When the story is told of the Miracle On South Division Street, local audiences have a chance to make little miracles happen for those in serious need.
Miracle On South Division Street is a play being performed on the basis of donations and discounts in the production process in order to raise money at Christmas for the Salvation Army - aiding the less fortunate of Prince George - as well as the local international aid agency 27 Million Voices that supports the less fortunate in West Africa.
Attending this play amounts to donations to these charities, with the bonus of seeing a professional theatre production.
The actors are top-drawer performers on a national level. Two of them - Corey Turner and Linda Goranson - have been on the Theatre North West stage before.
Goranson has been to Prince George to act a number of times, and also has a strong film and television CV under her name. She was seen by audiences from coast to coast and internationally as well in the film adaptation of the classic short story The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross taught in classrooms all over Canada for generations. Goranson was the star, along with Eric Robertson and August Schellenberg; the director was Bruce Pittman and the chief producer was future Order Of Canada member Michael MacMillan.
The film was nominated for Best Live-Action Short Film at the 1984 Academy Awards.
The actor's life has hardly slowed down for Goranson since then. She is ceaselessly motivated by the craft and the feeling of performing a character.
"Just in the last little while I did two shows in Thunder Bay, I just finished up a show in Fredericton, I was in Chemainus, and I got murdered in two films," she said.
"Oh, I got to die in a Stargate project; I got shot by the Goa'uld," said Turner. "I only had maybe five lines to say, but it's always a lot of fun to get to be part of a death scene. Film is really sporadic like that - quick little projects. In theatre you have to spend a lot more time and a lot more work, but you get to really dig in."
Turner and Goranson have worked together before in theatre.
In fact, they have played mother-son before, which helps their easygoing rehearsal relationship as they once again become a family in Miracle On South Division Street.
Turner is joined by Melissa Oei and Caitlin McCarthy as stage siblings visiting their mom during the holidays, and confronting some truths about a family myth and some stark family realities.
Turner and Goranson took turns marvelling at the skill of director Ted Price at choosing scripts that are built on nuggets of dysfunction so relatable to real life, but they get sluiced throughout the story by a heartwarming stream of laughter and hope.
"Ted knows how to centre us in truth. People only laugh if it's true," Turner said.
He would know a bit more about the truths of broader life than most. There is something about coming from a tiny community and going to a major centre that brings unique life lessons along for the ride.
Turner grew up in rural, agrarian Westwold, a settlement pinned in between Kamloops and Vernon, before catching the theatre bug and moving up the urban ranks from Kelowna to the Studio 58 theatre program in Vancouver to York University in Toronto and has lived and worked in England as well including a stint at the highly regarded Finborough Theatre in London.
Goranson has also worked in England, going to school at the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art along with classmate John Lithgow. She was cast in a few episodes of Coronation Street before coming back to Canada for roles in The Littlest Hobo, Street Legal, a litany of productions, but always with a special interest in live theatre.
"I like to do it all: comedy, drama, TV, film, commercials, industrials, it is all part of the tapestry. I just love to keep working," she said.
Prince George has given her plenty of it. Goranson's appearances date back to Over the River and Through the Woods in 2003, followed by Lend Me A Tenor, Other People's Money, The Glass Menagerie, Kitchen Witches, A Nice Family Gathering in 2010 and now this piece.
Turner has performed here before, starting with Leading Ladies in 1996, then Powers and Gloria, A Nice Family Gathering with Goranson as his mother, and now back to being her son in this production.
"When I come into Prince George it still gives me a breathless feeling, because it is so similar to Kamloops and I react to that similarity," said Turner.
"It's good; I look forward to that feeling."
Goranson, too, has a positive and visceral reaction to Prince George. "It has such a great arts scene and such a lot of community support for theatre," she said.
"I just love it here, I love working with Ted, so I keep coming back for more. What more could you want?"
Miracle On South Division Street opens at Art Space (upstairs at Books & Company) on Friday and runs until Dec. 6 (every night except Monday) starting at 6 p.m. plus Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $30 and all profits are earmarked for the two charities. Like food, theatre seats are perishable. If a seat goes unsold, that is lost revenue for the Salvation Army and 27 Million Voices, so organizers are hoping for sellouts with special interest in the first shows so those seats don't "go rotten" during the run.
Tickets are on sale now at Books & Company.
