“There have been multiple rehearsals where I’m crying from laughter. Good crying, not bad crying.”
Jessica Harte is having a blast directing Yellowknife troupe Parcel of Rogues this week in The Adequate Wizard of Oz – but wants the audience to come ready to contribute to the action, too.
Written by Yellowknife’s own Kira Hall, The Adequate Wizard of Oz is a pantomime, described by Harte as the “very loud” British tradition of taking a classic story and making it funnier while poking fun at it.
That means audience participation, including booing the bad guys, cheering the good guys, call-and-response with the actors and helping characters find misplaced props.
Evening performances on October 29-31 at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre are “naughty,” with raunchier jokes, and tickets cost $35. A Halloween “nice” matinée, designed to be family friendly, costs $25.
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“We’re really hoping to encourage families to come out, get dressed up for Halloween, stay after the show and join us on the stage for some trick-or-treating photo ops,” said Harte.
The Wednesday dress rehearsal is free to attend thanks to sponsorship from Yellowknife MLAs, starting at 7:30pm.
What’s different in The Adequate Wizard of Oz compared to the original? “Everything is turned up to 11,” Harte said.
“We’ve got 12 dancers from Bella Dance Academy who are joining us, and they are absolutely turning it up to 11. We finally had them at a rehearsal last week, and I was smiling the entire time watching them. They look like they’re having so much fun.”
Toto is played by a human performing the role as a “man-dog hybrid,” Harte added, while the Dorothy character is played by a man and Kansas becomes Saskatchewan.
“The energy coming out of this cast is fantastic,” said Harte. “I’m so excited.”
