I took long enough to plan my weekend’s entertainment schedule that by the time I tried to buy a ticket to the last performance of Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant Ever at the Varscona Theatre, Tix on the Square wasn’t selling the tickets any more.  So I figured I’d get one at the door.  But when I got there, the person in the box office just offered to put me on the waitlist, where I was seventeenth. I stocked up on red Twizzlers, and socialised in the lobby with other people on the waitlist, enjoying the background music of lively jigs and talking about whether having connections to Newfoundland or being able to step dance or play the spoons should bump us up the list.  The theatre staff seemed to have a bit of confusion about just exactly how many seats were in the theatre, and one of them was seen carrying chairs into the auditorium, but eventually they closed the doors and wished us Merry Christmas and encouraged us to come back next year.

Here is Liz Nicholls’ review from the Journal.

Here are Meaghan Baxter’s notes from VUE

I love Barbara Robinson’s original story The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, have never seen the television version, but saw a Domino Theatre (Kingston, Ontario) performance of Best Christmas Pageant Ever several years ago, with several out-of-town family members as my guests.  My notes at the time said I had been a little apprehensive about whether the younger boys (ages 10 and 7, without any more than the default of cultural Christianity) would appreciate it, but they all said they enjoyed it and repeated the funny and rude lines. The showing was sold out, and the set was very simple, and I thought it was probably making money for the theatre. But there were nineteen actors under fifteen. Some of them didn’t enunciate perfectly, but my mother and I knew the story well, so we didn’t mind.

The lesson of this blog entry is to book ahead.  I wish the rest of the year was like the Fringe, where I could buy tickets on line a few hours before a show, but since it isn’t, I need to plan better or I will miss good shows.  For your benefit and mine then, here are some useful box-office links:

• Tix on the Square (includes Walterdale, Varscona, Rapid Fire, Grant MacEwan, U of A Drama, many other venues and companies)
• Theatre Network, Roxy Theatre
• Jubilee Auditorium – through Ticketmaster
• Winspear Centre
• Edmonton Opera (can also buy through Ticketmaster)