Frothy and fun, MacEwan theatre arts and theatre production students launch their season with a lavish Cole Porter musical that promises to sparkle with the champagne drenched witticisms of a bygone era.
Director Bridget Ryan brings back High Society, a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, a film starring Kathryn Hepburn as the bride and Cary Grant as the first husband.
Set in lavish Oyster Bay, Long Island resident Tracy Lord, a spoiled heiress and divorcee, is about to jump into a second marriage with a social climbing businessman blander and safer than her first husband Dex. At the arrival of a few unexpected guests including her father, her first husband and a pair of reporters from Spy magazine, complications arise and the impending wedding plans shift into reverse.
While the plot is relatively slender, Porter's music defines a witty, sophisticated era with tunes such as I Love Paris, Let's Misbehave and True Love. As Ryan points out, “His wit and playful style in lyrics and music will never find a challenger. He lived life and music with style, with energy, and a hearty appreciation for the subtle, the grandiose, the lively and the silly.”
Two St. Albert Children's Theatre alumni, Arielle Ballance (Seussical), and Madelaine Knight (Just So) along with Morinville Community High School 2009 graduate Carrie Ann Hubbard (Little Shop of Horrors) are performing in this period piece set in the late ‘40s.
Ballance plays Tracy's mother Margaret, a woman in her fifties who separated from her husband after she discovered he was having an affair with an exotic dancer.
To play someone 30 years older is physically challenging. But instead of stepping into her character's physicality, Ballance worked on developing the entitled attitude of the rich and famous. “She's regal, strong and classy,” Ballance says.
But she's also a woman who has felt very much alone after she kicked her husband out. And in Ridin' High, a duo where the parents make up, Ballance gets a chance to reveal the more intimate nature of her character.
Knight, a light soprano, and Hubbard, a mezzo-soprano, instead are the French maids, two women who work and know the family's secrets and overt sensibilities. As members of the chorus they keep the audience on track singing and dancing in every number.
While High Society is exhausting and exhilarating for the cast, Knight invites everyone to see it.
“It has timeless music and a great story. Although it's a musical, its script-heavy and there's lots of acting, intrigue and humour.”
