By Ron Evans
Theatre returns to the region in July with the world premiere of the musical “How Can I Love You” at Stage B. Located adjacent to Cave B Estate Winery in George, Stage B will be home to the Ancient Lakes Theatre Festival from July 15-25 with live performances, food and wine tasting.
“How Can I Love You” is written by retired neurosurgeon and Cave B founder Vince Bryan, directed by Eric Ankrim and composed by Rand Bellar. The musical deals with the subject of memory loss as experienced by three families. Despite the serious subject, the musical’s creators say it’s ultimately an uplifting story of love and acceptance with a powerful backbone of pop music and choreography.
“Obviously, as a retired neurosurgeon Vince Bryan has some unique insight into the world of memory loss,” Stage B Operations Manager Rhia Foster said. “It’s a very personal story, but one that will resonate on many levels.”
Foster says the musical is the launch of what will be a larger focus on theatre at Stage B.
“The owners of Stage B wanted something like what the earlier days of The Gorge were like,” she said. “Smaller, more intimate productions with a wider variety of performances.”
Vince and Carol Bryan founded the amphitheater that would later be known as The Gorge in 1986. It began as a 3,000-seat venue for their Champs de Brionne winery. In 1993, the family sold the venue to MCA who expanded the grounds into one of the most famous music venues in the world. It is currently operated by Live Nation.
“After they had planted this winery, they kind of stumbled upon this amazing space. Vince was standing at the top and his wife was down to the bottom with family members and was like ‘I can hear every word you’re saying. That’s crazy.’ So in order to sell some wine, they decided to start hosting music there and you could say it took off pretty well,” Foster said. “And while everyone loves The Gorge, the Bryans also loved the days when you could have events going more frequently and every night it would be something totally different. They are huge supporters of the arts.”
With the sale and growth of The Gorge, the Bryans were forced to close their Champs de Brionne winery to create more storage for the venue. In 2000, they created Cave B winery and boutique nearby, and in 2017 they added Stage B to the grounds with the idea of returning to some of those more intimate events.
“There have been orchestral performances, tons of live music and a pretty fantastic open mic on that stage,” Foster said. “The stage itself is actually the same size as The Gorge stage by square footage, so you can do quite a lot with it.”
Stage B organizers have expressed interest in bringing in more theatrical performances along with collaborating with existing local theatres and troupes. They hope “How Can I Love You” will help launch that plan. It’s fitting that the inaugural musical premiering in July was actually penned by one of the creators of this impressive venue.
Along with live theatre, Stage B will be host to an upcoming dance festival, touring local and non-local bands and musicians and a few things that are still in the works. Foster has her own ideas cooking concerning what would be a good fit for Stage B down the road.
“It’s the perfect environment for a big jazz festival,” she said. “Wine, amazing food and the beautiful location. It’s a no-brainer.”
Ancient Lakes Theatre Festival: July 15-25 - tickets, packages and information can be found at ancientlakestheatrefest.com.