It comes as no surprise to anyone that the Three Hills Arts Academy production was a huge success. There were only three performances and every one was sold out.
There were 18 very high-energy acts. From the following list, if you are familiar with the songs you are also probably aware of how they were presented in the original movies.
Question: How many numbers can you connect to the movie from which each came?
A neat feature of this production (if not sometimes a distraction) was to have the clip of the movie being projected on a side screen while the artists were singing.
Footloose - Full Cast
Up Where We Belong - Floyd Cotton and Sheila Adkins
Fame - Carinne Lamy
Somewhere Out There - Dan Hall and Natasha Kreis
Ghostbusters - Josh Laplante with full cast backup
For Your Eyes Only - Tiffany Dietz
Endless Love - Lewis Frere and Alyssa White
Neverending Story - Autumn Penna and Makayla Laslett
Danger Zone - Dan Hall
9 to 5 - all ladies
Don’t You Forget About Me - Michael Ewert
What A Feeling - Paige Harback
Power Of Love - Floyd Cotton
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Tiffany Dietz and Dan Hall
Holiday Road - Full Cast
Wind Beneath My Wings - Jonquil Thiessen
Eye of the Tiger - Michael Ewert
(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life - Darta and Jono Thiessen
Proud mother Sheila Adkins had this to say of Director Alyssa White: “This year Alyssa took on the role of Director for her first time. She found all the music, organized tracks and musicians, choreographed, created the set concept and wrote 10 commercials for local businesses in Three Hills… which were hysterically funny.”
From the rehearsal, I mentioned that the commercials were similar to ads on Hallmark commercials where they are as entertaining and carry a full story as much as the main drama. This was certainly true of these “commercials” and audience members are sure to have these sponsors, their products and services indelibly stamped on their minds the next time they have need in these areas.
Other features, in addition to the music, included some very “special costuming” and not just for the performers but for audience members who took up the invitation to dress appropriately for the times.
A nostalgic touch was to have “ye olde time pre-show ads” announcing what was to be coming and then for “intermission”, the projected enticement to “visit the lobby for snacks and candy. And here the audience could avail themselves of “snack trays” complete with mini bars and popcorn and beverage all included in the admission fee.
Further fundraising opportunities were presented with a 50/50 draw, winner announced each night, and door prize tickets. Silent auction items were waiting to be decided after the final performance.
One audience member voiced an opinion that it was too bad they didn’t have “dance floor space”. The energy was certainly “in the air”.
Including the intermission the show went on for a full two hours.
Someone else shared that they were more of the 90’s era and they would be looking forward to “next year” assuming that this was just the beginning of an ongoing series.
Among the door prizes, there were tickets available for upcoming shows that the Arts Academy will be presenting. Watch for the ads and don’t miss out.
