It’s almost show time for a group that almost didn’t have a show to put on in the first place.
Regina theatre group Do It With Class was getting ready to put on the show “˜Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ when the dance studio they were using for rehearsal space went up in flames on Feb. 21.
“I was just really shocked,” performer Mayson Sonntag said. “I was worried the play wasn’t going to go on.”
That worry is now a thing of the past.
Following the blaze, nearly every group with studio space in Regina offered up help for the show.
The Conexus Arts Centre donated free rehearsal space for the group’s performances on March 15 and 16.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang artistic director Andorlie Hillstrom says it’s because of this support the show never skipped a beat.
“We only missed one day of rehearsals. And that’s thanks to them,” she said.
This Sunday was the group’s last big day of rehearsals before performances begin. Hillstrom says they expect to be at the Conexus practising until 10 p.m.
“I think everyone is trying extra hard because I think they’re grateful that it’s still here,” Hillstrom said. “You take things for granted until you think that you’re not going to have it anymore."
For the group’s young actors and actresses, like 10-year-old Taylor Cameron, the show’s continuation means they can still do what they love.
“Oh, I love Do it with Class so much,” she said. “It’s like one of my favourite places to be in the whole world.”
This show marks the first time Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been performed in Canada and Hillstrom believes the production is stronger for it.
“I hope it’s going to be stronger,” she said. “I think the one thing the fire has done, as devastating as it was, it was horrific for all of us, what it does has brought our family, our Do It With Class Family, our Class Act family, closer together.”
The show gets underway on March 15 and 16. For more information on show times and tickets, click here.
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