A Charming Reflection on Family... Over the River and Through the Woods at Horizon Stage...

Saturday night I made the drive to Spruce Grove to have dinner with AM and catch the latest Horizon Players production, Over the River and Through the Woods.  It was closing night, so you won't be able to catch it, but I did enjoy myself. It was a lovely, charming piece about a grandson dealing with two sets of involved Italian grandparents. It's themes were also about changing times and traditions, how people show love, and having to deal with decisions that might take us away from those who love us. it had many funny moments that I think most people could relate to, even if you weren't Italian.  Like the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding or the TV show Little Mosque on the Prairie, it connects us to the universality of the modern world shifting our cultural traditions. The four grandparents were particularly entertaining, and played well. It left us with a little sadness and contemplation about what happens when those older generations pass on. A truly charming evening of theatre.

The past few weeks...

I have been working on Proof at Walterdale.  We are a hair's width from Opening so that will mean my schedule will open up and I will be able to post in a more timely manner. I did manage to squeeze in a few shows over the last little while... better late than never!

A couple of weekends back I managed to get to Two One Way Tickets to Broadway's Forbidden Broadway at La Cite.  It was a fun night of parody of Broadway musicals.  I think it really worked for people who know musicals.  I am not sure how it would play for people who don't know the shows and performers being mocked.  It was pretty quick and the four performers all sang well and went for it.  My favourite moments were an outrageous Carol Channing performed by Kyle Thulien and almost every time Kristin Johnston was onstage. She has an electric stage presence and is a quadruple threat as you can clearly add comedian to the list of singer, dancer and actor.

Last weekend I grabbed the last available ticket for the Saturday Night performance of NLT Bitches and Money 1878 at the PCL Theatre. This was a surprising departure from last season's shows.  It was a non chronological steam-punk caper of sorts.  Very well directed, acted and designed with an intriguing script that left you with a few more questions than answers.  It was fun, but I do admit I wanted a little bit more, but I think that was the script more than anything.  I liked the play with chronology and the absolute commitment to the choices.  It was also a nice surprise in that I have seen two of the three actors before (Ben Gorodetsky and Andrea Jorawsky) but never quite in this way and it made me appreciate the depths of their talents more.  The third actor (Laura Gillespie) was new to me and a delightful discovery.  Nice to see three young and skilled performers bringing it with such an interesting piece.

Tonight I took a drive out to Spruce Grove to see Marion Bridge at Horizon Stage.  I'm a sucker for a Daniel MacIvor play!  Indeed, if I weren't directing Proof, I would have been auditioning for this show. I did get to take part in a small way by contributing to the sound design as the evil Kara Ryan in the audio from the TV Soap that the sisters watch off stage.  As it was, they certainly didn't need me as the trio onstage were totally up for the job.  Director Anne Marie Szucs kept it simple and let the script do the work. This was a wise choice in the severe thrust of Horizon Stage. It's a hard space to block in but I think they did a nice job considering the constraints. I really liked the interplay of the three sisters, eldest-alcoholic-rough-around-the-edges Agnes (Erin Forwick-Whalley), middle-never-a-problem-ever-patient Theresa (Julie Sinclair) and youngest-strange-homebody Louise (Sarah Van Tassel).  The three worked well together and felt believable as sisters. They managed to raise them above the potential stereo-types of the characters and make them real. I love the script but had forgotten how funny it was.  This production used the humour to lift it up above the events that could otherwise seem very sad.  It was a lovely night out and totally worth the icy drive!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Louisiana...

I has a great evening last night. It was surreal some of the time, but I really enjoyed the show. The casting and choices were very different from the production that I was in, that I was able to see them uniquely and I could appreciate each for what they were. It is so very cool to see this show with a different but totally legitimate ensemble work, but work in ways different from how my show worked. It was also fun to sit outside the action and laugh at the things I couldn't before. The changes surprised and delighted me. It was well-paced and honest and that is what you need to do to bring that show to life.

A funny thing happened in the second act that totally caught me off guard. After the 3rd scene I suddenly went to the head space I was in while doing the show. I guess the patterns of dialogue and situation sent me back there and before the lights came up on the 4th scene I was crying and emotionally distraught. I am sure the people on either side of me couldn't figure out what was up because let's face it, we didn't even know that Shelby had died yet. For that entire scene I rode those familiar achy emotions from 3 years ago. After the show I was glad to get out and decompress a little because it was weird.

After the show we struck the set (very smooth and very quick) and headed to Chez Marsh for festivities. Usually I don't go to cast parties for shows I am not involved in but I felt right at home. It was nice to see the gang from Sky and others that I have worked with in the past. A really fun evening, and a very late night!

Deja Vu

Tonight I am going to see Steel Magnolias in Spruce Grove at Horizon Stage. It is the closing night of a three show run and they have been sold out or close to that for all the shows. It was directed by my bf AM and I know most of the cast. It is going to be weird. I am hoping that I can separate my experience from being in the show a few years ago from the experience of watching this new production. I will do my best to do so, but don't hate me if I am not able to! I am sure I will enjoy the evening, it's just going to be weird because I know ALL the words!

Sky's the Limit...

We finished up the 4 show run on Saturday night. Our audience was 9 people, only 4 of whom paid. On the Wednesday we had 5 people in the house. Opening and Friday we had between 20-30 people. It was a great show, with wonderful people to work with, but the lack of promotion by Horizon Players really disappointed me. I did what I could with Facebook and encouraging people I knew to come, but it was a challenge. Most of the students I know could not get out there. I was most disappointed that not all of the Board of Horizon Players came to see the show. The President of the Board never came out to a show. Disappointing.

Anyhow, we wrapped up the event at Elizabeth's lovely house in Stony Plain and we stumbled home at 4 AM. Good practice for the Casino I worked last night!

A Fun Night in Spruce Grove!

Last night I went out to Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove to watch an evening of One Acts. It is the first year that they have done this evening and it was a wonderful night of theatre. My good friend, AM, directed one of the shows (This is a Play) so I had to go and I was so pleased that I did. I haven't had a laugh out loud evening of theatre like that in a long time. There have been a few chuckles at shows, but every thing I have seen in Edmonton has been too restrained or contrived when it should have been more. In any case, 3 of the four shows were better than most of the pro shows I've seen out there and the remaining one was still good, but you could tell one of the actors was a little inexperienced and self-conscious on stage. I still enjoyed it, but not as much as the rest of them. A stand-out of the evening was Elizabeth Marsh... she just has this incredible charisma on stage... really, really, smart actress. AM says she wants to find a script where Elizabeth and I play sisters... that would be so much fun! I hope she gets looking!

I was also surprised at how quickly I got out to Spruce Grove. It always felt so much farther away in the past. Maybe I could do a show out there....

A Midwinter's trip to Midsummer...

Whew! The things I have to do to go out to see a friend in a play... Last night I went to A Midsummer Night's Dream in Spruce Grove put on by Horizon Players. The show started at 7:30 p.m. (What the? What ever happened to 8:00 starts?) but I had to start driving at 5:00 p.m. to get there on time. My sitter lives by Clareview so I left at 5 p.m. to get her, it was 6 p.m. by the time I got back to my house with the sitter and the kids. Then I headed off to pick up my friend Julie in Beaumaris. A couple of wrong turns meant that took me 20 minutes which was a bout 10 minutes longer than it should have (It was the one place I didn't mapquest! Doh!). Then we were off to get Wanda at the River Cree Casino in Enoch. Whoosh! Down 137th Avenue. Whoosh! Down Anthony Henday. Whoosh! Down the Whitemud? (I'm not sure I just went where Julie told me) Then we headed back up to the Yellowhead and off to the theatre. We rolled into the parking lot at about 7:20 p.m. We needn't have been stressed, the show didn't start until 7:45 due to latecomers. Really!

I was pleased overall with the show. Like most community shows you get a broad spectrum of skills and talents and you could see that, but the piece as a whole was complete and finished. Sure, there were things I didn't like, some of the actor's and director's choices were not the best, but at least choices were made. Everyone was giving their all. I was very pleased as well with my friend Anne Marie's performance. The director was wise to group people so that skill level was matched. However, what that did was make you wish for some story lines to come back and others to go away. What was clear with this production was that the actors were given room to be as good as they could be, so that the weaknesses of the show did not hold them back. Therefore, someone like my friend, could still have a meaningful theatre experience even though some of the other performers were not of the same calibre.

Oh, but a word... The audience etiquette was the worst I have seen in a theatre in I don't know how long. There were several people taking flash photography! What the?! There were people coming late (really late considering the show started 15 minutes late). There were people getting up and crossing in front of the stage during the show!!! With every flash I was taken out of the show. With every idiot standing up or talking to their friend I left the forest. I don't know if people realize the damage they do to a show and the insult they give to the actors onstage and the rest of the audience by doing these things. I could care less if you wear your hat or fall asleep or dress inappropriately, but don't screw around with the show by distracting me!