Fourteen local actors will be taking the audience for short, sharp comedic rides this month as they perform a series of one-act plays.
The Dewdney Players Theatre group is gearing up to compete in an annual one-act play festival and the group will host performances in Okotoks to give audiences a chance to see the talent they will be bringing to the competition.
The Dewdney Players are presenting four one-act plays for An Evening of Entertainment at the Elks Hall on Feb. 26 and 27 and March 5 and 6. The plays …

An eclectic lineup of musicians from around the world will continue to file into the community hall in Turner Valley at least until next spring.
Plans are in the works for a new community centre to be built in the High Country area, which would include space for the Beneath the Arch Concert Series.
Every September, the non-profit society running the Beneath the Arch Concert Series plans the lineup of musicians to perform the following year.
Without any solid plans in place yet, for the new Diamond Valley Community Centre 78, the society …

A gallery in Black Diamond is offering an after-school activity that will exercise children’s creative thinking in addition to being fun.
Terra Cotta Gallery owner Evonne Smulders is now offering a four-week after-school art class for children.
Beginning on Feb. 22 and 23, Smulders will show children how to use different art media to take an idea and create something to be proud of. The classes will introduce youths to working with clay, mixed media, collage and painting.
“In a small community you have to have stuff like this — children need to …

An experiment with text and imagery that allowed regular Joe’s the chance to work with artists is now on display in the foothills.
The Leighton Art Centre is hosting an exhibition of prints and books until March 2 that incorporates words and images exploring the concept of community.
Rosemary Brown, an organizer of the art project, said artists worked with members of the public to help them create artworks using traditional printmaking and bookbinding techniques. The project took place over three weekends in September, 2008.
“It was a lot of work to organize …

There haven’t been many rap musicians rise from the rolling ranchlands of the foothills, but one Longview resident is proof country roads do not always make country musicians.
Chase Hummel grew up in Longview, a third generation foothills area resident, but while living in Vancouver three years ago, he hooked up with Noah “DJ Beatsmith Bear” Bellavance. They began to create rap and hip hop music with Hummel writing the lyrics as MC Deception. Together, the duo performs as The Random Humans.
A set list came together while in Vancouver and then …

Why do we still sign up for a lifetime of marriage when 38 per cent of married couples in Canada are headed for divorce?
It seems everyone wants the right to buy a license for what may be the most difficult experience in life. And perhaps the sweetest, most comforting rollercoaster life has to offer.
Foothills Composite High School graduates Alexis and Landon-Jon Ference are newlyweds that approach the trip with equal parts realism and romanticism.
They know divorce is common, but they are prepared to risk the odds. They also know that …

With a love for singing and an interest in a career as a singer, Okotoks resident Shae-Lynn Rollings decided she wanted to make her first music video.
Last year Rollings’ father Doug arranged for her create the video and raise awareness for an orphanage in Haiti. On Jan. 12 a catastrophic earthquake rocked the island nation and people around the world have stepped up to help the devastated Haitians.
As people search the internet for information on Haiti the number of people viewing Shae-Lynn singing a contemporary Christian song with a backdrop …

Music students at the Alberta High School of Fine Arts in Okotoks have been taking an intense approach to an extremely funny musical.
Way back in the August, when other teenagers were frolicking through the summer holidays, the seven students in the Mainstage orchestra were learning how to play the 20 musical numbers for “Little Shop of Horrors”.
They were given the sheet music in mid-August and each student was on their own to learn their parts.
“We were sent a rehearsal schedule and it said what songs we’d do each week and …

Okotoks musicians are banding together to fundraise in the wake of an announcement the federal government will match donations to registered charities responding to the earthquake in Haiti.
The first benefit concert in Okotoks took place on Jan. 30 and raised $1,600 for God’s Littlest Angels – they have applied to the government to be eligible for matching dollars. That night OK Taxi donated a portion of their sales taking concert-goers home, raising another $50.
Two more benefit concerts have since come together and organizers hope to rally people from across the …

Like a blooming flower the Mainstage performers will be reaching for new heights as the curtain goes up on opening night of Little Shop of Horrors Friday.
It’s a transformation the students in the Mainstage program at the Alberta High School of Fine Arts have been practicing since September. Starting on Friday, the cast of 25 will delight the audience with the comedy of how a prickly plant that feeds on human blood helps two downtrodden people find true love.
To help the students step into their characters artistic director James Keary …