Footlights sends a fond farewell to a founder

Lively City column by Dan Hilborn
Published July 1, 2005


She's saying goodbye to the footlights and hello to a more relaxed life of real retirement.

Beverley Adams, one of the founding members of the Footlight Theatre Company, stepped aside earlier this year after volunteering with the group since its inception in 1977.

"It has been a satisfying run and has certainly been an education for me to have learned about this type of entertainment," Adams wrote to the Burnaby NOW. "I always say that vaudeville never died, it just moved to television."

Adams did it all for the little theatre company that stages most of its shows at Burnaby Village Museum and the James Cowan Theatre. She wrote a two-hour musical for Burnaby's Centennial celebrations which won a special award at the Community Theatre Coalition and, in 1997, she won a lifetime achievement award from the same group. Adams was named a Local Hero by the City of Burnaby in 2001.

A vocal coach and performer with Footlights, Adams also worked with Coquitlam Junior Theatre and the Carl Orff music program at St. Michael's school in Burnaby. In the 1980s, she also served on the village museum's former board of directors.

She credited Rob Morton, Roxanne Pallone, Mauryne Allan, John McArtney, Joy Buzza and, especially, John Adams (no relation) for helping to bring old-style family entertainment to Burnaby.

One of her most unique projects was the revival of the 1860's period piece Box and Cox, the play that once featured city founder Robert Burnaby in one of the lead roles when it was staged in the provincial capital almost 150 years ago. Her 2003 production of the play earned local actor Karen Lindh a nomination for the best performance by a lead actress.

A special goodbye ceremony was held earlier this year in the Brookfield Hall to commemorate her many thousands of hours of volunteer work. Kudos, and enjoy your time off. You deserve it, Beverley!

FOLK FEST ON TAP

There will be a little bit of Burnaby in the air when the Vancouver Folk Music Festival returns to Jericho Beach July 15, 16 and 17.

Burnaby residents Matt and Trevor Chan will bring their turntable spinning talents to the big tents when their electro-funk hip hop outfit No Luck Club takes to the stage the 28th annual incarnation of all things musical.

The brothers are regular DJs at the SFU radio station, CJSF, and are working on a trilogy of recordings loosely based on the Chinese deities symbolizing luck and good fortune.

Also at the festival will be local impresario David Myles, who is co-chair of the festival's medical committee.

"It may sound corny, but to me the festival is a nice place to go," said Myles. "It's a nice reminder of how the world could be."

For a complete list of performers, including the Wailin' Jennys, who will also be coming to the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival, see their website at www.thefestival.bc.ca.