Lyric Theatre Singers gearing up for Broadwaythemed shows
The Lyric Theatre Singers are poised once again to share their love of everything Broadway. The cast of 40 singers and five musicians performs selections from the Broadway catalogue at D.B. Clarke Theatre for four performances, beginning Thursday.
Île-Bizard resident and phys. ed teacher Hélène Charbonneau will be among them — as she has been ever since 1987 when the Lyric Theatre Company was performing little cabarets at a school in Dorval.
“I’ve always been interested in musicals,” Charbonneau said. “I remember watching the Sound of Music on television when I was young and I loved all the Disney movies. I sang in a (competitive) choir when I was in elementary school and my friends and I would put on shows in a basement that had a great set of curtains.”
Over the years, Charbonneau alternated her time between the West Island’s Becket Players and Lyric Theatre. Along the way she performed full-length musicals including The Best Little Whore House in Texas and The King and I at Centaur Theatre.
Charbonneau is often called upon to do comic cameos because she can be quite the ham. Playing it for laughs may come easy now, but in kindergarten, she got kicked out of class because she refused to sing in front of people.
This year’s show, dubbed Journey to Broadway, features songs from musicals including Anastasia, Chicago, Once on This Island, Company, Rent, Titanic, and Waitress. And there is an excerpt from the 2017 Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen. The musical about a high school student who suffers from debilitating social anxiety won six Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Actor in a musical and Best Featured Actress in a musical. The program also includes golden oldies by Broadway greats Rogers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter and Kander and Ebb.
Musicals can run the gamut from frothy fun bolstered by dynamic choreography to socio-political comedy to dramatic renderings of painful social realities. It is that wealth of choice that harnesses Charbonneau’s love the genre. Ragtime counts among her favourites, but she also appreciated the sensitive handling of the theme of sexual identity in Fun House and adored the haunting score in Les Misérables. “You are left thinking about all the emotions you have lived during the show,” she said. Conveying a broad spectrum of emotions is what she likes to see happen during a Lyric Theatre Singers performance. “We very much live the song,” she said. “I’ve invited colleagues of mine to come and see us and when they see the magnitude of what we have put together, they say, ‘Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.’ ” Journey to Broadway is directed by Bob Bachelor and Cathy Burns, with musical direction by Bachelor and Chris Barillaro and choreography by Jonathan Patterson. The Lyric Theatre Singers accompanist is Benjamin Kwong. Working furiously behind the scene are lighting designer Amber Hood, sound designer Rob Denton, costume designer Karen Pearce and stage manager Adrian Smith. Non-perishable food items are being collected for the NDG Food Bank. The Lyric Theatre Singers presents Journey to Broadway at D.B. Clarke Theatre, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., June 14, 15, 16 at 8 p.m. and June 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $38, $34 for students and seniors, $17 for children 12 years old and younger. The is also a $30 rate for groups of 15 people or more.
For reservations, call 514-743-3382, email lyrictheatreboxoffice@gmail.com or visit www.lyrictheatrecompany.com. kgreenaway@postmedia.com