Footlight Theatre is taking a hiatus from producing its annual fall musical - but the theatre company isn't going away.
The Burnaby theatre company is holding a benefit concert, Friends of Footlight, on Sunday, Nov. 3.
The star-studded concert will bring together a cast of Footlight alumni, along with a live band, to perform many of the hits from past shows, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Grease, A Christmas Carol, Annie and more.
Proceeds will be used to help Footlight Theatre Company continue its work producing high-calibre musical theatre productions.
Jane Wace, a Footlight board member, said the decision to not produce a fall show this year wasn't taken lightly. She noted it comes on the heels of four big shows in the previous four years.
"They were fantastic shows, but the last couple were extremely expensive shows to do," she said.
She noted that Footlight - like all other arts groups, amateur and professional - is facing a tough time filling the seats for all its productions.
"In the arts these days, it's all the same. It's tough to present something and get bums in seats," she said. "People are not going to the theatre as much as they used to."
She said the board felt it wise to be cautious and hold the benefit concert instead, in order to be able to come back strong with a mainstage show in 2014.
And, she noted, the Friends of Footlight show is shaping up to be an amazing experience.
It will include both children and adult performers, with vignettes and songs from a variety of Footlight shows of the past as well as other Broadway musicals.
Michael Creber will be on hand with his professional band, offering live music onstage.
Wace said it will be an enjoyable evening for fans of musical theatre, and it's designed to deliver the message: "We're still around, we're still here."
"We're all really excited about it," she said.
Friends of Footlight is on Sunday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m. at Michael J. Fox Theatre, 7373 MacPherson Ave.
Tickets are $19, $29, $35 or $75 for the Gold Circle - which includes the best seats, plus one complimentary ticket to the group's 2014 mainstage show.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketstonight.ca.
For more, visit www.footlight.ca.
