Art MacDonald is the nom de plume, or possibly nom de guerre, of the people acting as editor of the Arts Hudson magazine. Art is a character in his own right, an artist and a writer, with his own email address and website. Friend him on Facebook.

            We’ve been experimenting with bringing Arts Hudson out later in each season, but it doesn’t seem to work well with the schedule of events. As a result, we’ll publish the next issue mid-December and then every three months after that. There seems to be a natural break in activities for March, June, September and December.

            The annual Greenwood Storyfest is under way with sold-out events and increased attendance overall. After bringing us Norm Foster last year and Michael Ondaatje this year, you wonder what the Storyfest Committee can do for an encore. Michael Ondaatje has been in contact with committe member Heather Markgraf regarding an exciting possibility for the Stories on Stage component of Storyfest. It turns out he is a theatre enthusiast. For more information on Storyfest, see page eight.

            Our featured artist this issue is Lorraine Bouchard. I visited her studio last year on the Studio Tour and thought her work was exceptional from both an artistic and a technical point of view. It is extremely difficult to create large works of enamel on copper and rare to see works such as the landscape above, titled “Joie d’Automne.” Lorraine has exhibited widely and her work is available from several galleries. We have more information about the artist and her work under the corresponding menu item at left.

            Lots of action at Village Theatre this fall. After “Peggy and Grace” (picture above) blew past attendance expectations, the theatre organized a successful fundraiser featuring the “Rat Pack” show and a dinatoire in a tent on the parking lot. Auctioned items included a dinner catered by the board of directors. Bidding was spirited so auctioneer Michael Lawrence sold a second dinner on the spot to the losing bidder.

            In addition to the Storyfest events held at the theatre, the fall line-up included performances by the Music Club, Players Club, and Bowser & Blue (picture below). For more information about the Village Theatre fall programme, see the menu on the left.

            As part of the Village Theatre fall programming, the Film Society’s film and opera series are in full swing. The Film Society calls its opera series “Opera and Beyond,” allowing it to program the occasional Broadway musical and operettas. One of these, perhaps one of the most popular operettas in the world, will be presented on HD video in November. “The Merry Widow,” with its waltzes, music and dancing is accessible to a broad audience and always a crowd favourite.

            Film Society President Clint Ward has a special relationship to this operetta, since he directed a Hudson Music Club prodction of it back in 1976 when the shows were produced at the Hudson High School. The large cast included a small group of professional dancers for the difficult numbers, but for the big ballroom dancing scenes, the younger Music Club cast members all had to learn how to do the waltzes that are a key part of the piece.

            For more information on the opera series and the other shows planned for this season, please see the menu on the left.

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