The Gala

I am sure that Thursday night’s gala was a highlight of the forum for everyone; it certainly was for me. There was great food and great company, entertainment provided by a very talented group of youth, and an extremely powerful and moving talk by Joseph Boyden. Even Dr. Arlene King, the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, said a few words and congratulated the organizing committee on the wonderful job they did in bringing all of this together.

Supper began with young performers Alessandro Costantini and Janie Pinard serenading us with a song from Cabaret. Throughout the night they returned and entertained us many more times with a variety of music, they sang everything from Shrek to Poison. Although this may seem like a random selection of songs, they were all chosen specifically to be in line with the theme of resiliency. Last year Alessandro formed Y.E.S. (Youth Entertaining Sudbury), a group of youth dedicated to entertaining Sudbury through theatre. In August 2010 they performed their first show, Hair, at the Sudbury Theatre Centre; I saw this show and it was amazing! This summer they will be performing Rent; the cast came on stage near the end of supper to sing a medley of songs from the show (to a standing ovation), and if you are near Sudbury in August I definitely recommend getting a ticket to the play.

After supper Joseph Boyden took the stage, and said how jealous his wife would be when he told her about the Glee-like talent of these performers. Joseph is originally from Ontario and spent many years teaching in Moosonee, a place he considers his second home, but now lives in New Orleans. Joseph told us a number of deeply personal and moving stories about his life and the struggles that he and his friends have faced. I fear that to retell them myself would not do them justice or come close to capturing the emotion felt by everyone in the room that night; but for an idea of the power of his talk listen to the true story The First Time I Died in his own words. Joseph’s talk left not a single dry eye in the room, but ended leaving everyone with a sense of hope for the future.

The night ended with the return of the cast of Rent. This time they performed songs from their past, singing music from Hair. By the end they had the whole room standing, clapping, and singing along. Some people were even seen dancing around the room. The room was buzzing, and it was clear that everyone had a great time. Over the past year I have attended a number of conferences, and a number of conference dinners, and can safely say that this was the most interesting, engaging and fun of them all! I want to know what you thought, share your favourite parts of the gala in the comments section!

-Josh