Reviews
Anne of Green Gables, The Musical November 25 - Dec. 3 2006
She’s captured the hearts of readers around the world for close to a hundred years. And this December, Anne of Green Gables works her magic on Kelowna audiences during Theatre Kelowna’s weeklong run of the classic Canadian story, at the Kelowna Community Theatre.
Originally commissioned and presented by the Charlottetown Festival 45 years ago, this musical version of the story opens with Avonlea’s most pious and upstanding women singing their own praises (Great Workers for the Cause). When the quiet and retiring Matthew Cuthbert, played by Richard Volk, trundles by in his carriage, on a Tuesday, and in his Sunday best, their curiosity gets the better of them (Where is Matthew Going?).
As fans of the story know, he’s off to the train station to pick up “a boy,” adopted by himself and his spinster sister, Marilla, played by Meghan Wilson, to help out with the farm. What he finds waiting for him is the ineffable “Ann-with-an-e” Shirley, played by Sarah McCall.
McCall brings the redheaded orphan to life with all the determination, spunk and whimsy one would expect. Tall and gangly, with two, thin, carrot coloured braids, she strongly resembles Megan Follows’ Anne, from the Sullivan Entertainment, made for TV movie, but with a more effusive personality to fill out the character on stage.
The play enacts the first two years of her life in Avonlea, where Anne blossoms from an awkward adolescent with a fiery temper into an intelligent young lady who’s ready for romance with her former nemesis, Gilbert Blythe (Jered Steeves).
Along the way there are lessons learned and misadventures survived, as Anne slowly wins over her new family, the once-sceptical community, and the hearts of audience members.
The story is told with the help of catchy songs like Ice Cream, Did You Hear, and Where Did Summer Go To, and dance numbers choreographed by Tracy Ross and performed by high school students playing Anne’s classmates. Between times, scripted dialogue fills in the plot of the story.
Directed by Theatre Kelowna veteran Don Keith, the production boasts a cast of almost 30, dressed in colourful, early 19th Century style costumes, designed by Hazel Rogers. The young boys and men look jaunty in their caps and suspenders, while the girls sport full skirts that billow enviably when they twirl.
Backing up the singers is a live musical ensemble, directed by Elizabeth Wocks, made up of piano, percussion, flute and piccolo, French horn, trumpet, clarinet and double bass, all tucked away behind the stage where they can be heard but not seen.
The stage itself is a scene-stealer. Craftily constructed to house the town of Avonlea, the train station, the interior of Green Gables, the school, and a nearby forest, only minor adjustments and the imagination of the audience help morph it into different locales for each scene.
It’s kind of appropriate, when you think of how far a bit of spunk and an overactive imagination takes our heroine, Anne. A good lesson for all the young girls in the audience opening night – and maybe even their chaperones.
- Review by By Lori-Anne Charlton
Season’s Inspirations Review Nov. 18, 2006
Dancers from the Mission Dance Company in Kelowna enchanted, inspired and impressed audience members during their annual production of Season’s Inspirations, Nov. 18, 2006, at the Kelowna Community Theatre.
Despite the fact that the majority of dancers were students – many just young children supporting the talents of an experienced troupe, the show was not your typical mid-year dance recital.
Choreographed by Mission Dance Centre’s founder and principal, Tanya Bakala, it was a polished, quality production that successfully tapped into the potential that exists in every dancer, from beginner to seasoned professional.
The evening opened with a story ballet performance of Alice in Wonderland.
Jasmin McCallum was perfectly whimsical as Alice, who dreams of finding Wonderland when she falls asleep with her cat Dina (Madeleine Petraroia). Her adventures include chasing the White Rabbit (Samantha Rempel), an encounter with Tweedle Dee (Jacqueline Bobyn) and Tweedle Dum (Shannon Reynolds), a trippy run-in with the bubble blowing Caterpillar (head played by Amira Howes, the legs played by various dancers), the Cheshire Cat (Katie Salvino), and tea with the Mad Hatter (Kathy Wise), March Hare (Leanne Dandenea) and narcoleptic DorMouse (Rie Stadnichuk).
Things take a turn for the worse in the pantomime-style production when Alice encounters the haughty Queen of Hearts (Krystle Sivorot), who challenges her to a game of croquet. The story culminates with all the characters giving chase as Alice tries her best to escape. As with the children’s story, she wakes from her dream just in time, relieved to be home.
Following a short intermission, students from the Mission Dance Centre and dancers from the Mission Dance Company again joined forces to perform Nutcracker Dances. Excerpting from the classic Christmas ballet, the mix of young and mature dancers captured the elegance of the snowflakes – with the addition of a dancing snowman (Dwight Carroll) – as well as the exotic movements of the Arabian dancers and the humour of the Chinese Tea dance.
Jera Wolfe wowed the crowd with his agility and stamina in Russian Trepek, as he leaped and lunged about the stage with proper Russian flair. He returned as the Prince Consort to Jasmin McCallum’s Sugar Plum Fairy, together capturing the elegance and grace of classic ballet.
For the finale, the dance company performed Flamenco Mass (Misa Flamenca), a passionate, flamboyant Spanish dance complete with castanets and whirling red skirts. For this world premiere, Bakala herself appeared on stage, twirling and whirling an embroidered Spanish shawl with dramatic aplomb. Solos were also performed by Amira Howes and Jennifer Callaghan.
While recital shows can be tedious when your own son or daughter isn’t actually on stage, Bakala and her team successfully joined the forces of her dancers to create an entertaining show that was engaging from start to finish, no matter who was (or wasn’t) in the spotlight. And that, after all, is the purpose of dance – and dance lessons.
- Review by By Lori-Anne Charlton
