Music will do 99 per cent of the talking when The Merry Marching Band rolls into St. Albert’s International Children’s Festival of the Arts from May 29 to June 1.
You see, there’s only seven words spoken in the entire 50-minute street production of wandering minstrels presented by Quebec’s Strada Productions. The minimum word usage is due to the complexity of learning new languages for touring purposes.
“When we completed our first show of the wandering minstrels, we used a lot of speech. But when we went to tell the story in different countries, we had to learn Spanish, English, Chinese and more. The next show we did, we had no words. Only instruments and clowning,” said Strada Productions artistic director Pierre Langevin.
Langevin, a former clarinetist with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and a member of the 1990s medieval music band Anonymous, is the force behind The Merry Marching Band.
Together with percussionist Pierre Tanguay, one of Montreal’s top jazz musicians, the duo launched a minstrel-styled street band in 1995 and began touring Canada and Mexico two years later. Forming a street band was based largely on the duo’s philosophy of music. They deliberately chose the word “strada,” since it means “street” in Italian.
“When you are on the street playing, you are close to people and there is a lot of complicity. You can feel the energy. If you go back into childhood and remember the first street band you heard, there is a kind of wonder. There’s something in the sound of child-like wonder. There’s the same kind of magic,” said Langevin.
The loose plot starts at Underpantsburg, a place where a clownish brass band is run by an overbearing band leader who is both bossy and bird-brained. Under his guidance, the merry band sets out to perform across the world.
Full of humour, clownish antics, a boatload of eccentricity and untapped musical charts, the six musicians travel from Quebec to Ukraine, Brazil and back. On the road to discovery, they also drop by Mars.
Quebec’s folk music, Ukraine’s klezmer sounds, and South America’s movement-based rhythms complete the package.
“The clowns are very intellectual with a variety of personalities, and we are excellent musicians,” he added.
In addition to Langevin on clarinet, the musician-actors include André Larue (saxophone), Simon Tremblay (trumpet), Dominque Poirier (trombone), Julie Houle (tuba) and Olivier Forest (percussion).
In its 25-year history, the multi-award-winning theatre company has won numerous awards including the Opus Award for Production of the Year. With six to eight productions in rotation, it also employs about 25 musicians.
“Street bands make an impact on children and parents. It’s a tradition that goes back centuries.”
The Merry Marching Band will rove through the children’s festival site, in addition to playing mainstage shows at the St. Albert Curling Rink. Tickets are $18.25 and include GST and fees. Visit tickets.stalbert.ca or call the Arden box office at 780-459-1542.
