Tag: Josh Drebit

Laughter guaranteed

Left to right, Josh Drebit, Donna Soares, Allan Zinyk and James Long in Cinderella: An East Van Panto. (photo by Emily Cooper)

If Canada wants to be an energy super power, it’s going to have to run some pipelines through some plays. Well, some pantos. Starting with Cinderella: An East Van Panto, now on at the York Theatre until Dec. 28.

As with the inaugural East Van Panto last year, which took Jack & the Beanstalk to strange and hilarious new heights, this Cinderella is only loosely based on the fairy tale. In this version, Ella – Cinderella is only a mean nickname given to her by her wicked step-hipsters (not a typo) – loses her mother in a tragic food truck accident. Her father directs his grief to improving safety standards and is awarded for his efforts with the Mike Duffy Food Truck Safety Award, or something along those lines. He falls in love with the Government of Canada representative who presents him the medal. Marriage soon follows, the father is offered a senatorship, which takes him to Ottawa, leaving his beloved Ella – played wonderfully as the straight man to everyone else’s wackiness by Donna Soares – in the hands of her stepmother.

In true panto fashion, Ella’s new family is played by Allan Zinyk as the matriarch and Josh Drebit and James Long as her sisters. As they order Cinderella about, the audience gets to boo every meanness, and cheer Cinderella’s every win. While Jewish community member Drebit ably pulls off the fishnets, his comedic talents really shine as Feral Cat. Drebit, Long (as Rat) and Dawn Petten (as Old Crow) are about as far away from Disney cartoon birds and other forest animals as one can get, but “the other vermin,” three young actors as mice, are absolutely adorable – and, in a panto, the audience is allowed to “ooh and ahh” at their cuteness.

Zinyk also plays bad guy Ronald Grump, costumed in a business suit and an awful wig that’s only marginally worse than that worn by the character’s inspiration, Donald Trump. King Grump decides to hold a ball (there are lots of ball jokes, FYI) to celebrate the opening of Grump Towers (plural, even though there’s only one). At the ball, there will be a beauty pageant – a speed-dating marathon, actually – to find a wife for his son, played by Petten channeling Justin Bieber. (Petten also plays the hippy narrator/canvasser, Len Til, to perfection.)

And this brings us back to pipelines, and the spills that the suit-wearing, hard-hatted forewoman notes “only happen in movies and on the news.” As the chorus (pipe)line is passing through Cinderella’s family home, sadly, there is a spill – a spill that Cinderella must clean up before she can go to the ball. With the help of her vermin friends and, in one of the funniest scenarios to be conceived, a vacuum-harmonica-playing David Suzuki (played by Zinyk, you have to see it to believe it) and her B.C. Ferry Godmother, the belle gets to the ball.

But does she marry her prince? You’ll have to go to the panto for the answer – and for all the witty, weird, Vancouver-specific humor, the inventive costumes (Cinderella’s gown appears like magic), the charming music, the fitting choreography, the inspired sets and props, the bold and beautiful backdrops.

With Cinderella, the creative team of playwright Charles Demers, musician Veda Hille and director Amiel Gladstone have improved on what was already an intelligent, silly, energetic, crowd-pleasing formula. The lead actors in this year’s production are joined by the very talented chorus of Bailey Soleil Creed, Sean Sonier (who rocks a tutu) and Alexandra Wever, as well as the children who share the roles of the mice.

If you’re wondering what to give that person on your Chanukah list who has everything, at least 99 percent of non-Grumps would enjoy this show. For times and tickets, visit thecultch.com or call 604-251-1363.

Odd Couple still works

Andrew McNee as Oscar Madison and Robery Maloney as Felix Ungar. (photo by David Cooper)

In his program notes, artistic managing director Bill Millerd recalls the Arts Club Theatre Company’s 1967 production of The Odd Couple. In those days, the Arts Club made its home on Seymour, where Vancity Theatre and the Vancouver International Film Festival are now. This nostalgia was an apt introduction to Neil’s Simon’s 1965 classic play, a multiple-award-winning comedy about two divorced men forced by circumstance to become roommates.

While some might find the premise dated – few today would raise an eyebrow at the notion of two men living together, and the sexual and gender politics that today exist are drastically different than they were in 1965 – Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison can still charm an audience. After all, at its heart, The Odd Couple is a heartwarming, amusing story about friendship.

The play opens with Oscar, a divorced, irresponsible, childish but lovable slob, hosting his Friday-night poker game for the boys. By the time we meet Felix, we know that he’s precise and punctual, but the true extent of his perfectionist, neat-freak ways don’t become evident until later.

Felix shows up at Oscar’s, distraught and suicidal after being kicked out by his (no doubt long-suffering) wife. The comedy starts to unfold as Felix’s friends try to hide their concern from him, out of fear they might cause Felix to leave or, heaven forbid, make another suicide attempt. After Oscar invites Felix to live with him – and to pay half the rent – their opposing personalities fully flower and high-energy comic chaos ensues.

Andrew McNee’s talent shines particularly bright as Oscar, a role that is dynamic and physically demanding, so potentially exhausting is Oscar’s frustration with Felix’s perfectionism, and so overwhelming his anguish at the thought of losing his best friend. Robert Moloney does a sympathetic, even endearing, job with Felix, who is bewildered after the collapse of his marriage but is also exasperated by his inability to change his own most annoying habits. Both Felix and Oscar are played with compassion, and it’s easy to root for them – a function of McNee’s and Moloney’s acting chops, but also a testament to Simon’s enduring script.

Though expectations around manhood have changed, it is still charming and satisfying to witness the camaraderie and delightful energy of a group of man friends who love – and respect – each other. Though the genre still relies on our culture’s discomfort with men expressing their emotions and fears, McNee and Moloney coax the vulnerability and honesty out of their characters, which is what makes this production so heartwarming. And, frankly, the rest of the cast – Josh Drebit, Joel Wirkkunen, Alec Willows and Cavan Cunningham – are equally terrific, as are Sasa Brown and Kate Dion-Richard, who play the Pigeon sisters with high comedy and great tenderness. This production features strong direction by John Murphy, spot-on costumes by Barbara Clayden and a clever set (including creatively amusing scene changes) by David Roberts.

The Odd Couple is at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until Feb. 23. For tickets, visit artsclub.com.