Ron Ror is gearing up for a busy summer of musical theatre.
The director of Estevan's Souris Valley Theatre is in the process of typing up programs, taking admissions for the summer's musical theatre camp, and figuring out accommodations for this year's crew. The latter is proving to be an especially complicated task, due to the limited places to stay in Estevan.
Ror returns to the position of director at the SVT, after being away for five years. Ror found out that a lot has changed in Estevan since 2005.
"I don't think I've been here when there's been such a boom on. I couldn't even find a hotel to stay in when I was first coming here for meetings."
Difficulties aside, Ror was also pleased to return to the familiar city and theatre.
"I go away for five years and they do so many improvements to the theatre that it's a treat to come back."
All in all, Ror has worked at the theatre in some capacity for 11 years, starting in 1993 until 2000, then returning for 2004 and 2005.
This year, the SVT is set to put on two musicals: "Corner Gassed," which runs from July 7 to July 25, and "Rhyme Rustler: The Ballad of Robert Service," runs from July 28 to August 15.
Both plays will be very different from one another, Ror said.
"Corner Gassed," is a spoof of the hit show "Corner Gas," featuring music from some of the legends of Canadian music, including Gordon Lightfoot, Trooper, Neil Young, Tom Cochrane, Shania Twain and The Band.
"Rhyme Rustler" is the story of the poet Robert Service's time in the Yukon. Fittingly, the musical will feature some of Service's ballads put to ragtime music.
Unlike "Corner Gassed," which is very much a spoof, "Rhyme Rustler" is a biographical tale.
"It's funny and exciting and very musical, but it's not a farce. It's a story of a real man and what he went through, and a little bit of Canadian history too," Ror said.
The play was written by Jim Dobbin and Grant Paterson, two professors from Mount Royal University in Calgary. Dobbin and Paterson also make up the entire cast of the play.
Each play will run for three weeks, Wednesday through Sunday evenings, with a few matinees thrown in. "Corner Gassed" will run for 16 shows, and "Rhyme Rustler" will run for 15.
Tickets cost $21 for an adult and are available at the CBO at Hender's Drugs.
Also this year, the Souris Valley Theatre will hold its musical theatre camp from July 12-17.
Ror hopes the camp will spark an interest in musical theatre among Estevan's young people.
"We're taking kids between the age of eight and 15, and giving them a week's worth of workshops on musical theatre. We're hoping that eventually some of these kids will end up in our casts," said Ror.
