| THE TWO MEN YOU’LL MEET IN THE JOYCE DOOLITTLE
Mitch Albom doesn’t shy away from uplifting stories. The author of the bestselling The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Albom’s career as a novelist began with his 1997 nonfiction account of rekindling his relationship with his former university professor, Morrie Schwartz. The Oprah Book Club-endorsed Tuesdays With Morrie remained on The New York Times Bestseller List for more than four years and was eventually made into a TV movie.
Now, 10 years after a former sports writer chronicled the life lessons he learned from his terminally ill mentor, community theatre company Morpheus Theatre is producing a two-hander adaptation co-written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Albom. Directed by Sean Anderson, the play focuses on the series of Tuesdays spent between the two men after a chance reunion 16 years after Albom’s graduation, as the older Schwartz dies of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and the younger Albom tries to find balance in his increasingly work-driven life. What follows is a series of life lessons on topics including the importance of family, the triviality of possessions, and the biblical imperative: "Don't hide your light under a bushel."
Not everyone enjoys uplifting stories.
In addition to reviews explicitly critical of Albom’s sentimentality, the author’s work spawned a parody titled The Five People You Meet in Hell. Written by Billy Frolick as "Rich Pablum," Frolick’s pseudonym is a clear attack on Albom’s novels as saccharine and uncomplicated. But for Richard Michelle-Pentelbury, who plays Schwartz opposite Jay Newman’s Albom, this cynicism stands in the way of a deeper understanding, both in regard to the play and, more broadly, life itself.
"Cynicism, at its healthiest, is a guardian to being duped," he says. "At its most disadvantaged – it's a barrier to further enlightenment."
"Our audiences, we trust, (are) in full knowledge of coming to see a fellow human being in the process of dying," he adds. "(They) are coming not only out of the natural curiosity of our own morbidity, but out of the hope that there might be some insightful perspective thrown onto the stage of Morrie's ‘final journey into the great unknown.’ This is a play that challenges, provokes, entices, invigorates and promotes the living of life to the fullest."
Michelle-Pentelbury himself is currently confined to a wheelchair after a degenerative disc disease rendered him unable to stand without pain for more than a few minutes. A veteran of community theatre since 1980, he laughs when observing that his age and disability make him a perfect fit for the elderly Schwartz, but notes that through the ALS Society of Alberta he has been able to meet an ALS patient named Vic Peters, Michelle-Pentelbury’s model for Schwartz’s character. Since Michelle-Pentelbury first met Peters 13 months ago, the former marathon runner is now restricted to using a laser-pointer and alphabet board to communicate.
Asked if he is concerned that the model of an angelic terminal patient sets an unrealistic image of the dying, as opposed to those who become increasingly needy toward the end, Michelle-Pentelbury responds by pointing to Peters’ warmth and humour, saying that he "pours out light." If there are those who don’t share Albom’s love of the uplifting, Michelle-Pentelbury certainly isn’t one.
"The privilege for me was the opportunity to play a character so evidently imbued with the altruistic concepts of love, forgiveness, authenticity," he says.
Tuesdays With Morrie runs from January 12 to January 27 at the Joyce Doolittle Theatre. For tickets and information, call 216-0808 or visit www.morpheustheatre.ca.
MORE JAZZ HANDS THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A FIST AT
Angela Woodard may not be Bob Fosse (she’s certainly far more alive), but she’ll have her job cut out for her just the same as she wrangles a cast of 24 actors and dancers in Front Row Centre Players’ production of the Tony/Oscar-winning musical, Chicago.
"But I’ve seen the movie," you say. Yes, but have you ever been so close to the dancers that their heels, flying in a too-vigorous kick, could actually break your nose? "No," you reply, marching into the Pumphouse like a zombified automaton humming "All That Jazz." In the end, you’ll be glad you did.
Chicago runs from January 12 to January 27 at the Victor Mitchell Theatre. For tickets and information, call 263-0079 or visit www.frontrowcentre.ca.
Not to be outdone, Rocky Mountain College will also be showcasing musical theatre in A Musical Theatre Showcase. With music from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, it even comes after Front Row Centre’s production, leaving more than enough time for your nose to heal from its melodic break.
A Musical Theatre Showcase runs from January 30 to February 2 at Rocky Mountain College. For tickets and information, call 263-0079 or visit www.frontrowcentre.ca.
HAIR (THE BRAIDING MATERIAL, NOT THE MUSICAL)
If you’re aged three to six and enjoy the finer things in life (cookies), you’re also likely to enjoy a fine story about towers, extra long hair, and its use as a prince-friendly emergency ladder. Perhaps you’ve heard this one? Of course you have! Why, you’re probably wanting the ticket information for Storybook Theatre’s Rapunzel straight away!
Rapunzel runs from January 19 to February 11 at the Easterbrook Theatre. For tickets and information call 216-0808 or visit www.storybooktheatre.org. |
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