Cape Breton's Magazine

to put on 1988 about a month ago. And the show we do now is so different from 1988. 1988 was the second year we had Cookie and Heather Rankin. We had Doris. We had like semi-jazz dancing. It was wonderful num? bers. "Friends," written by Doris but done by Heather and Cookie. A wonderful, ter? rific tune, fully choreographed. And those two girls, young women, moving around the stage. Probably our biggest dance number. So between Leon Dubinsky, the musical di? rector's, you know, desire for that kind of tune and that kind of number and that kind of an arrangement; Doris's tune; the youth and talent of the Rankins. But it's so foreign to even what we do now, when I look back and see. So at some point there, we went over the top and started coming back. I use "more like the Follies" just as a sense of com? parison. I don't think it's so much of go? ing backwards or forwards or anything. It's more of a benchmark, or more of a way of describing what is going on. And some would say--the music's become more tradi? tional. And that's true, too. There's al? ways been traditional music, there's al? ways been a fiddle. But those middle years, really did get quite uptown and quite contemporary--rock-y. And now we've seen a swing back to a greater emphasis on the traditional sound, and yet developing it with a full band. So the same band that George LeBlanc Cabinets CUSTOM BUILT Modem or Country Style Kitchens Vanities & Countertops LOCALLY OWNED • ALL WORK GUARANTEED • Northside Industrial Park* North Sydney (NEXT DOOR TO THE POUCE STATION) .' Phone: (902) 794-2644 • Fax: (902) 794-4897 Richard Burke and Tara Lynne Touesnard join the 1992 cast, with Doris, Fred, Max, Bette, Steve, Maynard, and Bericley. Photo by Carol Kennedy. was turning out those fully arranged, more contemporary songs is now turning their energies to fully arranged, maybe more contemporary looks at traditional songs. Gerald Tavlor: I'd worked on the '81 and the '85 Follies as stage manager. And I guess I started with the Revue in 1986 as the production manager. That was the first year, and a shorter year. I think our crowds were in the range of 6000 in '86. We played in smaller venues, too. Places like Cape North, Ingonish. You know, capacities of 350; expectations of 400 people. So we did a lot more travelling around the is? land in the early days. We were in Ari? chat. Port Hawkesbury, of course. Inverness, Marga? ree. A lot of the smaller places. And as the Revue grew, it just grew out of the ability to make finan? cial ends meet, using such a small audience base. I think it was up to about 10,000 the next year. And over the course of 10 years, we're now up to 50,000 people see it each year. (How would you travel then?) Basically, we were able to get the whole show into what you call a cube- size van. And now we're up to a five-ton truck--which is about four or five times the capacity. The stage has gotten bigger, the music