Dreamgirls

Hudson Village Theatre’s All Grown Up is
an ode to the golden era of girl groups

SLUMBER PARTY:
(L-R) Lamarche, Gauthier-Frankel and Harris

By NEIL BOYCE

Since the downtown crush of Formula One, and with the impending crowds of the Jazz Festival, thoughts of getting out of town become more appealing each week. But relaxed evenings at Théâtre de Verdure, or an afternoon lolling in the grass waiting for a Shakespeare in the Park show are still weeks away—so what to do?

A few minutes off the island, Hudson Village Theatre is readying the breezy musical All Grown Up, a summer theatre season-opener that brings two strong Montreal actors and a talented local newcomer to an idyllic converted train station venue out in the country.

The musical began as a cabaret piece in 1993, written by three friends in Vancouver, and has since enjoyed success across Canada and the U.S.

The simple story follows the lives of three women through songs from the early-’60s girl group era, when acts like the Shirelles, the Chiffons and the Marvelettes perfected the sweet harmonizing of the sugary pop hits.

It’s a coming of age story, showing the young actors from their carefree pre-teen days to post-marriage blues and beyond. Though seemingly a light confection, the show contains a subversive element in the way director Irene Arseneault handles the material.

“It’s been so interesting,” she says, “because the message in a lot of songs from those days was, ‘I’ll do whatever you want!’ so we play it a little tongue-in-cheek, more like: ‘Yeah, right, that’s what we want...’”

Two ringers from the big city sneak into the fluffy story to wreak havoc. Holly Gauthier-Frankel—recently in the Segal musical Houdini, and better known as the modern-day Queen of Montreal burlesque, Miss Sugarpuss—plays Carol, the backbone of the group. Motherly and nurturing, she seems the most centred until her character transforms after marriage.

Anthousa Harris shows nice range as nerdy, sunny, big glasses-wearing Frances—a turn from her recent success as the repressed Manon in the Centaur’s Forever Yours, Marie-Lou, while Hudson native Emily Lamarche completes the trio as the (at-first) naive Sandy.

Given the typical summer theatre rush of assembling a show and getting it up on its feet fast, the play needed actor-singers up to the task. Arseneault, who had directed large Evita-scale musicals at Lyric Theatre and the Centaur, and musical director Rob Burns whipped the actors into shape. “We had a two-week rehearsal period,” says Arseneault. “They’re all strong singers with musical training, so we worked on four songs a day and they picked it up fast. The choreography is fun, not too complex, just enough to give the show some pop.”

Harris continues, “We were able to work out all the songs in the show in three days. We’d sometimes spend mornings singing and afternoons acting.”

“It’s got that real chatty, ‘friend-y’ vibe,” adds Gauthier-Frankel. “I think the three of us found the human qualities in their character. And the three-part harmony is super nice to listen to.”

The mention of the songs throws the interview into confusion at this point, with everyone speaking at once: “The songs are great! After this is done, we want to put out an album! We all have access to studios, we’re definitely going to lay down some tracks...”

All Grown Up to July 6 at Hudson Village
Theatre (28 Wharf Road, Hudson) Tickets
at www.villagetheatre.ca, (450) 458-5361