Playing February 15th – March 3rd at the Metro Theatre, tickets are now on-sale!

Starring Alex McMorran (John Jasper), Jack Rigg (Chairman), Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud (Drood), Jennifer Doan (Rosa Bud), Alfonso Banzon (Neville Landless), Emma Rendell (Helena Landless), Mike Wild (Reverend Crisparkle), Linda Sum (Princess Puffer), Chris Lam (Bazzard), James Walker (Durdles) and Jesse Setka (Deputy) – the talented ensemble features Gordon Bruce, Mitchell Bryce, Emma Cawood, Lindsay Corbett, Angela Cotton, Spencer Fisher, Jeremy Fornier-Hanlon, Emily Nadeau, Jessica Nicklin, Nicole Smashnuk and Andrew Wade.

The show will be directed by Ryan Mooney with music direction by Vashti Fairbairn and choreography by Dawn Ewen. Stage Management by Aliya Rozenberg, Set Design by Keita Selina, Lighting Design by Mark Eugster, Costumes by Cathy Wilmot.

We’re in the process of building a new and improved website for Fighting Chance Productions – so you’ll have to pardon the mess around here… in the meantime…

If you’re looking for info on THE TEMPERAMENTALS – the show runs November 22nd-December 3rd at the PAL Studio Theatre (581 Cardero Street) – tickets are available here.

If you’re looking for Groupon information e-mail us at groupon@fightingchanceproductions.ca

Instead, we have decided to bring back one of our biggest hits – the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award Winning RENT for a run at the Waterfront Theatre this summer. This will not be a remount of our previous production. All roles are still available. Details on auditions, dates and other information will be available soon.

Cameron Dunster (Hero) and Elyse Maloway (Philia) with Ryan Mooney (Pseudolus) and Steve Dotto (Lycus)

Fighting Chance Productions is pleased announce our cast and creative team for our next production, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM playing October 4-23, 2011 at the Jericho Arts Centre. Tickets are $20-$30 and are now available at http://www.jerichoartscentre.com

The cast is Ryan Mooney as Pseudolus, Mike Wild as Hysterium, Peter Stainton as Senex, Steve Dotto as Marcus Lycus, Matt Ramer as Miles Gloriousus, Cameron Dunster as Hero, Elyse Maloway as Philia, Danielle Lemon as Domina with Morgan Dunne, Cesar Erba and Jameson Treholm playing the Proteans and Brittany Cairns, Rebecca Friesen, Jennifer Kuhl, Kiki Lipsett, Ranae Miller and Sable Strub as the Courtesans. Casting for Erronius will be announced shortly.

Direction by Cathy Wilmot, music direction by Sarah Jaysmith and Dawn Ewen will return as choreographer. Other members of the production team include Daniel Boden (Stage Manager), Matt Parsons (Set Design), Oriana Camporese (Costume Design), Matthew Bissett (Lighting Design). The production management team is Emma Leigh Hillier and Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud.

Braedon Cox (L) and Lucas Blaney (R) in bare: a pop opera

FCP:  Tell me about Jason.

LB:  Jason is 17, gay, and in the closet.  Very much so.  He’s completely confused about his sexuality because his body is telling him one thing, and his mind and heart are telling him something else.  He wants to be “normal,” and live the American dream.  He’s not in denial, but he is really lost.

FCP:  Do you feel a sense of responsibility about portraying Jason for all those kids who have gone through what he has gone through?

LB:  I feel a responsibility to every LGBT teenager ever – and the ones to come.  My responsibility is to them.  The world needs this story so that more people can be exposed to the life that these young people have to go through.  They don’t get to see it usually, they don’t live it.  Until you surround yourself with it, and know people who have been through it, it’s a mystery.

FCP:  How do you feel about the way bare portrays the church?

LB:  I think the church is really a metaphor in the show for the world, and how it pushes people who are different to feel.  Jason loves Peter, and feels compelled by that, but is pushed by the church into another lifestyle.  What he needs to understand, and what this show portrays, is that love is not wrong, or evil – it’s normal, and beautiful, and the world vilifies it and makes it into something sordid, that it’s not.  Wonderful individuals make terrible choices trying to fit into the norm.

FCP:  Jason goes through a lot in this show.  How do you feel, carrying those emotions around?

LB:  I feel OK, because I feel like it’s real.  I do have the capacity to step away from it, but when I’m performing or rehearsing, I let the emotions really take me over.

FCP:  And the show is fully sung…

LB:  It is.  This has been the most important thing I’ve done in my career to date.  I feel so proud of all the work that everyone has put into the show.  bare has really touched me on so many levels.  The story is so important, the music is incredible, and what it teaches is necessary.  I’m tired of hearing about bullying and unacceptance.  It’s not OK.  It can’t happen.  Everyone has something to learn fro bare, even people who think they are accepting.  This show is about showcasing the true love that can exist between two people.

Lucas Blaney stars in bare: a pop opera, at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island, August 4 – 13, 2011.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.ca.

Braedon Cox (L) and Lucas Blaney (R) in bare: a pop opera

FCP:  Tell me about Peter.

BC:  He’s the centre of the story, along with Jason.  He’s the clandestine, innocent character who is stricken with the perils of being born gay in a very Catholic family that is not accepting of him.  It feels so natural for him to love Jason, but everything he’s been taught is that it is wrong.  This conflict drives him to the point of having insane nightmares.

FCP:  Can you relate to what Peter’s going through?

BC:  I went through a stage like that, being gay myself.  I come from a community and family that is very accepting and loving, thank god – but I can imagine what it would be like if my family was like Peter’s.  In order to prepare for this role, and get myself into that headspace, I think about other young gay people, those who have been driven to suicide, and I put myself in their shoes.  It’s not hard to to – I can definitely empathize.

FCP:  This show is an emotional rollercoaster for you, every night!

BC:  It is!  It’s hard to go there, over and over again.  Act 2 is a whole storm of emotions.  The entire cast goes through so much, by the end we’re all crying and hugging, and we have to dance around after the show to blow off some steam.  It’s definitely a challenging role, but it makes me delve deep.  It’s part of why we do what we do – these are the characters that we thrive to play.

FCP:  Did you know the show before you were cast?

BC:  I didn’t – I had heard of it but once I auditioned, I heard the songs, I really became a fan.  I love the storylines – all of them, not just Jason and Peter’s love story.  The music is beautiful.  I know there will be fans of the show in the audience who are expecting a lot, and I definitely feel some responsibility to them, but I’m bringing my own original spin to the character.  I hope the fans really love our show.

FCP:  What do you say to people who write bare off as a “gay” show?

BC:  It’s a show about loves, and some of those loves happen to be between gay people.  We’re not jumping around singing Britney Spears and waving rainbow flags (laughs). It’s much deeped than that.  It’s about the real, true emotions of what actual students and youth are going through.  What many of us have gone through.  It’s important for as many people as possible to see it – bring your mom, your dad, your grandparents.  bare is about the side of being a young person that the meda doesn’t often portray.

Braedon Cox stars in bare: a pop opera at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island, August 4 – 13, 2011.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.ca

Lena Dabrusin (with Stewart Yu) stars as Ivy in bare: a pop opera.

FCP:  Tell us about Ivy.

LD:  Along with every other imaginable teenage problem in the show, Ivy deals with teenage pregnancy.  She goes through the feeling of being completely alone and not knowing how to deal with the situation.  It goes against everything she’s been taught and preached to in her religion.

FCP:  Did you have any experience with religion before being cast in bare?

LD:  Yes, I went to a francophone school that happened to be Catholic, and I remember the sexuality classes – they would separate the boys from the girls, and we’d put out questions in a little question box… (smiles) We got diagrams about what puberty looks like – sexuality seemed to be something not to celebrate, but to keep hidden.

FCP:  Ivy has a number of great songs, including “Portrait of a Girl.”  What’s been your favourite scene to rehearse so far?

LD: It’s hard to decide – I have fun with all of it!  Probably my favourite scenes to rehearse so far have been those where Ivy is playing Juliet in the school production of “Romeo and Juliet.”

FCP:  bare’s message is such a powerful and important one.  Do you find that raises the stakes in rehearsals?  Is it still a fun show to be a part of, despite its serious themes?

LD:  I’m really proud to be in a show like bare precisely because the message is so relevant.   We are all affected by intolerance and religion and judgements and difficult upbringings. I am so proud and so moved by the show.  I think it is a big responsibility that we’re bringing this show to the public – as much fun as it is, it is a great responsibility and I think we all realize that.  But we’re having a blast bringing it to life.

Lena Dabrusin stars in Fighting Chance Productions’ bare: a pop opera, August 4-13, 2011, at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.​ca/.

Emma Leigh Hillier and Matt Parsons in bare: a pop opera

Although the central storyline of bare: a pop opera revolves around Peter and Jason’s love story, many of the other students at St. Cecilia’s are dealing with heart-wrenching conflicts of their own.  Among them is Nadia, Jason’s twin sister, a “big girl” who feels like an outsider, as she laments in the song “Plain Jane Fat Ass.”  Nadia is played by Emma Leigh Hillier, who has recently returned to Vancouver after studying Musical Theatre at the Canadian College of Performing Arts.

FCP: What’s Nadia like?

ELH:  Amazing!  She’s very strong willed, and has a lot of insecurities, despite the hard exterior.  She’s just a girl who’s scared and doesn’t love herself at all.

FCP:  How are you like Nadia?

ELH:  Well, I do relate to a lot of what she’s doing through.  I was a big girl in high school.  This show really mirrors that experience for me, which is hard sometimes.  And I think we can all relate to being in love and not being noticed.

FCP: I hear you learned how to play the cello for this show!

ELH (laughing): Yep, I did!  I emailed Ryan (Mooney, director) after I was cast and realized that Nadia played the cello, to say I didn’t know how to play, and should I learn?  He told me to go for it, so I rented a cello and got a teacher.  I’ve been playing for about two months now, and my teacher is great, but it’s not an easy instrument to learn and my playing is a bit rough – we’ll just say Nadia is learning at the same pace as me!

FCP:  Nadia’s story really represents a secondary message in bare, as the central conflict revolves around Peter and Jason’s struggle with their sexuality.

ELH: Yes, it’s secondary in a way, but I think the central message of bare is really that all stories are important, and everyone’s story needs to be heard.  But absolutely, the central theme about accepting who you are, and accepting your sexuality, is central and still something that needs to be heard and addressed.  I have so many friends in the theatre community who are gay, and if you don’t accept them – well, I don’t accept you.  Plain and simple.

FCP:  How do you let the serious parts of the show go after a rehearsal?

ELH: Well, even though I have a lot of fun in Act One, I cry alot in Act Two.  You leave rehearsal and your heart hurts.  I let it go by meditating, and I physically shake it off.  Nadia’s pain is still always there, but it doesn’t hurt as much.

FCP: bare has a real cult following.  Did you know the show before you were cast?

ELH: I did, actually.  A friend in college introduced me to it and told me I needed to sing it, so I knew of the show and really loved these characters.  There’s some pressure, given that we’re the Canadian premiere of bare, but I think we’re doing a phenomenal job, and we’ll do it justice.  We’ll make the bare fans proud.

Emma Leigh Hillier stars as Nadia in Fighting Chance Productions’ bare: a pop opera, at the Waterfront Theatre, August 4 – 13, 2011.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.​ca/.

Caitlin Hayes

FCP:  So how does a classically trained pianist become a music director for Broadway musicals?

CH:  While I was studying classical piano in university I was performing in a lot of musicals.  Someone asked me to music direct Nunsense, which I was happy to do, without really knowing what being a music director was all about.  I jumped in with both feet, and had a lot of fun doing it. Slowly my focus shifted from classical music to musical theatre – I just found I was more passionate about it, and so I followed that passion.

FCP:  Your first show with us was Sweeney Todd.  bare seems about as far away from Sondheim as you can get…

CH:  It’s the polar opposite of Sondheim, in some ways, but it some ways it’s not.  bare is very challenging from a musical point of view, as the show is almost completely sung.  There are very few breaks for dialogue, and even when there are, there is music underneath.  The plot is carried forward in song. (Smiles) I don’t ever get to stop playing the piano.  I’ll be glad when we get to work with the full band, which will take some of the pressure off me playing all 36 songs!

FCP:  How would you characterize your style as an MD?

CH:  I try to work really fast, to get as much done as quickly as possible, while still having a lot of fun and trying to maintain a positive atmosphere.  I like to put the focus on getting a lot done so we can feel that we’ve accomplished alot – that really helps the rehearsal process – and we fine-tune as we go.  The faster we learn, the faster the magic starts to appear.  I’ve never found a lot of value in being negative or a stern taskmaster as an MD.  I’ve found staying positive and encouraging means I can get excellent results while still ensuring that we all have a good time.

FCP:  You’ve worked as a performer in the past, but your focus in recent years has shifted to music directing full-time.  Do you miss performing?

CH:  I just performed in APPLAUSE! Musicals in Concert’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but I don’t perform much anymore, no.  I like performing, and I’m pretty good at it, but I’m a quirky character actress, which can sometimes limit my opportunities to perform.  As an MD, even if there’s not a part that suits me as a performer, I can still do the show – all the shows I want!

FCP:  Do you get the same satisfaction MD’ing a good show as performing in a good show?

CH:  It’s definitely different.  I get a great deal of satisfaction from music directing a show, and it’s delightful and gratifying when people appreciate my work, but it’s not the same, as most of the audience won’t even recognize you after a show.  But I get the most satisfaction from the feedback I receive from performers who enjoy working with me and feel I’m a positive person to work with.

FCP:  What would be your dream show to perform or MD?

CH:  Don’t ask me that, it’s such a difficult question! (Thinks hard) The entire Sondheim canon!  My number one dream role to perform would be Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. Or Sweeney Todd in a gender-reversed Sweeney Todd…it could happen right?

Caitlin Hayes music directs bare: a pop opera, August 4 – 13, 2011 at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.​ca/.

The cast of bare: a pop opera

Stephanie Liatopoulus, Arlie Worthing, Kate McQueen, Imelda Gaborno, Arielle Tuliao, Morgan McTaggart and Katie Purych play the naughty schoolgirls of Saint Cecilia in bare: a pop opera.  Here’s what they had to say about the show…

FCP:  So, in bare, you all play Catholic schoolgirls…

KM:  There was a lot for us to work with in the script to help us build those characters.

MM: It’s fun building the history between these characters who have been together for four or five years.

LS: What’s interesting is that we’ve developed a social hierarchy.  There’s cliques that have really developed…

AT:  That happened quite naturally, actually.

LS: Tanya and Kiera are the popular girls.

MK: My character, Diane, is really the bottom of the heap.  I pretty much play the screw-up.  Diane trys really, really hard.  But she has no friends.  And no skills.  She’s totally tone deaf.

AT: you do a nice responsorial psalm!

FCP:  How close is bare to what you actually experienced in high school?

LS:  I went to a Catholic high school, and it was very similar.  We went to raves, we did drugs, there were closet gays.  We dated each other, we partied, we made fun of each other.

IG:  It’s like any high school experience, really.

KM: In any high school you have the sluts, the nerds, the in-betweens.  The fact that bare takes place in a Catholic high school just raises the stakes for the protagonists.

FCP:  There is hardly any dialogue in this show, it’s sung right through…

AT (with a straight face): That’s exactly like my high school.  (Singing) I have the answer… (The girls laugh).

MM:  Singing through the whole show made it much easier to block.  It all felt very fluid, you could feel it with the music.

LS: You memorize songs faster than scenes, so it’s been very free flowing – it’s easy to remember everything.

MM: It’s one big long rock concert.

KM: Each song takes a story.

AT: As a director it must be harder, because you can’t cut anything.

FCP: Did any of you know the show before being cast?

KM:  I did.  I found it a year ago and I listened to it constantly.  Before I even auditioned I could sing through the whole thing – I was so excited when I found out I was going to be in the show.

FCP:  Do you feel a sense of responsibility to all the bare fans that will come to see the show?

LS:  Well, it is the Canadian premiere, so expectations are high.

AT: We have a super talented cast.  I feel like we don’t have anything to worry about.  We’re all very good singers and talented actors. so it’s all good.

KM: There’s no weak spot.

LS: Talent aside, we’re also really passionate about the story we portray and the message it is sending.  Even if we were just really passionate, and not talented, it would be breathtaking.

IG:  I didn’t know about bare before I auditioned, but I am so in love with the story now.

MM:  It will be the highlight of everyone’s resume.

FCP: In speaking to all of the cast, the importance of the message of this show seems to be a huge part of all of your experiences…

LS:  The only thing I regret about this show is that we don’t have more performances.  The more we rehearse, the more I realize we need to reach out to more people.  I want more straight people than gay people to see this show.  I want mothers of gay children to come to this show.

KM:  bare deals with sexuality and drugs and peer pressures – there are just so many messages.  It’s about growing up, really.  Even just liking someone and not being liked back.

MM:  Simple stuff – like, wanting to be the lead in the school play and not getting the part.  There is something in this show that every single person can relate to, that’s why I love it so much.

See the girls of Saint Cecilia go wild in bare: a pop opera, August 4-13, 2011 at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.  Tickets are available at http://www.ticketstonight.​ca/.