Untouchable Girls

Refreshments and art show by Students of GHS – 6pm in the Trillium Room
Short Canadian film and feature film – 7pm. Tickets are $6 in advance, $7 at the door. Season passes available. Get your tickets at The Gravenhurst Book Store, and Stedmans for $6 in advance.

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls” is the first time that the irrepressible Kiwi entertainment double act, Jools and Lynda Topp’s extraordinary personal story has been told. The film offers a revealing look into the lives of the World’s only comedic,

country singing, dancing, and yodeling lesbian twin sisters. As well as rarely seen archive footage and home movies, the film features a series of special interviews with some of the Topp’s infamous comedy alter-egos including candid chats with the two

Kens, Camp Mother and Camp Leader, the Bowling Ladies and the Posh Socialite sisters, Prue and Dilly.

Celebrating their half century this year, the Topp Twins have attained a unique status within New Zealand culture, and their fans range from hard core political activists, to sheep farmers and ‘Ladies who Lunch’. Their ability to relate to all kinds of people, and

their natural gift for humour, has helped them cross from the fringes to the mainstream.

It has often been said that if the story of the Twins was fictional nobody would believe it. From rural backwaters to busking on the streets of Auckland, to performances at the Rugby World Cup and London’s West End stage, their appeal is infectious. From

support act to Split Enz, Billy Bragg, and Midnight Oil to headlining their own hugely successful tours in Australia, Canada, the USA and Britain. The twins have morphed from radical activists into Kiwi ‘national treasures’, ‘cultural ambassadors’, and finally, according to the Glasgow Herald, into New Zealand’s ‘finest artistic export since lamb cutlets!’

‘Untouchable Girls’ follows the girls from their happy childhood on a Waikato dairy farm – where they grew up singing to the cows – to the Territorial Army where they quickly became the Vera Lynns of their battalion. They came of age performing on the streets of Auckland during the heady days of the political protest marches in the early 80s, and quickly joined the forefront of progressive social change campaigning for a Nuclear- Free NZ, Maori Land Rights, a halt to the1981 Springbok Tour, and Homosexual Law Reform.

By 1998 only a decade later, Lynda Topp, as Camp Mother, came close to winning the mayoral elections in Auckland, and the Topp Twins were firmly entrenched in the bosom of Kiwi culture with their own prime time TV Series ‘Do Not Adjust Your Twinset’.

THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS is a big story. It’s not just the story of two sisters but also of 50 years of New Zealand history. Half a century of cultural changes and the foundation of a national identity. Part concept film, part biopic, part historical record, part comedy, the Twins share their journey from “coming out‟ to Jools’ recent brush with Breast Cancer with much laughter, honesty and wisdom. It is a film about two truly unique New Zealanders which ends up saying as much about us as it does about them.

‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ is directed by award-winning ex BBC documentary filmmaker, Leanne Pooley. Director of Photography was shared by Leon Narbey (‘Whale Rider’); one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed cinematographers, and Wayne Vinten, (Best Cinematography NZ Screen Awards 2008). The film was produced by Arani

Cuthbert of Diva Productions, who has also managed the twins for much of their career.

Fallen Angels by Noel Coward, Dinner Theatre – Comedy by Dragon Fly – May & July 2012

Manager — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:22:14 +0000

Dinner Theatre at The Opera House

A Dinner Theatre production presented by Dragonfly Theatre.

This is Noel Coward at his inimitable best, “gay, debonair and infinitely sophisticated.” the story is a champagne cocktail of wit and charm that provides a continuously amusing two hours , highlighted by recurring moments of insane hilarity!

Julia and Jane, best friends, now happily married to others, both once counted the dashing Maurice as their lover. Guess who’s back in town and requesting the pleasure of the ladies company?

May 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th and **July 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th (**July 3rd will be show only)

Doors: 5:30 pm Dinner 6:00 pm Showtime: 7:30 pm

Dinner choices will be Beef, Salmon or Vegetarian. Dinner by David Friesen of Riverwalk Restaurant

Enter to Win Free Tickets by Taking Our 6 Question Survey!

Manager — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:36:36 +0000

Win Free Tickets !

When you complete our 6 question survey about shows and events at the Gravenhurst Opera House, you will automatically be entered to win 2 free tickets to an upcoming show. A draw will be held at the beginning of each month. The survey is simple and can easily be completed in five minutes or less. The information gathered will help us determine what you would like to see at the Gravenhurst Opera House. Thank you for your help and good luck in the draw!

A Tribute to T.V. Stars of Days Gone By – Presented by the Bracebridge Lions Club – Friday April 27th, 2012

Manager — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:38:17 +0000

A Tribute to T.V. Stars of Days Gone By

Friday April 27^th 2012 Gravenhurst Opera House Tickets 35.00 each

“Music For A While” Starring Jennifer Fletcher, mezzo-soprano and Dan McCoy, pianist, February 4th, 7:30 pm, all seats $25

Manager — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:12:09 +0000

Jennifer Fletcher and Dan McCoy Perform on February 4th at 7:30 pm

Jennifer Fletcher presents an eclectic programme of music spanning four centuries, from vocal hits of the seventeenth century to modern Broadway classics. Her artistic collaborator, Dan McCoy, will accompany her on this noteworthy journey with the help of a 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano and will also present virtually unheard-of masterpieces written originally for solo harpsichord. More than a standard vocal concert, this staged performance will highlight the duo’s inner thoughts as they discuss their repertoire and the role music plays in our lives, concluding that life itself can indeed be interpreted most succinctly as “Music for a While”.

Jennifer Fletcher, mezzo-soprano, is a fourth year student of Classical Voice at York University in Toronto. Raised in Gravenhurst, Jennifer has been a proud member of the community and has been involved with the Youth and Senior Choirs at Trinity United Church, as well as a former member of the Just 8 Jazz Choir.
Jennifer has studied with vocal coaches Dean Perry and Doreen Uren Simmons. She is currently studying under Catherine Robbin at York University and has been coached in several vocal masterclasses by Norma Burrowes, Leslie Fagan, Bruce Ubakata, Colin Ainsworth, Caroline Schiller and Sophie Roland.
Jennifer has participated in Orillia Kiwanis Music Festivals, Newmarket Voice Festivals and NATS Auditions. In 2010 Jennifer won first place for third year secondary women in the Ontario Chapter Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She was the recipient of York Universities Sterling Voice Award in 2010/2011. Last year she achieved the role of Emily in York’s production of The Garden Party. Locally, Jennifer participated in the Muskoka Opera Festival once again. She presented recitals in Gravenhurst and Toronto. In the coming year, Jennifer will be performing the role of the sorceresses witch in York Universities Opera production of Dido and Aeneas in March. In May, she will be on a European Tour singing with York Universities Chamber Choir.

Dan McCoy is a Gravenhurst resident who has earned postgraduate degrees in Musicology and in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Toronto and The Liszt School of Music in Weimar, Germany, respectively. Musicologically speaking, he has presented at international Baroque music conferences in Spain, Germany, and, most recently, in Aberdeen, Scotland; he is also scheduled to speak in June 2012 at McGill University in Montréal about 18th-century composer Geminiani’s unique yet little-discussed composition treatise, Guida Armonica, and its potential application for students of thorough-bass. Dan’s publications include recording reviews for the scholarly journal, Early Music, from Oxford University Press, and his most recent article about the tune, “Fortune My Foe,” which first became popular at public executions in early modern England, can be found in the forthcoming collection of essays entitled “Musical, Cultural, and Religious Networks in Early Modern Europe” from Ashgate Publishing. Dan is currently preparing continuo realisations for a set of sonatas from the Harrach Collection in Austria recently rediscovered in the New York Public Library and to be published by Edition Musiklandschaften based in Hamburg, Germany. Finally, Dan has performed in various venues including the Mellon Estate on Lake Muskoka, the Bachhaus Museum in Eisenach, Germany, Ehrenstein Palace in Ohrdruf, Germany, and at the Sondershausen Palace in Germany. He is currently the Director of Music at Trinity United Church in Gravenhurst and runs a community ukulele group there.