What do baked potatoes have to do with theatre?
March 1, 2011
The answer: nothing, really. Baked potatoes don’t have anything to do with theatre.
Other than you can come and get one at Live Bait Theatre this Friday, March 4. And how did this come about, you may ask?
Live Bait Theatre has a fantastic, creative, very busy Special Events Committee. This committee meets every Tuesday morning and plans events to raise money for the company. These are events outside our normal programming, that is, outside the plays and dinner theatres that are our major productions each year.
These events include things like concerts, auctions, dinners, dances and anything else these amazing people have the time, energy and inclination to make happen.
About a year ago, someone had the idea to open the theatre once a month Fridays after work and encourage people to drop by and have a drink and hear some music. We did this a few times last year and sometimes had six people and sometimes had forty people. For entertainment we had a pianist, a singer, a stand up comic, sometimes canned music. We wanted people to feel like the theatre was a place where they could socialize and hang out and feel comfortable.
This was a great idea and one that didn’t take a lot of time. We just had to let people know it was happening. Free admission, cash bar. It was pretty good.
Then in January someone on the committee suggested that we amp up the Fridays on Tap (as they were called) and turn them into Spuds ‘n’ Suds. This meant we’d have baked potatoes with assorted toppings (“spuds”) in addition to the bar being open (“suds”, but you CAN have something other than beer). We promoted it and had great little posters hand drawn by Meredith and waited to see what would happen. The morning of February 8, we had 13 potatoes reserved. Okay, not bad. Then that evening we were amazed by the turnout! It was a great time. Sixty-five potatoes were consumed, Tricia Black sang and played guitar and $500 was raised for the company. Wonderful! The buzz in the room was fantastic with lots of people saying they’re coming back and bringing their friends.
So we’re doing it again this Friday, from 5-7 p.m. and we’re preparing for lots more people. If you’re in the Sackville area, please join us. Give us a call at 506 536 2248 to reserve your potato so we have some idea how many to expect. But if you decide to come at the last minute, please do! You don’t NEED a reserved spud. We’ll have extra. And we’d love to see you.
We’re going to do this again on April 8 if you miss it this time.
We’re also planning to serve some kind of food on May 6 and June 3, but probably not baked potatoes. Those are kind of winter-y, delicious as they are. So the committee is wondering what they should serve instead? Lobster rolls have been mentioned. Yum… We’d welcome any suggestions so please comment. We want something that’s pretty easy to prepare, somewhat seasonal and generally well liked by people.
So bottom line: if you’re in Sackville this Friday come by for a cheap, delicious supper! Bring your friends and enjoy some live music courtesy of pianist Jerry Hannah. Then stick around for an amazing concert by Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys at 7:30 p.m. (Sorry, while Spuds ‘n’ Suds is free admission, tickets to Gordie are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, but well worth the price!)
And if you’re not in the Sackville area, consider doing this as a fundraiser for your organization…any leftovers make delicious hashbrowns!
