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A Company of Friends, a history..
It started over lunch, with two friends who shared a love of musical theatre and a desire to see the mortgage of St. Barnabas Church paid in full. Margot Dickie said, “Why don’t we do a musical?” Sandra Everitt agreed, “How about making it a dinner theatre?” And it was done! Mother Aloha Smith enthusiastically endorsed the project and acted as the first show pianist, while Jeannette Barr was foolhardy enough to jump right in as our Kitchen Magician, and the first production team was born.
After much negotiation, we agreed to begin with musical reviews to build an audience, and so the first two years consisted of Broadway music loosely (and we do mean loosely!) connected into a story form by Sandra.
By show time, the group of 4 was joined by others who have remained with us ever since. Jeannette was joined in the kitchen by Joan Turpin. Kathleen Davies became responsible for all the volunteer waiters and waitresses as Hospitality Hostess, while her husband Peter took responsibility for the sound system. Bob Turpin, our dashing maitre d’, began his ongoing career of making patrons feel welcomed from their first entrance to the theatre.
Finally, in 1996, we began our real dream, a full Broadway show presented in dinner theatre style.
Margot, who had years of experience producing high school theatre, produced the event and Sandra, who had no experience whatsoever, directed the show. We were joined by our dear friend Valerie Wood, who would remain with us for many years as musical director and who built an orchestra which continued to be a high point of every show. Josianne Waxberg and Melanie Everitt-Mak took on the choreography. Carole Leblanc, an experienced production manager joined us as well and Mabel Georges, costume-maker par excellence, walked into the theatre and became a permanent fixture.
Other faithfuls throughout the years include our men: John Berry did our original light design, which was subsequently taken over by Joey Savattiere. Richard Robinson and then Kam Mak designed and constructed the sets. Robert Everitt Jr., Jacques Diotte and Norris Wood have been head barmen through the years. Peter Trickey spent many years as greeter and coat checker. Ron Edwardson has long been responsible for ticket sales and Bert Widdop, followed by Dereik Gregory have been our capable treasurers. These leaders have been most ably supported by hundreds of volunteers who look after cooking, serving, bartending, painting sets, stage crew, make-up and hair, publicity and a host of other tasks.
From the beginning we have been blessed by committed and talented singers and actors. Some of the original cast members were recruited from the alumni of Margot’s high
school plays while others were parishioners or friends. Many have participated in numerous shows and are really family. These actors support and encourage one another and the camaraderie makes the shows sparkle. What began as a parish endeavour has become a community group as family, friends, neighbours and audience members have joined the cast.
We began by simply referring to the St. Barnabas Supper Club (reviews) or the St. Barnabas Dinner Theatre (musicals). It soon became apparent that we needed a proper name, so a contest was held at St. Barnabas Church to find the name that suited us best. The clear winner was A Company of Friends. It really captured the spirit that pervades the whole team of actors, production group and volunteers.
Through the years, some of the original behind the scenes personnel have had to leave A Company of Friends. Both Margot and Carole now live elsewhere. The producer’s portfolio has been assumed by Robert Everitt. Father Bob and Mother Aloha Smith have left the parish, but A Company of Friends continues to be supported and encouraged by Father Alan Perry. He even acts! Sadly, Val left us through illness. She has been followed, never replaced, by Brad Rogers and Suzanne Smyth, both wonderful musicians and great friends.
In 2006 circumstances colluded to make it impossible to present the dinner theatre for the first time in 13 years. The following year, increasing difficulty in finding a musical director to follow Suzanne caused us to consider a non-musical production. 2007 saw our first comedy-farce, and what fun! Musical or comedy, A Company of Friends will be around for a long time to come!!
1994 All About Love (Musical review)
1995 You Just Don’t Understand (Musical review)
1996 South Pacific
1997 Babes in Arms
1998 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1999 Me and My Girl
2000 Guys and Dolls
2001 Pyjama Game
2002 Oklahoma
2003 Annie Get Your Gun
2004 Damn Yankees
2005 High Society
2006
2007 Love, Sex and the IRS
2008 Lend me a Tenor
2011 Broken Up