Nicholas Donaldson
Put on your best plaid shirt and load up the car for a trip because Fort Frances High School is set to stage its annual fall musical revue, this year entitled “Country meets City.”
The show promises to be an entertaining night of popular songs telling the story of a group of “country kids” trying life in the big city.
“Ms. Loney wrote the script and all of the characters are based off of our personalities in real life,” Brianna Eldridge told the Times after Monday night’s dress rehearsal at the Townshend Theatre.
“People who actually know us will catch onto our characters a little bit,” she noted.
The revue follows those characters as they leave their country roots to get a taste of the city life, with some trying busking in the street, playing in coffee shops, and auditioning for big musicals.
“I am elected to track these guys down,” said Brenden Laur, who goes by “Tom” in the show, a character reluctant to accept the city life.
“He has to track down his cousin [Eldridge] because they haven’t heard from her in a long time,” explained Katelyn Bruyere, who plays a university student.
Although there is a story and script, the show is about the music while the acting is confined to short scenes tying the songs together.
Much of the dialogue also is improvised based on the characters.
“We kind of just mold it to the way it comes out,” Eldridge said.
Laur joked about having a large selection of “coupons” (his script) in his pocket that he offers to the other characters if they freeze up in practice, but the group is sure they won’t need it come show night.
“The script is like a skeleton, and we are adding onto it and giving it our own little flairs,” Bruyere noted.
“We’ve added some details and if the audience sees them, they will really appreciate them,” she added.
The trio noted this year’s show has a different feel from other musical revues of the past which often are just song after song connected by a theme.
In this show, the songs are connected by genre and feel almost like a “mini musical” in their presentation.
“Every song has its purpose–we’ll put it that way,” Laur noted.
Bruyere and Eldridge said their favourite song is most likely “Seven Bridges Road,” which they sing with Laur and MacArthur Wilde.
The song features the students doing four-part harmony and some a capella–something they feel the audience will really enjoy because it is not often heard in these shows.
Laur said his favourite is either “King of the Road” or “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” because of the fun the male cast members have performing them.
FFHS music teacher and director Lisa Loney said she’s proud of how the show is coming along and thinks the students have done a wonderful job with the script she gave them.
“The characters are based on the students but emphasized and blown out of proportion,” she explained.
She added she doesn’t want any parents thinking this is how she views their children. Rather, Loney just wanted to ground the characters in the students playing them.
“We have a wonderful group of kids this year and they have really stepped up,” she lauded.
The show will run Nov. 16-18 in the Townshend Theatre, with the curtain rising at 7 p.m. each night (doors open at 6:30).
Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for students/seniors, which are available at Northwoods Gallery & Gifts and the door.
