The Simon & Garfunkel Story

Van Wilmott

Welcome to another exciting season at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre! We hope you had a great summer and we sincerely thank you for being a patron of this theatre and for supporting the arts.  I’m thrilled to be opening the 2016/2017 season with The Simon and Garfunkel Story, another exciting chapter in our popular Icon series . Very few artist indeed reserve the privilege to be known as Iconic as this duo from Queens. You are in for an informative and entertaining look at the artists that are responsible for some of the greatest songs of the past 50 years. The evening is a continuous string of classic song after classic song as it weaves through the history of the greatest duo in pop music history  – from their early beginnings through to their dramatic split, and then their solo careers. We are particularly thrilled to have Dean Elliot back with us, after appearing at the Mayfield as Buddy Holly in 2010. Dean is the author of this show and plays the role of Paul Simon.  I first saw The Simon and Garfunkle Story a couple of years ago in London’s west end and we are  thrilled to have these two great singers with us, working with our band and design crew to create a new version of this fabulous show. We are dedicated to making your evening of live theatre a memorable experience at the Mayfield and welcome any feedback on your experience! Thank you for your patronage and for supporting live theatre.

Dean Elliott

Paul Simon

Actor / Musician Dean Elliott rose to fame as the  lead role as Buddy Holly in the Olivier Award nominated musical ‘Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story’. In this role he had the honour of opening the 2008 West End Revival at the Duchess Theatre, London and after much media praise was asked to open and perform in the show in Buddy’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas, in front, and with, Buddy’s immediate family before taking the role around Europe and the Mayfield Dinner Theatre, Canada.

Before ‘Buddy’, Dean trained at the prestigious Sir Paul McCartney’s ‘Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts’ (LIPA) and other notable theatre work includes ‘Over The Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story’ (UK No1 Tour), ‘Release The Beat’ (Arcola Theatre, London) and the multi award winning ‘Ed – The Musical’ (Edinburgh Festival). Notable TV and radio appearances include ‘Richard and Judy’, ‘BBC London Tonight’, ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’ and BBC Radio 2’s ‘Elaine Paige Show’.

Dean has always been a fan of Simon and Garfunkel’s music and is thrilled to be playing  Paul Simon in ‘The Simon and Garfunkel Story’ back at the fabulous Mayfield Dinner Theatre!

Jonny Muir

Art Garfunkel

Jonny was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won the HL Hammond Prize for spoken verse. Theatre Credits include; Romeo in ROMEO AND JULIET, Captain Cockles in DICK WHITTINGTON and Prince/Beast in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Worcester Rep); THE GEORGE GERSHWIN SONGBOOK (Cheltenham Everyman); HEY, LOOK ME OVER! (Jermyn Street Theatre); THE FAMISHED LAND and Oliver Barrett IV in LOVE STORY (Off West End Premieres).   

Other credits include; Soloist singer for English National Ballet’s CHOREOGRAPHICS (The Barbican) and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra’s ANYTHING GOES ‐ A Cole Porter celebration (Cadogan Hall); YONDERLAND (S3E6: WTTV) and LEMON LA VIDA LOCA! (ITV2). Credits at RAM include; Stine in CITY OF ANGELS and Ralph Halloran in A CATERED AFFAIR. Represented by www.bba.management.

Steve Hoy

Drums

One of the most respected and in-demand drummers in Western Canada, Stephen performs and records with numerous national and international artists. Known for his versatility and keen musicianship, Stephen is looking forward to performing again with the Mayfield Dinner Theatre.

Paul Lamoureux

Reeds/Keyboards

Multi-instrumentalist Paul Lamoureux was born here in Edmonton. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in music from North Texas State University, and a diploma in Performing Arts from Grant MacEwan College. Paul has performed with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (“O” at the Bellagio), the Tommy Banks Band, and Princess Cruises. Mayfield Dinner Theatre productions include Hair (twice), Jesus Christ Superstar, The Full Monty, The Wedding Singer, Chicago, and Cabaret. He has backed up Robert Goulet, Flip Wilson, Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton, and toured with Grammy-nominated Christian rock act “Degarmo and Key”. Fluently bilingual, Paul was Musical Director of CBC French radio’s Gala Albertain de la Chanson for 8 years and has recorded 4 CDs of his own instrumental pop/jazz music on his own label. Paul is passionate about being musically diverse/useful. His mission is to be a “Swiss Army Knife” musician. When not working in theatre, Paul loves to entertain Seniors under the stage name “Lam-Chops”.

Jennifer McMillan

Piano

Jennifer is thrilled to be back at the Mayfield for her 11th show! Past favourites include: Dark Star: The Life and Times of Roy Orbison, 9 to 5, The Wedding Singer and Hairspray. As an accompanist, she has played for the Kokopelli Association, numerous schools, the Citadel, and MacEwan University. She frequently performs and collaborates with Bridget Ryan on various cabarets and theatre shows. As a vocalist, Jen has lent her talents to numerous vocal ensembles and sings for various vocal jazz and choral publishing demos. She has performed as a backup singer for Ben Folds and has been a featured vocalist in many film, television and video game recordings.  A few favourite include Universal Studios Tokyo, Warframe (video game), CBS’s Hawaii Five-0 and CBC’s The Nature of Things. She enjoys life with her husband, little girl and brand new baby boy. 

Derek Stremel

Bass

Derek grew up in a musical family and learned to play piano from his mother. He also learned fiddle, mandolin and guitar from his father. He learned bass and the five-string banjo on his own and started gigging in venues in southwestern Manitoba with his father when he was fourteen years old. He moved to Alberta when he was eighteen leaving his Manitoba farming roots behind and began a musical career playing the electric bass. He wanted to learn what the smart guys knew so he enrolled in the GMCC Jazz program in 1990 and learned to read ‘the little black dots’. For more than a decade now he has been employed at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre playing musical revues and Broadway musicals. He also has a home studio where he teaches, writes, records and produces and plays many of the instruments on the recordings. Yeah, I know…yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah…boring but true. He loves and respects the music of Simon & Garfunkel and is grateful and honoured to play this show and work with a bunch of friends, old and new. Derek is always delighted by the opportunity to write about himself in the third person!

Harley Symington

Guitar

As guitarist at the Mayfield for years, and more recently Head of Audio, Harley has contributed to somewhere around 75 productions as musician, vocalist, sound technician, and even occasionally as a cast member. Favorites include Dark Star: The Life and Times of Roy Orbison, Folkswaggin’: Music Of The People, and Four Lads Who Shook The World: The Beatles Story Parts 1 and 2 (as George Harrison). He has toured extensively with many artists, performing at events such as Lilith Fair, other major festivals, and on the national tour of the musical Red Rock Diner. He just completed two hit shows at this year’s Fringe Festival doing sound for Working (Plain Jane Theatre) and playing guitar for Song Of The Martingale (Stardust Players), both at the beautiful new Varscona Theatre. Outside of the theatre he plays and sings with his own group in support of his debut CD, entitled “Don’t Talk”. He also holds a diploma with honors from the Computer Systems Technology program at NAIT.