Young Kingstonians star in Disney's Little Mermaid

Bottle Tree Productions brings Disney's beloved Little Mermaid to life on stage at L'Octave Theatre Friday March 29th at 2 pm and 7 pm and Saturday March 30th at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets cost $12, including hst, L'Octave Theatre is located out on Dalton Avenue off of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard near the 401. From the team that brought you The Sound of Music, Oliver and Fiddler on the Roof comes the wonderful watery world welling up from the imaginations of the great creators at Disney.

By show time, 20 local kids will have spent ten weeks mastering their craft and honing their skills. Learning to act, sing and dance, these kids will leave the theatre on closing night having accomplished much. It is important for a cast to pull together and become a team. And this cast has  done that. They have supported each other and because of that each young actor has grown in ability and confidence.

Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy-tale of the same name; The Little Mermaid follows the adventures of Ariel the mermaid with the beautiful voice. With her best friend;  Flounder she heads to the surface to collect human artifacts. They visit the seagull Scuttle. Scuttle is a self-styled mis-informed expert on Humans. During a storm, Ariel saves the handsome human Prince Eric from drowning and she falls in love. She wishes she were human, too and could walk among the humans. She wished she had feet instead of fins. She finds an unexpected ally in Ursula the Sea Witch who will make her human in exchange for her voice. Disney creates a magical world under the sea with the faithful Flounder, the entertaining Sebastian and the friendly sea gull; Scuttle. There is a host of imaginatively created characters with wonderful songs such as Part of Your World, Under the Sea, and She's in Love.

The audience cannot help but be moved by this very energetic and talented young cast of local performers, as they breathe life into this Disney classic

Buy Tickets

Fri March 29 2 pm $10.62 CAD Fri March 29 7 pm $10.62 CAD Sat March 30 2 pm $10.62 CAD Sat March 30 7 pm $10.62 CAD

Award winning television writers finish second and third in One Act Play Competition

Do television writers make good playwrights? The results of Bottle Tree Productions One Act Play Competition for Writers 2012 would seem to suggest so. Seth Freeman took second place in Bottle Tree's play writing competition. James Harmon Brown finished third. 

From reading their plays, two things become apparent. One is that nothing hones a writer's skill like continual practice. The right words fall into place when you learn to write under tight schedules and under strict guidelines. There's nothing like a deadline. Two; is that television writing with its obvious differences from theatre writing, has to contend with very different visual rules. You can't shoot a closeup in theatre. You have to manufacture the effect of a closeup in other ways. You can't switch locations quickly in theatre. The world of theatre is more dependent on words though than television is. Television is more of a visual medium. However, the rules of good writing for the theatre, namely good dialogue, apply equally to television. We look at these characters from the outside, revelation only elicited through words, actions and the skill of the vast team that supports either medium. Good television is hard work and the artists that work in that medium have often worked in theatre as well. Both theatre and television require great amounts of skill and a great degree of sacrifice and hard work.

Eighty-Two; The first prize winner is a tender look at an ex-ball player in his eighties living by himself in New York. Guilford Blake is a master craftsman in the dramatic medium. Evan has won 39 play writing competitions.

Imperfectly Frank is Seth Freeman's Bollywood trip through Toronto. A very funny look at arranged marriages in modern Canada. Seth has won three Prime Time Emmy awards and a Writer's Guild award. He is also a prolific playwright.

The third place winner Close Your Eyes by James Harmon Brown is a very funny, very insightful, very touching look at mortality. James won a Daytime Emmy for Guiding Light.

The thing that unites these three American writers is their skill with words and they have won numerous awards over the years because of that skill. 

To find out more information please go to Bottle Tree Productions One Act Competition for Writers

Finalists for Bottle Tree Productions One Act Competition for Writers 2012.

Bottle Tree Productions is pleased to announce its announce its 12 finalists for the 2012 playwriting competition. Next week, we will announce the first, second and third place winners.

Last year we decided to announce a larger list than we had previously, at least a top ten list of finalists because so many good plays that were submitted did not get the recognition that they deserved. All of these plays are worthy of being winners-so this is our way of acknowledging the great writing out there. Keep it up guys.

Surprised by Snails by Charlie Richards
Close your Eyes by James Harmon Brown
Welcome Home by Geoffrey Craig
Box O Thoughts by Le Ann Dowd
Eighty-Two by Evan Guilford-Blake
Imperfectly Frank by Seth Freeman
A Nice Girl by Dave Pescod
Stalled by Eugenie Carabatsos
Out of Water by Anthony MacMahon
Everywhere I go People are Smiling by Greg Gasawski
Collaboration by Leigh Hunt
Catwalk by Angela Wye

The Little Mermaid

After putting Rogers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music to bed after a highly successful run at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, we now turn our attention to our next big project; The Little Mermaid. Bottle Tree Productions has secured the rights to Disney's The Little Mermaid. It is the show that our musical theatre class will perform. We are looking for young aspiring actors to play Ariel and her friends; Flounder and Sebastian. Also Prince Eric and Triton and of course the evil Ursula. Good parts are also available in the roles of Scuttle; the Sea Gull and the eels; Flotsam and Jetsam.
There are a number of great songs in this show including Part of Your World and Under the Sea. in this popular Disney classic about a mermaid who wants to be human. Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. This will be a spectacular show on stage.

Our first class is Monday January 7th from 6 pm-8 pm.

Each child that signs up for our musical theatre class will get either a lead or chorus. But either will give your child memories for a lifetime. The big musical numbers will be a blast for the chorus members to perform and the leads will be a challenge for whomever is picked. In our musical theatre classes, we strive to give the child a taste of what a professional production is like. There is a time commitment of three to four classes a week. There are singing, acting and dancing lessons by Charles Robertson (Director of 2012's The Sound of Music) and Anne Marie Mortensen (Director of 2011's Oliver! and 2012's Fiddler on the Roof) There is instruction about how to prepare for an audition.

We choose shows that have appeal to young people and that support large casts, and role sharing. Every student who enrols in the class is guaranteed a place on stage as an actor in the production. There are no prerequisites for enrolment - if you have an interest, we will train you! When possible, we share roles so that more students get a taste of being both chorus and a named role. The class runs like a production, and the show is performed for a paying audience in a proper theatre, with lights, sound, set, costumes - the works!

Each child will be put in a position where they can be successful on stage. We encourage team work in theatre. When everyone is contributing as part of the team it makes for a far more enjoyable experience for everyone.

The final production will be at The Octave Theatre on Dalton Avenue which comes equipped with everything for a professional looking show-lights, sound, dressing rooms and a nice-looking theatre.

To register, pay online or to find out more information please go to Musical Theatre Class

Two Marias

Two very talented young women are sharing the role of Maria

Bottle Tree Productions presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music and two very different Marias

Bottle Tree Productions presents The Sound of Music at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on the corner of Princess and Clergy Streets. Performances are December 13th to the 22nd, Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at Bottle Tree Productions; The Sound of Music or at the Grand Theatre Box Office. 613-530-2050 or online at grandtheatre2@cityofkingston.ca. The Grand Theatre Box Office is located at 218 Princess Street in downtown Kingston. Ticket Prices are $25/adults, $22.50/seniors, $20/students, $15/children under 12.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote the musical based on the memoirs of Maria von Trapp. Maria von Trapp, the misfit nun who became governess to the von Trapp family was played by Julie Andrews in the filmed version of the musical. Christopher Plummer played Captain von Trapp.

In Bottle Tree's production, two very talented young women are sharing the role of Maria. Both are first year Queens students and they could not be more different. Engineering student Hannah Smith and Con Ed student Sara Sturgeon play Maria on alternate nights. Robert Bruce plays Captain Von Trapp. 

Sara is French Canadian and Hannah is English Canadian.

Sara attended Marie Rivere, the francophone high school on Dalton Avenue and Hanna attended KCVI.

Sara's first big role came in last year's Meistersingers' production of Oliver as Charlotte the undertaker's daughter  where, as she says: ”I had four lines” Previous to that Sara had been in a Not So Amateur Amateurs Production. She wasn't sure if she was guard number two or guard number three.

Sound of Music director Charles Robertson saw Oliver and when Anne Marie Mortensen and he were looking for someone to play Cinderella, they both thought that Sara had great stage presence and so cast her in the lead. Robertson commented. “She was everything a Cinderella should be. Charming and graceful with a nice singing voice. You would have thought she had been acting for years. It was shocking that Sara only had bit parts before.”

Robertson has known Hannah Smith for a long time. “Hannah is one of the best actors I have worked with. She is very bright, very well read and very creative. Great imagination. She has a great voice and tremendous acting skills. She recently appeared in Domino Theatre's production of 'A Street Car Named Desire' as Stella and before that as Rita in Theatre 5's 'Educating Rita'”  You tube video of Hannah performing Juliet.

Robertson added; “While both first year Queen's students do intend to keep acting in the future, they are working hard to succeed in their chosen career paths at the university. If for whatever reason; engineering and teaching don't turn out, they always have a plan 'b; to fall back on; they can act and sing.”