In 2015, the company produced two original musicals by Ish Theilheimer: Here Comes the Train! The Ottawa Valley Railway Story, starring Peter Brown, Lesley Sneddon, Chantal Elie-Sernoskie, Phil Hoffman, Ambrose Mullin, Fran Pinkerton, Colin Wylie, Peter Frolander, and Ish Theilheimer, with Stephanie Pinkerton standing in for Chantal in Fall, and Valley Vic and The Christmas Temptations, starring Ambrose Mullin, Fran Pinkerton, Lawrie Barton, Rita Tolhurst, Shirley Hill and Kaylee Garcia, with band members Bryan Walsh, Schroeder Nordholt, Robin Pinkerton and Derek Tolhurst and chorus members Bailee Dombroskie, Jenna Schisson, Jude Pinkerton, and Luna and Solana Nordholt. Chantal Elie-Sernoskie directed both shows.
In 2014, the company’s mainstage production was G’day, We’re from the Valley, EH!, a collectively-developed comic review about contemporary Ottawa Valley life, starring John Haslam, Peter Brown, Chantal Elie-Sernoskie, Phil Hoffman, Maureen McCoy, Camille McLean, Ambrose Mullin, Fran Pinkerton, Robin Pinkerton and Ish Theilheimer.
Chantal Elie-Sernoskie directed the show and Ish Theilheimer was musical director and main writer. Terry Mask joinied the crew that year as Techical Director. The crew made a music video based on the show’s rap number Don’t Get My Valley Up!
In March, 2014, the company held a reading of original one-act play scripts by Chris Hinsperger, Shannon Keller, Tim Stubinski.
In 2013, the company held its first-ever reading of scripts submitted through its Ottawa Valley Script Development project. More than 70 people attended the February event at The Sands on Golden Lake.
The company developed two new scripts and productions in 2013: – Bonnechere River – The Future Tense, by Ish Theilheimer and Johanna Zomers, with music by Terry McLeish, developed for the Bonnechere River Watershed Project, and – There’s Hippies Up the Line, a musical by Ish Theilheimer and Johanna Zomers, including music by Peter Brown and Carol Kennedy.
This became one of the company’s signature shows, a musical with a large cast that featured Fran Pinkerton, Ambrose Mullin, Amber Dagenais, Maureen McCoy, Ken Ramsden, Colin Wylie, and Phil Hoffman. Chantal Elie-Sernoskie directed both productions.
The company also produced a bluegrass concert in Eganville with The Foggy Hogtown Boys.
2012 marked a departure for the company, its first non-musical play, and its first script by a non-company member, Schoolhouse, by Leanna Brodie. It starred Christine Helferty and Josh McCoy and was directed by Chantal Elie-Sernoskie, who made her Stone Fence debut in 2011.
The show included original background music by Peter Brown intermission entertainment by Emma and Will March, and dinner music by Peter Brown and Ish Theilheimer.
The company also produced a French-Canadian traditional music party called “In a Little Shack Up the Pontiac,” which introduced button accordion master Gaston Nolet, along with Jake Charron, Francios Dumond, Serge Martin and Marie Claude Breault, along with featured singer Debbie Beauchamps.
In 2011, the company put on a review of traditional, favourite and original musical numbers with comic vignettes called The Opeongo Opera, by Ish Theilheimer. It featured Terry McLeish, Fran Hobbs, Maureen McCoy, John Haslam, the Helferty Sisters, Stephen Helferty, Ken Ramsden and “Minny Others.”
The summer program also featured four concerts: Louis Schryer in Concert; In a Little Shack Up the Pontiac with Debbie Bechamp, Barry Gilchrist, Carol Kennedy, Gaston Nolet and friends. ; Stephanie Cadman and Celtic Blaze; Russell De Carles with Steve Briggs and Denis Keldle. .
Boys in the band John Haslam and Ken Ramsden play a trick on announcer Ambrose Mullin, shaving him as he attempts to read a commercial.
In 2010, the company lost an important team member, business manager Joe Murray and we had other health problems to contend with, so we offered a new version of On the Air with Mac’s Melodiers, featuring Ambrose Mullin, John Haslam, Ken Ramsden and Stephen Helferty. This show, in one form or another, was ultimately performed more than 70 times.
In 2009, the company moved to the Eagle’s Nest at the Eganville Community Centre for its greater size, convenience, accessibility and central location. We produced a review based on the history of dance halls in the Ottawa Valley called Country Sparking at Sunnydale Acres, written by Ish Theilheimer, who also starred in the show, along with Diana Walker and Ken Ramsden. Also in the band that year were Stephen Helferty and, for the first time, keyboard standout Peter Brown. .
In 2008 Stone Fence Theatre presented a special new variety show that featured hilarious stories and songs as told by one of Killaloe’s most beloved residents. An Ottawa Valley Kitchen Party, featuring Tales of Benny Afelskie brought to the stage some very funny people, led by Stone Fence favourites John Haslam, Ambrose Mullin and Ken Ramsden telling stories that Bennie Afelskie has told us.
Helping them tell the stories were four members of one of the Valley’s leading musical families, the Helfertys of Douglas. Stephen played guitar, acted and sang. Catherine, Christine and Rachel sang, step-danced and acted. And backing them all up were some of the Valley’s favourite musicians. Carol Kennedy played keyboard and fiddle and acted. Ish Theilheimer – who created the show – sang, acted and played fiddle and other stringed instruments. Ken Ramsden acted, sang and played guitar and fiddle and a bit of everything.
Also that year, Stone Fence Theatre launched The Ottawa Valley Pageant, performed outdoors on Saturday afternoons, July 5 – August 16 at 1:30 p.m., right after the Farmer’s Market at Hoch Farm Park in Killaloe. This one-hour show was a real family affair, ideal for the whole family. The musical and dramatic show, directed and created by Barry Goldie, took the audience on a guided musical and historical tour of the Killaloe area.
The audience was led around the historic farm by none other than J.R. Booth, the lumber baron who built the railway that put Killaloe on the map. This trip back in time focused on Centennial year celebrations in charming Killaloe.
The company was forced to dramatically downsize in 2007. Attendance in 2006 was fair, but hoped-for public funding did not materialize. There’s a lot of competition for the few programs available for small theatres! Since then, the company has been run by a core of professionals working part-time, with a greater number of volunteers, with a focus only on revenue it can earn from customers, supporters and local businesses.
In 2007, Stone Fence produced a new musical review called “The Train She Blew From Killaloe,” a title emanating from a poem by lumber camp supplier and part-time poet Martin Garvey, “the Bard of the Bonnechere.” The show featured historical narratives including the Battle of Brudenell, based on the work of Shirley Mask Connolly, the saga of Laird Archibald MacNab, with vignettes by Joan Finnigan, and Big Joe Mufferaw (Joseph Montferrand), with vignettes by Bernie Bedore. It featured a cast and crew of 18 including 10 youth.
This show appeared in rotation with variety of musical performances, including a new version of “On the Air with Mac’s Melodiers, the company’s classic recreation of the old Mac Beattie radio show. The 2007 version featured new songs and personnel.
Also in 2007 Stone Fence Theatre launched an Ottawa Valley Concert Series, with successful concerts by top Canadian performers Gail Gavan, April Verch and Searson, among others. Singer Gail Gavan is seen in this photo with her legendary uncle Fred Meilleur, owner of Meilleur’s Hotel in Chapeau, Quebec.
In 2006 the company staged three original productions, all based on collaborative research and development with the local community:
1. “Barn Dance!” was an all-star musical tribute to the stars of old-time Canadian country music assembled by Ish Theilheimer, featuring Brian Hebert, Carol Kennedy, “Reverend Ken” Ramsden, Lynn Davis, Ish Theilheimer, Robin Pinkerton and the dancing of Jenna and Marissa Henry. The program featured the music of Don Messer, Hank Snow, Lucille Star, Ned Landry, Mac Beattie, Reg Hill and other favourites from the ’30s through the ’60s.
2. “Here To Stay!” by Ish Theilheimer, was a sequel, of sorts, to Reflections of a Century, The Musical, but also an inspiring, feel-good musical about the fight for rural survival. It followed the big events and underlying themes occurring in the Valley and in all of rural Canada through the last 50 years of the 20th Century.
3. “Upstream To Basin Depot,” a new show by Barry Goldie and Lee LaFont was developed in conjunction with CHCR Community Radio and the Killaloe Friendship Club as part of an ongoing collaborative process. It is based on the rich lore of stories associated with the Bonnechere River.
The story is set in the lumber camps, stopping places, and supply farms near Basin Depot. We meet historical and fictional characters that tell a tale about the lumber industry on the Bonnechere in the early years of the 20th century. History, romance, adventure, evil deeds, brave heros, lots of original music and fun will be found “Upstream.”
