Annette Burke is the director of Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak, debuting at the Astor Theatre in November. (Rick Conrad)

Some new and familiar faces will be back on the Astor Theatre stage in November when the Winds of Change Dramatic Society presents Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak.

Rehearsals began earlier this month in Liverpool with the five-member cast. 

Annette Burke is directing, her first time guiding actors since the 2021 comedy Tom, Dick and Harry.

“I enjoy directing, and I do enjoy working with a small cast because it makes it easier to schedule things,” Burke told QCCR in an interview.

“It’s been a treat to work with this crew. I think we’ve put together a really solid team with lots of experience. … We’ve got some very creative and artistic people involved.”

The two-act farce from Canadian playwright Norm Foster centres around what happens when a woman with a colourful past steps off the bus and into smalltown life.

“I don’t want to give too much away but … it takes place in a small community where everybody knows everybody’s business or they think they do, and Sadie arrives, she gets off the bus just by chance, walks into the cafe and things get very interesting very quickly,” Burke says.

“It’s very funny and there’s a lot of humour that comes from just different innuendos and things like that so I think the audience is really going to enjoy it.”

Ashley-Rose Goodwin stars as Sadie Flynn, with Cynthia Walker as Rachel Blessington and Nicole Whynot as Bev Dupuis. Al Steele as Tom Shaw and Joseph Lyndon as Orson Hubble round out the cast. At least 14 other volunteers make up the show’s crew.

It will be a return to acting for Goodwin, who was last seen on the Astor stage in 2013’s Les Miserables. She has founded her own popular Mersey Rose Theatre Company in Liverpool, directing and producing youth in their own productions. She also directed the 2024 musical Follies at the Astor.

“I’m so excited that she agreed to audition,” Burke says. “I think she’s very much enjoying the experience. Sometimes when we don’t do something we love for a long time we forget how much we love it. And she’s very talented. … It’s been fun and I think I can speak for her and say that she’s been enjoying it a great deal.”

Burke says rehearsals of up to 14 hours a week at South Queens Middle School are going well, with the cast almost off-book through Act 1. 

“I think one of the biggest challenges with a show like this is the dialogue. There is a lot of dislogue and a lot of the exchanges are short and quick, so that to me is the challenge to make sure things are being said properly, important things aren’t being left out. The chemistry with the five of them is really great, so it makes it easier.”

She says it helps that all five actors have stage experience.

“Some people are just natural performers. I know the five of them have spent quite a bit of time over the summer delving into who their characters are. It’s been very exciting to see these characters develop and we’re not even halfway there.”

Burke is also president of Winds of Change. She says the community theatre troupe was looking for a show to get them back in front of an audience. And this one, with this cast and crew, seemed like a good fit.

“The support for Winds of Change for over 50 years has been incredible in this community. I can guarantee our Winds of Change fans that they will not be disappointed in this show and the people that get involved, it’s just all volunteer time. They’re showing up, everybody’s contributing, everybody’s pitching in, so this is what community theatre is meant to be. ”

Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak runs at the Astor Theatre Nov. 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the Astor box office or through Ticketpro.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Nicole Whynot, Cynthia Walker, Ashley-Rose Goodwin, Al Steele and Joseph Lyndon star in Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak at the Astor Theatre in November. (Winds of Change Dramatic Society)

CAST OF SADIE FLYNN COMES TO BIG OAK
Ashley-Rose Goodwin – Sadie Flynn
Al Steele – Tom Shaw
Joseph Lyndon – Orson Hubble
Cynthia Walker – Rachel Blessington
Nicole Whynot – Bev Dupuis

CREW
Director – Annette Burke
Assistant director – Jackie Leonard
Producer – Sue Beaumont-Rudderham
Costumes – Crystal Doggett and Kylie Doggett
Set design – Craig Doggett and Alex Doggett
Stage managing/props – Sheree Chandler, Jane Mullen, Sue Higgins and Jane Stevenson
Lighting/sound – Kevin Colwell
Posters/graphic design – Greg Tutty
Cast photography – Brenda Deveau
Videography – Dan Williams

Ava Smith and Koen Shand are Grade 12 students at Liverpool Regional High School. They’re helping out with the LRHS Scholarship Auction 2024. (Rick Conrad)

The graduating class at Liverpool Regional High School may be relatively small, but they’ve had a mighty significant impact over the years on students going on to higher learning.

Since 1998, the Liverpool Regional High School Scholarship Auction has awarded more than 400 Queens County students over $500,000 in bursaries to help them pay for their post-secondary education.

The 26th annual auction kicked off on Facebook on April 18. And this year, for the first time since before the pandemic, the fundraiser wraps up with an in-person silent and live auction event on Thurs., May 30 at the high school.

Koen Shand and Ava Smith are two Grade 12 students who are part of the 40-person-strong organizing committee. About 25 of those volunteers are students themselves, which is about half of the graduating class. Parents, teachers and other community members make up the rest of the organizing committee.

“It’s pretty impactful,” Koen says of the auction. “It’s just nice to know that we are such a small town and we do have that support that you might not get from coming from a big city. It’s just nice to know that we have these organizaitons backing us up.”

“I think it’s nice to feel you have a lot of people in your corner,” Ava says,  “you have a lot of people rooting for you. It’s nice to know that you have a big community, a big family here that’s wanting you do well and is going to be there when you need help.”

Koen will be going to Dalhousie University next year to study engineering, while Ava plans to attend Saint Mary’s University and then on to Mount Saint Vincent University for an education degree.

They said they were eager to help out with the auction because pursuing an education is so expensive. They’re both involved with various extra-curricular activities at the school — Koen with the Key Club and various sports teams, and Ava as Nova Scotia International Student Program ambassador and as co-president of the student council.

“This is up my alley, I love helping out with this stuff,” Ava says. “I just think it’s good to get involved and help give back to the community that’s always helped, especially here since it’s such a small community, it’s such a supportive one.”

“My school has given me lots of opportunities, lot of memories, playing sports, doing multiple things,” Koen says,  “and I just think whatever I can do to give back and help our grads succeed.”

Organizers expect to get more than 200 items, in addition to monetary contributions, donated from local businesses and residents for the online and in-person auctions. They’ve already auctioned off dozens of items.

The last time an in-person auction was held, it raised about $20,000. Since it went online, it has raised between $25,000 and $40,000 each year.

Students are awarded bursaries based on need and their contribution to school life. In previous years, about a third of the class received the awards, which ranged from $500 to $2,000. 

“It’s not based on your academics,” Ava says. “It’s based on what you’ve done to contribute to the school and in the community. Which I think is really good because there are lots of kids in our school who might not have honour rolls but are still an active member in our community and an active member in our school. Which I think is great that they are getting money they deserve.

“I think receiving money like this helps to kind of take the weight off a little bit. It’s still going to cover some of your classes, your books, maybe it’s going to cover your meal card, and even though it is obviously not $25,000 to cover your year, anything that contributes helps a lot. It also lessens the amount of student loan you’re going to have to take out.”

Ava and Koen are excited to participate in Thursday’s in-person event. Students will be helping to display the items up for auction, with Al Steele as the auctioneer.

When asked how much people should bid at the event, Koen has some simple advice.

“As much as they want. It’s going to a good cause, so feel free.”

The online portion of the auction is in its last week. You can participate by joining the LRHS Scholarship Auction 2024 public Facebook group.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below