A play like ‘being shot out of a cannon’
So, you have tickets to the theatre. A musical, no less.
But there’s a catch — you don’t know what show it is. And the cast has never rehearsed together.
Recipe for disaster? If it was the Shaw Festival, perhaps. But for the Confidential Musical Theatre Project, it’s a day of offthe-cuff fun for both the cast and audience.
Created by Toronto teacher/ producer Marion Abbott, the improv-like brand of theatre comes to Niagara Falls Sunday for two shows performed by students of teacher/actress Tenja Hagenberg’s local performing arts school Performance on Point.
She performed one of the shows seven years ago and describes it “like being shot out of a cannon.”
“They’re always a blast,” she says. “(The performers) really do come together. As I say to the people I work with, you just have to go for it. There’s no holding back for this.”
The concept seems like a stage performer’s worst nightmare: You only learn the name of the show after you’ve successfully passed an audition. Cast members are then sent the script and learn it on their own. At no point does the full cast rehearse together on stage, until the day of the show.
It makes for some wonderfully high-stung theatre, as performers do full-on musical numbers for the first time, in front of an audience.
“We push go and there’s no stopping it,” says Hagenberg.
“It’s interesting to spend the time by yourself learning the role. It’s really using your imagination to think, ‘What is that situation going to look like?’ ”
Because of the huge turnout in auditions, there will be two performances, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Both casts will be filled by performers 10 to 18 years of age.
Early response also prompted Hagenberg to seek a bigger venue. Both shows have moved from the Warehouse club in St. Catharines to the spacious Greg Frewin Theatre in Niagara Falls.
The shows have been hits in 18 cities, and Hagenberg expects Niagara Falls to be no different. Crowds are informed this is a work literally in progress.
“They know they’re coming in to (something) unpolished,” she says. “There’s no big costuming or things like that. Everybody wears black and uses accessories to solidify their characters.
Tickets are $20 seniors/students; $25 adults, available at www.eventbrite.ca.