Another Opening!

From Cradle to Stage opens tonight at Walterdale.  I encourage you to come out and see these two lovely new works by emerging Alberta playwrights.  I also designed and painted the sets so I am very excited to show those off! I am quite happy with how the sets turned out and I love how they work with their respective shows! It was a challenge to design two sets - one indoor and one outdoor - for the same space.

After the show tonight there is a nice reception upstairs to mix and mingle with the cast and crew and the other members of the audience! It's a great way to round off your holiday weekend.

Final Dress for Cradle to Stage and a Flight Around Europe with a Viscount... All in a Saturday's Work!

I had a take a break from the Bee to handle some things at Walterdale as we had our last Dress Rehearsal and Theatre Clean before Preview and Opening for From Cradle to Stage. Things went remarkably smoothly and the only thing I didn't like was that it meant I had to find parking in the area on a Saturday.  For those of you who know the Strathcona Farmer's Market traffic situation you know why this was irksome.  I made it work and it only cost me $4.00! I have been so happy with how things have gone with Cradle this year.  I was upfront with the level of my busyness so I did a tonne of work to try and be super organized and everyone stepped up to the plate and we are in great shape with very low stress! Huzzah!  Today is the Artist's/Director's/Students' Preview and it will be nice to show the work to some people outside the team. Show is at 2 p.m. and students with ID can see it for FREE! We open tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The shows this year are lovely and strangely thematically linked.  Each deals with seeking healing and forgiveness after a traumatic event and coincidence/fate causes the people to meet the right people to allow that to happen. Some nice, strong work from these new playwrights.  After we ran the dress we cleaned the theatre and then celebrated with pizza! It's a nice group of people and it was great to visit with them all in a more social atmosphere.

Following the pizza I took my friend Heather to see Flight of the Viscount by David Belke at Shadow Theatre. The show was tonnes of fun as we followed the escaping Viscount James Westerly (Jamie Cavanaugh) across Europe as he is pursued by the relentless maid Maggie (Caley Suliak).  Along the way we encounter many strange and hilarious locals all played with much hilarity by Nathan Cuckow. Cuckow was a delight to watch, his accents more outrageously funny than strictly accurate and a variety in facial hair that added greatly to the comedy.  Cavanaugh and Suliak were fun to watch, playing off each other deftly.  I was fascinated by the main set piece which became a myriad of items in a Rubiks Cube-like fashion, but I was disappointed with the projections which provided the backbone of setting the scene.  I liked the use of maps, but to use a projection to represent so much, it meant that some of the other lighting was compromised and there were many a dark spot here and there on the remainder of the deck. I am being picky, but I have a pet peeve with projections in theatre - I only like them when they work perfectly. However, It was a nice light evening full of laughter and I did enjoy myself.  I think they close today, so if you want to catch this fun show you have to act fast!

So today, I return to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at La Cite.  We have a matinee today, then we pack up for a week and return on May 29th for four more shows. I missed it last night so I am excited to see it again and see what today's audience does with it!

Two Shows Down! Happy Director Dance!

I just got home from the second show in the run.  I took Mark to Opening Night yesterday and he was up onstage as one of the audience volunteers.  It was fun to see him up there as he knew very little about the show despite being my husband and because he is very competitive so he REALLY wanted to get the words right.  The show was wonderfully received.  I so enjoy how much the audience laughs.  The best post show comment for me, however, was from a friend who said:

"I knew I would be laughing, but I wasn't expecting to cry."  

I felt like I had succeeded because I really wanted it to be more than just another fun musical.  It is that, but I also wanted it to have heart and a sense of realness under the quirky exteriors of the competitors.

Tonight I took Oliver, who is almost 12, to see the second performance. I was concerned about the "inappropriate for young children song" (not it's real name), but I needn't have worried.  Oliver was more concerned about the candy than actually paying attention to the song.  He has fun and I was very, very pleased as the show was even better than Opening.  The first night had a wonderful electricity as Opening Nights often do, but tonight was clean and sharp and still so very, very present.  Happy Director Dance for me!

And then I came home to this brilliant review from the St. Albert Gazette.  So pleased with the analysis and assessment of the show as a whole and of the individual performances.  A very nice end to a long week!

Selected Quotes from the Review:


"The talented cast has attacked William Finn’s score with tons of energy and are fearless in taking risks. They immediately establish their characters without straying into caricature.

Kudos to director Kristin Finlay for channelling the energies of an engaging cast of adults playing children.

But throughout this frothy fun there are some important lessons to learn. Family isn’t always right, and it’s all right to win and just as okay to lose."

- Anna Borowiecki, St. Albert Gazette

Meet Mark Sinongco - Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

What is your role in this show? 

I play Chip Tolentino, last year's winner of the Putnam County Spelling Bee. All he wants is to win again this year … However, puberty has some other plans for him.

What is your background in theatre? 
I was first introduced to Theatre at M.E LaZerte under the instruction of Pamela Schmunk. After graduating, I moved to Victoria, BC and trained at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, receiving a Diploma in Performing Arts. In those years, some of my favourite roles include Ren (Footloose: The Musical), Reverend Hightower (Bat Boy: The Musical), and Prince Amir (The Ash Girl).

What is your favourite word to spell, and why? 
ICUP
Definition: A lame joke told by 3rd Graders, and apparently recent college graduates.
Sentence use: Hey man, how do you spell ICUP?

Photo Credit: Janine Hodder
Kate Wylie as Mitch and Mark Sinongco as Chip Tolentino

I Really Should Be Sleeping... But I'm not... We Open T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W

What a fun night!  We had the ELOPE Board of Directors come and watch the show tonight and some of them participated as audience volunteers so we would have a practice run before Opening and it was so much fun.  The energy give and take from them allowed me to see the show through new eyes, which is not easy to do after living with it for so long. I spent a bit of time tweaking light cues so that they were as good as what was happening onstage, but for the most part I just enjoyed it.  It was great to have four volunteers onstage who didn't know what was coming and a good 8-10 people in the house enjoying the Bee!  It's why you do Previews.  I think it was really good for the actors to hear the laughs and feel what that felt like before we face our first ticketed audience tomorrow night.

TOMORROW...

Goodbye! Goodbye!

I have wisely left myself time tomorrow to rest and get ready.  I do have to do a little shopping.  For those of you who know me, I am a bit of a show gift weirdo (in a good way) and I have a few more to get.  I was going to do this dictionary theme, but I think because everyone has a computer now it is actually very hard to find many pocket dictionaries.  Why buy a book when you can type a word into Google?  Anyhow, I have rebooted my show gift plans and it will all be lovely!  So I can sleep in a bit, write cards and do a little shopping.  My mom is watching the boys so Mark will be in attendance so that is nice!  

Anyhow, here are a couple more fabulous photos from Janine Hodder from our Tuesday night Dress Rehearsal!

Barfee (Curtis Knecht) at the Mic!

Pandemonium - The Best Speller won't necessarily win!

Of Souls and Spelling Bees...

I have been so knee deep in Spelling Bee this last little while that I feel bad that I haven't taken a moment until now to write about Catalyst Theatre's production of The Soul Collector.  As it was, I was very fortunate to find a night when I could actually take in the show.  I actually booked the tickets over a month prior as I missed Frankenstein due to it's being Sold Out and I vowed that would not happen this time (especially after I heard so much about what I had missed from all my friends!).  So, on Friday night I met up with AM and we took in a bite and a show.  We had great fun at the lobby Photo Booth. Very cool to try on the show inspired costume pieces and since we are both theatre performers we could not resist the tickle trunk! It is good to be able to just be silly! It was also cool to run into a few people from Spelling Bee there that night.  I guess we all had the night off!

The show, the show, the show... First I have to talk about the design and concept.  It was a visually stunning piece.  From the costumes, to the alley set, with everything labelled and outlined very intentionally, to the toboggan race, to the accountants, to the ballroom dance, to the many incarnations of snow it was one of the most conceptually complete pieces I have ever seen.  It is not so much that it was all black and white and grey, but more that everything had the right off-kilter feel and Tim Burton/Gothic kind of aesthetic.  It's not just a black coat - it's the 'perfect' black coat with the 'perfect' detailing.  This show is why I think Scenographer Brette Gerecke is a genius.  It's absolute proof of it.  This was matched with the choreography and the tone of the script.  So complete.  Watching this show is like taking a masterclass in design.  The cast itself was outstanding.  It's hard to single people out since they worked so well as an ensemble, however, I felt Karyn Mott was lovely in the lead as Memory McQuaid.  Her bright hair and textured voice made her very compelling. Opposite her, Benjamin Wardle as Gideon Glumb was delightful.  Because the stage was in an alley arrangement, it created a bit of a detachment effect for me, however, Wardle seemed to easily reach beyond that wall.  Similarly did Garett Ross as Popcorn Pete. Ross was fun to watch in his many incarnations - always drawings us in.  It is hard, though, to single people out - From Elinor Holt as the Icy Soul Collector whose vocal range was truly impressive, to Nancy McAlear as Anemone Knight whose dance was as elegant as her sadness. I thought Eric Wigston as tortured, love-struck, composer Thorvald Jesperson was note perfect, his record-skipping solo amazing.  I saw no flaws from anyone as they were all committed and strong in their performances. The script... hmmm... I am a bit torn on this.  I left the play really liking it, however, for the first 1/3 of the show I found it hard to get into.  I struggle with heavily-narrated shows and I think the narration off the top combined with the alley stage made it difficult for me to immerse myself right away.  There were also some balance issues with the sound so I couldn't really make out many of the lyrics of the first song the ensemble sang.  It was tightly and terrifically choreographed, but without knowing what they were saying I felt like I was reaching to understand what it was about.  Solos were always clear and those are what brought me into the show.  So, like I said, the first third I was disconnected, the last 2/3 thirds I was there and really captivated. It may also be that this is more of a show that is about the concept and style.  The narration automatically removes the audience so that you know it is in the realm of story-telling.  It is not until we start to hear the characters own voices that we start to care about them.  I am still pondering the message of the show.  I think this would have been a good one to see more than once and from different vantage points.  If they remount it, I would definitely try to catch it again.

And so, I was glad for the night out in my busy week! This weekend after Spelling Bee opens I will be catching The Flight of the Viscount at Shadow Theatre. Wish me luck for a good opening on Thursday night!  I was very excited to see our huge photo in the Edmonton Journal this week and to hear that tickets have been moving fast at Tix on the Square.  I am so pleased with the show.  I'm tickled because our SM frequently says to me following a run,  "This is NOT a Community Theatre show..." I think so too, but it is nice to hear it from someone else!

Meet Matt Graham - Carl Dad in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Matt Graham - Carl Dad


What role do you play in the show?

I play Carl Dad- one of Schwartzy's two fathers. He is an extremely competitive coach, and will stop at nothing to see his daughter take the Putnam Bee!

What is your background in theatre? 

I did a few shows for my high schools drama club, but some recent highlights include playing Horton in festival place's "Seussical the Musical" as well as getting the chance to work as assistant music director on the Walterdale Playhouse's production of "Nine" last summer!
This is my first production with ELOPE, and I'm SO excited to be involved in this show!

What is your favourite word to spell?

Mamihlapinatapai- "a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other will offer something that they both desire but are unwilling to suggest or offer themselves". So wonderfully succinct!

Matt Graham and Dean McQuay as Carl Dad and Dan Dad in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Photo Credit: Janine Hodder