The Estevan and area Stars for Saskatchewan team has some bad news and good news to share with the community this week. The Estevan Arts Council reported that the Shanghai Acrobats, a dazzling group of entertainers who were scheduled to perform in Estevan on Feb. 10 of next year, have had to cancel the Saskatchewan part of their tour.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that the Arts Council has managed to book two outstanding acts as replacements and one of those will be comedian Brent Butt of Corner Gas fame who will be in the city for a stand-up comedy presentation in the ECS Cafetorium on March 23.
Besides Butt, the committee has also managed to book accomplished accordionist Alexander Sevastian who will be performing at St. Paul's United Church on the afternoon of Feb. 12.
Marguerite Gallaway, chairwoman of the Stars for Saskatchewan committee, said they appreciated the fact that many patrons will be disappointed in the fact that the Shanghai Acrobats won't be able to appear in the Energy City, but the replacement program, including the bonus offering, will make up for the gap in the schedule and still provide local audiences with some blockbuster talent.
Butt, the pride of Tisdale, Sask., has been displaying his unique home-grown comedic talents since high school and it didn't take him long to hit the major comedy clubs in Toronto before making his way internationally at major festivals.
Butt was rated by entertainment critics as one of the funniest people in Canada and was able to prove it without any doubts when he starred in Canada's biggest television comedy series Corner Gas for six unprecedented years, winning an international Emmy Award nomination plus several Canadian television awards. The show was syndicated in more than 26 countries.
Butt, who now resides in Vancouver, is currently starring in another successful television comedy adventure Hiccups which is featured on CTV and the Comedy Network and it is now in its third season.
Sevastian, a native of Belarus, began studying the accordion at the age of seven and attended the Glinka Musical College in Minsk to advance his knowledge of the instrument and his skills. That led him to Moscow's famed Gnessin Academy of Music where he graduated with a master's degree in performing arts while studying with renowned performer Friedrich Lips.
Sevastian expanded his musical horizons to include piano, conducting and philosophy.
Following three first-prize performances at the International Accordion Competition, Sevastian gained further attention by winning the Norwegian Oslofjord Accordion competition, then captured the Cup of the North in Russia before heading to the United States and Canada where he won further competitions including the Roland Competition in Toronto in 2009.
The other entertainment packages included in the coming year's Stars for Saskatchewan schedule are a performance from Sharon Wei and Angela Park (viola and piano) at St. Paul's United Church on Jan. 21; Ballet Jorgen performing Anastasia at ECS on March 4; classical pianist Audrey Andrist at St. Paul's on April 22 and the Saskatoon Children's Choir on May 11 at St. Paul's.
