Stratford 2022: Day 1 - Walk Around Town & Theatre

My husband Rich and I have been to Stratford, Ontario many times over the years in order to watch plays at the Stratford Festival, but until this 2-day trip, we had never explored the area east of the Festival Theatre!  We were delighted to find that there is a beautiful park and an excellent art gallery if you continue to walk past the theatre. This trip came together quite quickly when our friends Glen and Christiane asked us if we would like to go to Stratford with them to watch a show, do some cycling and explore around the town.  We agreed to watch the classic  Kander and Ebb musical Chicago, so I was tasked to purchase tickets while Christiane would find us an appropriate location to stay, which ideally would be close to the theatre and have the space to store our four bicycles inside overnight.  I obviously had the easier job and quickly secured us fairly good seats for a Wednesday evening show.  Christiane found us the perfect 2-bedroom/2-bathroom house rental that was just a few blocks from the Festival Theatre.  We agreed to meet for breakfast on Wednesday morning at Madelyn’s Diner which is just on the outskirts of downtown Stratford.

Just east of Stratford, we stopped at the old abandoned Fryfogel Tavern and Inn on Line 34.  We had passed by on our previous trips and always wondered about its history. This time there was a new totem-like wooden carving in front of the building that I wanted to take a closer look at.  Having finally taken the time to stop, we were now able to read about the history of the inn. Since 1828, this site has been the location of a popular stopping point for travelers.  The original log cabin was run by Sebastian Fryfogel, thought to be the first settler in the Perth region.  This particular brick and stone building was erected in 1844 and is one of the few examples of Upper Canadian Neo-Classical architecture left in the area.  Next to the wooden carving are the gravestones of some of the Fryfogel family including one for Sebastian who died in 1873 at age 82.  Back behind the inn is the Fryfogel Native Plant Restoration Arboretum, a 5 acre property being restored to reflect the trees, shrubs and plants that existed during the Fryfogel family’s time here.

While I was leisurely inspecting all the plants and flowers around the Arboretum, Rich had wandered behind the inn to look at the river stones on the back wall.  As I went to join him, a construction worker popped her head out of the back door and asked if we wanted to come in for a quick tour.  It turns out that the interior rooms are being renovated by the heritage society of the area, with the intent of turning the building into an event space and museum with artifacts from the area dating back to the era of the inn’s heyday.  Although the walls were stripped of paint and wallpaper and cracks and patches could be seen, you could see the potential of the space when looking at the hardwood floors, solid wood door frames and bannisters and the built-in shelves and fireplace mantels.  There were already some historic pieces that would fill the museum including some clothing, pottery, chairs and paintings.

One of the most fascinating rooms was on the second floor where an incredible discovery was found by one of the restorers while peeling off the old wallpaper.  Underneath was a beautiful fresco of Niagara Falls painted right into the wet plaster, including a painted “wooden frame” surrounding the image in trompe d’oeil style.  Next to the painting is a photograph depicting the man who discovered the painting.  As it turns out, the Fryfogel Tavern and Inn has been open for public tours all summer long, but we just did not know about it (and there was no sign outside indicating this).  It was serendipitous that we were able to have this wonderful experience.  When we asked whether there would be indoor plumbing in the completed space, we were told that the $150K needed to put in a septic tank was not in the budget, so for now, they would settle for high-end porta-potties.  We contributed to the donation box on the way out to support the restoration efforts.  Looking at their Facebook page at the end of August, we saw images of the impressive progress that they have made in just over a month.

As we were approaching Madelyn’s and just before reaching Fryfogel, our friends texted us to say they were caught in traffic and running late.  This gave us the opportunity to explore the Inn and grounds.  Just as we were leaving to resume our drive to Madelyn’s, we got another text asking why we were frequenting a tavern at 9 in the morning?!?  I was bewildered for a few seconds as I wondered how they knew?  As it turns out, they had just driven by and spotted our car. 

Madelyn’s Diner is a quaint old-styled diner that offers hearty breakfast options.  I had an omelet with Swiss cheese and asparagus with tomato instead of fries and a side of sausage.  But the real reason that Rich and I go to Madelyn’s every time we are in Stratford is because of their butter tarts, which in my opinion are some of the best available anywhere.  How people prefer their butter tarts vary greatly with some liking them sweeter or more liquidy than how I like mine.  The crust is also really important as I prefer a flakey crust as opposed to a more shortbread-like crust which I find to be dry.  Rich’s major contention (which has become a running joke) is to never have raisins in his butter tarts (or cookies), although he accepts them in other breads or desserts.  We always order the pecan butter tarts from Madelyns and often put in takeout orders with any of our friends who happen to be headed to Stratford.

After breakfast, we drove our two cars to the rental apartment where we could park and unload our bicycles before heading out for the day.  I had planned out a rough itinerary for our first day where we would explore the town by foot before having dinner and watching the show.  The following day, each couple would set out on a cycling excursion (since our riding styles and capabilities differed so vastly) and then meet up again to visit the neighbouring town of St. Mary’s before dinner.  I split the exploration of the town into two walks with a rest break back at the apartment in between.   The morning walk would allow us to check out the houses around our apartment before we visited Art in the Park, which runs every Wednesday and Saturday in the summer.  Following this, we would finally head east along the Avon River to explore Confederation Park and the Gallery Stratford.

We saw some interesting houses on our morning walk including several with circular gazebos of varying sizes.  The gorgeous mansion at 210 Water St. dates back to 1907 and is in the Colonial Revival style.  It has massive Ionic columns supporting a triangular pediment with a balcony surrounded by ornate wrought-iron railing underneath that would be perfect for the arms raised “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” scene in the musical Evita (I relate everything to musicals!).  There is also a large fountain centred in front of the building.  Continuing to walk along the Avon River, we saw some pretty views including the bridge leading to Tom Patterson Island.  At one point, a large flock of geese slowly marched across Lakeside Drive while the oncoming cars helplessly waited for the procession to complete its crossing.

Stratford Art in the Park is an outdoor art exhibition and sale of arts and crafts by Canadian artists that runs every Wednesday and Saturday from May through September.  It is held on the green space in North Shore Park, abutting Lakeside Drive between North Street and Front Street.  Presumably the number of artists would be larger on a Saturday, but even on Wednesday, we found a nice variety of works.  In addition to multiple artists displaying paintings, there were several woodworkers selling bowls and carving boards with intricate marquetry, a jewelry maker, stained glass artist and photographer.  Rich and I were particularly intrigued by the works by Susan Lapp who mixes painting with collage to create vibrant, whimsical depictions girls in motion in her “Happy Girls” series.  I especially liked the ones where the collage extended beyond the inner “canvas” and onto the outer mat.

Continuing east along the south shore of the Avon River, we reached Confederation Park, which very appropriately is nestled in the intersection between Romeo Street South and Christopher Plummer Drive.  This is a beautiful green space with floral gardens and a decorative bridge with the phrase “Love and Hope Grow Here” painted on the side.  The bridge doesn’t really go anywhere but provides a nice overhead view of the park.  Further on, there is a small man-made waterfall and a plaque indicating the spot that a time capsule was buried in 2017, to be opened in 2067.  The plaque is surrounded by bricks with the words “Metropolitan Canton Block” engraved on them.  These blocks seem to date back to the early 1920s and are often found for sale on eBay.

It is ironic that the description on its website describes Gallery Stratford as “one of the longest running public galleries in the region dating back to 1967” and yet we had not known about its existence until this trip.  The gallery is located immediately north of Confederation Park and is surrounded by the green space of the Upper Queen’s Park and North Shore Park.  Even before reaching the actual building, we encountered the first exhibit nestled within the trees leading up to the gallery.  Talia Shipman’s “Turquoise Period” consisted of beautiful photographs blown up to poster size, each with a turquoise-hued element within the image.  The photographs were taken through Shipman’s travels over 12 countries and 50 cities.

Gallery Stratford is housed in the old Water Works pump house, built in 1883 in the Queen Anne style.  In the exhibit titled “No Humans in Sight”, Nathan Carson applies brightly-coloured dollar-store paints and collaged scrap material on salvaged paper, then rubs, scratches and erases portions to create whimsical, almost childlike depictions of domestic and wild animals.

The other major exhibition inside the gallery is titled “Dad Space”, a joint venture by Jason McLean and Ross Bell, where Bell creates sculptural objects which McLean then decorates with pop-art drawings and graffiti scribbles.  The “dad-centric” objects include sports equipment including baseball bats and gloves, boxing gloves and helmets and a totem-like structure with protruding limbs that have hockey gloves hanging on them.  Other objects include a snowshoe, bicycle, guitar and case, a radio, lawn chairs, and a rotating strobe light.

There is more outdoor art on the huge grounds surrounding Gallery Stratford, including graffiti-like paintings on the sides of metal storage bins.  Several trees are adorned with bright red knitted works and various large sculptures are scattered around.

Downtown Stratford is shaped like a kite with Downie Street traversing down its centre axis and tail, while the beautiful, 19th Century Queen Anne Revival styled City Hall building is located at the top point. The city’s ties to William Shakespeare are prevalent not just in the names of the city, river and surrounding streets.  Even an electrical box electrical box is decorated with images of the Bard and his plays.  There are some interesting establishments along the main drag including the Alley Cat Café, which allows stray rescue cats to roam around while you drink your coffee (for those who find this concept appealing – not for me!!).  We spotted the “featured” cat of the month lounging on its bed by the front window.  I enjoyed sitting in the plush shoe chair at White-Balmer Shoes and chuckled at the cute pun of the cheese shop named “The Milky Whey”. 

One of the most unique businesses in downtown Stratford is the tiny “Little Prince Micro-Cinema”, which has only 13 seats. It holds the record as the world’s smallest “purpose-built” movie theatre.  The lobby features an old-styled ticket booth, lounge area and a concession stand that offers popcorn, cotton candy, pop and as of recently, liquor.  The Little Prince is used mostly as an event space that can be booked for private parties or corporate events in the concession lounge area or for private film screenings in the Art Deco-styled theatre area that is covered with old movie posters.  The private screenings allow you to select from a growing catalogue of over 1000 movies and include unlimited popcorn and soft drinks.  Public screenings of recent and older movies run throughout the week, costing $12 for just the movie or $20 for the movie plus unlimited popcorn and soft drinks.  Gourmet versions of popcorn and cotton candy are also available for sale online.

Prior to our show at the Stratford Festival Theatre, we had dinner at Bijou, a contemporary French bistro featuring “farm-to-table” local cuisine.  The menu was separated into small, medium and large dishes. Rich selected an appetizer of English peas, mint, chili, lemon, egg and parmesan, followed by a Lake Erie walleye (pickerel) with marinated black beans, peas, cured tomato, olives and a romesco (red pepper) sauce.  I would have loved the fish but really dislike hard beans.  I asked if the beans could be substituted for another vegetable but was refused by the chef who claimed the beans were totally integral to the dish.  This turned out not to be the case, but not taking the chance, I ordered two medium dishes instead.  First was marinated trout with avocado, tomato, cucumber, summer corn and salsa.  My second dish was a mushroom risotto with maitake mushrooms, blueberry glaze, pistachio and gruyere cheese.  The risotto was tasty, but I wish there were larger chunks of mushroom in it, rather than just mushroom flavouring in the rice.

We ended our busy first day in Stratford at the Festival Theatre to watch a revival of the 1975 musical Chicago, written by John Kander and Fred Ebb.  Chicago is a satire on corruption in the justice system, and how celebrity, infamy (“razzle/dazzle”) and interest from the media impact the pursuit of justice.  Despite trying to get her sad-sack, loser husband Amos to take the fall, femme fatale Roxie Hart lands in prison where she crosses path with the reigning “celebrity criminal”, Velma Kelly.  Using her wiles and hutzpah, Roxie quickly becomes the new favourite before eventually being usurped by the next “flavour of the month”. 

Rich and I have seen this old standard several times over the years and know it quite well.  I was therefore not as excited about watching it as I usually am when experiencing a musical that I had not seen before.  However, I was intrigued by an innovative new opening for show, which depicts Roxie killing her lover in a fit of passion, and the subsequent police investigation that sends her to prison.  In contrast to the sensual Bob Fosse choreography of previous renditions of the show, this sequence had a more frantic energy that reminded me of the Runyonland opening of Guys and Dolls.

The musical is structured like a vaudeville show with each character being introduced like a performer in the next act of the revue.  This revival plays up the vaudeville metaphor even more than previous versions that we have seen.  Amos is dressed in a long floppy coat that channels the trope of the sad clown. When one of the “Six Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail” is executed, despite ironically being the only one to claim to be innocent, this is choreographed by having her perform an aerial silk rope routine, culminating in her falling upside down from up high.  In previous versions of the musical, this same scene is often depicted simply with the character slowly climbing up a ladder and falling out of sight off stage. 

So, we did get enjoyment out of the fresh take on an old classic, and I still loved the performance of my favourite song from the show—Cell Block Tango.  Watching it must make every husband or boyfriend uneasy, each time the women growl “He had it coming!”.