It’s been four years since we last visited Big Oak. The Elmira Theatre Company makes a return trip this weekend for Ned Durango Comes to Big Oak, a rowdy story of small town diner owner Tom Shaw’s quest to persuade infamous TV cowboy Ned Durango to lead the Victoria Day parade … and help the town’s crumbling economy.
They decided on the show for their dinner theatre this year because it’s the second play in the Norm Foster series says director Sue Jennings. Some actors are reprising their roles from the first show, Sadie Flynn Comes to Big Oak, and Jennings says they’re excited to revisit a familiar place.
“It was very well received. It’s Norm Foster, so it’s funny and very Canadian humour. It’s very warm, sentimental, everyday people caught in crazy situations. Everyone can kind of identify with the characters in the play.”
In the first show, craziness ensued after husband killer Sadie Flynn rode into town on a bus and wound up at Tom’s diner, Millie’s Cabin. This time around, Tom and his right-hand man Orson Hubble, are hoping by bringing in Ned Durango they’ll be able to attract some investment.
Tom has returned to Big Oak to run the diner, which was his mother’s until she passed away. An ex-professional hockey player, he tried but never succeeded at making it big in the hockey world.
“If you think of the old television show Cheers, he’s sort of the Sam Malone. He’s a womanizer, and he’s kind of charming, smooth talking, but he’s not satisfied. He wants more out of life. The diner isn’t doing very well anyway. That’s one of the reasons they’re having this parade to hope to attract this amusement park investment to town,” Jennings explains.
Orson on the other hand is completely satisfied. He lives a simple life, working at the diner and living alone at the trailer park. In the second act of the play though, he discovers he has a long lost daughter, when she shows up looking for him. Kay’s a country western singer who’s trying to make it big in the music industry.
Then there’s Catherine Wilson, the mayor of Big Oak. She’s concerned about the future of the town and puts a lot of pressure on Tom and Orson to ensure Ned grand marshals the parade. She and Tom also become romantically involved.
“Ned Durango, he was a television star ages ago and he had a Saturday morning kids show. He was a big hero to Tom and Orson growing up. So they hear that he’s going to be in the neighbourhood, so to speak, so they convince him to be the grand marshal of their parade. He’s this larger than life cowboy, rides into town with his horse and the whole thing,” Jennings said.
Steve Whetstone is returning to play Tom, and Gord Grose will reprise his role as Orson. Ned will be played by Thom Smith, Catherine by Sue Parr, and Kay by Lindsay Grisebach.
Of the four shows ETC puts on each year, the dinner theatre is the biggest seller.
“We get a lot of smaller companies that will buy a few tables and that will be their Christmas party for the year. We’ve had school staff come up as their Christmas party. I think it’s a nice evening for people because you just park yourself and you get dinner and a show without having to drive and park and do all that. It’s a fun evening that way. The meal’s really good too. Stone Crock does the meal so it’s always a really good dinner,” Jennings said.
She’s not sure what the meal will be, but often it’s a traditional holiday dinner with all the trimmings, and of course Stone Crock’s famous pie.
A feel good story with lots of laughs, Jennings says theatre goers can expect an enjoyable night out in Elmira.
“Hopefully it will make people think a little bit about their own dreams and chances that they might have had or opportunities. I think they’ll enjoy hearing their stories,” Jennings said.
Ned Durango comes to Big Oak runs Nov. 20-22, 26-29, and Dec. 3-5 at the group’s 76 Howard Ave. location. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., dinner is served at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. for all Friday and Saturday night shows. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. for the Thursday shows, which don’t include dinner. Doors open at 1 p.m., dinner is served at 1:30 p.m., and the show begins at 2 p.m. for the Sunday matinees.
Tickets are $52 for dinner and the show, or $20 for the Thursday night performances. They can be purchased at the Centre in the Square box office in Kitchener by calling 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, online at www.centre-square.com or www.elmiratheatre.com.
