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Curveball: The Fast-Pitch Ladies from the Factory Floor

Pitch Perfect Reviewed by Debbie McClure The year is 1953, and the women’s baseball league from the Kroehler Furniture Factory in Stratford is determined to get to the regional championships. This means everyone on the team needs to step up their game, but there’s a problem. The star batter is having trouble actually hitting the ball consistently. The team also decides to take a chance on a new pitcher whose enthusiasm and excellent fastballs are unmatched, but unpredictable. Baseball is about more than just a game; it’s about teamwork, determination, and a willingness to step up and give your all. For women in the early 1950s, there weren’t many opportunities to demonstrate their personal strengths and be taken seriously. Both on the field and in the workplace, women were often sidelined and pigeonholed into roles and jobs that society deemed acceptable. Sports were an area where women could literally step up to the plate and show what they were capable of. Curveball unfolds as a wonderfully written musical with songs by Juno-nominated singer-songwriter Dayna Manning that keeps the audience engaged and entertained. Adapted from the play Kroehler Girls! the characters are well-developed and likeable. The star batter, Honey (Madison Hayes-Crook), must overcome her own mental block preventing her from hitting consistently, as she’d always done in the past. The new pitcher, Georgie (Shelayna Christante), is tasked with proving her skill and becoming one of the team, while her sister Wanda (Kirstyn Russelle) just wants a shot at a prominent new job and to be taken seriously. This is a team of feisty women that must come together to stage a comeback and decide what matters most—baseball and the team, or accepting failure both on and off the field. Curveball had the audience laughing at the quick quips and even participating ...
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Mary's Musings

Karen Coughlin-Melo AKA Linda Ronstadt!

Great to see Karen on stage! By Mary Alderson, June 14, 2026 It was a delight to see the beautiful and very talented Karen Coughlin-Melo in a tribute concert as Linda Ronstadt last week. We used to see Karen on a regular basis, starting in 2005, when she had a lead role in a cute little musical called Suds. Suds was presented at the Hiawatha Horse Park near Sarnia. At the time it was touted to be a future location for musical theatre, but I think Suds was the only show presented there. The next time we saw Karen on stage was also in 2005, when she starred as Belle in Beauty and the Beast at Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend. She performed the same role the next year at the Grand Theatre in London. She sang all the Belle songs beautifully. Also in 2006, she played Patsy Cline in the musical A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline at Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia, where she wowed the audience with her country sound.  In 2007, she was the beloved Miss Stacey, the school teacher, in Anne of Green Gables at the Grand Theatre.  Her clear, bell-like voice was perfect for the role of everyone’s favourite teacher. In 2010, she was back at Huron Country Playhouse as part of the Country Legends show, where Karen again sang some Patsy Cline favourites, among others. Later in 2010, she played the prim and proper Sarah Brown, the Salvation-Army-type woman, in the hit musical Guys and Dolls at Drayton Theatre. To finish off 2010, Karen was the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Grand Theatre in London.  Here’s what I had to say about Karen in my review: “Karen Coughlin is incredibly good as the Narrator. Her voice is in ...
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