ON STAGE
What: Shrek The Musical
Where: McPherson Playhouse, 3 Centennial Sq.
When: May 3 through May 12
Tickets: $21.75/$42/$54.50. Tickets are $3 less for students and seniors. Available at rmts.bc.ca, by phone at 250-386-6121, or in person at the Royal McPherson box office
Theatre people tend to be multi-taskers at the best of times. They double as actors and directors, set designers and ticket-sellers. Whatever it takes for the show to go on, right?
But even with that tradition to uphold, Heather Burns must have set a new benchmark for versatility in recent weeks.
One minute, she was serving as music director for a production of West Side Story, featuring the orchestral stylings of Leonard Bernstein. The next, she was filling the same role for the Victoria Operatic Society鈥檚 offering of Shrek The Musical, featuring the Monkees鈥� hit I鈥檓 a Believer.
Small wonder then that she was looking forward to spending a few minutes in her garden this week 鈥� two days after wrapping West Side Story with Victoria鈥檚 91原创 College of Performing Arts and four days before launching Shrek at the McPherson Playhouse.
鈥淵ou probably couldn鈥檛 ask for two more diversely different pieces,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淚 found I had to switch gears in my head pretty quickly, moving from one to the other.
鈥淚 was in the pit last week with a beautiful orchestral take on West Side Story which is Bernstein at his finest, and then to slide into the rock band and the Monkees and I鈥檓 A Believer and all that goes with that 鈥� it鈥檚 fun.鈥�
It helped that Burns was able to 鈥渢ag-team鈥� the Shrek production with her co-music director, Dave Flello. Even so, she wondered at one point whether she wanted to take on back-to-back musicals and seven-day work weeks.
Ultimately, she decided to go ahead because she had worked on Shrek in the past and loved it.
鈥淭he music is fantastic,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s a music director, I think you gravitate towards the music and the songs early in the process. It didn鈥檛 really grab me to begin with, but then, when I started working on it, I just realized how catchy, but also really beautiful, a lot of the music is.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those unexpected scores,鈥� she said of the songs by composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really well-written, really engaging and very fun because it鈥檚 done more with a pop-rock band approach, rather than an orchestral approach.鈥�
The award-winning musical is based on the animated film Shrek, which, in turn, was based on the book Shrek! by William Steig.
Burns attributes the story鈥檚 enduring appeal, in part, to its ability to reach audiences of all ages.
Kids are drawn to the saga of an ogre who embarks on a quest to return a band of fairy-tale creatures to their homes and get his swamp back. The adults in the audience enjoy the references to songs and music from the past.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many musical, what I call 鈥榪uotes鈥� that refer back to other pieces of music that are just iconically known to adults,鈥� she said.
The story itself holds universal appeal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about acceptance and it鈥檚 about understanding that beauty is not necessarily what sometimes it鈥檚 categorized or classified as in modern pop culture,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淭hose kind of themes reach deep into the heart of people, and even more so today than maybe in prior times.鈥�
The Victoria Operatic Society鈥檚 production features Morgan McLeod as Shrek, Heidi Fox Lange as Fiona and Dan Comeau as Donkey.
鈥淭he three of them together have made a really solid core of leads,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淎 musical really relies on your leads to be strong, and not just talented, but strong as leaders. So they鈥檝e been able to do that, and I think it鈥檚 set a really great tone.鈥�
Burns said audiences can expect an 鈥渁mbitious鈥� production. 鈥淭he costumes are just out of this world. I think there鈥檚 certainly going to be an appeal in terms of the bigness of musical theatre for this performance, which is wonderful.鈥�
As for Burns, she admits she鈥檒l be ready for a break after directing back-to-back productions.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e had my full share of all things musical theatre this spring, and I think I might go hit some waves or some beaches or something for the summer,鈥� she said, laughing.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 been great. One of the beautiful things about the genre is the diversity of it and to be able to work from one extreme to the other.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 take that for granted. It鈥檚 a pretty beautiful way to make a living.鈥�
