By Jesse-Ann Hennessey
Special to KingsCountyNews.ca
The Women of Wolfville, WOW, theatre group presents its 12th annual show, Wolfvegas: The WOW factor, Feb. 21 to 23.
The show is based on talent shows like Canadian Idol and features playful characters, such as host Reanne Seacoast and Judge Simone Scowl.
Every year since 2001, WOW has put on a show to raise money for both local and international charities. The group is open for anyone to join and includes women from all age groups. Their aim is to raise awareness of women’s issues and inequity in the world.
Producer Pat Salmon said that, this year, WOW has taken a little bit of a new tack.
“It’s much more of a light-hearted talent show this year,” Salmon said.
The biggest obstacle is always commitment; getting everyone together at once when you are working with such a big group is hard, because almost everyone involved is doing this part time, they have jobs and families, she said.
“Modern women live complicated lives,” Salmon said.
All of the women involved are doing it because they love it, they don’t get paid for it, she said.
“It’s amazing how many hours go into this.”
This year, WOW is raising money for five charities. The major one is the L’Arche fund, an organization where people with developmental disabilities and the people who come to help them share time and do activities together in family-like settings that are merged into local neighbourhoods. There are over 130 different L’Arche communities all over the world, 27 of them in Canada, and five are in Wolfville, so it has a local connection.
The other four charities are Survivors of Abuse Recovering (S.O.A.R.), Riders for Health, Servant’s Heart Ministries and Horton High School students who are trying to raise money to go to Brazil for the student exchange program.
“Mostly, we hope we do well for the charities,” she said.
Linda Wheeldon, director of the show, said WOW members knew they wanted to do a humourous show this year. The audience loves to see the dancing and singing, she said, so the talent contest theme was perfect, but there is also a more serious underlying theme.
“The undercurrent theme is to rise above adversity.”
The most rewarding thing is raising money for charities and also watching the people involved in the show learn skills and watching the building of a theatrical community, she said.
The show couldn’t happen without the crew who carry the show, the people who help them anyway they can, and of course the audience, she added.
“(It’s an) incredible time to share this adventure with our friends.”
What: Wolfvegas: The WOW Factor
Where: Festival Theatre, Wolfville
When: Feb. 21 to 23, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 23, 2 p.m. matinee
Tickets: $15 adults; $12 for seniors and students, available at Box of Delights or at the door.
