April 30, 2022

GRAVENHURST GLITTERATI TURN OUT TO CELEBRATE OPERA HOUSE RE-OPENING

GRAVENHURST — Last night’s Opera House open house was filled with Gravenhurst glitterati and the curious — all anxious to see the latest makeover of the grand old lady of local theatre.

After a soft opening the past month, with an initial few shows that drew some good crowds, it was a night of celebration Friday as members of the public dolled up in their best duds to usher in a new post COVID era in fine fashion.

A cocktail reception in the Trillium Court from 6 to 7 p.m. — with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres handed out by the Oar and Well Fed and washed down with Sawdust City suds — allowed everyone to once more meet and mingle, laugh and smile. Many of them even masked.

Mayor Paul Kelly chatted with well wishers who congratulated him on the new look and thanked him for his four years in office after he announced this week he will not be seeking a second term in office.

Op manager Kelly Hammond and booking assistant Fred Schulz greeted their clientele.

Among the others on hand were a number of area entertainers, including many theatre performers like Pru Donaldson and her daughter director Emma Phillips, Gravenhurst High School drama teacher Earl Sacrey also an actor, and fellow veteran actor Jim Dwyer, who says he’s in a show in Orillia in June.

Bracebridge singer and guitarist Neil Hutchison was also in attendance on the eve of his Gordon Lighthouse tribute in his hometown Saturday afternoon.

And Andrew “Cowboy” Currie came across the street from his Currie Brothers studio to help launch the old girl.

Fellow guitarist Grady Kelnick, who has often entertained in Trillium Court pre-show settings, sang and played as visitors milled and waited to be escorted upstairs to the grand hall for the official unveiling and remarks by Kelly.

Huntsville singer Sean Cotton did a short set to kick things off.

Meanwhile, in the box office Mat Driscoll was available to sell tickets for a half dozen other shows lined up this spring in to the summer.

A gala night for sure and a nice way to reintroduce local theatre lovers to Muskoka’s best concert hall.