03/07/2021
UPDATE, March 7, 2021
In 1985, Jamie J Bourget, a professor of English at Cambrian College, approached Dr. Glenn Crombie, president of Cambrian College, with a proposal to begin a community theatre.
Bourget’s hope was to provide aspiring actors, directors, and
technicians a fresh and vibrant venue in which to hone their skills, all the while allowing veteran actors an opportunity to bring their
considerable talent and experience to an appreciative and fresh young group. Dr. Crombie applauded the idea. His one caveat was that the group strive to break even and not burden the College with financial problems. The College’s role would be to provide a venue to house the fledgling group.
And so, an exciting group was born and christened Theatre Cambrian in recognition of Cambrian College’s generous support.
Although Theatre Cambrian continues to fledgle, the theatre company has an excellent opportunity to return to their roots with Jamie J's vision in mind. Since becoming Vice President of Theatre Cambrian in October 2017 and later President, I have recognized the importance of TC in our cultural artistic community and have seen first hand the impact and importance of our work. Since the Fall of 2017, a dedicated group of volunteers remained true to the vision and took a back to basics approach, although, I admit it has been no easy task, sometimes challenging an exhausting.
Things at TC were turing around for the better. In Feburary 2020, we just wrappred Annie at the Sudbury Theatre Centre and the next day auditioned 60 young people for the Little Mermaid and then COVID-19 struck.
In December, an offer was received on the building and a hard working and dedicated team of volunteers worked tirelessly to move out of the building and disbursed theatre assets to other non-profit arts organizations in the Greater Sudbury area. Unfortunately the offer did not close, and the mortgage holder assumed responsiblity for the building. A new offer is set to close on April 15, 2021.
With 40 Eyre no longer the responsibility of the organization, we can attempt to rebuild Theatre Cambrian with Jamie's vision in mind.
On March 15, 2021, I will be taking part in a recording of Arts at Nine and will be Judi and John's guest on the program to discuss the future of TC and its importance to the community. The full program will be dedicated to Theatre Cambrian. Please kindly share your memories of TC in the comments below.
I am happy to annouce that Jamie Bourget is on board to help with this rebuilding process. We will need your help as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvvQrPJ-TDs
Sincerely
Derek Young
President
Theatre Arts Technical Production students hard at work for Theatre Cambrian's production of West Side Story.