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Entertaining Peace River and Area since 1967 |
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A Brief History |
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In the 1920 to 40s drama in Peace River was performed mainly by the schools with some isolated adult productions.
During the 1950s Hal Sisson and Bill Seaman organized an open air “12 Foot Davis Night”, with Hal and Bill, and, occasionally, Cliff Green, providing the entertainment. During 1961-66 the Peace River High School, under the direction of Don Weaver, won six drama festivals. This set the scene for the first PRHS Musical, L’il Abner, which also included adults from the community.
An attempt was made to form an adult theatrical club in 1965 by Marlene Olson, Jim Weaver, Hal Sisson and Don Weaver; however, the community did not respond to the challenge.
In the fall of 1966, after the success of L’il Abner, Don, Jim, Hal and Marlene spearheaded the formation of Peace Players, using the Musical Guys and Dolls as the springboard. The rest is history!
Over the years Peace Players has produced up to four local productions per season and in conjunction with Alberta Culture, Peace Players has arranged to bring in professional theatre to Peace River.
Touring professional theatrical groups from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver have presented productions ranging from drama to musical comedy.
In addition to dramatic presentations Peace Players has also brought in the Alberta Ballet and the ESO.The local season usually features a musical comedy production and dinner theater with a two act comedy. Some of the musicals presented by Peace Players include Guys and Dolls, Oliver, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Grease, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Music Man and Brigadoon.
Sorry ‘Bout That!
In the fall of 1967, Peace Players mounted the first of 20 consecutive productions of Sorry Bout That - a burlesque revue. Hal Sisson, and his famous shoulder holster, gathered the material from Vegas, New York, L.A. and London from the best burlesque shows around. With Hal as producer and Don Weaver as director the show became the financial backbone of Peace Players.
The name “Sorry ‘Bout That” was coined by Hal’s partner, Dwayne Rowe and over the years Hal has provided all the material and produced most of the shows, while Don has directed 14 of the 20 productions.
Sorry Bout That is one of the longest continual running shows in Western Canada and has played up to three weekends to capacity crowds from Northern Alberta. |
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