From the Massawippi to the Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to dance across the Centennial stage this week
The classic American novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is the most recent work to find itself adapted for the stage as a musical by Bishops University’s George Rideout. Hitting the main stage at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and continuing through Saturday, the musical bills itself as a show for all ages with all the iconic scenes loved by generations of readers.
“I think we’re fairly faithful to the book,” Rideout told The Record, explaining that when adapting a story to be a musical, it is necessary to look for moments of spectacle. “We only make a few changes for theatrical purposes.”
The director noted that it has been a few years since a musical performance of this scale, with a cast of 32, has played out in Centennial. He said that part of his motivation for taking on this story in particular is the depth and diversity of setting that the theatre allows for.
“Centennial is actually big enough to create a real cave,” Rideout said, adding that he expects the show to make full use of the space available.
Fans of the BU theatre scene, and of its recent musicals in particular, will recognize the creative team behind Tom Sawyer. Rideout has written the script and sits in the director’s chair, but he was clear that where the choreography is concerned, the decisions rest in the hands of established Canadian
performer Cory Bowles. Bowles has been helping out with the dance numbers in Bishop’s musicals off and on for nearly ten years now.
“Cory is always a big input of energy,” the director said. “We get along really well and almost always have the same take on things so there’s never any disputes whatsoever.”
On the musical side of things, the writer and director said that he drafted some of the musical’s more scene-specific songs but the balance of the music rests on period-appropriate folk songs directed and performed by BU Singers director and pianist Fannie Gaudette along with fiddler Jonathan Moorman and guitar/ banjo virtuoso Alex Cattaneo. He also hinted that former choir director Jamie Crooks might be making one or two cameo appearances.
“We do tunes that would have been sung in that period of time,” Rideout said. “It’s a classic tale and it lends itself to music. The time period lends itself to certain kinds of dances.”
Something that is particular to this performance, according to Rideout, is that it is the first time in his memory that a Townshipper will take on a major role, with Lennoxville’s Frankie Kobelt playing the roles of Becky Thatcher and Mary, one of two narrators, on alternating nights.
“In any group of students there isn’t more than three or so people from the townships and sometimes less,“the director said, underlining the fact that the principal roles go to the people who can play them best, regardless of their backgrounds. In this case, he explained, the role of Becky struck him as perfect for Kobelt.
“She has a very pure and genuine voice,” Rideout said. “There is no separation between the character speaking and the character singing and that is very, very valuable.”
Kobelt, who has been acting in the community in various different ways from a very young age, said that working on the show has been a great adventure for her.
“Doing a musical is insane,” she said. “It’s so much fun but it is so much work.”
Where many previous musicals at Bishop’s have been set up as a spring course in order to account for the added work involved, the production of Tom Sawyer has been running alongside a regular course load for its entire cast. As a result, the actress explained, rehearsals have been divided up between singing, dancing, and regular stage direction to make sure everything gets the attention it needs.
“It’s been kind of like a puzzle,” Kobelt said. “It’s going to be interesting to finally see everything be put together.”
In this case, “putting everything together,” also includes the set, as the cast are required to put in technical hours in addition to their regular rehearsal schedule,.
“We can spend, like, 14 hours a day Frankie Kobelt who, according to director George Rideout, is the first Townshipper ever to take on a leading role in a Bishop's musical here in the theatre,” Kobelt said, explaining that that kind of schedule can make for tense situations, “we all still love each other.”
Looking ahead to this week’s performances, the actress said that she feels like the show will make an impression on its audience.
“Musicals are fun for everyone,” she said.
Expanding on that, Rideout said that he feels it is important that the plays at Bishop’s be accessible to all ages every now and again.
“We have a debt to the community,” he said, going on to say that although the story of Tom Sawyer is one he enjoyed as a young boy, he feels that presenting it on stage as a musical opens up the tale to people young and old who might otherwise never look inside the book.
“When I was a kid every boy read Tom Sawyer, but I look at it now and I go, well, that’s a fairly tough read,” the director said. “Putting it in a musical format gives people access to the story in a way I hope they will really enjoy.”
It is also in the spirit of reaching all ages that the run of the play includes a Saturday afternoon matinee, during which one child and parent have the chance to win a backstage tour of the theatre.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer runs the evenings of March 14 to 17 with a matinee performance on the 17th at 2 p.m. and is about two hours and fifteen minutes in length.
“The intention is that everyone’s on their way home at ten,” Rideout said. The cast of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer working on a dance number with choreographer Cory Bowles