Friendships shine at Stars

A small band strikes up a chord and a group of men and women -- many in their 60s, 70s and even older -- break into a spirited rehearsal of the R and B classic, Soul Man. The choice of song isn't surprising if you know the Silver Stars Musical Revue.

Each year, dozens of performers, ranging from first-time amateurs to people with decades of performing experience, spend months putting together a song-and-dance extravaganza. It will feature everything from classic ballads to show tunes and pop classics, sometimes in unique combinations.

Jean Mekitiak and Gladys Sands will sing a duet on Happy Days Are Here Again in the styles of Barbra Streisand (Mekitiak) and Judy Garland (Sands). "We've become really good friends and we enjoy working together," says Mekitiak.

Sands' musical experience dates back to the Second World War, when she toured Canada with an all-girls' band.

The experience led to a brush with fame. "We were in London, Ont., and Martha Tilton was singing and she took very ill," says Sands.

Tilton was a singer for legendary bandleader Benny Goodman. "I was practicing with my band and (Goodman) said: 'You sound like her -- how about coming with me to New York?'"

Sands was only 17 at the time, so she had to get permission from her dad, who promptly said no. "So that was the end of that, but it was very exciting."

Audience members will get to hear some of these stories thanks to a new focus the Revue is taking for its November production at the University Theatre.

Under artistic director Gerry Dubbin -- a one-time member of the famous family act The Dubbin Show -- not only will singing and dancing be on the menu, but also the stories of the performers, themselves.

"I've made the show multimedia this year," says Dubbin.

"We'll be having a huge video screen and throughout the show we'll have video vignettes -- interviews with current and past cast members. We want the audience to know about the stories of these people, and get some insight into the passion and dedication they all have."

His mother, Nina Dubbin, and fellow performer Yvonne Currie have another great story to tell.

Years before her kids toured the world as The Dubbin Show, Nina had a dance act with her sister. But one day, her sister had to drop out.

"I was 17 and I was dating this chap, and one day, one of his friends showed up with a cute little thing and it was Nina," says Currie. "I loved dancing, so she asked me if I would like to be in the act, so she taught me the steps and we became an act."

After the dance act ended, "we went on with our lives, and I got married and moved down East," says Currie.

Fast forward more than 50 years later, and Nina and Currie found themselves working together in the Silver Stars Revue.

However, it took a year of working together before they realized who each other was, says Nina. "We'd changed a wee bit," says Currie.

The friends people "meet along the way, you really develop friendships for life," says Nina, who is also president of the Silver Stars Musical Revue Society. In this year's production, the two friends will perform Sixteen Going on Seventeen from The Sound of Music.

For Currie, the joy of getting on stage will not be hampered by the fact that she needs oxygen due to emphysema.

"For the first time for me -- and apparently the first time anywhere, according to my lung specialist -- I'll be on stage with my oxygen," says Currie.

"Gerry has written everything based on my going on with my oxygen. My specialist is very excited and says this will be a very strong message I'll be getting across."

The multimedia isn't the only change for the troupe this year.

For the first time, a spinoff touring production of Silver Stars is launching with a special 100 Years of Broadway concert Oct. 5 at the Kerby Centre.

The new show will feature dozens of Broadway show classics and a scaled-down cohort of 15 performers, says Gerry Dubbin. The main show features 50.

The plan is to tour the scaled-down show at long-term residences and other places where residents might not otherwise be able to attend a show at the University Theatre.

The Kerby launch also celebrates a new partnership between the revue and the centre, which is now the troupe's home base for rehearsals. "We'll be able to offer Kerby members dance training, movement training and vocal lessons --and they can, in turn, use our show for fundraisers," says Dubbin.

Since March, the Silver Stars performers have been rehearsing for both the touring show and the full stage show.

Set for Nov. 12 to 14 at the University Theatre, this year's theme is "Joyful!"

"I have never seen so much passion and dedication in these performers," says Dubbin. "That's why I called it 'Joyful!'"

A highlight of the main show will be a tribute to James Bond, says musical director and conductor Doug Zacharias.

"We're going to have a little gunfight between James Bond and the villains -- and we'll have some Bond girls, and, of course, singers doing some of the Bond songs," he says. "And we have a whole Blues Brothers sequence, with everyone in hats and sunglasses."