Photo Coverage: Acting Up Stage's TAPESTRIES

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Acting Up Stage held it’s annual fundraiser last night at The Royal Conservatory’s Koerner Hall. Entitled ‘Tapestries’, the show featured the music of James Taylor and Carole King re-arranged by Reza Jacobs and performed by some of the cities hottest talent.

This was the sixth annual event for Acting Up Stage and it has become a tradition of sorts for the relatively young company. The unique combination of well known songs with new arrangements makes for an exciting musical evening and provides an excellent showcase for the tremendous talent we have in this city.

Artistic Director Mitchell Marcus and music director Reza Jacobs amassed an impressive list of performers, including Cynthia Dale, Jake Epstein, Josh Young, Arlene Duncan, and Sterling Jarvis. Joining the soloists were four terrific ladies on back-up vocals (who were also featured performing solos of their own), Sara Farb, Kelly Holiff, Amanda LeBlack and Eden Richmond.

Reza Jacobs talent and creativity as a musical director took centre stage throughout the evening as invention variations of classic tunes such as Fire and Rain and It’s Too Late were paired with more traditional variations of Taylor and King’s hits. Some stand-outs included Sara Farb’s gorgeous rendition of Beautiful (which including a sampling of the Christina Aguilera hit by the same name) and Jake Epstein’s version of Carolina in my Mind. Another highlight was Sterling Jarvis and Arlene Duncan dueting on a jazzed up version of You’ve Got a Friend.

Overall, the evening served as a reminder of Acting Up Stage’s goal to be a company that produces ‘modern musical theatre.’ This is a group who aren’t afraid to take risks, and that fearlessness shows in their choice of material for Tapestries as well as their programming for the rest of year. If you haven’t been to one of their productions – you are in for a real treat. And if you have, you already know what I’m talking about.

For more information on Acting Up Stage's programming, please visit their official website at www.actingupstage.com and check out their daily musical theatre blog at www.actingupstage.com/musical-notes

Photos by Carly Mills Photography

The Cast of Acting Up Stage's TAPESTRIES

Eden Richmond

Amanda LeBlanc, Eden Richmond, Sara Farb, Kelly Holiff and Arlene Duncan

Arlene Duncan and Sterling Jarvis

Sara Farb

Kelly Holiff

Jake Epstein

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Kelly Cameron's love affair with the theatre began when she was just five years old, on an outing to see the Original Canadian Cast of Les Miserables at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. She instantly fell in love, and since then has been lucky enough to be involved in various theatre activities and productions, including a regional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and a local production of Where the Sidewalk Ends. She has also received training from various teachers throughout Southwestern Ontario in both piano and voice, and competed in vocal competitions for which she received a few awards. Her writing career started almost by accident, when she had the opportunity to become a ghostwriter for up and coming businesses. She continues to do this, writing the content for all sorts of companies who are starting websites and looking to find their voice.

Her passion and love for theatre led to her becoming involved with BroadwayWorld where she is thrilled to be writing for the Toronto contingent of the rapidly growing website. When she isn't at the theatre, you can generally find her firmly planted in front of her trusty Blackberry - tweeting, Facebooking or partaking in other such social media activities to ensure that those who want to know are kept apprised of everything that Toronto theatre has to offer. Other interests include movies, art, music, shopping, fashion and martial arts with the occasional foray into the world of finance.

Follow Kelly on Twitter at @broadwaybabyto

Creep her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelly-Cameron/500187141

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