One of the best kept theatrical secrets in the Kawarthas, Buckhorn’s The Hall’s Bridge Players is celebrating its 20th year of producing dinner theatre with Norm Foster’s The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby. Directed by Keith Smith and produced by Judy McWhirter, this light and funny production will be a great delight to those who are lucky to be holding tickets to already sold out performances.
Filled with Canadian-flavoured rural humour, The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby is a show about small towns, big fishes, and good people with big hearts.
When big city financial investor James Bell’s (Bill Schregardus) car breaks down on the way to a conference, he gets stranded in a small town on Kooshog Lake on its busiest weekend of the year. It’s the annual Fishing Derby, where people from all over come to try to catch the legendary uncatchable fish Hollis McCauley for a jackpot worth over $90,000.
As he tries to get a ride out of town, James meets a number of colourful locals including grocery store owner Sienna (Deb Crossen), mechanic and derby organizer Kirk Douglas (John Carter), sexpot Rhonda Borkowski (Rhonda Brewster), and lonely antique dealer Melanie Morningside (Wendy Smith). Upon accepting his fate that he is not getting a ride out of town, James gives into his predicament and takes in the festivities.
Soon the people he meets outside of Sienna’s Grocery go from being strangers to friends, and James begins to realize that perhaps there is a better way to live then in the hustle and bustle of the big city. But as he begins to grow closer to Melanie, his lack of understanding of the rules of the fishing derby threatens to destroy everything that is special about Lake Kooshog.
Although slightly miscast, Wendy Smith and Bill Schregardus manage to bring the right chemistry to the stage to create the beginnings of a charming love story, and combine laughter with a lot of heart.
Meanwhile, Deb Crossen steals every scene as the audiences’ guide into the drama, while John Carter gives many of the show’s most memorable moments through his humorous anecdotes and sense of mirth. Rhonda Brewster completes the cast with her man-eating sense of comic relief.
A fun night of audience-friendly theatre, The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Finishing Derby isn’t overly sophisticated, but it’s the kind of show that will win over any audience. Come on down to Sienna’s Death Dock and put your fishing pole in the lake and see what surfaces.
If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket (all seven shows sold out within hours), you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t have a ticket, stay tuned for the next production of The Hall’s Bridge Players later this fall.
For more information on The Hall’s Bridge Players, and to be put on their mailing list for updates on the fall production, email info@buckhorncommunitycentre.com.
