Sights and Sounds of Stratford Festival 2013

Sights and sounds of Stratford Festival 2013
Article and photos by Geoff Dale
The Beat theatre critic Geoff Dale was on hand with his camera to catch some of the Monday evening highlights. More productions will open in late June, July and August. Keep reading The Beat for reviews and commentary. - Editor

It was a glorious opening to the Stratford Festival 2013 with a wide array of local, national and international stars from stage and screen milling about, a wide array of beautiful flowers in bloom on display and music of every kind.
Under seasonably mild and sunny conditions, the event drew a good crowd of spectators, Festival insiders and participants, along with those curious folks simply interested in getting a bird’s eye view of the annual opening ceremonies.
The festivities began around 6 p.m. Monday, May 27 with the pipe and band corps signaling the start to this year festivities, followed by the arrival of special red carpet guests and the 7:30 p.m. opening night presentation of Romeo and Juliet.
Actors, musicians, directors and Festival dignitaries were seen chatting with members of the general public, being interviewed by various media outlet representatives and generally enjoying and participating in the moment.
Colm Feore, recently seen on TV’s The Borgias was on hand with his wife Donna, director and choreographer of Fiddler on the Roof.
With several works about to hit the screen, one of the busier actors around Graham Greene was there, as were stars from various productions including Romeo and Juliet and Fiddler on the Roof. 
The prolific American actor of the big screen, television and stage, Brian Dennehy, was also seen in various spots inside and outside of the Festival Theatre.
The two gifted stars of the dynamic production of Mary Stuart (http://www.thebeatmagazine.ca/index.php/theatre-reviews/1662-peacock-and-mckenna-shine-in-mary-stuart), Lucy Peacock and Seana McKenna were also making the rounds.

In addition to the traditional sounds of a pipes and drums band getting the proceedings underway, an intriguing duet from Kitchener, The Vaudevillian, kept things lively, playing a number of eclectic songs on the lower sidewalk below the Festival Theatre.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was also in attendance for the official ceremony.
The ceremony kicked off the 2013 season which was highlighted by the first week of seven debuts of: Romeo and Juliet, Fiddler on the Roof, Measure for Measure  , Mary Stuart, Tommy (which featured an appearance on opening night by Pete Townshend of The Who);  and the Saturday double feature of The Three Musketeers and Blithe Spirit .  This feature also appeared online at The Beat Magazine.

Photos: 1. Donna and Colm Feore were on hand for the event; The musical opening of the Stratford Festival 2013; Flowers were in bloom everywhere;The pipes and drums corps was led by a proud drum major; One of the stars of this year’s Festival is Matthew G Brown; Geraint Wyn Davies is pictured with Donna Feore; The two stars of Mary Stuart, from left Sean McKenna and Lucy Peacock; One of the highlights of opening night was the lively music of the Kitchener based duo – the Vaudevillian; Minstrels from Romeo and Juliet took in the sights and sounds.