Deep Cove Stage Society presents The World Goes ’Round, a toe-tapping musical revue of some of Broadway’s greatest hits. The show runs Wednesday through Saturday until June 24, with tickets available at deepcovestage.com. Tickets: $20/$18, includes $2 capital improvement fee for new seating.
Peter Zednik has been on cloud nine since Valentine’s Day.
He’s been tapping his toes in the director’s chair, while taking in some of the best music Broadway has to offer – from the sizzle of Chicago to the razzle dazzle of Cabaret.
“Oh, you know what? I have the best job in the world. I get to sit back and watch these really talented performers do their thing,” says Zednik, of the cast of The World Goes ‘Round, presented by Deep Cove Stage Society during June.
Zednik’s jazz hands have been full since February, but he’s embracing this new challenge. While he’s no stranger to choreography and music direction, Zednik admits he’s never taken on a musical of this size.
“It’s definitely a new challenge,” he says. “The reason it’s been a longer rehearsal period than usual is it’s 30 musical numbers, three-zero. What’s sort of unusual about this is it’s a cast of six but they each play at least 15 different characters.”
The World Goes ‘Round crams many recognizable Broadway hits into one show and is a celebration of the legendary songwriting team of Kander and Ebb, who are best-known for writing the scores for Cabaret and Chicago.
“Rodgers and Hammerstein sort of finished in the late ‘50s and these gentleman (Kander and Ebb) picked up through the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s,” explains Zednik.
Classics from Chicago, Cabaret and New York, New York will have the audience humming, in this revue, chock full of show-stopping musical numbers from stage and film.
“If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere” – anyone with an aversion to musical theatre is awakened when Ol’ Blue Eyes belts out those words at the climax of “New York, New York.”
While perhaps a lesser-known tune, “The World Goes ‘Round” was written for Liza Minnelli to sing in the film New York, New York.
“It’s a real mixture of really well-known song and songs that are just great songs but are from shows that maybe didn’t last over time,” says Zednik of the show’s musical lineup.
Take Flora the Red Menace, for example. Who? You know, the musical starring a teenage Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut.
“And people are going to say, ‘What? I’ve never heard of that before.’ But there are some beautiful songs from that show,” says Zednik.
The five female actresses and one male actor who won over Zednik are powerful singers and light on their feet in this highly choreographed show. Cast members Leigh Richards Stewart, Cheryl Hebb and Mitchell Mackay are North
Shore residents and well-known in the local theatre community.
Stewart sings “All That Jazz” in the show, while Hebb is a fantastic comedic singer, says Zednik.
Mackay, meanwhile, is just happy to be wearing pants on stage. A “very funny guy and very versatile actor,” Mackay is best known for playing pantomime dames.
Rounding out the cast is Camille Johnson, who sings the titular song from the musical.
“And it’s just this heartbreaking, torch song,” describes Zednik of “The World Goes ‘Round.”
Erin Matchette brings decades of stage experience to her role, including running a musical theatre training school in the Tri-Cities. And Julia Walmsley has “a wonderful belting voice,” says Zednik.
“She can bat it out of the park.”
The cast all portray multiple characters who perform heart-wrenching ballads, satirical send-ups and uplifting show tunes. They each do at least 15 songs, including solos, duets, trios and group numbers.
“Cabaret” is performed as an ensemble, as is “New York, New York” – the big finale.
Because the actors play so many characters, full costume changes are out of the question. Everyone has a base outfit, then they become a new character by putting on an outrageous hat or a coat, explains Zednik.
Propping up the show is some stellar music directing by Barb Brolly, a veteran actor, singer, music director and voice coach in Vancouver’s musical and community theatre scene, who is contending with “pretty challenging music.”
Accompanying the singers is a live band featuring percussionists and a high-quality keyboard, which perfectly mimics a flute, clarinet or guitar.
“And it’s amazing, if you weren’t watching you’d think: ‘That’s a saxophone, right?’ Oh no, it’s a guy on a keyboard,” says Zednik.
When he picked this musical, Zednik had literally just taken home top prize at Theatre B.C.’s Annual Provincial Theatre Festival in Kamloops for his direction of Rabbit Hole – a dark show about a family grieving over the death of a little boy.
“But it meant being with this really challenging, emotional story for six months,” says Zednik.
As he was driving back from Kamloops, Zednik decided his next project would be completely different and decidedly more uplifting. He happened to have The World Goes ’Round musical soundtrack on him and popped it in the CD player.
“And I went, this is it. This is what I’m going to do next,” says Zednik, who belted out those show tunes all the way home.
