Edmonton Musical Theatre is fabulous at 40

In 1977 Dr. Dasha Goody was so frustrated with the lack of a musical theatre-training centre in Edmonton she decided to start her own company.

Now solidly entrenched in the capital region, Edmonton Musical Theatre is one of our most sophisticated training hubs for community musical theatre recruits.

The decades have been filled with challenges and accomplishments, and this year’s top-notch triple threats are set to finish the season with Don’t Stop Believing – 40 & Fabulous opening Thursday, June 15 at the Westbury Theatre.

The 30-plus cast members are tasked with belting out classic Broadway hits from Gershwin and Cole Porter to Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This year’s special guest alumni are Vance Avery, fresh from Mayfield Dinner Theatre’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and Davy Damo, a pop singer with charming stage presence and body-shaking rhythms.

This year’s run also includes five St. Albert luminaries: Barb Hubbard, Jamie Johansson, Linda Hoddinott, Connie Poon and Kirkland Morrill.

Although the two-hour show of song and dance will feature Broadway classics, it all ties together through EMT’s history.

As general manager Steffni Ault explains, the production travels back in time creating a retrospective of the company’s four decades on stage.

The show starts quietly as a company cast visits an archive room to brainstorm a few ideas. They look through posters, programs, photos and props discovering pivotal moments in the company’s history.

“As they go through the programs and posters they discover Tommy Banks was Dasha’s first musical director. As they pull out different things, they tweak the memory,” said Ault.

A projection screen will be perched above the stage. As actors leaf through posters and programs, the screen will flash a close-up of what the actors are handling.

The historical points also cover the various buildings where EMT showcased its productions. Ault recalls that they first signed on at the Citadel before finding a permanent home at the Kaasa Theatre in the Jubilee Auditorium. However, when the Jubilee underwent a major facelift, the Kaasa was replaced with an art gallery and EMT moved to the Westbury Theatre.

“We’ve been at the Westbury for 15 years and we have had a wonderful partnership,” Ault noted.

As for Don’t Stop Believing, Ault is pumped about the appearance of Avery and Damo.

“Vance was with EMT about 18 or 19 years ago. He moved to Toronto and then Broadway to tour Les Miserables. He is the true essence of a professional. He is sophisticated and he will sing a song from Les Mis which is just breathtaking.”

“Davy has revisited us in past years. He will sing a Michael Jackson medley and Don’t Stop Believing. He’s so high energy and he has a vocal style so suited to Michael Jackson. He really connects with an audience and gets it going.”

Barb Hubbard has landed the torch song World Goes Round, first popularized by Judy Garland and the Jesus Christ Superstar mega-hit I Don’t Know How to Love Him.

“Barb has a wonderful Karen Carpenter quality to her voice. She can really recreate that folky, earthy quality of the ’70s.

Johansson is tackling two ballads – Man That Got Away and Someone To Watch Over Me.

“You need a strong emotional connection to what is being sung and Jamie is able to bring that connection and make a touching performance.”

Hoddinott has developed a wonderful belt and will make good use of it in If He Walked Into My Life and Some People.

“For anyone involved in Edmonton Musical Theatre, this will be a wonderful trip down memory lane, and for those who are here for the first time, you will learn the whole history of the past 40 years.”