Patricia Sands

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Toronto’s Famous People Players Inspire And Delight!

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FPP’s Mission Statement: “OUR MISSION is to inspire people to achieve more. To instill in the hearts and minds of everyone that dreams can come true when you believe in yourself.”

 

On Saturday three generations of our family laughed and applauded our way through the afternoon performance of the Famous People Players holiday presentation. Never heard of them? Prepare to be inspired.

In 1974, Diane Dupuy had a dream and a vision. Today Diane and her Famous People Players continue to live the dream loud and strong bringing joyful entertainment to audiences in Toronto and around the world. Click here to visit their website.

FPP proudly states it is a non-profit organization which employs people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Those individuals share duties in dining room management, arts administration, and theatrical and visual arts performances. With requests being received from around the world, one troupe remains in Toronto and another tours. Do yourself, your family and friends a favour and get on over to catch a meal and a show.

HISTORICAL MILESTONES:

1980 – Famous PEOPLE Players were chosen by New York’s Radio City Music Hall to choreograph, the first stage production of the “Sorcerers Apprentice”. This was a very important event, as the Famous PEOPLE Players would be officially reopening this famous Hall.

1982 – Famous PEOPLE Players was the first western group to be invited to perform in the People’s Republic of China.

1984 – Joe Cates, a highly regarded producer for television, saw Famous PEOPLE Players at Radio City Music Hall and signed them on the spot for a CBS two-hour movie of the week, “Special People”.

1985 – FPP appeared for a one-hour special on the Phil Donahue Show which was the highest rated Donahue show.

1986 – Famous PEOPLE Players opened on Broadway at the historical Lyceum Theatre. “A Little Like Magic” earned rave reviews.

1994 – New York beckoned the company once again and Famous PEOPLE Players returned with “A Little More Magic” at the Belasco Theatre. After lengthy tours, the Famous PEOPLE Players needed to settle to a place called home.

February 18th, 1994 – Famous PEOPLE Players opened the first dinner theatre dedicated to people with special needs where the veteran performers who no longer perform could further enhance their life skills. Actor Paul Newman who had become a big supporter and fan of Famous PEOPLE Players, generously underwrote the restaurant through the sales of Newman’s Own products.

Phil Collins, saw the company perform in Toronto and was ‘wowed’ by their artistic ability and interpretation of his music on stage. Meeting Phil Collins became such a major force of inspiration to the Famous PEOPLE Players that they now call him “Uncle Phil” and their theatre is called the Phil Collins performance workshop.

In 2009, FPP moved to its current spacious location (bonus – tons of free parking!) in Toronto’s west end. The walls of the new dinner theatre are covered with photos of famous celebrities who have visited and supported this exceptional group.

The black light theatre performances provided by this troupe never cease to amaze. With a variety of shows throughout the year, if you are lucky you  might still be able to snag a ticket to the current holiday production. All the details are included in the following video. Hurry – make your plans now! You will be so pleased you did.

Bonjour mes amis!

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Please join me in the south of France for the summer! My husband and I have rented an apartment in Antibes between Nice and Cannes. We have visited this area on several vacations and fell in love with the beauty, the history, the culture, the people, the weather … I could go on but you will see what I mean … and besides that, I LOVE to speak French! I think I must have been born here in another life!

The two most important criteria we wanted for our accommodation were location and view and we have both to perfection. In fact, there really is no need for a car as we can get to so many places all along the Riviera and even into Italy from the train station just down the street. The town of Antibes is more like a village and one walks everywhere. There’s a car rental agency around the corner from us if we want to go further afield from time to time.

As you know, photography is a passion of mine so my beloved Canon Rebel XT has been steaming. I’ll get some photos organized and share them here in the next week or so. We’ve spent the past few weeks getting settled here and also having visits from some good friends, which we’ve spent exploring and discovering. I’ll share some of those discoveries as well – beautiful perched villages, switchback roads that open onto stunning vistas, talented artists and traditional artisans, fabulous coastal towns and beaches, architecture that takes your breath away from the very simple to the sumptuous, and restaurants … oo la la, the restaurants.

What does this have to do with my writing? Well I’ve been working on my next novel and when I knew we were coming to this part of the world for an extended time, my storyline moved over here too. I’m busy making notes and plotting and hopefully will have something close to a finished product by the time we leave. It’s easy to be motivated here as the ghosts of  artists come to you in the narrow streets lined with shuttered houses, many hundreds of years old. Writers as early back as 1500 BC left their work in caves in the area. In the last few centuries a long list of  influential writers found inspiration here including Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, DeMaupassant, Edith Wharton, Somerset Maugham, Graham Green, James Joyce, Nabakov, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pound, Sylvia Plath and the list goes on. Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Chagall, Picasso, Bracque, Miro  are just a few of another equally long list of painters and sculptors who found the special light and air of the south of France irresistible.

The musical history of the area, particularly during the Jazz Age, is also impressive and we are excited to be here for the Jazz Festival of Nice in early July, followed by the 51st anniversary of Jazz A Juan in next-door Juan-Les-Pins. More on those later.

If spending an extended time in a different part of the world is something that appeals to you, talk to me about it. We are experienced home exchangers and renters and I have lots of good tips. I’m happy to say we have never had a bad experience.

There’s a small fish market on the pier at the end of our street so I’m off to consider our dinner menu and shoot some more photos of the local fishermen cleaning their nets.

A bientot! (Now I’ll have to figure out how to add the french accents to my text!)

2011 BookExpo America – what’s new and what’s next!

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There’s a lot of book buzz in The Big Apple this week! The largest annual book fair in the United States is being held May 23 to 26 in New York City. Commonly referred to as BEA, BookExpo America is the book industry’s premier trade show in the USA. Locations sometimes vary but each spring booksellers from across the country are provided with an opportunity to preview publishers’ upcoming titles, as well as take part in education and information sessions, author breakfasts and lunches, and other special events. Networking rules! In addition, authors, editors, librarians, buyers for book retailers, and the literati in general get to immerse themselves in a three-day bookfest visiting booths and exhibits and socializing with colleagues. Somewhere in that mix and amongst thousands of other books, The Bridge Club is being exhibited on a bookshelf and in catalogues. It’s a thrill and an honour! Perhaps one of these years I’ll actually get to be there as well. It never hurts to dream!
Click here to read about all of the exciting events.