{"id":32193,"date":"2019-03-29T03:58:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T10:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32193"},"modified":"2019-03-27T12:31:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T19:31:58","slug":"cohen-dusts-off-tap-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/03\/29\/cohen-dusts-off-tap-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Cohen dusts off tap shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Cohen takes on the lead role of Don Lockwood in Royal City Musical Theatre\u2019s Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>, which runs April 4-20. (photo by David Cooper)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited for audiences to see Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>. The film is a classic, and I hope we\u2019re able to bring that same charm and excitement to the Massey Stage,\u201d Michael Wilkinson told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cIt is on the older side of the musical theatre canon, but I think our production \u2013 especially Andrew Cohen as Don Lockwood and Tessa Trach as Kathy Selden \u2013 do such a beautiful job at bringing these characters to life in 2019, while still keeping the familiarity and charm of the characters and story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royal City Musical Theatre presents Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em> at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster April 4-20. For those unfamiliar with the story, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are silent film stars, dashing and beautiful, but their stars will fade unless they can make the transition to talkies, the new technology of the time. The studio decides to change the couple\u2019s latest silent film into a musical but, the problem is, Lamont has a horrible voice \u2013 even listening to her talk is painful. The solution? Have her voice dubbed by aspiring actress Kathy Selden.<\/p>\n

Filled with humour, eminently singable and memorable music \u2013 \u201cGood Mornin\u2019,\u201d \u201cMake \u2019em Laugh,\u201d and, of course, \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain,\u201d to name a few \u2013 and incredible choreography, Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em> is one of the most popular musicals of all time, while also being an insightful commentary on the film industry, the impacts of technology and the nature of fame.<\/p>\n

Cohen said he was asked to audition for the role of Lockwood last fall, while he was away doing Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

\u201cGene Kelly made this role, this music, famous. He is in every neuron of this show. But I am no Gene Kelly (though I sure do wish I had his moves),\u201d Cohen told the Independent<\/em> about making such a famous character his own. \u201cI think any actor preparing to take on an iconic role like Don Lockwood needs to find where the character lives within themselves rather than trying to mimic the character\u2019s originator.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Cohen has more than the chops necessary to step into Kelly\u2019s shoes. Since the Jewish Independent<\/em> featured Cohen and his wife, Anna Kuman, in 2017, when they premi\u00e8red Circle Game: Reimagining the Music of Joni Mitchell<\/em> \u2013 which they co-created and co-directed \u2013 the couple has been working on different projects around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on the mass choreography team for the Fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games opening ceremony in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, that had us work with a cast of 8,000, not to mention aerialists, horses, dogs, camels,\u201d said Cohen. \u201cIt was a crazy experience! I then joined the stage management teams for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the Sydney Invictus Games opening and closing ceremonies, getting to work at the Sydney Opera House and along the stunning shores of the Gold Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen also premi\u00e8red the new musical Les Filles Du Roi<\/em>, for which he had to sing in English, French and Kanienk\u00e9:ha (Mohawk). \u201cLast winter,\u201d he said, \u201cI reconnected to my ancestral roots in the shmatta trade by playing Motel Kamzoil the Tailor in Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon. Also, being the show\u2019s music director, this production boasted a cast full of actor\/musicians and was extended four times due to popular demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s very excited to return home and \u201cdust off\u201d his tap shoes for Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>, Cohen won\u2019t be in town long. He\u2019s \u201cheading to Toronto, Tel Aviv and Europe this spring for a tour of the new Canadian show Charlotte: A Tri-Coloured Play with Music<\/em> that chronicles the life of renowned Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em> marks Cohen\u2019s debut with Royal City Musical Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth my wife and my brother have worked with them before,\u201d he said, \u201cbut this is my first time with RCMT, so it\u2019s lovely to get to join the club, especially since RCMT is a theatrical institution for large-scale classic musicals. Seldom do audiences (and actors alike) get to revel in the grandeur of the art form in this town than at the Massey Theatre every April.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen\u2019s fellow Jewish community member, Wilkinson, certainly enjoys this annual tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the community that keeps me coming back,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously performing is very fun, but I\u2019ve also made some great friendships through RCMT. It has become something to look forward to in April, and it\u2019s the people that make it such a wonderful environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson is in his final year of studies at the University of British Columbia\u2019s Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, so he\u2019s not sure how long he\u2019ll be able to continue performing with RCMT, but he feels \u201cvery fortunate to have been a part of five productions over the last few years.\u201d As part of the ensemble in Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>, he has more than one role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Quartet,\u201d he explained, \u201cis a part of the number \u2018Beautiful Girl,\u2019 which is a big showgirl number that is the first \u2018talkie\u2019 by Monumental Pictures (the film production studio in the show). Typically, the number only has the tenor soloist and the female ensemble, but our director and choreographer, Valerie Easton, has added four of the male ensemble to create a quartet and have some fun partnering moments in the number. It\u2019s really just a quick snippet of the show, and many of us in the ensemble jump around playing multiple parts. I\u2019m also playing Rod, who is the head of the publicity department at Monumental Pictures, which has been a fun bit role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson\u2019s favourite scene, he said, \u201cwould have to be the number \u2018Broadway Rhythm,\u2019 which happens about halfway through Act 2. It\u2019s around eight minutes long, and there is some amazing dancing and singing throughout the number. I think the audience will really enjoy it, especially once we have rehearsed it to perfection!\u201d<\/p>\n

For Cohen, the biggest challenge so far with the role of Lockwood has been \u201cthe sheer amount of material to learn. Don sings and dances a lot. In Act 1, he barely leaves the stage,\u201d said Cohen. \u201cPrepping for this show has been like training to do a marathon \u2013 every day a little further, more lines down, going over and over songs and dance breaks. That said, I grew up tap dancing but haven\u2019t had the chance to tap professionally in a long time. It\u2019s a real privilege getting to tap with some of the amazing tappers in this company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen said, \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting, seeing it all come together with the sets and the lights and the orchestra. How often do you get to sing with a real 18-piece orchestra?!\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to RCMT\u2019s Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>, visit ticketsnw.ca<\/a> or call 604-521-5050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Cohen takes on the lead role of Don Lockwood in Royal City Musical Theatre\u2019s Singin\u2019 in the Rain, which runs April 4-20. (photo by David Cooper) \u201cI\u2019m excited for audiences to see Singin\u2019 in the Rain. The film is a classic, and I hope we\u2019re able to bring that same charm and excitement to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[1715,5586,4462,5589,3606],"class_list":["post-32193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-andrew-cohen","tag-michael-wilkinson","tag-musical","tag-rcmt","tag-royal-city-musical-theatre"],"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\/32193","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=32193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}