''Opening Night'' was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

theatrical drama television miniseries which aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

1974 to 1975.

Premise

John Hirsch John Stephen Hirsch, OC (; May 1, 1930 – August 1, 1989) was a Hungarian-Canadian theatre director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary to József and Ilona Hirsch, both of whom were murdered in the Holocaust along with his younger brother I ...

was appointed chief of CBC's drama department in 1974. He temporarily brought back the practice of presenting televised productions of stage dramas for the network in broadcasts such as '" Front Row Centre'', ''Opening Night'' and ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

''. Four videotaped versions of theatrical works were presented during the 1974-75 season (times in Eastern): * 9 October 1974: ''The Farm Show'', by Theatre Passe Muraille, portrayed life in rural southwestern Ontario. The production starred Janet Amos, Anne Anglin, David Fox, Carole Galloway, Ted Johns and Miles Potter. Directors were Paul Thompson (theatrical) and Ron Meraska (broadcast). * 23 October 1974, 8:30 p.m.: ''The Head, Guts, and Sound Bone Dance'', adapted from a Michael Cook play. This drama was set in a fishing community that no longer has fish to harvest. This production starred Dick Buehler, Kelly Buehler, Pat Byrne, Gerard Parkes, Florence Paterson and Todd Stuckless and the broadcast was produced by Ray McConnell. It was the first CBC television drama to be produced in Newfoundland, performed by the Open Group in St. John's. * 15 January 1975, 8:00 p.m.: ''Freedom of the City'' by

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...

, a dramatisation concerning 1970 riots in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. Hugh Webster wrote the broadcast adaptation based on a play which was presented on Broadway. Neil Munro, Florence Paterson and Mel Tuck starred, Eric Till directed. * 12 March 1975, 9:30 p.m.: ''You're Gonna Be Alright, Jamie Boy'' by David Freeman, originating with the Tarragon Theatre. This drama starred

Jayne Eastwood Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film ''Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wai ...

, David Ferry, Lillian Lewis, Chuck Shamata and Hugh Webster. David Peddie was producer and J. Edward Shaw directed. These productions are not to be confused with CBC's later ''Opening Night'' series (2002).

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=https://www.queensu.ca/filmandmedia/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.fmwww/files/files/ONE%20CANADIAN.pdf , first=Blaine , last=Allan , title=Opening Night , publisher=

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, year=1996 , accessdate=19 September 2018 , url-status=live , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012742/http://www.film.queensu.ca/CBC/One.html , archivedate=24 September 2015 CBC Television original programming 1970s Canadian drama television series 1974 Canadian television series debuts 1975 Canadian television series endings 1970s Canadian television miniseries