The Show Must Go On Cast Blog: Max Wyman, Jan 7

January 07, 2010

By Max Wyman, performer in The Show Must Go On
Day two of rehearsals

A new member of the cast joined us last night, bringing the total number of performers to 20. Jim Green still has not arrived; Jim is a smart guy and a quick learner, but I worry that if he misses much more, he will have a significant catch-up job to do – in two rehearsal sessions we have already been introduced to the first eight of the show’s 18 numbers. And he missed last night’s photo-shoot, where we were asked to line up in groups Chorus Line style and leap in unison.

However, it is quickly becoming clear that knowing what to perform is not at all the same as knowing how to perform it, and our two choreographers are starting to guide us very patiently, with only the very slightest of nudges, in the direction they want us to go. It’s a very stripped-to-basics approach – Chancz Perry, last night’s newcomer, calls it organic – and a lot of the success of the performance has to do with careful listening, both to the choreographers and to the music, We are beginning to be better at that, but – not surprisingly, at only the second rehearsal – what we produce is still very raw and rough.

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The mood in the room, though, is upbeat and positive; everyone seems ready for anything. Choreographer Henrique asked briefly about nudity on the Vancouver stage – is it allowed? – and was quickly assured that it happens all the time. So who knows? That may become an element as well – though I can promise that, disappointing as this may be, you will not see a display of my own undraped svelte and comely form.

The demographic and social mix of the cast is a reasonable approximation of the city, with a weighting toward the youthful. That means that we can truly make this Vancouver’s own production of the show: indeed, last night Henrique and his colleague Dina encouraged us to perform one section of the show in “the style that is common in Canada.”

Which section, you ask? You’ll have to come to the show to find the answer to that.

The Show Must Go On is part of the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and is presented with SFU Woodward’s and The Dance Centre. Jan 20-23, 2010 at 8:00pm, The Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU. Click here for full details.

Above photo by Tim Matheson