Nov 30, 2016


It takes a lot of work for the North Frontenac Little Theatre to put on a musical. The casts are large, there are songs and lines to learn, musicians to be found, costumes, and on an on. It's pretty hard to pull all the pieces together in a small community when actors and back stage people need to travel 30 to 60, and in one case this time around, 90 minutes to rehearsals.

Usually the effort is grounded in a script and a set of songs that have been worked out over time through workshop productions, regional theatre, a stint on Broadway and often a movie version before being taken up by the Little Theatre. The company tends to use licensed versions that are specially prepared for amateur theatre companies across North America.

Not so with Turtle Crossings, an original musical written by long time NFLT member Craig Godfrey. Godfrey has been shopping around the idea of a musical for a few years. He wanted to set it in cottage country and he wanted to explore the relationship between permanent and summer residents. Last year Brian Robertson, the current President of  NFLT, agreed drect the play and Godfrey set out to complete the script and write the songs for Turtle Crossings, which is based on his own Novella, The Custodian.

The challenges that come with a new piece of theatre, with unfamiliar songs, is immense. Never having seen the play performed, not knowing if the characters will ever translate to the stage, if the songs will be understood and will move the plot forward, made Turtle Crossings a risk for NFLT to take on.
In the end the production of Turtle Crossings was a success. Performances by a cast that included some talented first time NFLT performers who were able to perform songs in tune and in character, made the play work.

A trio of NFLT veterans (Danielle Quenneville, Sandy Roberston, and Dick Miller) played the urban friends of the lead character Tesah with assured comic timing and physicality. They kept things entertaining as the serious business of the relationship between Tesah and Billy (the custodian) was played out over the 2.5 hour long running time of the play. The crew of young actors who’s skills have been developing over the last few youth oriented productions showed their experience has paid off as well, keeping everything moving and bringing a sense of community to the action of the play.

Danielle Quenneville, Tesah's room-mate Vicky from the City, got the evening going singing the only cover song in the production, Janis Ian's At Seventeen, not an easy song to pull off, in a set designed by Donna Larocque which captured the feel of an urban country bar in the early 1990's. The band, led by musical director Elisabeth Convery on piano, with Gary Giller on bass, Nathan Paul on drums, Martina Field on fiddle, and David Yerxa on percussion, were visible at the back left of the stage. This was particularly effective in the bar scenes, although not so much when the play shifted to the cottage scenes later on. Throughout the night, however, the band did a great job supporting the numerous vocalists.

Quenneville set the stage for Jennifer Argyle, who played the adult Tesah, a music teacher in her late 30's and a regular performer at the bar. Argyle, who performs as a country singer herself, easily slipped into the persona of Tesah as a fun loving teacher who enjoys letting her hair down on evenings and weekends singing and drinking with her friends at their local. The whole scene was pulled together by the antics of John Stephens as the bartender/announcer.

Tesah's past intervenes early on as she reveals that her estranged father has left her the family cottage. Tesah tells her friends that she spent each summer at the cottage as a child and then attended High School in the country after her father decided to move the family to the cottage, much to the chagrin of her long suffering, alcoholic mother.

The scene shifts to the cottage during Tesah's youth, and for this transition a simple yet effective technique was used. Arglye stood still, facing the audience, and Ellie Larocque, who played Tesah as a child, came onstage and stood behind her, facing the back of the stage. The two actors spun around slowly until Larocque was facing the audience, and Argyle left the stage. Back in the early 60's, Tesah and Billy (Bailey Paddick) an older local boy who does maintenance at the cottage, are helping baby turtles get from the driveway where they have hatched, to the water. The relationship between Billy and Tesah, which is central to the play, is set in this scene. The play shifts back and forth from the past to the present (which is 1993), as Tesah and her friends are preparing to visit the cottage on Canada Day Weekend. Gradually more and more of the past is revealed. The teenage Tesah is played by GREC student Emma Douglas, who did a great job singing and playing and also showed the depth of character as Tesah deals with her parents marriage disintegrating, her mothers breakdown, and the transition from seasonal resident to high school student in small town. Kids do a lot of growing up between grade 9 and grade 12, and Douglas did very well showing the effects of that on Tesah.

Kora Kamps Sissons, who teaches at North Addington Education Centre, plays Tesah at age 18, the crucial period in her life when her mother Mrs Carter (Connie Rennebarth) suffers a break down, and the push pull between her feelings for Billy (now the custodian at the high school) and bad-boy rocker Zepper (convincingly portrayed by Tom Asselstine) are played out. Connie Rennebarth delivered a moving performance “It isn’t fun here anymore” in this section of the play, and this was followed by Kamps Sissons equally powerful performance of “Are you Still There”. Plot twists that could have strayed into melodrama were brought to life with these two performances. They were highlights of the evening.  The first act ends at the High School Prom. Tesah is there with Billy, and her music teacher, Mrs. B. played to comic effect by Marcie Asselstine, calls out “You're Pregnant”.

In Act 2 Tesah returns to the cottage, and finds, after a twist and turn or two, that her life has been waiting for her to return and take it up, which she ultimately does. There are  some convenient plot elements at play, this is not unusual for musicals, which are really all about the songs and the singers and big emotions, the 2nd Act provides Jennifer Argyle the opportunity to develop her character fully. It also provides comedic fodder for Dick Miller, Sandy Robertson and Marcie Asselstine. Derryk Monsour, who plays the adult Billy, becomes the play’s anchor, making sure everything will work out in the end.

Other performers who should be mentioned included Greg Morris (Mr. Carter) Cash Matson (Young Eddie) and Jessica Wedden (Jessie) who also performed some fiddle solos in character, Pam Giroux (Nokomis), Makenzie Drew (Macca),  Amber Asselstine (Lori), Gillian Hoffman (Julie) Sidney Drew (Danielle) Tim Drew (adult Eddy)  Carol Morris (Nana), Donna Larocque (Bar Patron) and Ken Fisher (Bar Patron).
Craig Godrey did a good job capturing the way people speak and carry themselves in this neck of the woods. The underlying issues at play, the restlessness of youth, the pressures people face in the city and in the country, are all very real.

Turtle Crossings had its flaws. A scene or two could have been trimmed and the pacing could have been quicker, but basically the production worked, no small feat for a musical in its first incarnation. The efforts of the set designer and construction team, and particularly stage manager Marc Brown, who came before and left after everyone else and made sure everything was in place, and lighting director Jeff Siamon cannot be over-stated.

Brian Robertson had the vision, and put in the effort to bring Godfrey's story to life, providing an opportunity for a new crop of talented performers to shine. Finally, a nod to Kathy Bonsal, Craig Godfrey’s sister, who put up with him, and everyone else as the play’s Producer.

It was an accomplishment for all of them.

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