Tag: Daniel Cardoso

Welcome back, TUTS!

Much of the humour in Something Rotten! comes from Nostradamus (Jyla Robinson), right, leading Nick (Kamyar Pazandeh) astray with incorrect visions of the future. (photo by Emily Cooper)

Theatre Under the Stars is a fun, relaxing way to ease yourself back into theatre after the COVID hiatus. Its two productions, Something Rotten! and We Will Rock You, are happy fare that alternate nights through Aug. 27, outdoors at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl.

The Independent saw Something Rotten! on opening night, hoping to see Jewish community member Daniel Cardoso, who plays Jewish moneylender Shylock in the TUTS productions. However, it was understudy Simon Abraham who took on the role of the moneylender that night. He and the entire cast put on a great show.

In this comedy, set in 1595, Shakespeare is monopolizing the theatre industry and playwright siblings Nick and Nigel Bottom are trying to write a hit. They face several challenges, including being in debt to Shylock, who is willing to forgive that debt if they permit him to produce their new production. However, they initially refuse because he and they could be put to death, as Jews at the time were permitted few professions, one of which was moneylender.

Something Rotten! takes on – in very light manner – antisemitism, the treatment of the poor and the place of women in Shakespeare’s time. It also takes on these issues as they are depicted in Shakespeare’s plays and poetry.

“Shylock has been a very interesting character to explore and I extremely grateful to our director, Rachel Peake, for giving me the chance to do so,” Cardoso told the Independent in an interview before the show opened. “In researching for this part, I certainly took a cursory look at Merchant of Venice, but only so I could have an idea of who Shakespeare’s Shylock is. Because of how much Something Rotten! subverts the audience’s expectations of these well-known Shakespearean characters, there are only a few similarities between what I’m doing and what we see in Merchant of Venice. I don’t think that antisemitism is a central theme of this show, but we certainly get a view of it through Shylock.

“I also dove into what antisemitism looked like during the time of the Renaissance,” he continued, noting that Jews were “expelled from England in the late 13th century and only officially allowed to return in the mid-17th. However, it does appear that there were indeed Jewish people living in England during Shakespeare’s time and that some even fled to England from Spain and Portugal, due to the Inquisition.”

Cardoso sees parallels between Shakespeare’s time and today’s undocumented immigrants in both Canada and the United States and the refugee crises around the world. “In trying to find a way into the Shylock ofSomething Rotten!,” he said, “I found myself drawing on these modern-day examples, as well as trying to imagine what it must have been like for Jewish people in the time of the Renaissance or various other points in history. I found that, given my own connection to the community, this hit quite close to home for me. At the end of the day, he’s a smart guy who works hard and, despite the obstacles in front of him, he is able to be an equal and a friend to many of the characters in the show.”

Not such a smart guy is Nick Bottom (Kamyar Pazandeh) who, in trying to skip the hard work and best Shakespeare (Daniel Curalli), seeks out a soothsayer, Nostradamus (Jyla Robinson), who tells him that musicals are the popular theatre of the future. Nick sinks the last pennies he and his wife Bea (Katie-Rose Connors) have into a musical production with a reluctant Nigel (Vicente Sandoval), who has Shakespeare’s talent but lives in his brother’s shadow. It is only after Nigel meets Portia (Cassandra Consiglio), the daughter of Puritans, that he becomes to his own self true.

The homage to and satire of both musicals and Shakespeare makes for a lot of laughs and reference guessing – is that line or musical snippet from Annie, Evita, Rent, A Chorus Line, or more than a dozen other shows? Standout songs are “God, I Hate Shakespeare,” with the Bottom brothers’ differing views of their main competitor; “The Black Death,” a cheery ditty about the plague, the Bottoms’ first musical attempt; “Will Power,” Shakespeare enjoying his rockstar status, amid fawning, crying, screaming, fainting fans; and “Make an Omelette,” the title song of the Bottoms’ new musical. Foreseeing Omelette instead of Hamlet as Shakespeare’s best-ever play is only one of the soothsayer’s many slightly incorrect visions.

“It’s been a privilege to get to work on Something Rotten!” said Cardoso, who has been in four other TUTS productions. “It’s an extremely funny show and, if you’re a fan of either musical theatre or Shakespeare, then you’ll have a fun time at this show. And, if you like both, even better!”

For tickets to either of this season’s productions, visit tuts.ca.

Head to Metro for Panto

Lucas Gregory, left, and Daniel Cardoso, in Metro Theatre’s Snow White: The Panto, which runs until Jan. 3. (photo by Nicol Spinola)

“A lot of musical theatre is inherently silly and fun but it still doesn’t reach the level of a holiday panto,” said Daniel Cardoso, who plays the Prince in Metro Theatre’s Snow White: The Panto. An annual treat for more than 35 years, this year’s panto, which runs until Jan. 3, has added significance.

“The past year and a bit has been challenging, not only for the arts community, but for everyone,” said Cardoso. “I got to go to an opening night of a show last week and part of me had forgotten the energy of getting to be in an audience and the joy that it brings to people to get to go to live theatre. I hope that we can do something similar with the panto and that we can act as another step in a return to normalcy.”

“I love being back with the theatre community after so much time away,” said fellow Jewish community member Kat Palmer, who is stage manager of the production. “I think most of the team feels this way. So often actors would be finished working their scenes but would choose to stay a little longer to watch and support their fellow cast members rehearse. There is this sense of returning to what was and that’s been quite moving.”

Things aren’t completely back to normal, of course, as COVID is still is concern.

Metro Theatre requires proof of vaccination, said Palmer. “Usually, pantos have lots of kids and an ensemble – our show has a much smaller cast with no children,” she said. “Everyone – cast, crew and staff – is fully vaccinated. We have taken our inspiration from film sets and have rapid COVID tests on hand. Usually, kids in the audience get to come up on stage – we can’t do that this year. Luckily, there are still lots of opportunities to participate by booing and cheering our demon and good fairy.”

For Palmer, Snow White was “always a favourite growing up – I think mostly because she had black hair like me. But the traditional story is a little dated. Erik Gow, our writer, has done a great job breathing new life into this script. In our version, Snow White is spunky, independent and doesn’t need a prince. She takes charge of her own destiny.”

That said, the prince is still an important part of the story, and it was Palmer who suggested Cardoso try out for the role.

“I’ve known about the Metro Theatre since I was in university and have often gone to see shows there, but the panto this year is the first time I’ve gotten to work there,” he said. “I came to Snow White when Kat Palmer … reached out and asked me to audition for it. I hadn’t initially planned on it but it was an opportunity to work with Chris and Kat and Suzanne again, so I’m glad I did.”

Chris Adams is the director of the production, while Suzanne Ouellette is the choreographer.

Cardoso is a graduate of the musical theatre program at Capilano University and has been working in theatre around Vancouver since 2011. “I was also lucky enough to work on Disney Cruise Line for a few years,” he said. “In 2016, I went back to school to become a registered massage therapist and have been doing that in addition to theatre since 2018.”

While not raised attending shul, Cardoso said his mother and her family are Jewish, “so it is definitely a part of me that I am proud of and something that I think I will always want to learn more about and explore. I know it sounds cliché, especially for a theatre performer, but getting to do a production of Fiddler on the Roof (Gateway, 2012) was a special experience for me in that I got to play in that story and feel like I belonged there instead of just pretending like it.”

For tickets to see Cardoso as the Prince that Snow White (played by Scotia Browner) may or may not need to help her, visit metrotheatre.com. The panto promises to be a “zany and uproariously funny family pantomime,” but that’s not the only reason to check it out.

“The theatre community is hurting right now. We are trying to stay afloat,” said Palmer. “After almost two years of silence, we need your laughter – we need your applause. Please come out and support local theatre.”