April 24, 2008

It was an encore performance for Café DaPoPo a la Bob and Lori's on Thursday evening, and what an evening it was. With many of our Café stalwarts tied up (gloriously) with Biography (great show, go see it), it was a brand new sort of Café experience. Steven Bourque, Andrea Dymond, Chris Ferrilll and myself (Keelin Jack) returned after hiatus of various lengths, teaming up with newcomers Andre Dumont, Meghan Hubley and Annie Valentina to create a pretty successful night of theatrical treats, if I do say so myself. 

Continuing the success of last month's rehearsal process, we focused on the scenes, and the rehearsal and feedback needed to present them effectively.

With no carry over of scenes between last month's and this month's Café, a lot of new material was learned, some was reviewed from months long gone, and some familiar material shown with a different cast. Although the list of material to be learned seemed daunting after the first meeting, almost all was accomplished. Many thanks to the brilliant and dedicated cast. 

Also many thanks to Ann Denny, Nathan Pilon and Garry Williams, who came to the Café as audience, but helped us out with Pretentious and Popular songs. 

The night started off at a pretty easy pace...delicious pizzas floating by from the kitchen, some intimate monologues, a only slightly skewed version of the Icarus/Daedalus scene from Apocalypse 2006... the only slight stress of an unexpected demand for Leonard Cohen songs (with puppet!) which I was luckily able to dig out of my bag and fake...with the help of Hubley, as singing, playing piano, turning pages and puppeting requires more hands than one person possesses. 

After that, I may not be the best person to comment on the overall feel of the Café, as I was running back to back scenes and monologues from this point onward. I can say, however, that everyone seemed lively, happy and entertained. There was a steady flow of orders, and a lot of new faces... great to see.  

Highlights include: the interruption of a highbrow Shaw scene by a random off the street looking for the bathroom (it was oddly appropriate... thanks to the ladies who ordered it, for their sense of humour); the Big Ensemble Scene, Everyman, and the audience members participating with their interesting interpretation of "penance"... a.k.a. what to do when you are handed a scourge; a new Happening "3 Monkeys" from returning Master of the Happening - Steven Bourque; delicious food provider and Bob and Loris proprietor Paul Rogers stepping in to provide us with a lovely rendition of "Ich grolle nicht"; and the ever in-the-wings Bonnie making her Café debut as an actor, complete with knitting and Southern accent, in a scene from Crimes of the Heart.

   ---  Keelin Jack