by Paula Kully –
Within its walls, the Mary Winspear Centre is a beehive of activity that encompasses a wide variety of workshops, classes, conferences and performances. It brings live entertainment to the Charlie White Theatre that ranges from local high school musicals to big names like Canada’s Jann Arden. On the outside looking in, you buy your tickets, take your seats and enjoy! But, what goes on behind the scenes is organized chaos at its finest.
Take, for example, Mountain Dream Productions’ Triple Threat Theatre Company’s performances which take place in January and June each year. This performing arts school has been operated by Artistic Director Margaret Watt since 1990 and provides youth from as young as six up to 14 the opportunity to develop the toolkit of a “triple-threat performer” which means they can dance, sing and act – an absolute prerequisite for a Broadway performer.
Bringing the Company’s productions to the stage is a collaboration between Mountain Dream and the Winspear Centre. It begins with selecting a script. This falls to Margaret and Managing Director Rob Forbes, who take into consideration the abilities of their students, along with the quality of the script and music. The upcoming June production of Peter Pan, the British musical, was acquired from the International Theatre Company in London and has been performed on London’s West End. The licence comes with pre-recorded music, without vocals, for every aspect of the play including songs, opening and closing music and even background music during scenes.
Once the script has been secured, the work of casting begins. This year’s production is somewhat different as approximately half the cast will come from outside the school. This includes adult roles for 10 pirates, Mr. and Mrs. Darling and of course, the infamous Captain Hook. Although every student will have a part in the play, auditions were held for key roles such as Peter Pan.
The cast rehearses four hours per week for 17 weeks for a total of 68 hours. To put this into perspective: a professional Broadway company will rehearse daily for two weeks before performing in a play. Both Margaret and Rob stress that although their students are not professional, the show they put on with the amount of time they rehearse is well beyond their capability.
Margaret explains: “One of the nicests things I heard about our productions was in January when two of our students, aged 10 and 12, performed a duet together. A woman who attended the show said that, halfway through the song, there was a gasp throughout the audience as they realized the quality of the performance they were watching.”
The show is supported from start to finish by the professional staff of the Mary Winspear Centre. They facilitate box office service and their amazing volunteers provide front-of-house staff and ushers as well as refreshment service during intermission. Rob states: “The Winspear Centre is a top notch facility!”
Most people don’t realize the amount of work that goes on before opening night. Every move on stage is blocked. Every scene has to be precisely orchestrated but look natural. Besides rehearsals, sets must be built, costumes created and makeup organized; the construction and instruction is a gruelling amount of work.
Backstage is organized by Clive, the Company’s volunteer Props Manager while Stage Manager Tina ensures everyone knows where they are supposed to be and gives lighting and sound cues to the Mary Winspear crew.
Lighting and sound are all provided through the Charlie White Theatre. The week of the show, Mountain Dream meets with the theatre’s technicians to design the sound and lighting. They go through the script, line by line, and determine timing of music and stage lighting. This is followed by a full rehearsal with the cast to ensure it all fits, followed by a second rehearsal, a full dress rehearsal and finally, opening night.
Once the curtain closes on the final show, the performance may be over but the lessons and experience remain with the cast and crew. Musical theatre, at this level, builds confidence, develops communications tools and creates an experience of being part of something bigger than yourself.
