North Frontenac Little Theatre presents original musical

Kathy Bonsall | Nov 02, 2016

Excitement is growing as rehearsals in the Granite Ridge Education Centre (GREC) auditorium are getting closer and closer together, and cast and crew are getting very close to pulling all the aspects of their upcoming presentation of “TURTLE CROSSINGS” together. This is a brand new musical play that was written by one of NFLT’s and Sharbot Lake’s very own long-time members and residents, Craig Godfrey.

Craig relocated to Kingston a few years ago, but has a family property and cottage he has been spending March thru Novembers at for over 60 years. He taught in area schools while living and raising his family in Sharbot Lake for over 25 years.

As a dedicated member of NFLT from almost the beginning, he has been both a performer and has been involved in the production of too many performances to count over the years. Craig received the North Frontenac Little Theatre lifetime recognition award in 2014 for his efforts. He decided to take a turn at writing on his own, and three years ago started to work on his novel “The Custodian of Turtle Crossings”. He has now adapted it to the musical presentation we are all going to have the pleasure of seeing at the end of November.

The play revolves around Tesah Carter, a single 39-year-old high school music teacher and part-time singer in a band. While singing at an open mic night with her friends, Tesah shares her plans for the future and in so doing, travels back in time to her childhood cottage years. Tesah relives some cherished, and some not so cherished, memories of cottage days when she was young. Through her sharing, we revisit a young teen’s life as she grows up at the lake, and we witness the powerful bond she develops with Billy, the older boy next door, who used to look after her.

Tesah looked up to Billy as her guardian angel, or custodian, but on prom night her pastoral cottage life comes crashing down around her. Years later Tesah cannot escape the deep internal longing to get back to the peace and serenity the lake of her childhood and her “Guardian” used to offer her. Turning to prayer, we see how a spiritual re-awakening and the caring love of her “Guardian” combine to bring an unforeseen joy into her world as Tesah finally garners the strength to face her past and return to her family cottage.

“TURTLE CROSSINGS” has a number of returning NFLT regular performers, including Pam Giroux, John Stephen, Danielle Quenneville, Ken Fisher, Dick Miller and Martina Field, but there are going to be a lot of new faces from Sharbot Lake and surrounding areas as well.

It is very exciting to welcome new talent to NFLT’s productions, including several students (and two former students) from GREC, as well as several people from the Arden area – and of course brand new talent and singers to add even more to this original show and its original musical numbers.

The show is being presented November 24 – November 27, and tickets are available from cast & crew members, or at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, Godfrey General Store, and Verona Hardware RONA. Make sure to get your tickets early because this is sure to be a fun one!