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.”

Acting Classes Fall Session-Bottle Tree Productions

Interested in Acting?

Why not try our acting classes. Acting Classes are a great way to develop self-esteem, social skills, reading skills, comprehension skills, vocal skills, movement skills, creative skills, and the imagination. 

Our acting classes can also open the door to a career in the performing arts. According to ACTRA, the Canadian professional actor's union in Canada, there are approximately 22,000 professional actors in tv, film and commercials in Canada. According to SAG-AFTRA, the American professional actor's union in the United States, there are approximately 120,000-130,000 such professional actors. These figures do not include professional actors exclusively doing theatre. Through Bottle tree Productions, learn the nuts and bolts of a career in the performing arts.

Bottle Tree Productions starts its fall session of Stage Right acting classes Saturday September 14th .at St Andrews Presbyterian Church at the corner of Princess and Clergy Streets in Kingston's down town.

Stage Right JR (6 - 10) years $159.90    ($141.50 + HST) 
Stage Right INT (11 & 12) years $245.78     ($217.50 + HST)
Stage Right SR (TEENS)               $245.78     ($217.50 + HST)

On Wednesdays we have Stage Right Acting Classes from 7 pm until 8:30 pm. These classes cost 217.50 dollars plus hst.

We have a large room for classes. Our teachers have a lot of experience and connections to various amateur and professional theatre companies.

Our acting class program has been developed over years of experience. We believe in developing the fundamentals for technique and self-confidence.

We believe each child and adult has an incredible amount of potential. Our goal is to unleash that potential that is inside everyone. But potential is not identically distributed, so we do not believe in the cookie-cutter approach. We believe in suiting our teaching approach to the needs of the individual within the context of the class as a whole. 

We use theatre games to develop the imagination and the ability to be in the moment and to build self-esteem. We do scenes to develop technique. Warning-This is not the public education system. We do not have lessons and marks. Lessons and marks not an optimum way to learn how to succeed in any art form.  While the public education system considers success moving on to the next grade, we consider success the development of the person. We know what works and what doesn't. We work with young and old to get them ready for the stage. We are not concerned with the passing fads of theatre learning. We are only concerned with making our students ready for performing under the lights.

Several of our students, young and old, have recently appeared in productions of The Sound of Music, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fiddler on the Roof, various Domino Theatre productions, Blue Canoe and many more. Some of our more successful students have worked professionally, in film, television and theatre.

We believe that theatre is a team sport, that in order to succeed in theatre a student has to learn that the team is important, that strength comes from numbers, that wanting attention, or being concerned only about your own needs, does not work in professional theatre, film or television. No one will work with someone who rubs everyone else the wrong way. No one in show business wants to work with a diva.

The performing arts is a collaborative art form. Everyone has to pull together in the same direction. There are so many people that contribute to the success of a show. Directors, writers, choreographers, costumers, set designers, stage management, sound and lighting people, marketing people and performers are some of the people that contribute to the success of a show. Theatre is a community. We work hard to make sure that our students are ready to become a valuable part of that community.

For more information about our fall acting classes or to register please go to Acting Classes

To purchase an acting class and be automatically registered through Paypal - See below

Acting Class Options (all regular classes)

Stage Right (6 - 10) $145.00 CAD Stage Right (11 - 12) $217.50 CAD Stage Right (teen) $217.50 CAD Stage Right (adult) $217.50 CAD