聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 As of last week, all the musicians, actors and dancers using the dressing room at the Kamsack Playhouse no longer need to manoeuvre between drips from the ceiling or try to ignore the unsightly water marks on the ceiling and walls.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The roof has been repaired.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The one less-than-exceptional attribute of the Kamsack Playhouse has been the roof of the backstage dressing room, Jack Koreluik, media liaison for the Playhouse committee, said last week. It has been a problem for at least 10 or 15 years.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The old used furnace that had been installed on top of the building, on the dressing room roof during the renovations in the 1980s, had been leaking water into the dressing room, Koreluik explained. The area had been patched several times, but the roof still leaked.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Performers waiting backstage for their turns onto the stage had to find their way around buckets strategically placed to collect dripping water, while the ceiling and walls were discoloured and damaged by water.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Playhouse was fitted with two new energy efficient furnaces last year that were installed at the back of the stage, just in front of the dressing room, he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The removal of the old furnace from the roof was the next obstacle, he said. 鈥淲e scratched our heads. Did we need to hire a crane? It was huge and cumbersome.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Eventually the board hired people to dismantle the furnace, remove it and repair all the roof damage and the water damage in the dressing rooms.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The work was completed last week, he said. 鈥淚t was all done for a cost under $5,000.鈥澛犅犅犅犅� Money for the project was raised with the ham supper served recently and the staging of the play A Night of Dark Intent last month, he said. 鈥淎lso the movies we鈥檝e been showing recently have been successful.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Koreluik said that first-run movies will continue to be shown at the Playhouse during the summer, usually one a week.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And now the theatre, renowned for its excellent acoustics for live performances, will also have a good, useable backstage dressing room.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Fred Eaglesmith, whose concert on October 22 will be the first of four performing groups in the 2016-17 Stars for Saskatchewan series of concerts, will probably be the first performer to make use of the dressing room.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In November, the Kamsack Players will be staging Piano Dad, a one-act play which will go on to Theatre Saskatchewan鈥檚 TheatreOne Festival. 聽
