Dazzling Movement in Cultch's Children of God
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Yesterday Wednesday I went to a media call for the Vancouver East Cultural Centre’s production of Corey Payette’s musical Children of God (at the York Theatre where it opens this Friday). We were witness to three songs (performed twice). The musical is about Payette’s having lived in Northern Ontario and discovering (in his own way) the tragedy that was Canada’s residential school policy.
It is a standard journalism protocol for theatre reviewers
(I am not one) that dictates that you never write about a preview or a media
call. I will abide by this. It will not prevent me from citing comments from
my Fuji X-E1 digital camera that
became Sword Excalibur in my hand and I took some swirly and wonderful
photographs of what we (my Fuji and I) saw.
I am going to the opening on Friday and I will have plenty
of ammunition to write about my feeling that I will be dazzled.
Being of Latin American extraction (I am an Argentine by
birth), until recently I could assert that I hated musicals. I can watch opera
and I can watch a film, But anything
in-between I abhor, or used to abhor! I have seen enough classic film musicals
and many (as in many) musical plays at the Arts Club Theatre. I now can assure
you that I love good musicals. I have been well trained.
From the tip-of-the-iceberg-view that I got yesterday I believe that this is a good musical play, with no fluff and plenty of serious content fed to us with lovely songs.
The set is spectacular (in a monumental way) and the lighting very good. I have
inside knowledge that the flowers I will see on stage Friday are fake but the actors
are not. Consider that one of them is Kevin Loring who appeared in one of the
best ever plays (not quite a musical but it had a man playing a lovely guitar)
I have ever seen in Vancouver. I wrote about that play here.
Of the movement shots (I took many) I thank Arty Gordon
and her Arts Umbrella Dance Company who gave me the opportunity to learn of the
magical photographs one can take at ¼ of a second.
While my Fuji really did not comment on the performance I
believe it did through the photographs I took. More will see the light here on
Saturday.
I wonder what the gentleman from León, Guanajuato who is part of the production staff does besides not wearing the excellent leather shoes his city produces.
I wonder what the gentleman from León, Guanajuato who is part of the production staff does besides not wearing the excellent leather shoes his city produces.
