The entire stage erupted in screams and shouts

Dreamcoat Fantasy Theatre
News Release

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The news arrived at 8:00 a.m. this morning. After five months of organizing, voting and waiting Aviva has announced its winners and North Bay’s own Dreamcoat Fantasy Theatre is one of them!

Donna McTiernan of Knox Insurance who submitted the proposal on behalf of Dreamcoat could barely contain her excitement. Gathered on the stage before her were the entire cast and crew of The Jungle Book who had been interrupted in the midst of putting on make-up and donning costumes to gather on the stage to hear the announcement. The moment she said Dreamcoat was an AVIVA winner the entire stage erupted in screams and shouts. When she added that winning meant $98,000 would be coming into the Dreamcoat program there was shock and disbelief, and then came the tears

“It’s truly unbelievable!” exclaimed Cathy McCallum, Dreamcoat Board Member and former Dreamcoat Board Chairperson, “What this will mean for Dreamcoat!” “As much as we hoped for this, non-profit community organizations such as ours rarely if ever receive funding of this magnitude,” added Hali Carlson, Dreamcoat Producer, “we are so grateful, to Aviva, to everyone who voted, to everyone who made this happen!”

For Dreamcoat, the following hours and days will be filled with getting the word out about the big win, and with thanking those that voted, gathered supporters and ran the Aviva campaign. And then, they will begin planning alongside Aviva personnel to make their proposal a reality. “The detailed plan for the funds will be announced after we have a chance to speak with Aviva personnel,” stated Michelina Beam, Dreamcoat Executive Director “We have yet to learn about how everything will be implemented and what the timeline will look like, but the impact to Dreamcoat’s program and through that the impact on the children involved in our program will be significant.”

More than 1,800 groups competed for $1 million in funds through an initiative devoted to making change in communities across Canada. Dreamcoat Fantasy Theatre is one of only ten submissions declared a winner.

More information is to follow. An update will be made to the Dreamcoat website before the end of the day.

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