Music lovers will be treated to a musical journey through the decades as the Weyburn Rotary Club presents the “Legends” show, a concert featuring country, soul and rock-n-roll at the Cugnet Centre on Friday, March 23, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The concert will be put on by Devra Straker and Friends, a group that includes five performers and a four-piece band.
This won’t be Straker’s first visit to the Cugnet Centre, as she was part of the cast of the “Ring of Fire” musical brought to Weyburn by the Globe Theatre, and before that was part of a Patsy Cline tribute show.
“The show is a musical journey we take, starting in the early 1950s, and we move on through the decades. There’s a bit of everything, both older and newer country, rock-n-roll, classical music, some disco, such as ABBA and the Beegees, and the Beatles, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson,” said Straker.
The show is not a play like “Ring of Fire” was, but is more of a musical review with a range of entertainment, said Straker, including some comedy and audience participation mixed in with the music.
The four-piece band are all Saskatchewan musicians along with herself, who is a native of Saltcoats, and the performers are all professionals in theatre, which is her main profession as well.
The show originated when her hometown needed to save their town hall, and her mother asked if she and her friends could come and put on a performance to raise funds. “That was 11 years ago, and it’s become something that we do every year. Over the years, we’ve raised over $100,000,” said Straker, noting they not only saved the town hall, but helped them to renovate the kitchen, redo the floors, and even raise money for the Fire Department and the day care in her hometown.
“We are all in professional theatre, and we’re all friends who have known each other for about 20 years. This is something we love to do together as a group,” she explained, noting that doing a musical show like this is a nice refreshing change for them, and allows them to do music that they love.
“It’s just a really great group of performers who just want to give people a great night of entertainment,” said Straker.
Asked if she is any relation to Regina musician Jeffrey Straker, she laughed and said she is no relation to him, even though the name is uncommon and spelled the same.
Tickets for “Legends” are $35 per person, and are available at Music Craft, Old Fashion Foods, or at Barber Motors if the purchaser uses a credit card.
