December 1, 2003 - February 7, 2004
by Sarah B. Hood
The
Making of a Producer
RISING
STAR
Since
last issue I've had a chat with Michael Therriault, who plays Leo Bloom (the
Matthew Broderick part) in The Producers, and it turns out that his career is a
fascinating sketch of the local music theatre scene. The Oakville native
graduated from Sheridan's music theatre program, then took a non-paying job in
a benefit performance of A Chorus Line because "it's really important when
you get out of school to keep working," he says.
The
benefit led to a paid part in a revue called Lullaby of Broadway in St. Jacobs,
which brought him yet more work. Eventually, "I had an audition for
Stratford, and at my audition they were ready to let me leave, but Tim French -
who is actually working in this show - he stood up and said 'Wait a minute,
Michael, try it this way,' and I got the part," says Therriault.
The
show was Camelot and the part was Mordred. "Bill Hutt came and saw that
show and he was thinking of doing The Tempest a year later and he said he
wanted me for Ariel." Therriault has spent seven years with Stratford,
with winters at theatres like The Grand or Theatre Orangeville. "A lot of
those smaller companies, they're great to work for and they do great, great
plays," he asserts. "Just the fact that they don't have a giant
budget doesn't mean that you won't have a great evening."
Of
course Therriault is delighted to be appearing in what may well be this year's
biggest musical opening in southern Ontario. "It is a precarious
business," he says, adding that part of the joy of a steady job is being
able to afford to pick and choose later contracts.
BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BOO
Throughout
December, while Therriault is onstage at the Canon Theatre, a couple of his
friends are just down the block at the Elgin. In last summer's Hunchback of
Notre Dame at Stratford he played opposite Jennifer Gould, who sports glass
slippers in the Christmas panto Cinderella. Also, "Adam Brazier plays the
prince," says Gould, adding that "We were all in Camelot together."
Gould,
who also played the title role in Stratford's Gigi this past year, says she's
enjoying her first panto experience. "It's a lot of fun to be backstage.
If you're rehearsing King Lear, nobody's backstage peeing their pants with
laughter," she points out by way of comparison.
Cinderella
features original songs by music theatre veteran David Warrack, as well as
"songs pulled from other musicals," she says. "Nothing so
recognizable that it takes you out of the experience; a few of the songs that I
sing are out of musicals like Sunset Boulevard and The Secret Garden."
NIETZSCHE
IS PIETZSCHE
Job:
The Hip-Hop Saga runs until December 14. In case you think of hip-hop as a
lowbrow genre, know that author/performers Jerome Saibil and Eli Batalion are
no intellectual pushovers.
Their
first show was a hip-hop retelling of the Book of Job, while their second
focuses on the characters of MCs Cain and Abel. However, reports Saibil,
"there isn't a close association with Cain and Abel in the Bible. In fact
there's a close association with a Nietzschean concept known as the Demon of
Eternal Recurrence. Basically, Nietzsche challenged his readers 'What if one
day a demon would come up to you and tell you that the whole of your life would
be repeated exactly as you have done it - would you fear this demon or would
you welcome him?' We're also going to be writing a major rock opera inspired by
some of the concepts of rationality and irrationality," he confides.
LAST
CALLS
Cookin'
at the Cookery has been extended to December 6, since star Jackie Richardson
has been wowing crowds with her portrayal of blues diva Alberta Hunter. The
show's creator Marion J. Caffey says he was drawn to Hunter because of the
"pure, unadulterated joy for what she does and the ability to make that
contagious among the people experiencing her." Seems Richardson channels
the same quality.
Also,
you have until December 15 to catch Tequila Vampire Matinee at Theatre Passe
Muraille. This writer enjoyed its affectionate genre stacking, with plenty of
borrowings from vaudeville, opera and movie musicals (there's a number that's
essentially an extended homage to Donald O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh"
bit in Singin' in the Rain). "I think it's clear to me that musicals are
coming back, big-time," says author/composer Kevin Quain. "I don't
think they went anywhere."
BRING
ON THE GIRLS!
Two
more shows of note: Damien Atkins brings Real Live Girl back to Buddies in Bad
Times from December 11 to 21. It's been slightly revamped (no pun intended)
since it won Doras for Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Performance last
year. The original featured such numbers as "Roxy" from Chicago;
"Wig in a Box" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch; "Just One
Step" from Songs for a New World, and "The Blonde Song" from Gun
Metal Blues. "They're all united because they say something about
femininity," says Atkins, who performs the piece solo.
Finally,
Artword Theatre presents Sur from November 27 to December 14. Adapted by Ronald
Weihs from a story by Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea), it uses
original music to tell the "what-if" tale of a group of women who set
out to conquer the South Pole in 1910.
Sarah B. Hood's new book Toronto: The Unknown
City, cowritten with Howard Akler, is now available in bookstores around
town.
