{"id":2326,"date":"2025-01-07T00:07:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2025-01-07T00:28:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:28:48","slug":"songs-for-nobodies-at-the-malaspina-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/songs-for-nobodies-at-the-malaspina-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Songs for Nobodies at the Malaspina Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thursday, January 3rd 2025<\/div>\n
For Immediate Release<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Key Information<\/b><\/div>\n
\n

Nanaimo\u2019s TheatreOne presents\u00a0Songs for Nobodies\u00a0<\/i><\/b>as the final show in their 2024\/25 Mainstage Series.\u00a0 Performances are at 7:30 pm Friday, January 31st<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0and 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, February 1st<\/sup><\/span>.\u00a0 Tickets are $35 with discounts for students and TheatreOne Performance Society members. Tickets are available through the TheatreOne Box Office (in person and by phone) noon to 5:00pm Monday to Friday \u2013 250-754-7587 \u2013 60 Wharf Street \u2013 online 24\/7 at TheatreOne.ca.<\/p>\n

You are invited to an audience with Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas.
\n<\/b>Written by award-winning playwright Joanna Murray-Smith,\u00a0<\/span>Songs for Nobodies<\/i><\/b>\u00a0showcases Sheila Sharma\u2019s astonishing gift for recreating the great singers of the past. Sharma began singing professionally for the first time on the First Impressions stage in 1989 and returns now with this bravura performance\u00a0<\/span>described as<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>so sublime, it’s like a shot of morphine – for a blissful few minutes all the cares of the world are gone.<\/i><\/p>\n

Sharma, who is on stage for 90 minutes accompanied by live musicians, has a miraculous voice shifts from the smoky blues of Billie Holiday to the thrilling soprano of Maria Callas via Garland, Cline and Piaf.\u00a0 With consummate ease, she breathes new life and deeper meaning into the five legendary performers and the five ordinary women whose lives were changed by their brush with fame.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Sharma\u2019s voice floats out over the audience, she makes countless mysterious connections with the audience members. The singer has her story and the listeners have theirs, and when those stories touch each other, magic will transpire.\u00a0 Featuring such favourites as \u201cCome Rain or Come Shine,\u201d \u201cCrazy,\u201d and \u201cAin\u2019t Nobody\u2019s Business if I Do,\u201d <\/span>Songs for Nobodies<\/i><\/b> illuminates the power of song to share a story, heal a heartbreak and inspire a dream.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suitable for adults and older teens.<\/span><\/p>\n

Songs for Nobodies <\/i><\/b>is generously sponsored and supported by the Allegra Marketing, City of Nanaimo, Pinnacle Pharmacy, the BC Live Performance Network, 460 Realty, the British Columbia Arts Council, BMO Nesbitt Burns, CHLY, and the Nanaimo News Bulletin.\u00a0 TheatreOne acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.<\/span><\/p>\n

TheatreOne acknowledges and thanks the Snuneymuxw First Nation, on whose traditional territory we live, create, and perform.<\/b><\/p>\n

Contact:
\n<\/span>Michael Cade \u2013 Artistic and Managing Director
\n<\/span>250-754-7587\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>michael@theatreone.ca<\/u><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

About TheatreOne
\n<\/b>TheatreOne has been bringing professional theatre to Nanaimo and the mid-Island for 40 years. We engage diverse local audiences of all ages and persuasions, including the very young, and in doing so support theatre professionals and local businesses. We work with playwrights from British Columbia and across Canada to foster development of new Canadian works; we premier new productions; and through our support to touring artists we give Nanaimo audiences access to great theatre developed elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Critical Recognition
\n<\/b>The Ovation Awards are given out annually to celebrate achievement in musical theatre in British Columbia\u2019s Lower Mainland.\u00a0 First Impressions Theatre\u2019s production of\u00a0<\/span>Songs for Nobodies\u00a0<\/i><\/b>received the 2023 award for Outstanding Ensemble\/Small\/Chamber Musical and Sheila Sharma\u00a0 received the award for Outstanding Lead Performance for her portrayal of Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holliday, Edith Piaf, and Maria Callas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Songs for Nobodies<\/i><\/b> was also nominated for Outstanding Director, Outstanding Music Director, and Outstanding Projection Design.<\/span><\/p>\n

About Playwright \u2013 Joanna Murray- Smith
\n<\/b>Joanna Murray-Smith is an Australian playwright, screenwriter and novelist. Her plays have been produced in many languages around the world, on Broadway, West End, the National Theatre, and\u00a0 London. She has been writing plays professionally for three decades with over two dozen plays frequently produced around the world. The monologues draw on general knowledge, but the stories are imagined.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the performer \u2013 Sheila Sharma
\n<\/b>From singing jazz on classy stages to blues in smoky bars, and politically incorrect musical comedy under bright lights, Sheila\u2019s career has spanned the gamut. For twenty years she was Owner, Artistic Director and a performer of The Giggle Damn Theatre. She has written, recorded and released pop music for sync licensing projects for all major streaming platforms, and is an experienced voice artist.\u00a0 She is currently lead vocalist in the cover band\u00a0<\/span>Cakewalk.<\/i><\/p>\n

Director\u2019s Notes \u2013 Claude Giroux
\n<\/b>Greetings and welcome to First Impressions Theatre\u2019s 41st Season! It\u2019s fitting for us to begin our fourth decade of theatre with this play and with Sheila. She is a remarkable human with ties to First Impression going back to the 80s when she was just a teenager.\u00a0<\/span>Songs for Nobodies<\/i><\/b> is a play with music that has received accolades never before achieved here at First Impressions Theatre, and we are thrilled to share it with you again as we launch it into the world to tour this fall and winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing makes us happier than sharing our work with new audiences BUT like always, it starts right here with you \u2026 ENJOY<\/span><\/p>\n

About First Impressions Theatre
\n<\/b>In 1982, Michael and Eileen Smith, Neil Boucher and Ward Ashlie (who were old enough to sign documents and had an old Econoline van) sat down with Eric Rosen and made plans to produce a student play. That was the beginning of First Impressions Theatre which became a registered non-profit society on February 3, 1983. After ten years of performing in various venues all over the north shore and Burnaby, the company moved into the Deep Cove Cultural Centre where they have been operating since March of 1992.<\/span><\/p>\n

Artistic Director, Claude A. Giroux, joined First Impressions in 2017 and immediately started\u00a0attracting a high caliber of talent. He subsequently introduced touring productions to a wider audience, beginning with\u00a0<\/span>Forever Plaid<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in 2020, and subsequent touring productions of\u00a0<\/span>Ring of Fire<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Always Patsy Cline<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(which toured Alberta and BC). Last season First Impressions Theatre produced the ovation award-winning production of\u00a0<\/span>Songs For Nobodies<\/i><\/b>\u00a0which along with\u00a0<\/span>The 39 Steps\u00a0<\/i><\/b>is proudly part of the TheatreOne season.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, January 3rd 2025 For Immediate Release Key Information Nanaimo\u2019s TheatreOne presents\u00a0Songs for Nobodies\u00a0as the final show in their 2024\/25 Mainstage Series.\u00a0 Performances are at 7:30 pm Friday, January 31st\u00a0and 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, February 1st.\u00a0 Tickets are $35 with discounts for students and TheatreOne Performance Society members. Tickets are available through the TheatreOne Box Office (in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bBlocksCursorData":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2326"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2339,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2326\/revisions\/2339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatreone.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}