The big reveal in ‘A Comedy of Tenors’ at Metro Theatre. Left to right: Tracy Labrosse, Carlos Vela-Martinez, Bill McNaughton, Mostafa Shaker, Katie Chapman, Cindy Hirschberg-Schon, Vicente Sandoval (credit: Tracy-Lynn Chernaske)
We got an amazing review from entertainmentvancouver.com for opening night of ‘A Comedy of Tenors’! Click here to check it out!
‘A Comedy of Tenors’ plays until October 19th at Metro Theatre in Vancouver. Tickets can be purchased at Metro’s website.
Those of you who follow this blog might be wondering where I’ve been all these months. Well, maybe it’s crossed your mind as you do the dishes. Or perhaps not at all. Or maybe you’re reading this now, and saying, “She has a blog? People still do that?”
The reason I haven’t been here much is that I’ve been busy directing. Not just one show, not just two, but five in the last 13 months. And at the moment, this includes two that I’ve been rehearsing at the same time!
I love directing, and adore directing comedies. For the last couple of months, I’ve been helming two comedies at opposite ends of the spectrum.
A Comedy of Tenors
The cast of ‘A Comedy of Tenors’ (credit: Tracy-Lynn Chernaske)
The first is A Comedy of Tenors, Ken Ludwig’s follow-up to his hit Lend Me a Tenor. It takes place in a posh hotel room in Paris in 1936, where Henry Saunders is trying to put on a concert with some of the world’s foremost tenors. So naturally, everything falls apart, and there’s no guarantee of the curtain going up as arguments and misunderstandings threaten everything. It’s farce in its finest form, and so much fun to watch every night.
Social Security
The cast in rehearsal for ‘Social Security’ (credit: Kayt Roth)
The second is Andrew Bergman’s play Social Security. This comedy takes place in the Manhattan apartment of a couple of art dealers, whose tranquil and genteel life is turned upside down by the arrival of Barbara’s mother Sophie, a cantankerous old woman who lives to torment her other daughter Trudy. What I love about this play is that it’s dialogue-driven, with jokes that depend solely on the writer’s talents as a comedian. And with a pedigree that includes Blazing Saddles, this playwright knows his stuff.
I’m currently performing in the new show “The Doctor of Oz: A Self-Help Panto” at Hendry Hall in North Vancouver (it’s sold out, but you can get on the waiting list by calling the box office at 604-983-2633). Today, one of my castmates told me that she’d checked out my reel, and she’d discovered an interesting connection. A few years ago, I played a mom in a Vancouver Film School short called Bad Religion. Turns out, the kid who played my son is one Finn Wolfhard, current star of the Netflix hit Stranger Things.
Just goes to show that you never know where the people you work with will end up. Check out Finn’s early work here, starting at 2:19.
I’m happy to announce that I’m directing another play in in Vancouver this fall!
In honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Hilda’s Yard by Norm Foster will run from September 16th to October to October 7th at Metro Theatre in Vancouver. For more information and ticket prices, go to Metro Theatre’s website.
Here they are – the cast of Haywire, opening September 17th at Metro Theatre in Vancouver.
From left to right: Mark ‘Sparky’ McDonald as Jamie, Daryl Hutchings as Alec, Amy Rhead as Liz, Sarah Harlow as Maggie, Joan Koebel as Phoebe, and Aidan Barker as Mandy.
Here it is – the model for our set for Haywire. With just five weeks until opening, building is fully underway, and I can’t wait until the cast can work on the real thing!