SUNDRE – Sellout crowds enthusiastically attended the first and last performances of a locally created, fun-for-the-whole-family Broadway-style musical about growth and self-determination.
The Sundre Arts Development Centre reached the show’s capacity of 150 on Friday, Feb. 10 for the first time the cast and crew of B.S. Productions’ Camp Spartan took to the stage, and then again for another evening performance the following night as well as a matinée on Sunday, Feb. 12.
“All our first three performances were at capacity, which we’ve set at 150 for this production,” said Jamie Syer, who alongside his creative partner in crime Brian Bailey co-founded B.S. Productions.
According to the Sundre & District Allied Arts Society, a non-profit group of volunteers that runs the centre, the facility's approved occupancy load under a table-and-chair arrangement is for 130 people, or as many as 180 with assembly-style seating.
“We wanted the seating to be more spacious than usual,” Syer said.
While Camp Spartan certainly was not the theatre group’s first musical performance, the heart-warming tale nevertheless represented a new milestone as Bailey and Syer’s inaugural production of a play inspired by their own personal experiences that was collaboratively composed and written from scratch.
The final two performances were staged over the Family Day long weekend, with a sold out show on Friday, Feb. 17 and the finale held Saturday, Feb. 18.