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Fitzgeralds plan Orangeville show

August 15, 2013   ·   0 Comments

If you missed Everything Fitz at Fiddleville last Thursday, you’ll be glad to know they’ll be in Orangeville for a Christmas show at Westminster United Church for a Christmas show on Dec. 14.

Pam Fitzgerald, the mother of fiddling/dancing siblings Julie, Kerry and Tom, said the family enjoys coming to Dufferin. Everything Fitz has toured extensively, and its members have competed at Shelburne for several years, but she said the area has several attractive venues, including Grace Tipling Hall and the Orangeville Opera House.

At CDRC, Paddy Fitzgerald said the new stage was smaller than expected but adequate. (In fact, Rotary president Fred Fender said the old stage had to be replaced as it was in need of repair. He said the stage this year was a rental from Grand Valley but there will be a larger one for the 64th championship event in 2014.)

Everything Fitz proved to be a solid choice for the Thursday night show, and the estimated 500 who came might have been sufficiently pleased as not to have noticed that major changes had been made to the arena since the 62nd event.

The stage had been moved from the east wall to the west side. Among those who did notice, some were pleased that they no longer had to walk past the stage if arriving late or walking to the outside and back in during the show.

On the other hand, some were disappointed that the new setting meant they couldn’t sit in the bleachers.

But the Fitzgerald show had no disappointments unless it was that Emily Flack didn’t appear quite often enough. She was especially outstanding in her rendition of Bonnie Dundee.

Everything Fitz is truly a family show. Matriarch Pamela is pianist, and poppa Paddy plays everything from mandolin to fiddle, while siblings Julie, Kerry and Tom are all championship class fiddlers and dancers. As evidence of their entertainment value, Julie won the Invincible Vince Mountford award as the “most entertaining” in the 2013 event.

By Wes Keller