By Melanie Minty, arts columnist
SURREY — It’s a golden anniversary for Surrey Arts Centre, and of course there is a party. You can’t have a significant anniversary without a party, after all.
At the arts centre on Wednesday, March 14, a gala celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. with food and history displays. A concert follows with BC World Music Collective – each of the artists contributing to the “tour” of the world through music and multiculturalism. Tickets are $29 to $49; call the box office at 604 501-5566 or online at tickets.surrey.ca.
One evening of celebration cannot possible tell all the stories that are important to the making and evolution of Surrey Arts Centre and its theatre. Although classroom, meeting room, office space, lobby and gallery areas have undergone changes over the years, it is the theatre (now called Main Stage, following the addition of the Studio Theatre) that, for me at least, has seen the most change and development.
CLICK HERE to read the “anniversary pages” in Surrey Arts Centre’s current brochure.
Surrey’s first cultural centre, the Centennial Arts Centre, was opened in February of 1968 and cost $200,000. Wow. You can’t even buy a one-bedroom apartment in Surrey for that price anymore. But 50 years ago, a fairly large building was plopped down in a corner of Bear Creek Park.
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I think it was kind of a shock for the municipality, as it was known then. “Surrey” and “culture” were not usually two words put together. See what 50 years of excellence can achieve. Surrey is now designated as one of the cultural capitals of Canada and the Surrey Arts Centre, then and now, is the core.
Thousands of people have performed on this stage, or worked backstage and have been intimately involved in the evolution of the theatre. Roger Hussen, who has been involved with 50 productions at the theatre, remembers that his first experience on the Surrey Arts Centre Stage was in a 1984 presentation of Iolanthe produced by Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society (now known as FVGSS). This was just after the 1982-83 renovations; there have been many more.
“Our families grew up on that stage,” Hussen recalled. His children James, Tracey and Robin all performed in FVGSS pantomimes, and wife Mari Anne still continues the tradition of the Hussen family with backstage work for FVGSS. Other FVGSS families have shared the Hussen experience, including mine. Sometimes I think I spent more time at Surrey Arts Centre than at home! FVGSS was a family, and the theatre was our social gathering place.
• READ MORE: Golden memories of Surrey Arts Centre for opening-night performer, from Feb. 26.
Some people with early action at Surrey Arts Centre continue to work there today. Christina Campbell (“Mad Margaret” in the 1992 production of Ruddigore by FVGSS) is now the performing arts programmer at the facility. Lyn Verra-Lay, a cultural ambassador for B.C. Culture Days last year, has not only performed on that stage, but has multi-layed jobs at the Arts Centre. There are so many more stories. It’s mostly about local people who have performed at the arts centre, and really deeply care about the building.
Carol Seitz, who runs Classic Steps Stage Productions, recalls the “Follies” series – like Follies on Broadway – put on by the Atomic Blueberry Company in 1974-75. That company may no longer exist, but Seitz shows up annually at the arts centre as choreographer for FVGSS, and at the Surrey Festival of Dance with her troupe of adult tap dancers. It’s a life lived around the performing arts. Ah yes, I do recall the orchestra pit. The thrust part of the stage is made up of removable blocks that can open up the pit or close it. For an FVGSS pantomime (Cinderella) I was a tap-dancing horse – choreographed by Seitz – and I almost fell into said pit. Oh, such memories.
Carol Girardi, president of the Arts Council of Surrey, and very involved with the Surrey Festival of Dance in its long history, looks back at 48 years of festivals at the theatre. That’s almost the entire history of the Surrey Festival of Dance. The month-long festival probably uses the most hours of theatre space there annually, every April, and is a big event on the theatre’s calendar.
Tyra Sergant, dance teacher and current owner of Flora Pigeau Dance Academy, recalls her days as a dancer at the Surrey Festival. She describes the place as “always lovely” and appreciates the new, as well as the backstage area she thinks of as “nostalgic,” from her days as a competitive dance student. There have been changes, though, even backstage.
More dressing rooms were added, better lighting for the stage, additional “fly” bars and a box office are the most noticeable changes. Imagine the days before the box office. Of course you would expect changes over 50 years.
Happy birthday to Surrey Arts Centre, a “second home” for so many Surrey residents.