Pamela Giroux | Mar 27, 2019


The music Jeff Siamon chose for his show comes from the popular music of the day, in the 1930’s and 1940’s. For younger audience members, it will be something brand new, but for older folks it will be a delightful walk down memory lane. Danielle and Christopher Hall play the lead roles, Monica and Guy, in this production. Even in rehearsals these two have inspired rousing applause from the rest of the cast when they sang. Other actors in supporting roles with solos are Meghan Hall, Brian Robertson, Sara McCulloch and Braidey Merrigan. They each bring great musicality to their roles. The Chorus is made up of a group of women who provide some lighter moments with dance as well, designed and created by local choreographer, Tim White. The music and dance that the Chorus embraces will keep toes tapping for the audience, especially in “Alexander’s Rag Time Band”.

We are very fortunate to have two musicians accompanying us for this production. John Inglis’ musical talents have been well established in previous shows with NFLT and, once again, we are grateful for his musical expertise with this show. We welcome a newcomer to our group; Adam Parker, who as Jeff described him is a one-man band. His keyboard is able to sound almost like a full orchestra at times, with many acoustic additions. Without these two accomplished musicians, it would be hard to rehearse and perform a musical.

There are a lot of songs in this show so I am going to focus on a few to pique your interest. Danielle does a beautiful rendition of “Second Hand Rose” and Gershwin’s “But Not for Me” in the first Act as well as many other favourites from that era. Christopher’s rich tenor voice will enthrall when he sings “After I Say I’m Sorry” and you will love the duet between him and Danielle when they sing “Put Your Arms Around Me”. Another crowd-pleaser is sure to be Wendell’s (Braidey Merrigan, youngest actor in cast) rendition of K-K-K-Katy. The music is a reflection of the times during the War Years and, who knows, maybe this show will spark a revival in popularity for this kind of music once again. The Boy Wonder will be performed May 9, 10, 11, and 12 at GREC in Sharbot Lake. Tickets will be available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, and The Amazing Dollar Store. I will keep you posted on other aspects of this exciting production.

Submitted by Pamela Giroux   

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