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Rossland Light Opera Players prepare for dragon’s debut

The Rossland Light Opera Players’ production of The Reluctant Dragon will premiere at the Rossland Summit School on Friday.
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Denis Senecal operates the dragon

The Rossland Light Opera Players’ production of The Reluctant Dragon will premiere at the Rossland Summit School on Friday, and the title character is just about ready to make his on-stage debut.

The RLOP says that the making of the dragon puppet has been a team effort. Ben Walker, director, designed the puppet operation, and Travis Norman engineered it and built the prototype. John Greene made it solid, and Shona Wass created the look of the dragon.

Denis Senecal is the actor playing the dragon, and has brought a life and soul to the puppet.

“This is my first time being a puppeteer, and I am loving it!” he says.

The RLOP built the dragon out of wood, bike cables, fabric and foam. There is no doubt some cardboard in there somewhere, as well as odd bits and pieces of things the players found around the RLOP hall. They say it has been exciting to see this creation come to life and they can’t wait for the dragon to make his appearance on stage.

The performance schedule is as follows:

Rossland Summit School

Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)

Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)

Stanley Humphries Secondary School

Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m. (doors at 1:30 p.m.) and 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)

JL Crowe Secondary School

Friday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)

Saturday, May 6 at 2 p.m. (doors at 1:30 p.m.) and 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.)

Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children 13 and under. They can be purchased at Tails Pet Supplies in Rossland, Mountain High Lighting in Castlegar or the Charles Bailey Theatre in Trail.