After a two-year absence, Sound the Alarm Theatre returns to the Arden Theatre with Music of the Night: The Concert Tour on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The concert continues its highly anticipated celebration of the music from Andrew Lloyd Webber, an English composer who revolutionized the landscape of New York’s Broadway musicals and London’s West End productions.
The British composer has created some of the most recognizable musicals of all time. Music of the Night recreates Webber’s magic with selections from Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sunset Boulevard.
Now on a tour of the four western provinces, the concert produced by Vancouver’s Sound the Alarm Music/Theatre company showcases a lean cast of four singers and four musicians.
Musical theatre vocalists and opera singers Tainui Kuru, Adam Fisher, Amy Gartner and St. Albert soprano Cait Wood perform under the lights for the entire two-hour showcase.
Another St. Albert homegrown talent contributing to this unparalleled experience is pianist Arielle Ballance. The former local resident was active in St. Albert Children’s Theatre and graduated from the MacEwan Theatre Arts program in 2011. However, nine years ago, in 2016, she decided to stretch her talents by moving to Vancouver.
“I loved St. Albert. I grew up there. But for me it was a time in life when I wanted a change. There were some cool opportunities in theatre in Vancouver and I wanted to explore,” said Ballance.
However, she quickly discovered Vancouver had a smaller theatre community than Edmonton despite its larger population size.
“It was big with film and TV and that’s where a lot of people worked,” Ballance said.
She knew a few people who worked at Theatre Under the Stars and gradually began finding free-lance jobs through networking. While Ballance was hustling gigs, singer-producer Alan Corbishley was rebranding his Kamloops-based theatre company.
After a 2007 classical singing career in Europe, Corbishley opted to explore different areas of theatre. He moved to Kamloops and started a company that bridged a gap between formal and professional art forms with everyday living.
“I had a passion that developed for the other side of the stage. I wanted to be more creative. Sometimes in singing you don’t feel the role in a creative way. You don’t create the role. You interpret it,” said Corbishley.
He fulfilled his creative urges by developing workshops exploring gardening, cooking, photography and writing while developing performance related shows.
After a 10-year stint, the content creator had developed a reputation for concert development and pivoted to a bigger arena. He moved to Vancouver in 2017 and rebranded as Sound the Alarm.
“I chose the name because I wanted to make sure we were talking about relevant social issues. I wanted to raise the alarm about issues such as human trafficking and LGBT rights. And I wanted to tour shows like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music that often gets overlooked in small communities.”
Music of the Night was created in 2019 and has since toured nine times across Canada. Ballance joined the company in 2022 and will play alongside keyboardist Even Berndt, bass/guitarist Dave Usselman and drummer Dean McKey.
Ballance closes by saying, “It’s one of those shows that brings people a lot of joy. Right now everyone needs joy. Production-wise, there's a simplicity to it. It allows people to escape and thrive in beautiful music and dramatic lighting. It’s almost cinematic.”
The concert runs Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Limited tickets priced at $55 to $65 are available. Call 780-459-1542 or online at tickets.stalbert.ca.
