Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, speaks to theatre supporters on Thursday. Karen Murphy, of the J&W Murphy Foundation, and Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor board, look on. (Rick Conrad)

The board of the Astor Theatre on Thursday unveiled some details of a plan they hope will make the theatre the centre of arts and culture on the South Shore.

“We are definitely the envy of a lot of other theatres in Nova Scotia,” Astor Theatre Society chairman Eric Goulden said.

“And it is a very, very valuable treasure.”

The historic Liverpool theatre, which opened in 1902, recently received a $500,000 donation from the J&W Murphy Foundation. The five-year funding commitment will help with the Astor’s operational expenses, and help improve its marketing, promotion and fundraising efforts.

Board members invited the community on Thursday afternoon to learn more about the foundation’s support.

The contribution will help the Astor work on long-term projects to make the theatre sustainable. Three consultants will be hired to come up with fundraising and communications plans and oversee the process.

Heather White Brittain, the director of development with the Imperial Theatre in Saint John, will lead the Astor’s fundraising and sponsorship development efforts. That will include creating a fund development database that will help the Astor secure more sustainable donations from corporations and other foundations.

Cathy Neumiller, a communications and marketing professional based in Halifax, will help create a new marketing and communications plan for the theatre. That will include a newly designed website, a subtle rebranding and more community outreach.

“We don’t have the capacity in house to do this work,” said Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor board. 

“(The employees) do miracles every day with what they have to work with. But the fund development and marketing communications side are specialist areas and require specialists to do them.”

Cochrane said a lot of the work for the first year will be behind the scenes. But lovers of the Astor should start seeing some changes by the end of this year.

Neumiller says she hopes to harness the enthusiasm of the Astor’s sizable and dedicated group of volunteers.

“It’s really about relationships,” she said in an interview.

“The ultimate with communications is striking up a relationship with someone and finding out what they’re passionate about. The goal is to find the people that are the most passionate and get them on board to help achieve the things that need to be done because there’s a lot.”

Jean Robinson-Dexter, a former executive director of the Astor and longtime chair of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, will act as a project manager.

The president of Horizons Community Development Associates also helped Cochrane create the funding proposal to the Murphy foundation.

“I guess I’ll be a bit of a trouble-shooter and a bit of a historian about the organization and the kinds of things that the theatre does,” Robinson-Dexter said in an interview.

“I’ll be doing regular check-ins with the two wonderful consultants and sharing that back to the board, making sure we’re on track in terms of deliverables and timelines. It’s a great opportunity to be back and contributing to the Astor again.”

The Astor announced the “life-changing” contribution from the J&W Murphy Foundation in April. 

The foundation was established in 2008 by the late Janet and Dr. William Murphy, longtime Liverpool residents. Dr. Murphy co-founded the thriving Mersey Seafoods in 1964. 

It contributes to a wide variety of charitable causes, especially in Queens County.

The foundation’s Karen Murphy told QCCR on Thursday that they had many discussions with the Astor board about how to help.

“And our conclusion was that we could assist in some funding to take away some of the operational worries so the focus could be on future-proofing the facility,” she said.

“It’s often capital projects that get a lot of attention. But we found with especially small- and medium-sized organizations, operational funding is often forgotten. And sometimes that’s the key to all the other creativity-building that needs to happen.”

She said that she and her family have been longtime supporters of the Astor and were happy to help “take it to the next level”.

“When people find out I’m from Liverpool, they invariably mention the Astor. That tells you what a legacy is already in place. And it’s on all of us to keep adding to that and to keep building it up. This place has to be here for the next 100 years like it has been already.”

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Lynn Cochrane is the vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society. (Rick Conrad)

Liverpool’s historic Astor Theatre is launching a new endowment fund to help put it on firmer financial footing.

About 60 supporters of the Astor turned out at the theatre on Tuesday evening for the announcement.

The Astor Theatre Endowment Fund is separate from the theatre’s annual fundraising campaign. It’s a longer-term investment fund that would accept larger legacy donations from corporations or people’s estates.

Once the fund is built up to a certain point, the Astor could then use interest from the investments to cover yearly operational expenses and invest in new programs.

Outgoing Astor Theatre Society board chair John Simmonds said ticket sales from events account for about 40 per cent of revenues. Grants and fundraising are the theatre’s main sources of revenue.

Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, spearheaded the effort to set up the fund.

“I’ve been on the board for a couple of years now and every year we come up with a bit of a shortfall,” she said in an interview, “and I started looking at ways of helping the theatre counteract that shortfall, talked to a number of other theatres and they have endowment funds or investment funds that donors can donate to and their money lives on for yers and the returns come to the theatre to cover those shortfalls every year.”

Cochrane and Simmonds said that they hope that in a few years, the principal in the fund will grow to about $1 million. At that point, the Astor can decide whether to use the annual interest earned or reinvest it and continue to grow the fund.

It will be managed by Mark Sapp at Scotia McLeod in Bridgewater.

Jean Robinson-Dexter, former interim executive director of the theatre, said the endowment fund is a great step toward securing the Astor’s future.

“I think there’s lots of work to do in the whole fund development area for the organization. So I think this is a great launch for the sustainability and long-term care of the organization.”

Tom Raddall, whose family are longtime supporters of the Astor, said he believes the community will support it.

“I know the community appreciates this theatre. I know our family does. I mean, my grandmother played the piano in the silent movies in this theatre. There’s a connection for probably for most of the people that have been born and brought up here and a connection for the people who have moved here.”

“I think a lot of people including myself will give this a hard look when we go home tonight and talk about our future plans.”

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Jerri Southcott with a small-scale model of the set for Seussical, the first production from the Astor Theatre’s Astor Academy. (Rick Conrad)

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is launching a new theatre education program for youth with a production set to open in June.

The Astor Academy is designed to give youth aged 8 to 18 access to high-quality performing arts training. Its first production is Seussical, a musical comedy based on the works of Dr. Seuss.

Jerri Southcott is the Astor’s executive director. She said the Astor Academy was the “brainchild” of former interim executive director Jean Robinson-Dexter and some members of the Astor board.

The idea is to give kids and youth some training in the arts at little or no cost.

“The draw really is access to arts education, a creative and safe space to work with theatre professionals, musical theatre, and summer camps, dance and vocals and music at no cost,” Southcott said in an interview Tuesday.

“Too often, families are left in a position where they can’t afford to have private music lessons or private dance classes. We are trying to make it as a accessible as possible to allow everyone in rural Nova Scotia no matter what their economic situation is to this great opportunity.”

Preparation for Seussical is well underway, with up to 18 young cast members from Queens County and other areas of the South Shore. It’s being helmed by a production team of adults experienced in community and professional theatre. 

Southcott’s brother Shane is the director, Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director, Kim Umphrey is vocal director, Kristopher Snarby and Michelle Riley are vocal coaches, Kerenza Verburg is choreographer and Cynthia Walker is stage manager.

It will open on June 20 and run until June 23, with two evening shows and two matinees.

“It’s about friendship, it’s about relationships, it’s about community and about treating people with love and respect.”

Southcott says they’re still looking for anybody who might be interested in joining the show. The cast is basically set, but they’re looking to fill some spots in the production crew, including costumes and set building.

“I have experienced and seen the benefits of what this kind of involvement in productions and the camaraderies and teamwork and everything can have on a person. Too often, it’s not just economics, it’s feeling excluded, feeling isolated, not feeling popular enough, not knowing the talent they have inside and creating an environment where they feel welcome and they feel accepted. … We have people who have never been on stage, and we’ve seen some hidden talents.”

Southcott says the Astor will soon announce summer theatre camps offered through the Astor Academy. She said there will be a small fee to help pay the instructors. The Astor has scholarships available for those camps.

The productions through the academy are mostly free with a $20 fee for registration and show T-shirt, though that fee can be waived.

“I do think it’s important for the Astor to offer this opportunity for youth in the area,” Southcott says. “I would love to see more kids come out. We are wide open to anybody who would like to come and see what it’s all about.”

Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director of Seussical and Easton Goodwin plays Cat in the Hat in the musical. It opens at the Astor Theatre on June 20. (Rick Conrad)

Easton Goodwin is playing Cat in the Hat in Seussical. He is a Grade 11 student at Liverpool Regional Regional High School. He’s been involved in other productions at the Astor, including the recent musical Follies, as well as Into the Woods and Peter Pan Jr., all directed by former associate artistic director Ashley-Rose Goodwin.

“Seussical is such a fun musical and it’s so entertaining, especially for younger ones too. I’ve always wanted to play a crazy fun character that moves around a lot. I just love musical theatre so much.”

Malcolm Freeman of Liverpool is the assistant director of Seussical. He has appeared in numerous Astor productions, including Follies. This is his first time behind the scenes.

“It’s fun being on this side of things and getting to learn the ropes on that (side of) the spectrum. I wanted to get involved with this because I’ve never worked with youth and I’ve never actually been a part of making the decisions and bringing a stage production to life. It broadens your horizon on your own skills and your own acting and singing abilities.

“It’s coming together so well. We have a fantastic cast, the kids and the youth are great and we really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.”

Tickets for Seussical are on sale now through Ticketpro.

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The cast of Follies on opening night Thursday at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

The curtain went up on a big, bold, breathtaking musical at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Thursday night.

Stephen Sondheim’s Follies began its eight-show run at the historic theatre. It features more than two dozen cast members from Queens and Lunenburg counties ranging in age from 14 to 77. 

One of the many elaborate costumes in the musical Follies, playing until March 3 at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

A co-production of the Winds of Change and the Astor Theatre, it’s the first big musical mounted at the Astor since 2018. It runs until March 3. Tickets are available in person at the Astor Theatre box office, by calling 902-354-5250 or through Ticketpro Atlantic.

QCCR was at opening night and got reaction from some members of the audience after the show. Listen below.

Lesli Chandler in Astor Aug 1 2023. Photo Ed Halverson

The new executive director at the Astor Theatre says transitioning from the stage to the office is a welcome challenge.

Lesli Chandler says since taking over as Executive Director on July 5 she’s been reacquainting herself with Liverpool and learning what people want from their local theatre.

Born in Liverpool, Chandler’s history with the Astor Theatre goes back to the 1970s and some of the original productions of local theatre company, “Winds of Change.

“Now I was only very young, but I would accompany my mother who was involved in the shows, to many of the rehearsals on all the shows, sometimes sitting in a rehearsals that probably weren’t appropriate for a young child,” said Chandler. “But anytime I could come to the Astor or be in this magical space I would find a way and waiting to be old enough to be on stage.”

After finding that opportunity to step into the limelight with a production of Oliver, Chandler moved to Halifax as a child but returned to Liverpool in her teen years for a year of high school where she reconnected with the Astor Theatre.

“I got involved with the Winds of Change again, working backstage, doing makeup, ushering, volunteering anyway I could,” said Chandler. “And that led me to the Astor, sort of shaped my passion and desire to work in the arts, to be an actor and to be a singer, performer, so I went off to study theatre in Montreal.”

When she completed her education, Chandler spent time as coordinator for the Liverpool International Theatre Festival before enjoying a theatre career in Halifax.

Becoming the Astor’s executive director is a sort of homecoming for Chandler.

She’s grateful for the help she’s received from her predecessor, Jean Robinson-Dexter during her first month’s transition into the role.

Chandler says as she’s been familiarizing herself with the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, she’s enjoyed watching the students and instructors involved with the summer theatre program.

“I come from a background with working with a lot of youth so the work that Ashley [Rose Goodwyn] and Lincoln [Inglis] have done with the camps has been incredible. What these children, youth have done developing their own scripts, performing in five days, is really been quite impressive and I’m happy to see that,” said Chandler. “And I really am an advocate for youth experiencing the magic of this place because ultimately, we want them to be the ones that are going to have that same passion that I’ve grown up with.”

Chandler is settling in and is eager to showcase the productions, films and artists who will be on display this fall.

She looks forward to meeting the community face-to-face when the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre’s complete line up is announced at a launch party September 9.

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Howe of the Astor Theatre, the Liverpool Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre. Photo Ed Halverson

The executive director at the Astor Theatre is taking her final bow.

Jean Robinson-Dexter announced she will be stepping away from the position at the end of March.

She has been in the part-time executive director position at the Astor Theatre for almost three years while continuing to run her own consulting firm.

Robinson-Dexter says that busy schedule combined with health concerns caused her to think about how she wants to spend her time.

“As a number of people would know is that I have been on a journey with breast cancer for over a year now and that treatment is still underway,” said Robinson-Dexter. “I think I just took a pause a few days ago to think about where I am you know, the treatment seems to be going well but at my age I needed to think about out one, my health for myself and my family and what I wanted to be doing over the next few years.”

Robinson-Dexter will no longer run the day-to-day operations of the theatre, but still wants to be involved.

She was originally drawn to the Astor as a producer for shows like “The Full Monty”, “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and the Winds of Change production of “Les Misérables” and would like to return in that capacity, helping to bring new shows to life.

But before show starts planning her next production Robinson-Dexter will be tying-off loose ends over the next couple of weeks.

“There are a few deliverables and pieces of work that I want to have completed and the board would like me to complete before I step back and of course, as I say, I’ll be around and happy to support and provide information for whoever comes next,” said Robinson-Dexter.

She speaks fondly of her time as executive director and looks forward to being involved with the theatre in a new capacity.

“The Astor is a pretty special place in our community, and I think I’ve been pretty privileged to have the opportunity to be part of the Astor family for as many years as I have and so my role is hopefully just changing.”

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Astor theatre interior. Photo Ed Halverson

The Astor Theatre is hoping to keep as cool as its programming with the installation of a new air conditioning system.

Executive Director Jean Robinson-Dexter says hotter summers in the past few years make it challenging to even be in the building without air conditioning.

Theatre management are hoping to take advantage of some federal funding to cover most of the cost but because they are tenants at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, they needed the Region of Queens permission to apply.

Councillors put the request on the agenda at Tuesday’s council meeting and passed the motion.

Robinson-Dexter is thankful for how quickly and decisively council moved to get behind the project.

“We were really gratified by the support of the council members and talking about the value of the Astor to the community,” said Robinson-Dexter. “One councillor said, you know the Astor has touched every one of us in some way, and I just thought that was very, very telling of how folks think about the Astor, and this building and what we’re able to offer here.”

The Astor board members don’t have a lot of time to put the grant application together as the window to apply closes February 28.

Mayor Darlene Norman was the only member of council to vote against giving permission for the Astor to apply for the federal grant.

She’s concerned by allowing their tenant to pursue a major renovation without oversight of the Region’s engineer something could be missed that could either harm the building or put the Region on the hook to provide more money if the funding runs out.

“My concern is the swiftness of the application. I spoke with Devour fest, Rhea from there. The Devour fest in Wolfville were very successful in those last round of applications and received millions of dollars,” said Norman. “[It] took them months and months to prepare their application. You have to be very careful that when you’re making this application that you’ve included all the costs.”

The federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings grant program offers funding for small and medium sized projects to retrofit existing community buildings ranging in total eligible cost from $100,000 to $3 million.

Robinson-Dexter says they’re fortunate that people with expertise installing HVAC systems in performance halls have offered to help them gather the technical information they need to complete the grant application.

The Astor Theatre board will determine how much funding to request once they know the scope of the project.

Robinson-Dexter says the Astor Theatre board don’t want to add anymore on to the plates of public works department and plan to deal with all aspects of the renovation themselves.

They also won’t be asking the municipality for any money and will address any funding shortfalls through other grants or by fundraising it themselves.

The board is now working to meet the Feb 28 grant application deadline.

Robinson-Dexter hopes that if they’re successful in their bid patrons will enjoy performances in air-conditioned comfort at the Astor Theatre by summer of 2024.

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Performers at the 2022 Liverpool International Theatre Festival. Photo courtesy LITF. Credit Chris LaRocque

Organizers of the 2022 edition of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival are hailing the event as a great success.

Over the weekend, audiences enjoyed performances by seven troupes from around the world.
Festival chairperson Jean Robinson-Dexter said from the outset the community rallied behind the event.

“Opening night and having the block party and sunset market on main street in front of the theatre, the town arts and culture centre. That was the work of our South Queens Chamber of Commerce and just gave a totally different kind of kick off to the festival but really engaged the community and folks are still talking about what a good time they had that evening,” said Robinson-Dexter.

Adjudicator Paul Fowler had a tough job to determine how to allocate the awards but, in the end, named The Italian Movie Factory performed by Avanzi di Scena Cultural Association as the Outstanding International Production.

Robinson-Dexter said it’s an unenviable task to be the one judging such unique talents.

“My gosh, what a difficult experience it must have been for him because the plays were so, so different.,” said Robinson-Dexter. “As he said, it’s subjective. Folks may not agree with the choices that he made but those were his choices on that day, and I would say, he got it pretty correct in terms of the choices and the awards that were presented on Sunday night.”

The festival didn’t go off without some adversity. Three of the scheduled 10 troupes booked to perform couldn’t get into Canada due to visa issues.

Robinson-Dexter said it is something they will need to keep in mind for the 2024 edition.

“I guess it’s the way of the world now in terms of folks getting visas to come to Canada. That’ll certainly be something that we’ll be looking at.”

Robinson-Dexter said the Liverpool International Theatre Festival team will take some time to review what went well, what could be improved upon and what changes they would like to see from this year as they begin to make plans for the next festival in 2024.

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Belgian troupe Lucky Leo performing their play, The Raise. Photo courtesy Liverpool International Theatre Festival

The play’s the thing once again in Liverpool.

After four years the Liverpool International Theatre Festival is returning to the Astor Theatre.

Nine acts from around the globe will walk the boards in what is considered one of the top ten amateur theatre festivals in the world.

Chairperson of LITF Jean Robinson-Dexter says given the international nature of the performers, one of the things the selection committee looks for are plays that can be understood whether acted in English or not.

“It can transcend the language barriers. We’ll often look for plays that are less verbal or not language heavy, so to speak, so that they can make that crossover so that folks can understand what’s happening,” said Robinson-Dexter.

The festival has been held every two years since it began in 1992.

The last edition of LITF was scheduled for 2020 but like so many other events, was cancelled due to COVID.

This year the festival will start Thursday October 13 with a parade of flags down Main Street leading to the opening ceremonies in the Astor Theatre.

LITF has partnered with the South Queens Chamber of Commerce to round out opening night with a block party featuring live music and events beginning at 8pm.

The weekend will be jammed with performances followed by social evenings at the Liverpool Curling Club.

The 2022 edition of Liverpool International Theatre Festival will also see the return of the ever popular “Coffee Critique” which is open to all performers and all-access pass holders.

Robinson-Dexter says the critique started as an opportunity for performers to discuss their work amongst themselves but has become one of the most unique and popular components of LITF.

“Our audience very quickly wanted to be involved in that. They wanted to hear it and they wanted to ask questions,” said Robinson-Dexter. “It’s usually a jam-packed room. People are just so engaged in learning about how theatre happens in other countries.”

Sales of the all-access passes ends Wednesday October 5, but Robinson-Dexter says there are still multi-performance packages and individual passes available through the Astor Theatre box office.

The Liverpool International Theatre Festival runs from October 13-17.

More information can be found on the festival website.

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Astor Theatre, Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Photo Credit: Ed Halverson

An all-day concert to support people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine will go ahead.

The event, Queens Care Day for Ukraine, was scheduled at Liverpool’s Astor Theatre April 30 but was postponed after several performers became ill.

Astor Theatre General Manager Jean Robinson-Dexter says a new date for the event will be announced shortly.

Robinson-Dexter says after hearing the stories about the suffering in Ukraine she and a group of volunteers decided they had to do something.

“I guess it’s over a month ago now when they said that a theatre, a children’s theatre was bombed in a city in Ukraine,” Robinson-Dexter. “And that just kind of hit me to the core that places that people come together because they love theatre and they love the arts, and for that to happen…”

While Robinson Dexter and fellow organizer Ashley Goodwyn work to find a new date for the performances, Deborah Raddall, Melanie Inglis and Charmaine Stevens are spearheading efforts to raise money through a hybrid online and live auction.

The silent auction is already accepting bids through the Queens Care Day for Ukraine Silent Auction Facebook page.

Bidding will remain open until noon on May 12.

The auction will then go live, in person at the Liverpool Town Arts and Cultural Centre from 5:00pm to 8:00pm and the winners can claim their prizes that night.

Local artist Roger Savage will be painting portraits on-site that day and donating all the proceeds to the fundraiser.

Savage has agreed to take sittings this Saturday as well which must be scheduled in advance by calling the Astor Theatre box office.

Robinson-Dexter says the group has set a goal of donating $10,000 to the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.

She says the effort is the result of many people bringing their talents together for a good cause.

“What can we do? Well let’s do what we can do best and have performers on our stage and bring our community together to do what we can,’ said Robinson-Dexter. “So often we feel helpless when these things happen in other parts of the world.”

For more information visit the Queens Cares – A Day For Ukraine Facebook page or call the Astor Theatre box office at 902-354-5250.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
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