Young New Westminster performers are taking centre stage in a new musical opening at the Vancouver Fringe Festival next week.
Awkward Stage Productions is staging Carry On: A Musical at the Firehall Arts Centre from Sept. 8 to 18.
The musical began life in last year’s Smackdown: The 24 Hour Musical Contest. It won and has now been developed and expanded into a full musical.
Set in the YVR baggage claim, Carry On “examines the convergent lives of weary wanderers and the baggage they bring with them,” a press release explains. “Stuck in luggage limbo, the colourful cast of this comedic romp are all desperately seeking one thing – to move their lives onwards and upwards. Well, that and to finally get their bags.”
It stars Burnaby actor Britt MacLeod as Tracy, the baggage claim supervisor who’s feeling a little stuck after 10 years in her job and who’s hoping a promotion to management is in her future.
MacLeod is also the composer of the show, having written both music and lyrics.
New Westminster actors are also featured in the cast. Jolene Bernardino – known to local audiences for her role as Vi Moore in the NWSS production of Footloose in 2015 – appears as Giselle, while Isaac McAndless-Davis is Casey, the eager job applicant who’s desperate for a job in baggage claim.
McAndless-Davis (who’s heading into Grade 12 at NWSS this fall) also had a featured role in Footloose, appearing as Willard, and has been seen onstage with Carousel Theatre’s Teen Shakespeare Program three times.
Awkward Stage Productions is a registered non-profit society that’s designed to provide performance and production opportunities for young emerging artists, both teenagers and young adults.
See www.awkwardstageproductions.com for all the details about the company and the show.
Tickets for Carry On: A Musical are $14, plus a Fringe membership, available through www.vancouverfringe.com.
