{"id":25238,"date":"2017-07-21T03:58:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T10:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=25238"},"modified":"2017-07-19T11:16:03","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T18:16:03","slug":"one-of-best-tuts-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/07\/21\/one-of-best-tuts-seasons\/","title":{"rendered":"One of best TUTS seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Man in Chair (Shawn Macdonald) with the cast of The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>. (photo by Tim Matheson)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I know it\u2019s not a perfect show: the spit-take scene is lame and the monkey motif is laboured. But none of that matters. It does what a musical is supposed to do: it takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head. A little something to help you escape from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you\u2019re feeling blue. You know?\u201d<\/p>\n

The irony of Man in Chair\u2019s comments is that the spit-take scene and the monkey motif are hilarious in The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> and, for the lover of musicals, this parody is perfect. Or, as Mary Poppins would say, \u201cpractically perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theatre Under the Stars is presenting both The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> and Mary Poppins<\/em> this summer and, without a doubt, this is one of the best TUTS seasons yet. Both shows are excellent \u2013 the scripts, the acting, the sets, the music, the choreography, the directing, the costumes, the lighting, etc., etc. Both shows will take you to another world, escaping the real one for a few hours.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Ranae Miller as Mary Poppins and Victor Hunter as Bert have a magical song and dance in the park. (photo by Tim Matheson)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The season opened with Mary Poppins<\/em> on July 11. I saw it a couple of days later and, while there were still some sound issues to be sorted out with individual actors\u2019 microphones, the performance was spot on. Led by Victor Hunter as Bert the chimney sweep (artist, lamplighter and an assortment of other jobs) and Ranae Miller as the magical, stern-yet-loving nanny with great posture who puts all other nannies (and caregivers) to shame, the TUTS production is in more than capable hands. Both of these performers are fantastic actors and singers, and the rest of the cast matches their talent and energy.<\/p>\n

Lola Marshall, 11, and Nolen Dubuc, 9, deserve a shout-out for their portrayals of Jane and Michael Banks, the two unruly children Mary Poppins ostensibly comes to help. But Mary arrives at their house on Cherry Tree Lane as much for their parents \u2013 their mother, a former actress who is having trouble adapting to life in high society, and their father, a banker whose work consumes him, neither of whom has time for their kids.<\/p>\n

As The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>\u2019s Man in Chair notes \u2013 he\u2019s a wealth of pithy and astute observations \u2013 \u201cEverything always works out in musicals,\u201d and Mary Poppins<\/em> is no exception. However, a lot of effort goes into making everything work out onstage and the TUTS team really added their own unique touch to both musicals.<\/p>\n

For Mary Poppins<\/em>, the Cherry Tree Lane house that Brian Ball built is like a huge Fisher Price toy that opens and closes to reveal the kids and Mary\u2019s bedrooms on one side and the kitchen and dining room on the other, plus various hidden compartments. The other sets \u2013 that take the audience to the park and its statues that come alive, to a kitchen in which a broken table and shelves can fix themselves, and to the rooftops of London \u2013 invite the audience into Mary\u2019s world. The starry nights and Mary\u2019s flights elicit awe, not to mention the flying kites.<\/p>\n

The choreography is also inspired, with the problem of how to have dancing penguins join Bert in \u201cJolly Holiday\u201d smartly solved, with the crowd-pleasing flag-less semaphore in \u201cSupercalifragilisticexpialidocious\u201d that reaches a feverish pitch and the raucous rooftop tap-dancing in \u201cStep in Time.\u201d It was sometimes a wonder how music director and conductor Wendy Bross Stuart kept the cast and orchestra in sync, but she did.<\/p>\n

While the energy slowed a bit as the musical neared its end \u2013 the child behind me wondered, with about two songs remaining, \u201cHow long is this musical?\u201d \u2013 for the most part, director Shel Piercy has done a masterful job of pacing. He takes the audience on an emotional journey, with many laughs but also many touching moments. No one will be unmoved by Cecilia Smith\u2019s performance (as Bird Woman) of \u201cFeed the Birds\u201d \u2013 the lessons of compassion and seeing beyond appearances that Mary teaches the Banks children are lessons we cannot learn often enough.<\/p>\n

Joining Bross Stuart in this production are fellow Jewish community members Kat Palmer, as part of the talented and enthusiastic ensemble, and Andrea Minden in the orchestra. In The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>, community member Stefan Winfield plays Broadway producer Feldzieg, while his and wife (choreographer) Shelley Stewart Hunt\u2019s 5-year-old son Wesley plays a couple of adorable, if superfluous, parts near the musical\u2019s end in an over-the-top number that pokes fun at the extravagant finales of many musicals, not just Man in Chair\u2019s favourite, The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Having just come home to his rundown apartment, this lonely bachelor \u2013 played extremely well by Shawn Macdonald, as if the role was written for him \u2013 announces, \u201cI hate theatre,\u201d and proceeds to tell us why. It\u2019s really current works that he dislikes; once upon a time, \u201cyou knew that when the show began you would be taken to another world, a world full of colour and music and glamour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember?\u201d he asks the audience of the (fictitious) \u201cmusical within a comedy,\u201d as The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> is described. \u201cMusic by Julie Gable, lyrics by Sidney Stein. It\u2019s a two-record set, re-mastered from the original recording made in 1928. It\u2019s the full show with the original cast including Beatrice as the Chaperone. Isn\u2019t she elegant? And this is a full 15 years before she became Dame Beatrice Stockwell. Can you believe it? Let me read to you what it says on the back \u2013 it says, \u2018Mix-ups, mayhem and a gay wedding!\u2019 Of course, the phrase gay wedding has a different meaning now, but back then it just meant fun. And that\u2019s just what the show is \u2013 fun. Would you … would you indulge me? Would you let me play the record for you now? I was hoping you would say yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, with that, Man in Chair puts the record he has just unsleeved onto the player and, as the static sounds, he introduces us not only to his beloved musical but its actors and the era. Throughout the show, which he imagines (and that we can see) taking place in his apartment, he gives a running commentary, sharing a little about his life, factoids about the actors in the play and explanatory notes about certain scenes. He both extols the virtues of the musicals of the 1920s and exposes their weaknesses, including some poor writing \u2013 the aforementioned spit-take scene and monkey motif, as examples \u2013 and some not-so-subtle racism. An example of the latter is the incomparable first scene of Act 2 \u2013 Oriental Palace, Day \u2013 which the TUTS cast performs superbly.<\/p>\n

Man in Chair\u2019s dialogue is absolutely brilliant and Macdonald delivers it with such excitement, as if he \u2013 and not just his character \u2013 so wants you to love the musical as much as he does, despite its flaws. He seems to barely contain his joy when certain songs come up and when he just can\u2019t stay in his chair and joins the dancing, it is almost contagious. (Though the incredible closeness of the rows at this year\u2019s TUTS barely allows you to reach your seat, let alone get up and dance.)<\/p>\n

As with Mary Poppins<\/em>, there isn\u2019t a weak link in The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>. The entire cast \u2013 leads and ensemble \u2013 bring everything they have to the stage, and it shows.<\/p>\n

Ball\u2019s set design once again amazes, as people pop in and out of almost anywhere, and Stewart Hunt\u2019s dance numbers use every inch of the apartment\u2019s kitchen and living room space. Music director and conductor Kevin Michael Cripps does double duty as the Chaperone\u2019s bartender and director Gillian Barber delivers a fast-paced, larger-than-life contemporary musical that would even please Man in Chair.<\/p>\n

Chris Sinosich was the costume designer for both The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> \u2013 which seems to have countless costume changes \u2013 and Mary Poppins<\/em>. She is to be commended for the period dress in both, evoking the late-1920s and silliness of the former and the Edwardian period of the latter; as well as the stark contrasts, with Man in Chair obviously of a different era than his favourite musical and Mary Poppins\u2019 colour-rich realm standing out from the darker, more sombre tones of the bankers\u2019 reality.<\/p>\n

While the Chaperone may stumble along, martini glass in hand, there is no stumbling in either TUTS production this year. See both if you can. They alternate nights, with Mary Poppins<\/em> closing Aug. 18 and The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> Aug. 19. For tickets and more information, visit tuts.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Man in Chair (Shawn Macdonald) with the cast of The Drowsy Chaperone. (photo by Tim Matheson) \u201cLook, I know it\u2019s not a perfect show: the spit-take scene is lame and the monkey motif is laboured. But none of that matters. It does what a musical is supposed to do: it takes you to another world, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[7267,7266,6296,1689,1686],"class_list":["post-25238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-drowsy-chaperone","tag-mary-poppins","tag-musical-theatre","tag-theatre-under-the-stars","tag-tuts"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}