{"id":32819,"date":"2019-06-28T03:59:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T10:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32819"},"modified":"2019-06-26T10:17:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T17:17:00","slug":"tuts-season-is-set-to-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/06\/28\/tuts-season-is-set-to-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"TUTS season is set to begin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Left to right: Sheryl Wheaton as Rosie, Lori Ashton Zondag as Tanya and Caitriona Murphy as Donna in Mamma Mia!<\/em> with Adam Charles as Jack, Caleb Lagayan as Race and Graeme Kitagawa as Mush in Disney\u2019s Newsies<\/em>. (photo by Lindsay Elliott)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Iconic Swedish pop music and a story that exemplifies America\u2019s love of the underdog are coming to Stanley Park\u2019s Malkin Bowl this summer. Theatre Under the Stars presents Mamma Mia!<\/em> and Disney\u2019s Newsies<\/em> on alternate nights, starting with a preview of Mamma Mia!<\/em> July 5.<\/p>\n

Set in the Greek islands, Mamma Mia!<\/em> features ABBA songs aplenty, as bride-to-be Sophie invites three of her mother\u2019s former lovers to her wedding in order to figure out which one is her father. The TUTS production features two Jewish community members who are veterans of the stage: Wendy Bross Stuart as music director (and rock band pianist) and Stefan Winfield as Harry Bright, one of the possible fathers, a role that was played by Colin Firth in the film version of the musical.<\/p>\n

About his preparation for the TUTS production, Winfield shared: \u201cMain note to self: do not attempt to replicate Colin Firth\u2019s performance! He is a great actor. His quintessentially understated, sensual and impossibly British charm that comes across so well on the screen is not something I\u2019d ever be able to reproduce on the Malkin Bowl stage in a way that connects with anyone past the first row \u2026 so, I\u2019m bringing what I can to the role, doing my best to fulfil the vision of the creative team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winfield\u2019s first TUTS show goes back to childhood. In 1976, he played Randolph in Bye Bye Birdie<\/em>. \u201cMy next appearance on the Malkin Bowl stage was not until 1999,\u2019 he said, \u201cwhen I played an adult role (i.e., not a Jet or a Shark!) in West Side Story<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, he has been involved in several TUTS shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em>, another mounting of Bye Bye Birdie<\/em> and of West Side Story<\/em>, and The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em>. Among other things, he was also in Parfumerie<\/em> at the Metro Theatre in 2014, directed by Disney\u2019s Newsies<\/em> musical director, Christopher King, and has been directed a few times by fellow Jewish community member Richard Berg, who is currently TUTS\u2019s production manager.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Stefan Winfield plays one of the prospective dads in Theatre Under the Star\u2019s Mamma Mia!, which previews July 5. (photo from TUTS)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to be working again with Shel Piercy,\u201d Winfield added. \u201cThis is the fourth time I\u2019ve performed under his direction on a theatre production, but the first time dates back to 1977! I played Kurt in a very local production of The Sound of Music<\/em> for Marpole Community Theatre, directed by Shel, who, I believe, had only recently graduated from Eric Hamber. He\u2019s a guy who\u2019s been telling great stories for several decades, on stage and screen; I am very honoured to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another co-worker partially explains why Winfield likes being involved in TUTS. \u201cThe opportunity to work under the direction of and perform with outstanding theatre professionals, including my wife, choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt \u2013 not to mention the crowd of extraordinarily talented and impressively trained up-and-coming young people who give themselves over to TUTS for the summer. And, for me personally, TUTS has really lived up to its mandate of creating a family atmosphere in allowing me to share the experience with my son Wesley, who was \u2018en ventre sa m\u00e8re\u2019 during Bye Bye Birdie<\/em> as Shelley was choreographing, then performed in featured bits in The Drowsy Chaperone<\/em> at the age of 5, and is doing the same now in Mamma Mia!<\/em> \u2013 this time actually executing choreography set by his mum! To watch it gives me joy \u2026 naches<\/em>, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a family scene that is among Winfield\u2019s favourites in Mamma Mia!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of great moments,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019d say my favourite occurs during the scene when the dads meet Sophie for the first time. Harry is singing \u2018Thank You for the Music,\u2019 playing the guitar while lost in wistful reminiscence, when, to his surprise, in walks Sophie who joins in on the song. It\u2019s a moment made all the more special by the lovely voice and energy of the young lady who\u2019s playing Sophie in our production, Keira Jang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also a TUTS veteran, Bross Stuart has worked with Piercy and Stewart Hunt before.<\/p>\n

\u201cShel, Shelley and I have worked together on many shows; we go back a very long time,\u201d said Stuart. \u201cIn fact, Shelley was actually my student when she was in Grade 8. And an excellent student at that! As a team, I have profound respect for Shel and Shelley. There is a wonderfully creative synergy between the two of them and between them and myself. They see possibilities which are almost magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bross Stuart\u2019s first TUTS production was Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those days,\u201d she said, \u201cit had not occurred to people in Vancouver that it might be useful to have an actual Jewish person involved with a production of Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>. TUTS was ahead of its time, realizing how important this would be! In those days, there was very little Jewish influence in this town, especially compared to where I had spent my childhood and young adult life \u2013 in New York City and Montreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
With Mamma Mia! music director and pianist Wendy Bross Stuart has added ABBA\u2019s music to her repertoire. (photo by Erin Palm)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Describing working at TUTS as \u201cintoxicating,\u201d Bross Stuart highlighted the beauty of Stanley Park and said about the feeling of \u201cconducting\/playing outdoors in front of a large, appreciative audience \u2013 absolutely second to none. A very special experience!\u201d<\/p>\n

As well, she noted that \u201ceach show has completely different demands because of the material we are using.\u201d For Bross Stuart, ABBA\u2019s music was a new challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cABBA was not in my repertoire at all,\u201d she admitted. \u201cDuring the ABBA period, I was busy living in Japan and studying traditional music for koto and shamisen, composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo and Tsuruyama Kengyo. No pop music for me! However, I have learned so much about this style from working on Mamma Mia!<\/em> Doing ABBA music has taken me to a new place in my musical life. Growing and learning is such an exciting venture.\u201d<\/p>\n

While music rehearsals officially started on April 24, Bross Stuart said she opened her home for early rehearsals to anyone who wanted a head start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe style of the music makes the approach much<\/em> different from most shows,\u201d she said. \u201cLess on the micro details and more on the big picture. As a detail-oriented person, it is a great learning experience for me \u2013 and, I am playing keyboard in a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll band (and conducting). Each of the four keyboards is hooked up to a computer with many sound patches. I love it!\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to Mamma Mia!<\/em> and Disney\u2019s Newsies<\/em> \u2013 which may not have local Jewish community members in its creative team but has music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and book by Harvey Fierstein \u2013 visit tuts.ca<\/a> or call 604-631-2877.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Left to right: Sheryl Wheaton as Rosie, Lori Ashton Zondag as Tanya and Caitriona Murphy as Donna in Mamma Mia! with Adam Charles as Jack, Caleb Lagayan as Race and Graeme Kitagawa as Mush in Disney\u2019s Newsies. (photo by Lindsay Elliott) Iconic Swedish pop music and a story that exemplifies America\u2019s love of the underdog […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[4148,3036,9083,1689,1686,1719],"class_list":["post-32819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-malkin-bowl","tag-music","tag-stefan-winfield","tag-theatre-under-the-stars","tag-tuts","tag-wendy-bross-stuart"],"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\/32819","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=32819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}