Canadian Theater Tour

October 14– October 18
Sponsored by the Great Neck (NY) Adult Program




Theatre lecturer Shirley Romaine is the tour’s experienced instruc¬tor/leader. Shirley has led tours around the world for over 10 years.  She will also host post-theater meetings and discussions with theater personalities.



The superb quality of two renowned Canadian theatre festivals is on display on our autumn tour. Led by Shirley Romaine, the trip is a theatre lover's dream with four superb performances.  We fly from New York to Buffalo and travel by private motor coach  to lively Stratford where we spend two nights, and then continue to the storybook village of Niagara-On-The-Lake for two nights.  Our hotels are conveniently located near the theatres and sights.  The tour is based on a minimum of 15 people.   Deposit is due July 1, 2009.






1.  Wednesday, October 14     
Depart from a New York airport in the morning on a nonstop flight to Buffalo. Upon arrival, travel directly, via private motor coach, to the lively town of Stratford for lunch and to check into the beautiful Arden Park Hotel, in the center of town. The hotel’s facilities include an indoor pool, hot tub, and restau¬rant.  
Tonight, enjoy a welcome dinner before our first performance at the oldest Shakespeare Festival in North America, which is widely reputed to perform the finest Shakespeare on this side of the Atlantic. The grounds surrounding the Festival Theater include an art gallery and flower gardens, as well as a beautiful lake, which is surrounded by walking paths.  
 
We have tickets for a Stephen Sondheim favorite, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In ancient Rome, the slave Pseudolus yearns for freedom, while his young master pines for the girl next door. In exchange for his freedom, Pseudolus promises to find a way to unite the young lovers. But even in musical comedy, the course of true love never runs smooth. Mistaken identities, frantic chases, lascivious husbands, men in dresses, long-lost children, mixed-up potions, and more—it all adds up to one of the funniest musicals ever written.  
(lunch/dinner)  
 



2.  Thursday, October 15     
This morning, take a sightseeing tour of the town to explore the classic English setting, the perfect environment for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Afterwards, tour the Festival’s Costume Warehouse, where thousands of costumes and hundreds of props from many years of theater are catalogued and stored. You’ll marvel at the talent of the Festival’s world-class designers, scenic and wardrobe staff, and prop makers.  
Following lunch, see Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Returning from battle, Macbeth encounters three mysterious women who tell him he will become king. Urged on by his wife, he decides to take his destiny in hand by murdering King Duncan as he sleeps. But as one atrocity leads inexorably to another, Macbeth finds that the choices we make can have unexpected consequences. Plunging us into a nightmare world of eternal darkness and terror, Shakespeare’s great tragedy remains the definitive study of the descent into evil.  
Dinner is on your own. At press time, the eve¬ning activity is still in its planning stage.  
(breakfast/lunch)  
 



3.  Friday, October 16     
After breakfast, travel to the storybook village of Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful town full of lush parks and gardens and some of Canada’s finest Victorian architecture. Niagara-on-the-Lake recently won an award as the “Prettiest Town in Canada.” En route, visit a local winery and enjoy lunch before checking into the Prince of Wales Hotel. Located in the heart of historic Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Prince of Wales is an oasis of Victorian elegance filled with twenty-first-century comforts.  
There is free time to enjoy the lovely town and dinner on you own before an evening performance of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounters. Repressed love, after a chance meeting at a train station; flaming passion, from a single dance across the floor; mis¬taken identity, following a passing holiday acquain¬tance—three different stories inspired by three brief moments in time. Each is a miniature delight from the pen of Coward.  
(breakfast/lunch)  
 



4.  Saturday, October 17     
After breakfast, take a backstage tour of the Festival theater. Enjoy free time, followed by lunch.  
Our matinee performance is the award-winning musical from Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George. This is a compelling story about love, art, and inspiration. Spend Sundays in the park with the French Impressionist painter, Georges Seurat, as he creates his masterpiece, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” Hear from the figures in the painting about their lives and loves—especially Dot, the woman with the umbrella and Seurat’s mistress and muse. A hundred years later, see his great-grandson, an¬other artist, learn from the ghosts of the past.  
Tonight, celebrate at a farewell dinner.  
(breakfast/lunch/dinner)  
 



5.  Sunday, October 18     
After checking out of the hotel this morning, travel to Buffalo and visit the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, a world-known center of modern art, which is rich in post-war, American, and European art. The museum is noted for its collections of contemporary painting and sculpture, including American and European art of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. The gallery has a permanent collection of art from many centu¬ries, including paintings by French Impressionists  
Enjoy lunch, before heading home.  
The nonstop flight to New York leaves Buffalo in the late afternoon.  
(breakfast/lunch)  
 





This engaging experience includes:

  • Round-trip, non-stop airfare, LaGuardia or JFK/Buffalo
  • 4 theater performances, 2 at the Shaw Festival, 2 at the Stratford Festival
  • 2 nights at Arden Park Hotel in Stratford, Ontario
  • 2 nights at Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
  • Breakfast daily, 2 dinners, 5 lunches
  • Tour of the Costume Warehouse, Stratford;
  • Theater talks in Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake
  • Tour of Stratford and Niagara sights
  • Winery tour
  • Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo
PRICING and NOTES:  
$1,939 (per person, double occupancy). Single occupancy, subject to availability, $399 additional.  Great Neck Nonresident surcharge, $25.  
 
Send deposit of $400 ($425 if nonresident), payable to:  
Great Neck Public Schools,  
30 Cumberland Ave., Great Neck, NY 11020 with registration. For more information and/or registration, call (516) 773-1713