Live Bait Announces Fall Season

As Live Bait Theatre continues to celebrate its 20th Anniversary, the company has announced a full fall season.

Things officially got underway last week with two sold out performances of Art and Paul, The Show They Never Gave, a tribute to Simon and Garfunkel.

The season continues with The Best of Broadway on Friday, September 21. This tribute to songs both old and new from the great white way, features most of the cast of last summer's hit dinner theatre, Anne of Springhill.

This Broadway tribute was originally presented for one night in August. The show sold out and is back by popular demand. Tricia Black, Caitlin Bowers, Leah Brown, Alan MacDonald and Jennie Wood will be joined by Mark Geddes in this slightly revised version of the show.

On Wednesday, October 3, Canadian roots rock heroes, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, will appear at Live Bait. The band, which features Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden and Tom Wilson, returns to Live Bait having first played there to an enthusiastic, sold out crowd in 2004.

Fans of Live Bait's dinner theatres will remember the Krazy Family series which was presented throughout the late 1990's. Andrea LeBlanc and Stephanie LeBlanc, who played Granma Krazy and her sister Eunice respectively, are returning to Live Bait with their new band Corduroy Road.

The band is touring Eastern Canada in support of their first CD, Not From the City, and will appear at Live Bait on Wednesday, November 7.

Live Bait's 14th annual holiday dinner theatre, I'll Be Home for Christmas, will be presented every Tuesday through Saturday from November 30 to December 15. This hilarious new musical, written by Karen Valanne, tells the story of Aunt Mabel who just won big at Bingo and is bringing the whole family together to celebrate the joys of the season, whether they want to or not.

On Saturday, December 1, Live Bait presents Canada's favourite mill worker Lucien, played by Marshall Button, in his new show, Helter Smelter.

Button last appeared at Live Bait when he played Rita MacNeil's father in Charlie Rhindress's Flying On Her Own.

This new play has Lucien returning to his North Shore roots where we find him smelt fishing and expounding on world issues, national crises, love, sex & politics.

He's forced to ponder even bigger issues when global warming cuts his frozen shanty town loose and turns it into a floating state separating from the rest of Canada - heading towards Quebec, infinity & beyond!
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Helter Smelter will be presented in Brunton Auditorium, while all other events in the fall season will take place at Live Bait Theatre.

Rhindress, Live Bait's Artistic Director, says he is very excited about this line-up.

"In honour of of our 20th anniversary season we really wanted to celebrate our past and look forward to the future," he said recently.

"All of these presentations feature people who have appeared at Live Bait in the past and are now working on new projects," he added. "We are very excited to be checking in with old friends and bringing them back to Live Bait."

Unfortunately, the company's planned fall production of Rhindress's play, The Maritime Way of Life, has had to be cancelled due to a lack of funding.


The company recently received word from the Canada Council that it would be unable to provide financial support for the current season.

"We are really disappointed that we have had to cancel Maritime Way," Rhindress said.

"We were sure we would get the funding and the Canada Council was very positive about Live Bait, but they just didn't have enough funds to support all the projects that they felt were worthy. So, to be fiscally responsible we have had to cancel this production."

Any patrons who had already purchased tickets to The Maritime Way of Life can use the purchase price of those tickets towards another event in the fall line-up or receive a refund.

For tickets or more information about any of the above presentations please call the Live Bait box office at (506) 536-2248.