The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Director making pro debut at fringe BY SANDRA BOLAN 5, Stouffville Sun-Tribune n www.yorkregion.com n Saturday, June 30, 2012 sbolan@yrmg.com Brothers Drew and Matthew Ferris bite into their roast beef sandwiches at the barbecue. Julie believes she will only have 21 extraordinary days throughout her entire life. But when she meets Ben, Julie must decide what is worth chasing before her numbered days are up. That is the premise behind the musical 21 Days, which debuts at the Toronto Fringe Festival Thursday. Former Stouffville resident Jessica Kostuck is its director. "The fringe festival is just this amazing opportunity to create and fail," the 24-yearold McGill University graduate and founder of Bad Dress Productions told The SunTribune. "If we're going to do it, fringe is the place to do something new and challenging for the audience," she said. Ms Kostuck tried to get a production into last year's Montreal Fringe Festival, but ended up being 41st on the wait list. She decided to try the Toronto Fringe Festival but didn't have a production waiting in the wings. So when she was chosen last November, it was a mad scramble to put on an original musical production. "This year, luck was with us," she said. Ms Kostuck, who attended Saint Brother Andre Catholic High School, has always loved musical theatre. When she started at McGill there was no group dedicated to staging large-scale musicals. So she founded the Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society, which is now in its seventh season. The genre has evolved to where musicals can be just as entertaining with a handful of cast members on smaller stages, which is where Ms Kostuck fits in. "There's an audience for everything," she said. 21 Days, which runs until July 15 at the Robert Gill Theatre in Toronto, is Ms Kostuck's first semi-professional production. "It's everything I could have asked for in an experience," she said. "Even if I'm the only person in the theatre that night, I'm so proud." For show times and tickets, go to http:// fringetoronto.com Canada Day 2012 Pipa & Guitar Duet Recital Beyond Strings STAFF PHOTOS/NICK Iwanyshyn Lions serving Club president Clare Palmer cuts up some of the 600 pounds of beef cooked for the annual Stouffville Lions barbecue in Memorial Park Thursday. The end-ofschool event has been held for more than 50 years in Stouffville. The fun continues in the park all weekend at the 28th annual Strawberry Festival. Main Street is closed to vehicle traffic in the downtown core until 7 p.m. today. ROMAN SMIRNOV WENDY-WEN ZHAO East meets West upon the fingerboards of two of the world's most haunting plucked instruments: the Chinese pipa and the Spanish guitar. Alternating solos from each instrument's traditional repertoire give way to an experimental finale where the two instruments join together as a cross-cultural duo. GorillaNet.caInc. 19 Civic Avenue, Stouffville, ON Tickets available at the door: $ 25 / $20 (students and seniors). For more information: 905-640-2322 | www.wendyzhao.com | www.romansmirnov.com Saturday, July 21st, 7:30 pm LEBOVIC CENTRE FOR ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT