The Shaw Festival kicks off May 18 at Niagara-on-the-Lake to the sounds of The Salvation Army Ontario Ontario South Division Youth Band. The Band will parade along the town's main street to the Festival Theatre, where it will serenade the arrival of such VIP guests as Ireland's Ambassador Paul Dempsey, American Ambassador Gordon Giffin and various other notables.

The Salvation Army Band has been picked for its thematic connections to the flagship production, Shaw's Major Barbara, which features a young woman who has joined the Army and works in London's East End shelters for the poor. Major Barbara is at the Festival Theatre.

The other opening week shows are: The Shop at Sly Corner, by Edward Percy at the Royal George Theatre, opening May 20; The Lady's Not For Burning by Christopher Fry at the Court House Theatre, opening May 21; You Can't Take It With You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart at the Festival Theatre, opening May 22; and A Foggy Day, based on the 1919 P.G. Wodehouse novel A Damsel In Distress at the Royal George Theatre, opening May 23.

For tickets call: 1-800-511-SHAW.

By Mira Friedlander
Canada Correspondent