PORT DOVER:

Wooden Boats and Iron Men is an original musical celebrating life -- and death -- among the people who have worked and sailed Lake Erie.

A collaboration between Port Dover native and musician Bruce Milner and Robert More, artistic director of Port Dover's Lighthouse Theatre, the musical is a caring tribute to generations past and present, seen through the eyes of a fisherman whose love for life on the lake, inherited from his forebears, is being passed on to his son.

At the heart of the piece are Milner's songs, a fascinating blend of Celtic, country and folk, each one a gem unto itself, yet together depicting the many facets of the folklore and the everyday lives of the hardy people whose lives are centred around Lake Erie's northern shore.

More's carefully crafted script has integrated the songs into a telling, poignant saga that knew its target audience with unerring accuracy.

The result is a perfect blend of drama, humour and music.

Wooden Boats and Iron Men opened on Thursday at the Lighthouse Theatre for a two-week run and will play to packed houses because the people who live along the shores of Lake Erie will see themselves, their parents and grandparents, in every scene and song.

The cast couldn't be better for the material, and this is the crux of any play or musical.

Each of the six performers and two accompanying musicians contributed largely to the success of the work, for there was a joy and love apparent on their faces and felt through their enthusiasm for the material and their craft. Both solo and group singing were outstanding.

It was such a tight ensemble cast, with each of them playing various instruments on stage, singing solo and in consort, depicting an assortment of characters as various myths and folklore are explored, that it seems impossible to separate them into individual contributions. The strength of the company lies in the collaborative effort, and there wasn't a weakness anywhere onstage, dramatically or musically.

Heather Lea-Brown, Andrew Gamble, Christina Gordon, Aaron Solomon, Brendan Wall and Malcolm Wilson were the cast, with Richard Gulley on guitar and musical director Peter deSousa on keyboard.

Solomon and Lea-Brown picked up so many instruments through the evening I lost track, but various guitars, bass guitar, mandolin, vibraharp, banjo and Solomon's spectacular fiddling are some I remember.

Guitarist Gulley is something of a legend. By the age of 16 he had won the Canadian Flat-Picking Championship, and at 17 he won the National Flat-Picking Championship in the U.S. competing against contestants from all over the world. His solo work throughout the musical was a highlight.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the technical glitch that started the evening -- one of those nightmares of which every director lives in dread.

After the overture a series of pictures are projected with musical accompaniment -- old photographs depicting the history of the fishermen, the boats and the townspeople.

The computer-generated pictures didn't come up. And when they tried to remedy the problem, we got Windows 98 on the screen, then a start page, then a lonely cursor, then the words "no signal," as the embarrassed techies struggled to fix it. Director More took it in good stride, going onstage and doing a monologue while things got sorted out. The audience, of course, howled with laughter.

It was a wonderful evening, filled with fun and fantasy, passion and poignancy, one of the most telling at the end, when, through the song Sea of Madness, the names of all those who have lost their lives on Lake Erie were spoken by the assembled cast. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Wooden Boats & Iron Men at Lighthouse Theatre

Port Dover talent is well represented in this week's premiere of "Wooden Boats and Iron Men" at the Lighthouse Festival Theatre.

In addition to Bruce Milner, one of the co-authors of the play, musician Richard Gulley and actor Andrew Gamble are also from the Port Dover area. Milner wrote the music and lyrics for the play and worked with Director Robert More to create the dialogue for the story. "The overall story about a fictional Port Dover family is loosely based on fact," More explained. "In the first act the narrator recalls the things that made him love the lake and want to be a fisherman. In the second act, he's been on the lake for 10 years working and that is based on Bruce's own experiences on the lake."

Within the memories are historical flashbacks that centre on stories about Lake Erie, Long Point, and ships. "There are all kinds of stories about the lake and its legends and folklore woven into the overall story," the director explained.

The cast consists of six actors and two musicians. "However, the lake is really like a seventh character in the play," More said. "It develops into its own entity." Wooden Boats & Iron Men includes 14 songs written by Milner. "It's really a collection of maritime songs about Port Dover, Long Point, shipwrecks and fishing. I wrote the tunes a long time ago and Robert approached me after we did the 'Steamer Atlantic' play about hooking these songs together into some kind of play. I wrote the first version of the play and then Robert developed it into what it is today."

According to Milner, the play is not about the fishing industry so much as why the main character became a fisherman. "It's based loosely on how I grew up. My father got into fishing after the war. He had been stationed in Jarvis at the air force base there and ended up settling here. Like my Dad, I'm a jack of all trades and I've been involved in every aspect of the fish business from building boats to smoking and selling fish at the market."

Milner is pleased with how his music is being performed in the play. "Richard Gulley is one of the best guitarists in Canada and Aaron Solomon is a fantastic fiddle player. Very few people can keep up with Richard, but Aaron can. There's some really exciting music in the play because of the great musicianship." Performing in Wooden Boats & Iron Men has fulfilled one of Andrew Gamble's dreams. "When I was little and I'd go see a play, I always wanted to be in a play with an intermission. I guess I thought if the play had an intermission then it was a 'big' play."

Gamble said that his acting skills have improved and he has learned what it is like to be a member of a professional cast over the last few weeks. "We all have to work together as a team in order to make it work. Everyone has to do their share." Although the play centres around a fisherman, it also looks at the fisherman's family. "The play is also about the women involved in the fishing industry," explained actor Heather Lea-Brown. "It is also about the women and their strength as they see their husband go out on the lake every day not knowing if he would be coming back." Actor Amy King-Forbes agreed. "This is a part of Canadian history that I never thought about before. The play brings the history of Port Dover down to a personal level."

The show sponsor is Port Dover Summer Festival and media sponsor is Port Dover Maple Leaf.

For tickets, call the theatre box office at 583-2221. Wooden Boats & Iron Men runs until the end of the month.