Laughing at Present Laughter at Walterdale Theatre

Last night I took in the Noël Coward play, Present Laughter, at Walterdale Theatre. I'm pleased to say that it produced much in the way of present laughter. For those of you who love Coward's plays, you will absolutely adore this production. I'm not usually a fan of his, so I was quite delighted that many of the things I don't enjoy were not there, and that it focused on things that I did enjoy. What a weird way of saying that I liked it, huh? 

Anyhow, this is a fun show and I loved the momentum that built from the first to the second and culminated in the third act. Director John Anderson did an excellent job building the pace and creating the world for this wacky crew. The third act is a lot of ridiculous chaos! Note: there is only one intermission as the company has wisely split the action in the middle of the second act in a place that totally works. At the centre of the show is Garry Essendine (Randy Brososky) who is his time's most famous actor. As such, he is stalked by super fans and many young attractive women (and men) who want to be with him. He does not object and has many flirtations and dalliances which previously lead to an estrangement from his wife Liz (Angela James-Findlay). Things come to a head when one of these affairs strike a little too close to home. Garry has a team that protects him and who his work provides for, and this is the real marriage of his life. Maintaining that means that lines need to be drawn. 

I was thinking that it would be interesting to see this re-written in the modern age as the age of digital stalking and public ownership of our superstar actors and celebrities was certainly paralleled by Garry's hi-jinks. I think it would be a little darker if set today, however, and might not have the farcical elements that we see onstage in this production. 

The cast is well suited to their roles and they embraced the craziness of Garry's world. I absolutely loved the contrast of the sane and stoic wife Liz and much put-upon personal secretary Monica (Donna Call) with the more outrageous fans like the overly-romantic Daphne (Stephanie Swensrude) and entirely kooky Roland (Andréus Wallace). I cannot decide if my favourite moment was Roland's crawl over the couch or Daphne's over-the-top audition. I did chuckle at so many of Monica's dry asides, Donna Call played her quiet moments so perfectly. There's also a femme fatale, Joanna (Kate Power) who had a fierce barracuda-like energy. At the centre is Garry, and Brososky bounces around from choice to choice like a kid in a candy store, until it all explodes and it has to be shut down. That is very satisfying, I also wanted to mention a new young actor who plays the valet Fred (Drake Seipert) - although the role was not large, he impressed me with every choice he made. I'm really interested to see what he does next. 

Anyhow, I had a great time. I can't really talk about all of it as there should be some surprises, but it was certainly a lot of fun!

Present Laughter runs to December 13th at Walterdale Theatre. Tickets start at around $25 plus fees and there is a Pay-What-You-Can Night on Wednesday, December 10th. You can purchase tickets in advance here. 

Wrapping up my Theatre week! NLT, Grant MacEwan and Foote in the Door!

 I'm not kidding when I say the last week was jam-packed with theatre. I saw five shows (two of which I already wrote about) in 7 days! I combined that with my usual Trivia adventures, a visit from my sister, and chauffeuring my husband to and from his cataract surgery. A busy, busy week with a wide variety of theatre!

Brianne Jang BB Collective Photography

I mentioned a visit from my sister. We had a terrific time this week, mostly talking (but she did come to trivia with us and help secure our second place finish). On Thursday, the two of us went for dinner on Whyte at the newly opened Town 82 which was a lovely spot with great food and atmosphere. And we talked. Then we set off for Northern Light Theatre’s How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition. This show was simply delightful. About two women who are a little lonely who are participating in a Beginner Adult Tap Class for different reasons. After the instructor leaves her position, the rest of the class also departs leaving only Patty and Joanne. Patty (Jenny McKillop) is a tired mother of 5, seeking something for herself  in her busy life. For Joanne (Kendra Connor)  the tap class is her path to her love of musical theatre (she knows facts about classic musical theatre shows that she can list off at the drop of a hat), and memories of her now deceased parents. When they find themselves alone with no instructor they decide to create their own routine and enter the big Winter Dance Competition. Through the journey, they get to know each other and themselves better and create a magical tap number (Choreographer Jason Hardwick) that literally had me sobbing with joy! Perhaps I connected to this so strongly because, like Patty and Joanne, I too am at a point in my life where I am seeking something for me. I think many of us hit that point in our middle years and an artistic pursuit, no matter what your skill-level, can fill that. I have so many friends that have started taking up artistic hobbies that it made me really think about what is missing that art fills in our lives. I may not take up tap-dancing, but I know I have been seriously thinking about finally writing a novel! Look out world! If there's a Christmas Cup for novel writing I might be trying for it. Anyhow, this is a terrific little show. It's a tight 60 minutes that's funny and heart-warming, and certainly kicks off the Christmas season in a truly original way! Plus, it features the BEST Christmas song every written so there's that. No ghosts on this stage, but I'm good with that. The show runs until December 13th and there's plenty of different price points including Pay-What-You-Can and 2-For-1 Tickets. 

I also saw Grant MacEwan Theatre Program's Carrie. It has closed now but it was an excellently done show. However, it was not my kind of show. I think that there are certain people who love this show and shows like it. Based on the Stephen King book and movie it has a bit of a cult status. It was executed with great skill. Standouts were the actresses who played Carrie and her mother (I failed to grab a program and I can no longer find the online program - so if anyone knows who they were, feel free to comment). But the whole thing was pretty cool for concept and it was tight. I'm glad I saw it, even though it wasn't my kind of show, because there are some fabulous performers in the Grant MacEwan Theatre program! 

Finally, I saw Foote in the Door's Guys and Dolls. It has also closed as I saw it on it's closing weekend, but I had a great time. I went with friends from Amélie (ELOPE) and there were several members of the Amélie cast/team onstage and in the orchestra and production team. It was nice to see all them, as well as the Walterdale peeps! A very 'theatre-family' experience. Having done Guys and Dolls many, many years ago it was terrific to revisit it. My seat partner and I chair-danced and lip synced along to many of the songs and it was full of funny moments that we laughed at. It's easy to see why a company would produce this show. So many great songs and opportunities for humour and great dancing! This was a terrific ensemble and they put on a show that was a real audience pleaser! I'm glad I was able to fit it into my schedule!