Tuesday, February 11, 2014

This tough old broad's still got it

Me and the Farm Manager headed into town Saturday night to catch a spot of theatre. The local theatre company was putting on Calendar Girls, and the octogenarian mostly known as "Bubby" around here was to take a turn on the stage as Lady Cravenshire.

Bubby, aka Lady Cravenshire, aka Ruth Gorbet, has been a fixture with the local theatre company for well over half a century. She literally has theatre in her blood. She hails from a long line of Polish Jews who made their living in theatre long before they made it to the new land.

Once in the new land most of the extended family settled into more conventional professions. Not all of them though. Cousin Fred Reinglas made a very successful career as a stage manager on Broadway.

Owen Sound is truly blessed to have a theatre community around the Roxy that puts many larger centres to shame. Ruth found her way to Owen Sound because she married the son of a local furrier. In 1961 she was one of the folks in the local little theatre who bought the Roxy and made it the home base for one of Canada's most durable theatre companies, the Owen Sound Little Theatre.

Lady Cravenshire isn't a major role in this play, but Bubby pulled it off with aplomb. She's still got it. If she'd ended up in Manhattan instead of Owen Sound she would have put "the broad" into Broadway. I've now had the pleasure of seeing her on stage a few times, and she totally nails things down. There has never been a more perfect Lady Cravenshire.

In the half a century since that founder's group bought the property, Ruth has been constantly involved in acting, directing, producing, promoting... hell, she got her liquor server licence just a couple of years ago so she could help out at the bar at intermission!

I'm proud. We're proud! The forbears in Lodz and Krakow are proud!

Nice job, Ruth!

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