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stouffville suntribune thursday feb 3 2005 13 bat boy wings its way to ontario by hannelore volpe staff writer former stouffville resi dent michael mcginn is the director of bat boy a quirky musical which previews in toronto wednesday the new yorker described the musical as v having the plot of a hollywood bmovie a rockin musical score and wicked humour with a seri ous intellectual undercur rent it is currently on run in london england the story begins with the discovery of a small creature half bat and half boy by three teenagers exploring a cave in west virginia the creature tries to make the transformation into a respectable citizen after being taken in by a family that both adores and despises him however things soon start to go wrong jay t schramek is bat boy and laura caswell plays bat boys love inter est both are from toronto i have had a lot of suc cess with musical theatre fun crazy kinds of shows mr mcginn said he describes bat boy as a journey of self- discovery with the main character representing everyman along the way this hom age to musical theatre manages to highlight styles from vaudeville to lez miserables cats miss saigon jesus christ superstar and other pro ductions mr mcginn has been directing for 15 years with a smattering of acting and producing thrown in hes been fortunate he said in being able to work in his home country most of his work has been in the toronto and southern ontario area c have had a lot of success with musical theatre fun crazy kinds of shows crafting together enough work to keep busy it is a very lucky thing he said i have been fortunate enough to be successful with it he was assistant direc tor at the stratford festival for three seasons and direc tor in residence for the york region catholic school board for four years at the meaford theatre he was part of the team directing works such as cabaret the fantastic voyage of christopher columbus and gheatin hearts he has been teaching acting and musical theatre at george brown college the drama workshop and at york university all in toronto and for the musi cal theatre department at celebration of the arts gala event saturday some of the brightest per formers in york region will be showcased at a benefit performance saturday the event will feature celebration of the arts win ners from the dance vocal and music categories the york region newspaper groups celebration of the arts talent search the brainchild of publisher ian proudfoot rewards select participants with 1500 bursaries studio recording time and other prizes saturdays event will high light last years bursary win ners the gala started as a cus tomer appreciation event but this event is open to the public the public should have the opportunity to see the quality of talent in york region said marsha winton vicechairperson of the celebration of the arts talent search the intent of the talent search and bursary program is to broaden support for arts in the community theres a lot spent on sports but not for the arts thats what were trying to encourage ms winton said the event is at the newmarket theatre at 730 pm for tickets call 9059535122 to contribute to this years bursary program contact debra weller chairperson of celebration of the arts york region newspaper group at dwelleryrngcom or 905- 2942200 ext 3304 computer giving you headaches to the most complex compter problems rqueslvpurepyio w- the university of windsor as the resident teacher for etobicoke creative artsarts express he will be directing a childrens version of macbeth for rhombus media shortly he has also directed godspell 2000 at the bathurst street theatre and forbidden broadway almost famous and the sound of music at the limelight dinner theatre in toronto mr mcginn attended stouffville district secondary school before going on to studies in act ing at the university of waterloo and musical the atre at sheridan college in oakville this summer hell be returning to the toronto zoo to direct another amazing animal show starring the keepers and animals of the zoo bat boys regular run opens feb 22 and contin ues until april 16 at the bathurst street theatre tickets are available by calling ticketmaster at 4168725555 or by logging on to www ticketmaster ca michael mcginn financing liaijisdrion sale all demolsmust go 2004 galant gts- 38l v6 auto leather sunroof air power group traction control only 21 000 kms 1 only 2004 lancer ralliart- 5 speed sunroof lowering kit stage 1 kit evo viii spoiler only 15000 kms1 only 2004 lancer oz rally auto air sunroof abs only 18000 kms1 only mm 4611 hwy 7 markham 150080 west of kennedvlin unionville it www v j