This Saturday, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124 is trading quiet pints for sing-alongs, theatre and a chance to hit the dance floor.
The Legion will host a three-part evening, featuring Maja Bannerman and her husband, Rusty McCarthy, with whom she often shares the stage for their various projects.
The show invites Niagara-on-the-Lake to journey from wartime sing-alongs to Bannerman’s dramatic “Anne of Green Gables” performance, “This is Anne, Older & Wiser,” and ends with a lively cabaret set.
The evening kicks off at 7 p.m. with a short set of First World War songs led by McCarthy, with lyric sheets on hand for anyone who wants to sing along.
“This is part of the reason of doing it at the Legion around this time of year, because of Remembrance Day,” Bannerman told The Lake Report.
After the sing-along, Bannerman will then perform a one-woman play, portraying Anne Shirley Blythe of “Anne of Green Gables” in her later years, looking back on her life.
About 90 per cent of the script draws from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic 1908 novel about the spirited red-haired orphan from Prince Edward Island, Bannerman said. The 50-minute play also features live music and soundscapes by McCarthy.
Following another short intermission and costume change, the couple will return to the stage for Rusty & Maja’s Kitchen Party Cabaret — an upbeat show blending original and classic pop songs with audience participation.
“They love to dance at the Legion,” Bannerman said.
“It feels more like, ‘OK, this is the cast party.'”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at 410 King St. and tickets are $20, with proceeds supporting the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124.
Tickets can be purchased at the Legion bar or by e-transfer to legion124@gmail.com and charcuterie boards and a cash bar will be available.
