PRESS CLIPPINGS

New artistic director takes stage at Geordie

Alice in Wonderland-themed fundraiser begins Dean Patrick Fleming's first season

Kathryn Greenaway - The Gazette
Thursday October 12, 2006

Actor and director Dean Patrick Fleming's first professional gig was 20 years ago in Geordie Productions' first touring production A Promise is a Promise.

He went on to work in over 100 theatre, television and film productions in a variety of capacities and continues to teach at ASM Performing Arts, a private acting studio he co-founded and co-directs.

Last season Geordie Productions turned 25 and in April its founding artistic director Elsa Bolam passed the torch to Fleming - her hand-picked successor.

He's come full circle and, quite simply, feels "honoured" to be given the chance to move the company forward.

Certain physical changes are already apparent. A new floating floor for the offices - installed by Fleming and staff in the heat of the summer - and a new company logo, for starters.

But no major artistic overhaul is in the works.

"Geordie Productions has lasted for 25 years for a reason," Fleming said during a recent interview at Geordie's Berri St. headquarters. "And that reason is Elsa. One hundred per cent.

"My mandate is to do great theatre. Period. It's not necessarily about teaching children anything in particular, it's about making them love theatre."

To launch its three-play mainstage season, Geordie has organized a fundraiser called The Mad Hatter's Tea Party ... for Kids, at Ogilvy's Tudor Hall on Sunday.

Actors dressed in Alice in Wonderland-type costumes will serve refreshments and entertain the young crowd.

Proceeds go toward buying tickets for children from low-income homes so that they can see the first show of Geordie's mainstage season - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The story is adapted for the stage by Harry Standjofski and opens at D.B. Clarke Theatre in December.

Fleming will direct the play and describes the multimedia production as "giant."

In an interview with The Gazette in March, Bolam described Fleming as "one of the best young directors in Montreal."

Fleming said Bolam has always been a strong supporter of his work. "She's seen everything I've ever done," he said.

Fleming said the two also think alike when it comes to the theatre scene in Montreal.

Geordie's second play of its mainstage season is a case in point. Guest troupe DynamO Theatre performs the English translation of its rollicking Moi, Moi, Moi.

Me, Me, Me is a physical-theatre romp about students and their classroom shenanigans.

Fleming is actively pursuing collaborations between the English and French youth theatre scenes in Montreal. He would like to see French versions of Geordie productions and Geordie-presented English versions of French plays.

"(Elsa and I) both feel very strongly about this (theatre) community," Fleming said. "We have an incredible talent pool in Montreal and Elsa and I both believe it is underused."

From the beginning, Bolam has made a point of hiring theatre students straight out of school and Fleming will do the same.

Bolam returns to Geordie in the Spring to direct its third mainstage play A Giraffe in Paris. The story follows the friendship and adventures of a prince and a giraffe who find themselves on the road to Paris.

Geordie's tours of Canadian schools near and far continue, but Fleming would like to get the company touring internationally again. International tours were dropped following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. And he's looking for ways to increase Geordie's visibility in corporate circles. The search for private funding never ends.

That's one of the lessons he learned while spending eight months observing Bolam doing the things artistic directors do.

"It's 80 per cent administrative and 20 per cent creative," Fleming said. "I've not only come to accept that, I thrive on it."

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party ... for Kids is at Ogilvy's Tudor Hall, 1307 Ste. Catherine St. W., Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12.50 for children. For Geordie Productions subscription package and single ticket information, call 514-845-9810 or visit www.geordie.ca.

kgreenaway@thegazette.canwest.com

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