Fighting Chance Productions

Aaron is one of those “man about town” performers that you see in tons of shows. Most recently he’s appearing in High School Musical 2 with URP and before that he was seen this summer in Thoroughly Modern Millie at Theatre Under the Stars. We’re thrilled he’s making his Fighting Chance debut with Forbidden Broadway. We asked him some musical theatre type questions…. his responses should delight you!

What was your first musical theatre experience?
Playing in the pit orchestra in Oliver! for Earl Marriot Secondary in White Rock.  The funny part was that I wasn’t even a student there.

What is your Dream Role?
Attainable Dream Role: Usnavi from In The Heights with Benny in a very close second.
Actual Dream Role (cause I know it’ll never happen): Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys. I’ve been rocking that Valli Falsetto since high school. I just look absolutely nothing like Frankie, and I know that.

What is the scariest thing you’ll have to do in Forbidden Broadway?
If my assumptions are correct, I think it’ll be the fat suit I’d have to wear performing as Travolta in the Hairspray spoof.

What is the best experience you’ve had in the theatre?
Having had the chance to work with some of my childhood idols, and Canadian performing arts legends.

Do you have any musical theatre role models?
Norbert Leo Butz cause he’s just overall a great performer.

If you could go back in time and be a part of any Broadway show which show would it be, who would you play, and why?
It’d have to be Ching-Ho in the 2002 Tony Award Winning Thoroughly Modern Millie because then, I’d use that to further a career on Broadway, instead of making it a one-show gig like the guy who originated the role.

List the four theatrical people you would have around your dinner table in an ideal world.
Stephen Sondheim, Steven Schwartz, Oscar Hammerstein & Jason Robert Brown. Could you imagine the result of all their combined creative juices???

If you couldn’t perform, what would you do?
Honestly, I can’t answer that question.  Personally, I don’t think I could *not* perform!

What do you think is missing from the Vancouver theatre scene?
I think we don’t have enough paid opportunities for musical theatre performers. On the same note, we also need more people in Vancouver to fully support the arts so that we have more of those chances to be offered to us.

David came to our production of Rent as one of his students was playing Mark in it. David’s the high school drama teacher at Eric Hamber Secondary and has taught some past Fighting Chance alumni. Did you see our production of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead? Did you enjoy Matt Clarke who played Van? Well that was one of David’s students. Anton Lipovetsky who scored rave reviews as Mark in Rent – also one of David’s students. If he can help produce that much talent, just imagine what he’s going to be like on stage. Here are a couple of questions we asked him about his experiences with musical theatre!

What was your first musical theatre experience?
Being in the chorus of Oklahoma! my first year in high school.  The scariest thing is that my second experience was playing Jesus in Godspell.  It was a big leap for a young kid!

What is your Dream Role?
At this time….Dan (the father) in Next to Normal.
Of all time…probably Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a part I have already been lucky enough to play!

What is the scariest thing you’ll have to do in Forbidden Broadway?
Sing higher than any male human being ought ever have to sing.

What is the best experience you’ve had in the theatre?
Playing Action in a production of West Side Story where we danced the original Broadway choreography.  It was the hardest thing I have ever done theatrically, and consequently the most rewarding.

Do you have any musical theatre role models?
John Callum and Irene Ryan (who actually suffered what turned out to be a fatal stroke onstage during a performance of Pippin), because I would love to continue playing in musical theatre well into my old age….

If you could go back in time and be a part of any Broadway show which show would it be, who would you play, and why?
Original productions of Rent (Mark) or A Chorus Line (Bobby).  These were two musicals, that changed my life nearly 25 years apart.

List the four theatrical people you would have around your dinner table in an ideal world.
Angela Lansbury, Joe Orton, Daniel Sunjata, and John Wilkes Booth

If you couldn’t perform, what would you do?
I’m doing it!  Teach…..  (In an ideal world I would write – especially musicals – and produce)

What do you think is missing from the Vancouver theatre scene?
In Buenos Aires there are many, many small theatres which run small plays for extremely long runs.  Most of these plays only have one performance a week.  They usually play on Wednesdays through Sundays, often with shows starting at 7:00, 9:30 and even 11:30 pm.  The ticket prices are low.  Actors can commit themselves to these shows because usually they only have one performance a week and participation does not prohibit them from engaging in other activities or other productions.  The result is a dynamic local theatre scene that resembles, in many ways, a permanent Fringe Festival.  How great is that?

Cathy Wilmot is one of those tour de force performers that we love to watch because, quite frankly, every time we see her in something, she’s a. amazing, b. giving an incredible performance and c. giving a completely different performance than the last time we saw her. She was killer as the Seasons of Love soloist (among others) in Rent, and was also an incredible understudy for Joanne. She’ll be seen next in our production of Forbidden Broadway imitating some of the greats including Carol Channing and Ethel Merman. We asked her a couple of questions about musical theatre and theatre in general.
What was your first musical theatre experience?
My first musical theater experience was in Grade 6 in a show called Dragons Tale. I was the Princess….and my twin brother was the Prince. We had to sing a love duet and get married, but, despite that traumatic experience, I knew I wanted to perform for the rest of my life.

What is your Dream Role?
Any role in Les Miz, Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, the Queen in We will Rock You – even though the show is horrible…the music is AMAZING

What is the scariest thing you’ll have to do in Forbidden Broadway?
Try and emulate the people the best I can.

What is the best experience you’ve had in the theatre?
I’ve had two. A summer up in Barkerville, and Rent this past summer. Both experiences reminded me why I love theater…the music and the people you work with.

Do you have any musical theatre role models?
Not really, but I did attend everything Colm Wilkinson did here when I was in high school.

If you could go back in time and be a part of any Broadway show which show would it be, who would you play, and why?
Tough question. I guess I would go back to the Vaudeville times before musicals really started. People really collaborated back then, and any idea seemed to fly. I quess it seems like writers have run out of ideas…for now.

List the four theatrical people you would have around your dinner table in an ideal world.
Liza Minelli, Julie Andrews, Colm Wilkinson, and Andrew Lloyd.

If you couldn’t perform, what would you do?
Go crazy. I would have to find another outlet. Performing is who I am and what I do.

What do you think is missing from the Vancouver theatre scene?
More professional opportunities. New musicals written by locals.

AARON LAU (Cast Member)

Aaron is proud and excited to be finally working with Fighting Chance!  Fresh off the heels of an awesome run with URP’s High School Musical 2, reprising his role as Chad Danforth, Aaron has also chalked up a dream role as Ching-Ho in this past summer’s TUTS production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Since his debut as Chuck Cranston in TUTS 2004’s Footloose, Aaron has been performing in show after show, including Guys & Dolls (Metro), Alleycats (Horse Raven), 42nd Street and West Side Story (RCMT).  He also teaches hip hop to the high school students at LSS. He will soon step into the producer’s chair for Intimate Theatre Productions in it’s inaugral production of Cy Coleman’s I Love My Wife.  Aaron would like to thank Ryan and Sarah for their faith in his talents, and the cast for an awesome show!

DAVID NICKS (Cast Member)

David Nicks is delighted to be back on stage doing musical comedy after an entirely-too-long hiatus.  His past musical theatre credits include in Godspell (as both Jesus and Judas), West Side Story (Action), The Music Man (Charlie Cowell), and Carnival (Marco).  Other theatre credits include serious dramas like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Billy Bibbitt) and Antigone (Creon) and farces like Black Comedy (Harold). He is also a plawright, acting teacher and director of over twenty thirty productions.  He is especially thrilled to be giving his current and former students at Eric Hamber Secondary a chance to finally come see him on stage.

We figured it was time for another contest here at Fighting Chance Productions (if Artistic Director Ryan Mooney had his own talk show, he’d be giving away free stuff all the time.)

Forbidden Broadway spoofs musical theatre, but it does it out of love. And it seems like Vancouver audiences love their musicals, so we’re curious, what do you love about the musical theatre?

We’d love to give away four tickets to the Opening Night showing of Forbidden Broadway AND passes to the after party, so it’s simple, just comment on this post and tell us why YOU love musical theatre. Sounds simple right? Well – it is!

So, get started! The contest closes December 18th!

We’re thrilled to introduce you to our amazing female cast members for Forbidden Broadway, our second show in our 2009/2010 season!

CATHY WILMOT (Cast Member)

Cathy Wilmot is excited to perform with Fighting Chance again, after just finishing Rent! Recently she was seen in Pipedreams’ A New Brain and WRPC’s Safe. Other credits include Metro Theaters’ Anything Goes (Erma) – CTC award winner; Applause! Musicals in Concert: Irene (Jane); Fifty Million Frenchmen (Joyce); Sunday in the Park with George (Nurse/Harriet); Do Re Mi (Tilda Mullen); and Pickled Productions’ Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Yitzak), for which she received an Ovation award. Cathy has been a headliner at Giggledam Dinner Theater and Maz and Me’s, and performed in Barkerville. Cathy also directs, writes, fronts bands, and has taught Drama and Improv to young aspiring actors. Her other passion is spent during the day working with children with special needs, and traveling the world.

ANDREA BAILEY (Cast Member)

Andrea is thrilled to be a part of Forbidden Broadway! It has been a dream of hers ever since she saw the show in her hometown of Vernon, BC and was the loudest person laughing in the theatre. Last spring Andrea graduated from the Capilano Universtiy Musical Theatre Program. Since then she has been seen in Annie (TUTS), Rent (Fighting Chance productions) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Footlight Theatre). Past credits include Gussie in Merrily We Roll Along (Arbutus Studio) The Threepenny Opera (Exit 22) Annie Get your Gun (TUTS) and Honk! (Exit 22). She hopes you enjoy the show as much as she did!

NATALEE FERA (Cast Member)

Natalee has been highly addicted to all things musical theatre since a young age, and is therefore thrilled to fit into Forbidden Broadway. A graduate of the Capilano College Theatre Program and Theatre Institute, Natalee has performed in dozens of local productions over the last decade including shows with Footlight, TUTS, Metro Theatre, and as “Tina” in Vancouver’s long-running hit comedy Tony & Tina’s Wedding. When living in the real world, Natalee is a Middle School Teacher who enjoys playing guitar, rock climbing, and going for a pedicure.

When it comes to fundraisers we have tried a lot of different things. Our very first fundraiser was for our production of Side by Side by Sondheim and was called My Other Side. It featured some musical theatre talent sharing some of their other talents including song-writing, guitar, piano and performing music that was not musical theatre based. It was held at the Alibi Room in the summer of 2007 and was quite successful. We then went on to do monthly cabarets as a way of bringing the community together and helping finance some of our projects.

Following that in the summer of 2008 we did a fundraiser in conjuction with our production of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical and did a cabaret with the theme of Dream Roles. It was great fun and well-received. We then did a fundraiser for The Laramie Project at the New Revue Stage on Granville Island.

Last March was the start of us taking away the “fundraiser” title that we were using and changing it for the word “party.” It made all the difference in the world, and something we realised was that while raising money was certainly important, we also wanted to use the event as a celebration of what Fighting Chance was up to. In March we held a party at the Rosedale on Robson Hotel to help us choose our 2009/2010 season. It was wildly successful with over 100 people attending – and a great night was had by all. We followed that up in July, 2009 with a patio BBQ at the Rosedale on Robson. Again over 100 people joined us to celebrate our success and to see excerpts from Rent. It was another great event.

Which brings us to our plans for March, 2010. I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll be premiering The Awesome 80s Prom at in conjunction with the Vancouver Alpen Club. It’s going to be the perfect precursor to our production of The Wedding Singer: The Musical. From Samuel Frenchs website: The Awesome 80s Prom is a brand new blast-from-the-past party in the style of Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding set at Wanaget High’s Senior Prom… in 1989! All your favorite characters from your favorite ’80s movies are at THE PROM, from the Captain of the Football Team to the Asian Exchange Student, from the Geek to the hottie Head Cheerleader, and they’re all competing for Prom King and Queen. And just like on “American Idol”, the audience decides who wins! Come back in time and join the breakdance circle or just sit back and watch the ’80s drama unfold.

It will feature a cast of 20 – many of whom are Fighting Chance alumni! We’re very very excited about it and it will show for two nights only – March 26th & 27th. Tickets will go on sale on December 1st, 2009 – but we wanted to let you know about it now since reservations will be limited! You will NOT want to miss out on this awesome event. For more information (and some great 80s tunage) check out the official website for The Awesome 80s Prom!

Photo shoots are tons of fun – especially because our photographer Devin Karringten is one of the chillest people we know. He also happens to do a great job. His first photos for us were for The Laramie Project and he’s taken photos for all of our shows since then – and they almost always get a spot in newspapers because they are just so damn good!

AARON LAU in FORBIDDEN BROADWAY

Here are a couple of shots from our shoot! We decided to do shots for our next three shows, which are Forbidden Broadway, Matt & Ben and The Wedding Singer.

ANDREA BAILEY, DAVID NICKS, NATALEE FERA & CATHY WILMOT in FORBIDDEN BROADWAY

We haven’t cast The Wedding Singer yet with the exception of Andrew Halliwell, who will be playing Robbie Hart (the Adam Sandler role) so we got him in for some shots. You can check out all of the pictures on our Facebook page.

BECCA STROM & KAT GAUTHIER in MATT AND BEN

Note – these are not the touched up, edited final pictures – but I still think they’re pretty freaking great!

ANDREW HALLIWELL in THE WEDDING SINGER

For those of you who are unaware Stephen Sondheim will be visiting Vancouver THIS TUESDAY thanks to Scott Ashton Swan and APPLAUSE! Musicals in Concert.

Tickets are still available through Tickets Tonight HOWEVER you can win a pair of tickets just by attending the last two shows of One Good Marriage!!!

Just book your tickets over the phone at 604-807-9268 or e-mail: fightingchanceproductions@gmail.com and you’ll be entered to win two orchestra tickets to see A Life In The Theatre, An Evening with Stephen Sondheim – Tuesday October 27th at the Vogue Theatre.

Don’t miss this INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY!

From Mark Robins @ GayVancouver.net

• “One Good Marriage is a solid piece that turns theatre slightly on its edge.”
• “Reycraft’s writing demands a very natural conversational style from the two actors as they tell their story and McMahan easily found this style.”
• “Both actors were equally as successful in allowing the memories of the central event to percolate just below the surface as they tried desperately to hold themselves together.”
• “Director Ryan Mooney has wisely made this mostly about his actors and gives them very little stage business; for the most part the story is told by the two actors from two banquet room chairs at the front of the room.”

From Ed Farolan @ ReviewVancouver.org

• “They talk to each other, and oftentimes, they ramble into monologues which were well acted and well directed by Ryan Mooney.”
• “The play was short and bitterly sweet, and the actors had good rapport with the audience”
• “I commend the actors and the staff for something unique and different from the other plays of the repertoire of this company which has successfully produced different genres of play production, from musicals to intimate theatre.”