kris and community theatre at their best on valley heritage radio
Before I returned to Quebec in 2011 to take care of my mom who lived with dementia, I practiced public and media relations as well as marketing communications in Alberta and the United Arab Emirates for a combined total of about twenty-five years. I also worked as a lifestyle journalist and deputy editor for an entertainment magazine in the UAE.
So taking on the volunteer role of ‘publicity ninja’ for Spinning Yarns: The Millworkers’ Musical was a comparatively small gig in the whole scheme of things. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t as important as any of the bigger projects I’ve worked on. Whatever I do – large or little, from marketing to motorcycling – I take seriously.
And I love to collaborate with professionals in the process.
Thanks to an introduction through Tony Bove, one of our Spinning Yarns cast members and also the director of the Capital City Chorus, I set up an interview on Valley Heritage Radio for our play director, Kris Riendeau, who is also publisher of TheHumm.
In case you don’t know (as I didn’t until last week), Valley Heritage Radio (CJHR – 98.7 FM) is “is the Ottawa Valley’s first, non-profit, community owned and operated, full-powered, volunteer-run, English-language radio station” with studios located “just east of the Town of Renfrew, in Horton Township, at 3009 Burnstown Road.”
I’ve probably ridden my motorcycle by their place dozens of times without noticing it. But I sure noticed their professionalism before, during and after Kris’s interview!
Producer John McMaster was super easy to communicate with and very forgiving when I was embarrassingly slow to respond. Host and morning man Andrew Cartwright did a great job with the interview and skilfully managed to deal with my mixing up the dates for the ticket giveaway. OOPS! (Even pros sometimes make mistakes 🙂 )
As if all of that wasn’t enough, John kindly sent me a download of the interview when I asked for one afterward, which is why you may listen to it below. (TYSM John and Andrew!)
Kris and Andrew had a lively conversation with plenty of laughs. On a more serious note, Kris’ answered why, when Spinning Yarns: The Millworkers’ Musical sold out, we did not add another performance or extend the show’s run. Our rave reviews caused ‘ticket-less’ folks to feel disappointed they hadn’t acted soon enough. All of the Spinning Yarns cast and crew are sorry that not everyone who wanted to see the show will get to experience it.
Who knows? Maybe some other group of talented community minded people will re-weave Spinning Yarns in the future… In the meantime, have a listen to Andrew Cartwright’s interview with Kris Riendeau on the Morning Show and make sure to tune into Valley Heritage Radio for local news, music and more.
© 2023 Susan Macaulay. I invite you to share my poetry and posts widely, but please do not reprint, reblog or copy and paste them in their entirety without my permission. Thank you.
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