gotta getta story

GGG  was founded in 2002 by a group of students from the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria: Clayton Baraniuk, Jane Gaudet, and RJ Peters.  With the help of Brad L’Écuyer and Shane Snow, GGG’s first show – a workshop of a Gilbert and Sullivan farce, was picked up by Victoria’s landmark Butchart Gardens.  Over the following eight years Gotta Getta Gimmick became one of the busiest theatre companies in Victoria, presenting annual summer and christmas productions on stage and around the property at the Butchart Gardens, alongside a continued development of a variety of musical theatre projects.GGG’s name is derived from the title of a song from the musical, Gypsy. This would prove to define the style and nature of the work that was to come.

The Gotta Getta Gimmick Arts Society was incorporated in 2007, lead by Clayton Baraniuk with the support of Brad L’Écuyer and Sarah Carlé. From 2016 Brad L’Écuyer took over leadership of the organization, supported by Mark Riishede and Sarah Carlé. The society became inactive briefly after 2018 – 2020, and in 2021 with the renewed leadership of Clayton Baraniuk and a new Board of Directors, GGG presented the Essential Cabaret online during the COVID-19 Pandemic shutdowns, following which the organization decided to take an indefinite hiatus from pubic programming.

GGG has workshopped and presented more than 23 chorus|line|cabarets, produced the chamber musical Falsettos, workshopped Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and created more than a dozen original creations ranging from a massive fringe festival flashmob to an intimate Tea with a Queen, tragic musical ghost stories to non-stop song and dance revues. The company has collaborated with The Belfry Theatre, Intrepid Theatre, Theatre SKAM, Firehall Arts Centre, Mary Winspear, Hermann’s Night Club, Langham Court, Dance Victoria, and the Victoria School of Art, among others.

While carving out a niche and influencing musical theatre development in Victoria, GGG generated interest and excitement for their brand of music theatre, attracting support, partnership and collaboration with some of Victoria’s most exciting theatre and arts institutions and organizations. GGG’s fresh approach to music theatre has seen a variety of unconventional locations from basements to orchards, sidewalk to staircases, steadily building a community audience and feeding the regions hunger for quality professional productions. Opportunities continue to blossom though Gotta Getta Gimmick’s uncanny ability to provide detailed, innovative productions, adapted to their surroundings and audience.

Thank you to our friends and supporters.

The following individuals have contributed to Gotta Getta Gimmick, and we would like to thank them and all the performers and audiences over the last 20 years.

The Belfry Theatre	Tara Gilroy-Scott	Robert Milne
Clayton  Baraniuk	Ivan  Habel	Tracey Moore
Kevin Barraca	Rebecca Hass	Patricia O’Brien
Francesca Bitonti	Janet Hender	Alicia O’Brien
Eric Blumenschein	Bonnie Herron	Gregory Owen
Avery Brennan	Jim  Herron	Peter  Pokorny
Mary-Lynne Britt	Jessica Hickman	Lisa C. Ravensbergen
Tara Britt	Jim  Hill	Sheila Reid
Jane Broomfield	Kelly  Howe	Michael Reid
Michelle Buck	Gordie  Howe	Elizabeth Reid
Nadine Carew	Richard Hurst	Janis Riishede
Jaquiline Carlé	Susan Johnston	Mark Riishede
Kevin Carlé	Joyce  Kline	Kelsey  Rogers
David Carlé	Brad L’Écuyer	Steph  Sartore
Sarah Carlé	Griffin Lea	Gerald Schieven
The FCA Little Fernwood	Jim  Leard	Michael Shamata
Doug Crockett	Jacques Lemay	Astrid Sidaway-Wolf
Cam Culham	Glynis  Leyshon	Naomi Simpson
Alex Currie	Amanda Lisman	Dave Skilling
Lorraine Dame	Erin Macklem	Gregory Smith
Louise Degagné	Helen Maxwell	Kathy St John
Jason Dubois	Helen  McAlliser	Scott Storm Dorbison
Janis Dunning	Graham  McDonald	Celine Stubel
Jane  Francis	Shireen McNeilage	Kirstin  Van Ritzen
Dale Friesen	Brett McNeilage	Joan Wells