This is the eleventh in a series of Q&A Profiles with London area theatre companies and groups. Today, we interview Chase R. Montgomery, founder of Mavis Productions.
Q. When was your company founded? By whom and why?
Mavis Productions got its start in 2019, but it really came into being in November of 2022 as the pandemic lockdown came to an end. It was founded because I wanted to bring more performing opportunities to South Western Ontario communities in the form of musicals and plays of all kinds, both famous/family and infamous/cult.
Q. Is your company best described as professional or not-for-profit community theatre? Or both?
Mavis Productions is best described as a touring community theatre company that visits multiple communities with our productions. It is our hope to continue to make shows bigger and bigger so that one day, grand-scale productions can be accessible to everyone during these hard financial times.
(Pictured: Chase Montgomery, Mavis Productions founder.)
Q. What venue(s) do you use to stage your productions?
As a touring company, Mavis has several venues we currently call home.
London: The Wolf Performance Hall, Joanne and Peter Kenny Theatre, and Paul Davenport Theatre.
Fergus: The Fergus Grand Theatre.
Chatham: The Kiwanis Theatre.
St. Thomas: The Princess Playhouse.
Alymer: Old Town Hall Theatre.
Brantford: The Sanderson Centre of Performing Arts.
Q. Does your company have a Mission or Statement of Purpose?
To bring new and unique entertainment, created by our communities for our communities.
Q. Does your company have a Board of Directors and paid Staff?
Mavis is comprised entirely of volunteers from many of our South Western Ontario and Michigan, USA communities
Q. Tell me about your 2025-2026 Season. Does it have any underlying theme?
Our 2026 Spring Season focuses on the struggles of Misfits.
Those of us, young and old alike, who just don’t fit in. Whether it’s because they were born different or thrown into circumstances that cause them to feel alone and struggle through this world.
However, through sheer determination and self-reliance (or the help of newly found friends who are also misfits), they find their place in life and are ready to take on the rest of the world and the monsters that brought them to ruin.
We feel this resonates with Mavis and our communities, as it is a long-standing theme of our past seasons, and we are so excited to be bringing it forward again with these three musicals:
The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical (London and Fergus)
Evil Dead the Musical (London)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Fergus and Brantford)
Q. What show(s) will you be staging this fall (September to December)? Tell me a little bit about each.
London Oct 9-18:
Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
This cult classic has become not only a long-standing tradition for Mavis but also one of London’s favorite annual events. As this will be the 4th year Mavis has brought this show to life for our London community, AND it is the 50-year celebration of the film, we cannot express the excitement and effort being put into it.
The show tells the story of young lovers Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, who find themselves in the company of a strange doctor (whose scientific endeavours are as strange to them as the clothes he wears), his servants, and a party full of unique characters. To say that it is a tale of Frankenstein with flair would be an understatement!
With so much history and so much love from the world, especially for the iconic songs like Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite, Rocky Horror will delight any and all with its pleasurable ways.
Fergus
November 13-16
Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound
Moon and Birdboot, two drama critics, arrive to watch the performance of a new detective play, a parody of the conventional stage thriller. However, the private lives of the critics become inextricably mixed with those of the play’s characters until Moon is shot dead and the real Inspector Hound proves to be…?
Brantford
December 27 and 28
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard the Musical
In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded silent-screen goddess Norma Desmond lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screenwriter Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive domain.
Persuaded to work on Norma’s “masterpiece,” a film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras, Joe is seduced by her and her luxurious lifestyle. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic existence until his love for another woman leads him to try to break free with dramatic consequences.
Q. Do you have any thoughts about the London area theatre community and your part in it?
The London community has been among the greatest communities to create an experience that we have ever had. For four years, they have welcomed our unique artistic views with open arms, coming by the thousands to our adult/cult shows and our family shows. London is truly a city that embraces all forms of expression.
For our part, Mavis Productions will continue to push the envelope to create bigger and better shows for all our communities from all walks of life. It is a privilege to produce these shows, and we will continue to honor it.
For tickets and more information about Mavis Productions, visit https://mavisproductions.ca/
Follow Mavis Productions on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MAVISproductions/photos
Follow Mavis Productions on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mavis_productions/
The Beat Magazine 2025 