For Curtains Up by Noelle Hannibal
Fundraising has always been an important part of my life. Not long after I moved to Montreal from Los Angeles, Hurricane Katrina hit. Not knowing many people in Montreal, I took to MySpace and set out to produce an all day event, by myself, featuring some of Montreal’s finest upcoming bands. It was an epic task and very successful. The lesson I learned, don’t go it alone!
I am lucky to have found a friend who loves to give as much as I do. Who is as organized and detail oriented as I am. Tara Bissett and I have been friends for about 6 years. Having performed both separately and together in various musical theatre productions and cabarets, we have never done a double bill cabaret. Until now.
Friday, July 12 was the debut of our new cabaret series, Barefoot Broadway, a collection of classic and contemporary Broadway and theatrical numbers. We performed to a sold out crowd at Centre St-Ambroise, not knowing how our show would be received. After a 5 minute standing ovation, our Musical Director and Accompanist, Chris Barillaro said, “it was over so fast.” We realized we wanted to do it again, and soon. My husband piped in with, “why don’t you do it as a fundraiser for Lac-Mégantic?” The lightbulb went off. Tara was about to begin a two week intensive theatre workshop, so she passed her producing responsibilities over to her boyfriend, Dominic Roussel. Dom is no stranger to theatrical endeavours, sitting on the Mainline Theatre Board, amongst other things. Within two days, we had enlisted the help of La Sala Rossa, who have generously donated their wonderful venue. Barefoot Broadway: A Benefit for Lac-Mégantic will be held next Sunday, July 28 at 7PM. Doors open at 6:00PM. La Sala Rossa is located at 4848 boul. St-Laurent, Montreal. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross Lac-Mégantic fund. Tickets are $25 and are available online at http://www.liftticketsystem.com/tickets/barefoot-broadway-soirée-bénéfice-pour-lac-mégantic
I hope some of you wonderful Curtains Up readers will join us in helping raise funds for the people of Lac-Mégantic. Let us entertain you as you give to this community so devastated by this unthinkable disaster.
