Page 6 - 10 Years! The Story of The Cape Breton Summertime Review

ISSUE : Issue 68

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1995/6/1

were done without P.A. systems. Were done without microphones. Were done without am? plification of any kind. Even at the Rebbecca Cohn! I may be a little bit wrong-- there might have been some floor mikes just reinforcing. But nobody sang into a microphone. It was straight piano, not electric. And there were acoustic guitars, acoustic piano, fiddles. No electric instruments. Okay, I'm going to give this the lie already. The final Follies in '85--we didn't have drums on stage, but we had a band in the pit, and they were on mike--lowly miked, and reinforcing. Doris Mason, and McGinty. But they were in the pit; they were not on stage. And I think that probably encour? aged us to get drums. Because that created a fuller sound. 'Cause we added like four people, filling the sound from this just basically acoustic-type show. So they were miked, I think, but they were miked just at a level below the natural acoustics of the people onstage. But the addition of drums brought in the electric guitars, brought in miking. In 1990, Mary Morrison met Matt Minglewood. Forever after, at the mentlonll of his name, she would do the Minglewood Strum. 7 Union St. • GLACE BAY • 842-1522 (next to Savoy Theatre) Hand Crafts • Rugs • Wreaths • Wall Hangings Battenburg Laces • Seagull Pewter Duvet Covers Children's Mobiles Cape Breton Books & Tapes Exquisite Collectables Antique Reproductions OPEN MAY to SEPT. 12 mi. from Sydney on Hillside Rd. 564-1824 Water Farm Cafe: Delicious Hot Meals Chicken Fingers * Hamburgers * Pizza I Drinks * Light Groceries * Camp Supplies J LOVELY BEACH & DOCK • KIDS' GAMES ROOM TENTING/TRAILER SITES • LAUNDRY/SHOWERS ~ On the Beautiful Mira River ~ Available for Birthday Parties Picnics Special Events Special Rates for Groups brought in technical needs--brought in more control over the sound, brought in a more contemporary ele? ment to the sound. And you know, you can probably substitute "brought in" with "left out," as well. I think we left behind some? thing when we picked that up. I mean, Rita had been in two Follies, in '80 and '81, singing totally a cappella. Rita sang "Working Man" in the Follies, just by her? self. And the power of that moment--you know, I don't think anything we've ever done with a huge soundboard and drums and everything else--as wonderful as the people we are and as wonderful as our sound has become--I don't think we've ever surpassed the magic and the power of that moment. Or, of course, back to the first time "The Island" was sung in the first Follies with eighteen people. Or Ronnie MacEachern, that plaintive voice, singing "Go Off on Your Way." I mean, I don't think we've ev? er topped that. Leon Dubinsky: Well, I was involved with some of the Follies on the periphery. I ~ Your Road to the Isle of Cape Breton ? Travelodge 49 Newly-Renovated Units P.O. Box 190 PORT HASTINGS Nova Scotia BOE 2T0 (902)625-1300 • fax (902) 625-1300 stay Satisfied

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