What’s New at VPP?

New at VPP

I had a chance to chat with David Hogan during intermission at the Dolly Parton Rhinstone Cowgirl show at Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia last week.  David is half of the two-David team who are taking over as Artistic Directors at the playhouse.  Hogan and Rogers are busy planning the 2012 season there.

 The two Davids have had a wonderful three-year run with their Starbright Festival at Sarnia’s Imperial Theatre.  The have brought in crowds for their hallmark Broadway revues, and had big name stars on the stage.  Michael Learned (Ma from the Waltons) was Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy last year, and this year they featured Linda Kash (the cream cheese angel) in The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead. This summer they also had the audiences charmed by their group of students singing Canadian pop songs in Let the Sunshine In.  Their musical revues have included the wonderful voices of Cynthia Dale, June Crowley, Susan Gilmore, Rebecca Poff, Theodore Barge, and Marcus Nance, with Mark Payne as musical director.  And of course, David Rogers – himself a star of Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and many other shows – performs in the revues. 

 So why, when they were so well received in Sarnia, are the Davids making the move to Petrolia?  Hogan explains that their three-year contract with the Imperial Theatre was up, and they were offered positions as co-artistic directors at VPP. So it seemed like a good time for a change.  “I hope our Sarnia audience will drive the 20 minutes to Petrolia,” David Hogan says.  They will be returning to The Imperial in Sarnia with their Starbright Christmas Show in late November, before it moves to Stratford in December.

 Petrolia’s 2012 season is in the making:  Of course, there will be more musical revues – one of Broadway tunes, and another of country music.  And while things aren’t fully confirmed yet, they are also planning a full-scale musical – perhaps the seventies hit, Godspell.  They’d like to bring back Linda Kash, who along with her husband would be in Michel Tremblay’s wonderful Quebecois play, “For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again.”  They are also talking to Michael Learned about getting her back, along with her Walton co-star, Ralph Waite, who played Pa in the popular TV series, with plans to obtain the rights for the play “Love Letters”.  Let’s hope all these exciting plans come to fruition for the creative team of Davids.  

 Petrolia’s gain is Sarnia’s loss – but Lambton County is the better for keeping this talented pair!