All aboard for the Hudson Village Theatre

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

The Hudson Village Theatre's 16th season is coming at you full steam ahead as of June 19.

A special partnership between the theatre and the Association Métropolitaine de Transport (AMT) will allow for a train to come pick up theatre aficionados on opening weekend to drop them off at the troupe's historic Canadian pacific train station location.

"We had looked at doing it last year, but we needed a lot of lead time to put this thing together," said Carolyn Flower, marketing and promotions director for the theatre. The train will depart from Lucien l'Allier train station in downtown Montreal before making a stop at Beaconsfield and heading off to Hudson. For $50, passengers will also enjoy live entertainment, finger food, and get a ticket to a matinee or evening premier performance depending on when they take the train.

According to Flower, this will save a lot of people the hassle of a long driving trip and avoid potential parking problems as well.

Of course, no train would be worth hopping on if the destination is not up to snuff, but Hudson's artistic director Andrew Johnston said he is very excited about this year's summer program. "I'm having a terrific time," Johnston said. During summer, the theatre traditionally loads their schedule with pieces that tickle the funny bone, and this year is no different, although each of the chosen plays deal with misfits in their own unique way. "If there is anything that (the plays) have in common, they are about 'damaged people,' " Johnston said.

All Grown Up, the first show of the season, is a musical which takes place in the 60s as it observes the lives of three different women. "Many of these are very awkward stories," Johnston cryptically hinted, but he promised it would be a very funny show.

The next piece, written by comedian Rick Blue of Bowser and Blue fame, is Campbell's Sutra. "I guess he's a bit of a misfit himself," Johnston said with a laugh about former Chronicle columnist Blue. "It's kind of a coming of age piece for a person in middle age," Johnston explained.

Blue's play will be followed up by a vaudeville-style act called The Dik & Mitzi Anniversary Show, a production that Johnston saw elsewhere and was "completely charmed by." In it, a real-life couple takes to the stage as a couple of comedians at different phases of their lives.

The final play in the theatre's summer season is a production of Canadian playwright Norm Foster's Storm Warning, which follows the encounter of a World War II veteran with a free-spirited woman in the early 50s. Johnston particularly enjoyed the play's depth. Concerts are scheduled afterwards.

If you want to get seats for the opening weekend ride, call 514-287-7866 faster than a speeding train, because you just might miss out otherwise as the train tickets are selling quickly.