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A(nother) Barnful of Broadway
Westben Arts Festival
28 July 2001
“The Barn”, Westben, Ontario
Donna Bennett, soprano
Louise Winter, mezzo-soprano
Mark DuBois, tenor
Gerald Finley, bass
Brian Finley, piano
What the critics say
Peter McConnell, the independent (Ontario), August 8, 2001
http://www.indynews.ca/archives/news/news2001/newsAugust2001/McConnell08082001.html
Westben is a boon
Westben spells "Class". And, if we may be forgiven a pithy reversal, Westben also weaves classy spells. Campbellford's Arts Festival Theatre has just concluded its 2001 summer season under the artistic and managing directorship of Brian Finley with a magical concert, "A(nother) Barnful of Broadway." Certainly, any artistic atmosphere wafts down from the top and from parking lot attendants to ushers to technicians, no officiousness here. Good will and genuine enjoyment exude.
But before we review the actual performance we absorbed on Saturday evening, July 28, just a well-deserved mention of the physical facility, The Festival Theatre Barn. Set squarely in a rolling meadow some three kilometres west of the town, this audience-friendly structure overlooks corn fields to the south and east, expanses of grain to the north, and its westerly entrance welcomes patrons as they stroll down a gently sloping knoll flanked by greensward and a contented pond. Barn-style it may be, but this edifice is an expertly designed concert hall built by artists for artists who will utilize it to the maximum of its considerable potential. Mother Nature Herself provides the air conditioning via walls opened on three sides of the audience and, consequently, on Saturday evening along about 8:45, several mosquitoes began to mingle with the crowd (and the performers), but I'm given to understand they absolutely never attend matinee performances. Anyway, mosquitoes get a little nervous during the vigorous hand-clapping of sustained applause. And there was plenty of that.
Previous to the "Barnful" performances of July 28 and 29, Westben has this season produced the world premiere of Mr. Finley's own musical, "Samson," as well as eight concerts featuring such well known artists as Robert Silverman and the Hannaford Street Silver Band. This corner woefully regrets having missed them. But perhaps the best was saved until last. At least, it's hard to imagine better.
It's not so long ago that those of us who toiled long years in the business would have believed that you just couldn't get away with this sort of thing anymore. After all, no big production numbers, no spectacle, no helicopters on stage, no chandeliers plummeting; yet there it was. And they not only got away with it, they took us to the stars. Just four fine singers on a wooden platform, standing and delivering. And Mr. Finley himself, of course, up-stage centre, behind them at the grand. I don't think I'd be going too far out on the limb if I claimed him to be among the very best piano accompanists extant in the Nation.
The concert's centre-piece was that ubiquitous veteran Canadian tenor, Mark Dubois, whose affable stage presence continues to endear him to audiences where ever he plies his trade. (Mark has an ever-present twinkle, both personally and musically.) But he was enjoying (literally) the very good company of a most talented family: Donna Bennett (Mrs. Finley), a pure soprano who adroitly defines the intricacies of her craft with every turn; baritone, Gerald Finley (cousin of Brian), possessor of a normally big voice who owns the wit and control to put it into small places and employ refreshing subtlety; and, rounding out the cast, his wife, mezzo-soprano Louise Winter, whose joie de vivre enhanced every note she sang. (Her "Feed the Birds" from "Mary Poppins" had us at her feet with all the other pigeons.)
Finally, hats off to the ramrod of the whole shebang, young Mr. Brian Finley (the "young" is not used condescendingly by any stretch; that's just an old guy talkin' who is, quite frankly, green with envy of the vitality and tenacity of a much younger one). God bless him. This jaded old world needs him.