The first main stage show at the Souris Valley Theatre’s Frehlick Hall this summer is expected to generate lots of laughs for the audience.
Chickens, a musical comedy that features the talents of six performers, will run July 6 to 9 and July 12 to 16. Show times are at 7:30 p.m. each night. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee on July 14.
The show, which was penned by Alberta playwright Lucia Frangione, tells the story of a rural Prairie couple struggling to keep their farm operating. Their fortunes are changed when they encounter a quarter of lively, exotic fowl.
Felix LeBlanc (Pal) and Jodi Sadowsky (Liza) portray the farm couple. Rebecca Lascue (Street), Ruaridh MacDonald (His Nibs), Munish Sharma (Alphonse) and Amanda Trapp (Butter Ball) have the roles of the chickens.
Trapp said people can expect to hear a lot of jokes involving poultry, and they can look forward to catchy music.
“We all go home with the songs stuck in our heads, and are singing them in our lunch breaks,” Trapp said in an interview with Lifestyles. “There are some fun scenes. There is some romance, some drama and there is possibly a KFC bucket on stage at one point. It’s just a really fun, comical show.”
The cast is now into their second week of rehearsals. They did a full run-through of the show on June 26, after just one week of practice, which Trapp said is an “amazing” feat.
Sharma added the rehearsals have been fun so far, as they have been putting their own spin on the script.
“It’s a lovely feeling to wake up and come and do theatre the whole day, and work on it,” said Sharma. “So far, rehearsals are going as well as they can for being in our second week, and I’m excited to see what happens next week.”
He called Chickens a fun and “kooky” show that crowds will enjoy, but he also stressed that it has a good message and a lot of heart.
Trapp and Sharma love performing at the theatre each year. It is a bit of a homecoming for Trapp, in part because she cherishes the opportunity to perform at a live theatre in Saskatchewan each year.
She also has connections to the city, as her uncle, Doug, used to live in Estevan.
“I spent a couple summers as a child here, so it’s always a treat to come back and get to hang out,” said Trapp. “Kenn (McLeod), our artistic director, puts together a really great group of people, and we’ve been getting to know the locals every year more and more, so I’m getting to know people in the community.”
Trapp is in her third year of performing at the theatre. She portrayed Marcia Park in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee last year, and she played Cecily Pigeon in the Odd Couple in 2014.
Sharma is making his second appearance in a main stage show at the theatre. He was also part of the cast of The Putnam County Spelling Bee last year, in which he played Mitch Mahoney, and after the success of the show, he wanted to come back this year.
The atmosphere and the area that they have for the performances creates an atmosphere that he compared to a “summer camp.”
“Last year was just a great experience,” said Sharma. “It had a great cast, a wonderful vibe here, and I really enjoyed just hanging out in the valley. People in Estevan are nice and it was a great show. I like what they do here.”
Sharma has already been showcased for one of the theatre’s events this year, as he was part of the entertainment for the Ladies’ Night fundraiser on June 25 at the Doug Third Hall. He performed a burlesque routine for the audience.
“I hope that they do it again, because it was a great idea, and anything that gets the community involved and gets everyone to see what the Souris Valley Theatre is doing here is a phenomenal thing,” said Sharma.
They admit they didn’t know much about Chickens, which was originally performed in the theatre hotbed Rosebud, Alberta. It can be difficult to get information about Canadian musicals, Trapp said. But now that they’ve read the script, and they have started rehearsals, they are looking forward to performing the show.
