The Shaw Festival and Victoria Street B&B: A Great Duo in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
(Pictured above, the Royal George Theatre at The Shaw. The theatre was restored in the style of a mini-Edwardian opera house. Unless otherwise noted, all photos by David Cooper photo, c. The Shaw Festival)
By David Cohen and Marcia LaBelle Cohen
David Cohen and Marcia LaBelle Cohen are writers and photographers based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In this comprehensive article, they enjoy Ontario's legendary Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake and then settle into the Victoria Street B&B for comfort and friendship. You can reach them at david316@sympatico.ca
PART
I:
The Shaw Festival: A New Season of Superlatives
The
Shaw Festival evokes superlatives.
Into its 44th season of performing
the works of British playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and others, The
Shaw -- its shorthand form -- was recently called "the best repertory theatre
on the entire continent" by John Simon, the renowned U.S. theatre critic.
"Why, oh, why is there nothing in these United States to rival Canada's Shaw Festival?" Simon lamented.
(The Shaw Festival's location in Niagara-on-the-Lake combines parks and the lake)
The location of the festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which dates from the 1780s (known then as Butlersburg), is as rich in history as it is incomparably beautiful. Locals call it "The Prettiest Town in Canada" without a trace of self-consciousness or fear of being contradicted.
Southern Ontario: Call It "Napa North"
Bountiful orchards make this area the fruit basket of southern Ontario; in summer there are fruit stands along the roadsides. Miles of vineyards supply award-winning wineries in Niagara-on-the-lake and its environs.
There are 40 wineries within easy driving distance of The Shaw. The larger Niagara region, the most celebrated grape and wine-producing region in Canada, has been called "Napa North" after California's Napa Valley wine-producing area.
(You will find many wineries within easy driving distance of The Shaw, and the larger Niagara region is known as "Napa North." PostcardsForYou photo )
Historic sites are everywhere. Lovingly preserved Regency, Victorian and Edwardian homes and public buildings line the town's business and residential streets.
And, during the two lovely spring days we recently spent there, the town's flowering trees and beds of tulips, irises and daffodils, set its thoroughfares, parks and lawns ablaze in color.
Defining Canada's Relations with the U.S.
Niagara-on-the-Lake (pop. 13,839) has an historical importance quite disproportionate to its size. It was a key locale in the evolution of what is now Canada's largest province, Ontario, as well as being the scene of momentous battles that defined this country's relations with its neighbor to the south.
(Take a stylish horse-and-carriage through Niagara-on-the-Lake to see the town's historic trappings)
Originally established as a part of a route around Niagara Falls (a 20-minute drive away), it was French-occupied until the British captured it in 1759. United Empire Loyalists sought out the town out as a haven at the outbreak of the American Revolution. In 1792, its name changed to Newark, it became the first capital of Upper Canada, now Ontario.
(Before attending a performance at The Shaw, there is always time for shopping along Queen Street)
The town has a number of other "firsts"- Canada's first newspaper, agricultural society, public library and legislature were founded here.
But most history buffs (especially the militarily inclined) are drawn to this area because it was an important backdrop to the War of 1812. It was here that the Americans invaded Upper Canada. The British repulsed the first invasion, at Queenston Heights, but the Americans made a later attempt and managed to occupy the town.
Forced to retreat several months later, the Americans burnt down what was then still Newark.
Residents, however, were allowed to claim war reparations and rebuild their homes and the town.
By the middle of the 20th century what was now called Niagara-on-the-Lake had suffered a series of economic downturns. It needed a lift.
The Shaw Is Born in 1962
Enter a local lawyer and playwright, Brian Doherty, who, in 1962, teamed up with a small group of Americans and Canadians to produce eight weekend performances of George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell and Candida in the local courthouse.
Thus, the Shaw was born.
By 1968, festival's attendance was 100 per cent of capacity in what is now called The Courthouse Theatre. In 1973 the Festival Theatre opened with a capacity of 847 seats (now 869). In 1980 the Festival acquired the Royal George Theatre, giving it the three present venues.
In January 2005 The Shaw announced the successful conclusion to a $30-million fundraising campaign for an extensive renovation and expansion of the Festival Theatre.
(The Shaw's Festival Theatre is surrounded by impeccably maintained English gardens)
Started on a shoestring, The Shaw is now a major cultural industry as well as an enduring tourist magnet.
This year's program began on April 1 and will end on November 27. See below for details.
A "mandate" for the festival has evolved over the years. While there is an emphasis on the late Victorian-Edwardian period in which Shaw flourished, the mandate can include works that go back to the mid-19th century to contemporary Canadian plays.
(The Courthouse Theatre at The Shaw is where the festival began)
John Simon marvelled at the ability of the company's actors ability to "switch in a twinkling and do everything."
At The Shaw, an Ability to "Do Everything"
"It must have something to do with superior training and discipline, but whatever it is, we here must find ways to acquire it," he said.
Simon guessed right. The Academy of the Shaw Festival is the professional training, play development, publishing and public education wing of the company. It offers company members training in movement, strength and flexibility, voice and dialect. It began in 1985 as an informal skill exchange among members.
Another major ingredient of The Shaw's success is the ensemble itself and its cumulative experience. For example, the nine-member cast in this year's The Autumn Garden has a total of 144 years experience at The Shaw.
Jackie Maxwell, who is in her third year as The Shaw's artistic director, says her aim is to maintain an "intellectual rigor" of the company while conveying the "real emotional" content of the pieces it does.
(Jackie Maxwell, The Shaw's artistic director, points to both the "intellectual rigor" of the company as well as the "real emotional" content of its pieces. Marcia LaBelle Cohen photo)
She said The Shaw's mandate is not static and pointed to new Canadian work such as this year's Belle Moral by Anne-Marie MacDonald. And she said that the mandate now includes an important "archeological" sub-mandate to find worthy but forgotten works and bring them to one of The Shaw's stages.
In this regard she pointed in particular to the work of Githa Sowerby, whose Rutherford and Son was presented in 2004. Over the years, the Shaw has produced neglected but worthy works by J.B. Priesley, St John Hankin, and Harley Granville Barker.
"And don't forget Mae West wrote six plays," Maxwell added.
Enjoy American Classics, Too
In addition, The Shaw continues to embrace a full range of American classics, this year's Autumn Garden and Bus Stop being examples, and musicals that can and do include Brecht and Weill, Rodgers and Hart "and everything in between."
Maxwell, a native of Belfast, Ireland with a long list of theatrical credits in Canada, says that George Bernard Shaw's work continues to spark interest into the 21st century. "He was subversive, a provocateur who relished controversy. He was like a mosquito in the flesh of the establishment."
(George Bernard Shaw: "a provocateur who relished controversy." Photo courtesy The Shaw Festival)
"The best plays have endured and will endure," she added. "This year's Major Barbara remains as relevant today, what with the war in Iraq, as when it was written. The estranged father of Barbara is a wealthy munitions manufacturer."
Short of time, we were able to see only one Shaw production and we chose Gypsy. This was the first time a musical has been staged the Festival Theatre, necessitating a renovation of its orchestra pit.
On the surface, this is yet another "Broadway musical," but in the hands of The Shaw it is something quite different.
The story, taken from the autobiography of the renowned burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, recounts the quest of Rose, Gypsy's mother, to achieve stardom during the Depression for her and her sister Louise.
A Powerfully Moving Production
We found the production powerfully moving.
Jackie Maxwell, director of the piece, says it is Gypsy's "extraordinarily strong book" that "keeps us returning to the piece." Gypsy, she says, is an "irresistible mix of backstage shenanigans … and family drama…."
Nora McLellan, as Rose, heads the cast and she epitomizes the special mix that The Shaw brings to Gypsy. She is a great "belter" in the tradition of Ethel Merman, Gypsy's original Rose in the late 50's, but she is also an intelligent and sensitive actress who is alive to the nuances of the main relationships in the piece - between a pushy mother and put-upon daughters, and between the lovers (Rose and Herbie, played by Ric Reid).
All
in all, it was a wonderful piece of theatre that kept us, and a near-capacity
matinee audience, enthralled and not at all regretting that we weren't outside
enjoying the brilliant sunshine.
Finally, the last word must go to Shaw
himself. He said, "The acorn of today is the oak of the next millennium."
It can be said without much exaggeration that The Shaw, into its 44th year, has achieved some sort of oaken status. And this is one oak that will have many more years to come.
(Enjoy a quiet moment on the terrace at The Shaw before the curtain goes up on the production)
Traveling to The Shaw Festival and Niagara-on-the-Lake…
The
Shaw Festival Box Office Hours
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Call the Box
Office or visit www.shawfest.com for a free
Shaw Festival Handbook or to order tickets online. There is immediate booking
and seat confirmation.
Toll free: (800) 511-SHAW (7429)
Local: (905) 468-2172
Fax: (905) 468-3804
More on Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Chamber of Commerce
(905) 468-1950; or write the Chamber at Box 1043, Niagara-on-the-Lake,
Ontario, L0S 1J0, Canada. Visit www.niagaraonthelake.com
When traveling from Toronto, follow the Queen Elizabeth Way toward Niagara. Once across the Garden City Skyway at St. Catharines, take the Niagara-on-the-Lake exit (38B). From the traffic light at York Road, the Shaw is signposted - left onto York Road, right onto Highway 55. Follow 55 (Niagara Stone Road) east until it ends at the golf course (the oldest one in Canada). Turn right into downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake. There'll you'll find the Royal George Theatre and the court House theatre; the Festival Theatre is two blocks farther on.
From the USA, cross the Niagara River into Canada at Buffalo, at Niagara Falls, or at Lewiston, NY. You can take the Queen Elizabeth Way if you like, but the Niagara Parkway is much more attractive historically interesting drive.
Average
Daily Temperatures…
Spring 66 F/19 C
Summer 77 F/25C
Fall
54 F/12 C
Winter 34 F/1 C
PART
II:
Spacious & Gracious at Victoria Street B & B
By David and Marcia LaBelle Cohen
It's hard not to notice the print hanging above the fireplace as you enter the Winter Room of Niagara-on-the-Lake's Victoria Street Bed and Breakfast, owned by Marilyn and Gary Anderson.
(Happiness is infectious in the Victoria Street B&B's Winter Room. Victoria Street B&B photo)
It depicts, we guess, an early 19th-century scene -- a black-suited, high-hatted, ruddy-cheeked man of middle age gliding over a frozen pond with skates strapped on his boots. He wears an ecstatic expression.
Having just emerged from a long Canadian winter, we had no wish to don skates to emulate this long-ago figure. But his apparent happy mood matched ours when we began to take in the Winter Room (there also are Spring and Summer Rooms).
"Spacious" and "Gracious" Lodging
"Spacious" and "gracious" are the words that come immediately to mind to describe this room. Thoughtful, too.
In addition to the fireplace and the compelling figure above it, there was a king-size "sleigh bed," which, according to Webster's, is a "type of bed made 1820-1860, the headboard and footboard of which are solid and roll outward at the top."
(The front of the bed and breakfast is adorned with plantings of colorful flowers. Victoria Street B&B photo)
Beds are one thing, but mattresses can be another. The mattress on this bed was everything a middle-aged back could ask for - firm and very comfy.
There are also comforts for the mind and the spirit in this room. Chairs and lamps invite reading, thinking and conversation. And if you forget your reading material at home, there is a small bookcase with a selection that will appeal to most tastes.
As you get ready for bed, you will head for the bathroom. Its centerpieces are a whirlpool bath, an attractive vanity area, and a shower. A large, wood-framed mirror on the wall above the whirlpool makes the room look larger than it already is - which is considerable.
And if, as you are about to climb into bed, you suddenly get the "munchies," there is a coffee-and-tea station outside your room in the hallway. The coffee is freshly brewed.
As for the universal soporific TV, it is available, but discretely encased in a wooden cabinet.
An Impressive Garden with Bursts of Color
If bedding down is everything one could wish for in the Victoria Street B&B, getting up is even better.
Arising, you are drawn to a large wall window that affords an overhead view of the rear garden. And what a view it is! This is a spacious garden indeed, about a quarter of an acre. To the right we saw a flowering cherry tree in glorious pink bloom. A more modest dogwood was also in creamy flower.
After taking in these bursts of color, the eye shifts to take in the broader expanse -- a garden that blends formal and informal design elements to achieve a very pleasing whole.
(The garden reveals a blend of formal and informal design elements. Marilyn Anderson designed both the front and back gardens. Victoria Street B&B photo)
A red brick path begins at the back veranda and goes through an arbor arch and proceeds further along to end at a circular, screened-in gazebo.
(The garden also contains a pleasant gurgling pond and waterfall with azaleas and rhododendrons growing nearby. Marcia LaBelle Cohen photo)
Off to the left is a gurgling pond and waterfall with azaleas and rhododendrons growing nearby. Beds with daffodils, irises and tulips do duty as borders along with tall mature trees.
But what about the other B in B&B, breakfast?
Dutch Apple Pancakes for Breakfast!
Here our hosts, Marilyn and Gary, did the honors. We began with freshly squeezed orange juice. Warm wholewheat scones were passed around. And then the main event: Dutch apple pancake and sausage. Hot, freshly brewed (and superior-tasting) coffee was poured as conversation expanded.
A most satisfying repast; but also a sophisticated, carefully prepared one - well above the average.
The B&B experience is, of course, also about conversation, and in this we were quite fortunate. In addition to our hosts, who are interesting indeed (see next article), we had the good fortune to meet Charles Jeffs and his wife, Olive, and their daughters Judith and Carol.
(New friends pose for a photograph: from left, Marcia and David Cohen, Charles Jeff, his wife Olive and their daughter Judith, and Gary and Marilyn Anderson. Marcia LaBelle Cohen photo)
They are theatre buffs and were of course drawn to Niagara-on-the-Lake by The Shaw Festival. They were about to travel to Stratford, Ontario to see The Tempest and Hello Dolly at the Stratford Festival.
Mr. Jeffs, who is 84, is a World War II veteran who saw action in Europe in the liberation by Canadian troops of Holland in 1945. A lieutenant, he served with the Stormont-Dundas and Glengary Highlanders regiment.
Recounting World War II Battles
(Jeffs, right, details his World War II battles to Cohen. Marcia LaBelle Cohen photo)
Remarkably spry, Mr. Jeffs recounted in detail the battles in which he participated in Holland, especially the one in which he suffered near-fatal wounds. His wife, an English war bride, also recalled with frequent humorous asides the trials and tribulations of her courtship with a Canadian soldier (her family had doubts about Canadian soldiers in general).
After bidding fond farewells, we realized that our stay at the Victoria Street B&B had been all too brief. We hadn't played pool in the games room. We hadn't had time to sit in the garden and read. We hadn't had time to stroll at leisure along Victoria Street and the neighborhood it's a part of.
Oh, next time.
When we arrived back in Hamilton, where we live, we found an email from Marilyn. We had inquired about that painting over the fireplace…. Marilyn had researched our question and found that the print was from a painting by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823) titled "The Rev. Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch." The Andersons had obtained the print from the National Galleries in Edinburgh.
It is a work of the late 18th or early 19th century - quite in keeping with Victoria Street, the "sleigh bed" in our B&B's Winter Room, and much of Niagara-on-the-Lake for that matter.
Contact
info for Victoria Street B&B:
Tel. (800) 350-7216
Alt. 905-468-7840
Visit: www.victoriastreet.com
Or write: 427 Victoria St. PO Box 1706
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario L0S 1J0
Canada
PART III
Victoria Street B & B: A "Dream Come True"
By David Cohen and Marcia LaBelle Cohen
Marilyn Anderson always dreamt of running a B&B. The Victoria Street B&B is that "dream come true."
(Hosts Marilyn and Gary Anderson warmly welcome their guests to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Victoria Street B&B photo)
Marilyn and husband Gary moved here in 1996 from Hamilton, which is about an hour's drive from away. With a design provided by Better Homes and Gardens magazine, they set out to build their dream B&B.
A B&B with a 19th-Century Flavor
The result was a triple dormer-windowed structure, with white-pillared broad verandas in the front and back, which provides every modern amenity and yet fits in with the predominantly 19th-century character of Victoria Street.
Marilyn and Gary tweaked the original design for the house so that it would have discreet living and B&B areas.
"The idea is for us not to intrude on our guests' space and vice versa," explains Gary.
It was Marilyn, with her keen interest in horticulture, who designed the front and back gardens.
Gary Worked in Epidemiology at McMaster University
Gary, who was brought up on a farm in North Dakota, obtained a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Washington in 1969, when he came to Canada to join the Department of Clinical Epidemiology of the Faculty of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton.
He and Marilyn have five children and 13 grandchildren.
Gary retired in 1998, and it was at about that time that he started what is known as a glyconutritional supplementation program.
In a 6th-year report in 2004 on "Why I Take Glyconutritionals" (he writes them each year), Gary said two things prompted him to take this nutritional supplement program: low energy and chronic digestive problems. He reported that both problems were eliminated almost immediately after he started the program.
He also reported his immune system improved and rising cholesterol levels, a concern for him prior to 1998, are no longer a worry. He also credited the program with improving the condition of his knees and skin.
Today, Gary offers seminars on glyconutrition. Some are held in the upper level of his garden shed (fitted out with audio visual equipment and a conference table), and others take place in and around this community.
He has also published a chapter in the just-released The Healing Power of 8 Sugars, edited by Allan C. Somersall (The Natural Wellness Group).
For more information, visit Gary's websites at www.glyco.com/victoriastreet or www.glycoradio.com/victoriastreet.
Shaw
Festival 2005 Season
Here is the 2005 season list of plays* for The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the Lake in Ontario, Canada.
You
Never Can Tell by Bernard Shaw - 1896
A magical comedy of unexpected
meetings, reunions and reconciliations and one of Shaw's most beloved plays.
Director: Morris Panych
Previews: April 26, 2005
Opens: May 5
Closes:
November 26
Theatre: Festival
The
Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham - 1926
An intelligent woman's guide
to married life - in a sophisticated comedy of the 1920s.
Director: Neil
Munro
Previews: April 1, 2005
Opens: May 6
Closes: October 9
Theatre: Royal George
Gypsy
- 1959
music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents
A landmark Broadway musical featuring unforgettable characters and one great
song after another.
Director: Jackie Maxwell
Previews: April 12, 2005
Opens: May 7
Closes: October 30
Theatre: Festival
Happy End
Music by Kurt Weill,
lyrics by Bertolt Brecht - 1929
The return of The Shaw's sold-out hit from
2003, an edgy, in-your-face musical romp.
Director: Tadeusz Bradecki
Previews: May 15, 2005
Opens: May 27
Closes: October 28
Theatre:
Royal George
Journey's
End by R.C. Sherriff - 1928
A gripping drama in which heroism clashes
with lost illusions in the trenches of the First World War.
Director: Christopher
Newton
Previews: May 13, 2005
Opens: May 28
Closes: October 8
Theatre: Court House
Feydeau
at Lunchtime - 1890 (Lunchtime One-Act)
by Georges Feydeau and Maurice
Desvallières
in a new adaptation by Neil Munro and Maureen Labonté
A new version of Georges Feydeau's C'est une femme du monde, a farcical confection
of sexual shenanigans.
Director: Neil Munro
Previews: June 10, 2005
Opens: June 24
Closes: September 25
Theatre: Royal George
The
Autumn Garden by Lillian Hellman - 1951
Old friends gather in a summer
boarding house on the Louisiana coast to recapture their past hopes and dreams.
Director: Martha Henry
Previews: June 11, 2005
Opens: June 24
Closes: October 8
Theatre: Court House
Major
Barbara by Bernard Shaw - 1905
A fascinating comedy of ideas in which
a munitions manufacturer vies for the soul of his Salvationist daughter.
Director: Joseph Ziegler
Previews: June 10, 2005
Opens: June 25
Closes: October 29
Theatre: Festival
Bus
Stop by William Inge - 1955
The shimmering tale of an unlikely group
stranded in an all-night diner during a Kansas snowstorm.
Director: Jackie
Maxwell
Previews: June 28, 2005
Opens: July 15
Closes: November
27
Theatre: Royal George
Belle
Moral: A Natural History by Ann-Marie MacDonald - 2005
A young Scottish
scientist seeks to uncover her family's secrets in this offbeat Gothic comedy.
This new version of The Arab's Mouth was commissioned by The Shaw and has its
premiere this season.
Director: Alisa Palmer
Previews: July 7, 2005
Opens: July 16
Closes: October 7
Theatre: Court House
*titles
and dates subject to change
Regular ticket prices for the 2005 season
range from $42 to $82 including GST. For Special Matinees, student tickets are
$20 and senior tickets are $30. Lunchtime ticket prices are $22. Friday and Sunday
night performances are available all season for the preview prices of $42 to $50
and, for patrons under 30, $30 tickets are available for many performances.
Tickets
for the 2005 season are on sale to the general public by phone (800) 511-SHAW
(7429) or in person.
For more information, visit www.shawfest.com.
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