Countryside Christmas is corny Cornwall fun
TUNEFUL: This family comedy is set off just right with musical numbers
Andrea Rondea, The Citizen
Published: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
If you’re looking for a lighthearted holiday tale filled with some fun, familiar tunes, you should check out the Chemainus Theatre Festival’s latest show Countryside Christmas.
This original work by Nicolle Nattrass and Chemainus’s own artistic director, Mark DuMez, takes the audience to a small cabin on Vancouver Island, where the Cornwall family, father Harry (Stephen Sparks), mother Judy (Joelle Rabu), brother Tom (Benjamin Elliott) and sister Sissy (Jennie Neumann) have always celebrated Christmas together with many a wacky family tradition.
This year they are confronted with the non-appearance of Grandma Cornwall (don’t worry, she’s alive and kicking, just having a bash with friends on the Mainland), lovestruck neighbour Whiskey Joe Nelson (Mark Hellman) popping up looking for Grandma Cornwall, and the appearance of Sissy’s boyfriend Kyle (Anton Lipovetsky), much to the chagrin of the Cornwall men, Harry in particular.
Everybody in the Cornwall family loves Christmas, and music. So get ready for some fun tunes and fun times at the Chemainus Theatre.
All this change doesn’t sit well with Harry, who likes his tradition, well, traditional.
Family friction and hilarity ensue, with lots of singing to set the mood.
With a cast of six, and three live musicians as backup, the show manages to cover a lot of musical ground, from traditional carols to “Desperado”, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”, and “Your Smiling Face.”
All the cast members pull their weight, both as soloists and creating harmonies for the group numbers.
Rabu as Judy filled the theatre effortlessly with her strong voice from the opening curtain, while several of the other cast members got stronger as the show progressed and they settled into their roles on opening night.
Countryside Christmas starts off a little slow (in spite of the fun duet “Just the Two of Us”), but by the intermission it’s off and running and never looks back.
Elliott, as Tom, in his first role on the Chemainus stage, and Lipovetsky as the boyfriend Kyle were real standouts.
From the moment Tom blows in courtesy of a friend in a stolen car, Elliott embodied the character of the flakey son, who manages to get into trouble, but nonetheless loves his family and has a good heart. Think a Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure type. Elliott has good comedic timing, whether he’s hitting his sister like an eight-year-old, trying to get out of chores with his dad, or delivering his letter to Santa.
Kyle is the rather pretentious professional student who’s been working on his thesis for seven years and immediately steps in it with Harry when he wants the family patriarch to talk about his feelings.
Yet Lipovetsky makes him a character to root for, even in the midst of a lecture on the commercialism of Santa Claus.
And the disbelief he exhibits at the utterly cornball (pardon the pun) “Santa tracker” — let’s just say the audience is right there with you, buddy. It’ll make your family’s craziest Christmas traditions seem mainstream.
Costume designer Crystal Hanson deserves a shoutout for the 1980s garb that’s so authentically retro it made this reviewer both laugh and wince at the same time. The wardrobe for the three youngest cast members was particularly good, with Tom looking like a refugee from an 80s hair band, Sissy channelling early Madonna, and Kyle going for a Boy Georgetype ensemble, complete with eyeliner.
So, if you want to laugh, and see everything turn out all right in the end, get your tickets to Countryside Christmas, which runs until Dec. 31.
For tickets to dinner and the show, call the Chemainus Theatre Festival at 1-800-565-7738.