Summerlea United Church
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
225 50 Av, Lachine, Québec, H8T2T7, Canada. 514-634-2651
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"Oh Jonah!"
By Allen Pote & Carole McCann
(www.choristersguild.org/pote.html & www.choristersguild.org/mccann.html)

Sunday May 2, 2004 some 35 dedicated and talented members of the St. Andrew's and Summerlea congregations presented the musical "Oh Jonah!", under the direction of Connie Osborne, as the second half of the morning worship service. The culmination of several months of weekly practices, twice weekly in the last few weeks, the play offered a faithful rendition of the biblical story of Jonah and the whale in a swinging, joyful musical format that made it difficult to keep from toe-tapping and swinging along. The cast included young and not-so-young members of the two congregations who reportedly had a great time together at the rehearsals. The congregation was asked to hold applause until the completion of the play, at which time the full house leapt to their feet in a thunderous ovation that brought on an encore of the finale. Congratulations and thanks to Connie, the players, the production staff and pianist Ann Sutton for a wonderful experience. Following are some photos of the event, taken at the dress rehearsal the day before. In watching the performance again Sunday it became evident that photos cannot convey the spirit of joy and enthusiasm that was evidenced by the cast, but it's all we can offer. You can pick on the photos to see a larger version. To return here, pick Back on your browser. There are also a few brief video clips along the way (we don't have room for more on the site). The clips last about 30 seconds and are about 4 MB in size. If you do not have high-speed internet access they will take some time to download. To minimize the file size, the quality and picture size are minimized, but they give an idea of the group's talents and enthusiasm.

"Oh Jonah"
Cast of Characters
(in order of appearance)

Allison	Sue McKenzie
Jonah	Gabrielle Poitras
Captain	Jacob Osborne
Captain's mate	Keith McKenzie
Captain's mate	Justin Roy
King	John Osborne
Head angel	Sue McKenzie
Angel #1	Erin Overbury
Angel #2	Shauna Overbury
Angel #3	Michelle McKenzie
Angel #4	Alayna Roy
Angel #5	Cassandra McKenzie
Angel #6	Meghan Overbury
Sailors:	Howard Clark, Terry Jones Darryl Macdonald, John Osborne David Pryce
Whale:	Michelle Bitauld, Irene Critchlow Betty Godin, Marion Golden Mary Guynan, Nancy Harvey Ruth Heim, Bonnie MacLeod Jane Percy, Janet Smart

Production Staff

Musical Director	Constance Osborne
Stage Director	Howard Clark
Pianist	Ann Sutton
Costumes / Set Design	Kim Blatherwick, Howard Clark Marion Golden, Kate Mackin Leslie, Brian & Peter Maklan Susan, Kevin & Keith McKenzie Constance Osborne
Videotaping	Anders Yates
T-Shirts	Lightning Group, Inc. (Dominic Ciarallo)

Thanks to our caretaker, George Provias, for his help and support.

The actors skipped in from all four corners of the sanctuary, too quickly to catch more than a shot in passing.

Susan and Michelle McKenzie introduce us to the story.

The sleeping Jonah (Gabrielle Poitras - can that gal sing!) hears angels telling him God wants him to go to preach to the Ninevites. It takes some help from the rest of the cast to awaken him.

Jonah awakes video clip, 4 MB

Jonah is not keen to preach to the wicked Ninevites and packs his bag (with items such as whale repellant and giant Tic-Tacs) to head for Joppa, where he catches a ship headed for Spain.

Sailors video clip, 4 MB

On the ship a great storm comes up, threatening to drown them all. Jonah realizes that the storm is his fault and tells the crew to throw him overboard, which they do after some discussion. Immediately the storm ceases.

While swimming in the ocean, Jonah is swallowed by a whale, and sits down to ponder how to escape.

Soon some angels come along and suggest that Jonah teach the whale to sing, with a Hallelujah finale. After some false starts, the whale learns to sing Hallelujah and, with its mouth open, out pops Jonah.

Jonah decides he'd better do as God requested, so he heads to Nineveh, where the king (John Osborne) and the folks are pretty laid back.

Nineveh video clip, 4 MB

Well, surprise, surprise. The folks of Nineven take Jonah's message to heart and change their ways. So the story comes to a happy ending as a result of Jonah having finally accepted his responsibility.

The king accepts video clip, 4 MB

Curtain calls by the cast and applause for the director.

Finale video clip, 4 MB

Director Connie Osborne, Pianist Ann Sutton with page turner Undeg Edwards, and Summerlea minister Rev. Howard Clark.

Our thanks to all who participated to make this a highly enjoyable telling of the biblical tale.

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