Big Picture Theatre
5019 50 St T0B2C0 Holden, AB, Canada

WANNA BE A SKYSCRAPER? Our theatre school for grades 7 and up resumes Monday September 27th at 4:30pm, at the Paragon Theatre in Holden. Join us for improv games, script study, listening skills, communication and most of all, fun! You don’t have to be a ‘theatre kid’ to join Skyscrapers, but you do need to be adaptable, hard working, fun, and willing to join in and learn.... Please note that class size is extremely limited due to covid restrictions, so if you want to join, be there for the open house! The course is not a drop-in and late enrollments are not permitted. Class is divided into 2 halves, the WORK HARD first half and the PLAY HARD second half. The first half is script study, monologues, voice lessons you know, ‘work’, but you’ll be having so much fun you won’t notice! After a break we come back for a second play hard half of zany improv and theatre games. Classes run from 4:30-7pm on Mondays throughout the school year. Check the calendar page for the schedule. Each student is given a speaking role in the Showcase performance at the end of the season (April 29 & 30, 2022). When we return after Christmas break we start work on the Showcase script. Showcase ’21 was a fantastic private all-nighter by firelight! But if covid restrictions allow it, we want to get back to a real live performance for you. We’ve planned it for April 29 & 30. Stay tuned! Direct inquiries to [email protected]. Visit www.bigpicturetheatre.ca for more information.

Congratulations Hazel Carter now working on Drama 20 credits through Big Picture Theatre! Drama 10 credits in the bag, working on the next step now. Hazel collated and submitted basically all the paperwork on her own. Well done!

Parents and students please check your email inbox for updates. I spent considerable time on hold with the government today to clarify matters. Since the latest newsletter, Beaver County has been included as an enhanced measures area. I'll provide more details on the Nov. 27th exemptions referred to in the newsletter as they become available.

It’s our tenth anniversary, and I’m more than pleased to announce that Beaver County has awarded sponsorship to the Big Picture Theatre Foundation again this year! I’ve calculated that I put just under 300 hours a year into this program. It does not receive the recognition of other organizations in the village, because I do almost all of it myself and only ask for help when I need it. So I am humbled and grateful that the County has backed this program strongly for years now.... Fees are very modest, and this year they basically just cover insurance. For a couple of seasons I kept them as compensation for my time and effort but I’ve stopped doing that and have gone back to running the program as a volunteer. It’s no exaggeration to say the program wouldn’t even exist without sponsors and donors. Apart from Showcase ticket revenue, every other expense has to come from outside. We’re going to start rehearsals soon for our 10th anniversary Showcaseall over again! Stay tuned! https://bigpicturetheatre.ca/beaver-county-sponsorship/

Hey everybody, just a reminder that there is no class tonight due to fall break. We'll see you crazy pirates next week! https://bigpicturetheatre.ca/calendar

Here's our latest movie! We were hoping to make this the first one we shot, but the weather just didn't cooperate on Monday nights. Finally at the beginning of November we got a clear enough sky and warm enough temps! Color correcting and chroma keying were a nightmare because by the time we wrapped it was pitch black outside and the only light we had was from the theatre entrance lights. Jerica kept having to park the car to take advantage of whatever light we had. But it wa...s super fun to shoot! Philip and Anna on their way to class with Marcus and Jerica. Hazel was my AD for this one, with Andrew, Corbin and Juleya either on chroma or wardrobe duty. I hope I remembered to take the tape marks off the street... This one was an exercise in green screen, overlay spfx and the challenges of shooting outdoors. We had to wait for the occasional train or passing vehicle in order to get decent enough audio, but we hope you like it! We're probably done film for now; it's back to improv, theatre sports and prepping for April's Showcase performance!

The last class before Halloween is always fun, but this year we kicked it up a notch and did a murder mystery night! The Creepy Green Skull Upstairs handed out clues and everybody had a great time! Everybody tried on an accent here and there, but sadly I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch it. Probably gonna do more of these.

We made this fun little movie last night at theatre class! Here's what happens when you wear a magic hat during a gunfight. Instruction, setup and shooting took the whole class, but it was a ton of fun and Corbin earned his superhero badge by launching himself off the stage! The gnomes didn't really take selfies with Tristen's phone. That part's totally made up.