Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Musical theatre is one of the most collaborative art forms. So what happens when theatre artists work without a net? When twelve artists of wildly different backgrounds start to work on a musical with no script, no score, and only a set of short stories by a relatively obscure Russian satirist as their starting point? What happens when the usual constraints of theatre production – the boundaries usually set by the authors’ or director’s vision – are taken off?
Talk Is Free Theatre is premiering a new musical, Scenes from the Bathhouse. In creating this work, a company of actors collectively improvised the book of a musical, working with the composer & lyricist team together in real time.
The team drew their inspiration from Mikhail Zoschenko’s comical short stories, which dwelt on the mundane and somewhat absurd problems of the day, but occasionally skirted forbidden political topics. These stories appeared in daily newspapers and were read by millions in the Soviet Union during the 1920’s and 30’s, making Zoschenko the most widely read satirist of the 20th Century.
“Although our approach to this musical’s creation removed the conventional role of a writer, we believe that this process helped unify all of the creative elements in a collaborative, integrated fashion, instead of having the musical pass through several hands in a typically long period of development”, says Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak. “We feel that this new process was important to be reminded that musical theatre is, at its core, a collaborative art form that has an obligation to explore serious things”.
Scenes from the Bathhouse stars Adrian Marchuk (Frankie Valli in Toronto’s Jersey Boys), Shannon Taylor (National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary), John-Michael Scapin (finalist of Triple Sensations in its inaugural season), long time TIFT ensemble member Milosh Rodic, Alex Dvorak and Leanne Miller.
The score is written by Colleen Dauncey (music) and Akiva Romer-Segal (lyrics). Direction is by Aleksandar Lukac (The Inspector General, The Tale of Ivan vs. Ivan), Sets and Costumes are designed by Katherine Salnek and Lighting Designer is Sandra Marcroft. Assistant Director is David Dodsley.
Scenes from the Bathhouse runs at the Mady Centre for the Performing Arts at 1 Dunlop St. West in Barrie. It previews on May 23, opens on May 24 and runs to June 1 (Wednesday to Saturday at 8pm and Saturday, June 1 at 2pm). Tickets are $33 plus HST and service fee, available at www.tift.ca, by calling (705) 792-1949 or in person at the Mady Centre for the Performing Arts.
2013-05-01
Barrie: Talk Is Free Theatre premieres the new new musical “Scenes from the Bathhouse” May 23-June 1