by AMY BARRATT

The sleeping giant has been roused.

English Montreal is a small town that secretly loves its musical theatre. We can go years without anyone daring to attempt a full-scale stage musical, but sooner or later some brave or foolish soul always comes along, pokes that giant with a stick and gets him hoofing again.

This month, two such souls have made simultaneous appearances. Raymond Zilberberg is the producer-director behind the Who’s Tommy, being staged at McGill’s Moyse Hall, and Kendall-Jane Rundle is the force behind a production of Annie currently running at Douglas Hall in Verdun.

Zilberberg, something of a theatre veteran at the tender age of 23, began performing with Yiddish Theatre at the age of 10. He founded One Foot Productions last year and has already staged two other shows, Cabaret and Falsettos. He describes the company as “student-driven.” Most are not theatre or music majors, yet their commitment to the project is beyond question—they have been rehearsing five times a week since September. Zilberberg himself is a political science graduate from McGill, but musical theatre is his love. It goes without saying that the cast of 24 is also in it for love—there is no money.

On the other hand, the young company has been lucky enough to team up with Hillel Jewish Student Centres as co-producer. “Hillel has been interested in doing theatre for years,” says Zilberberg. “I met their executive director last spring and started talking about what I was doing and that led to them funding this show.”

If a 1960s rock opera and a Jewish campus organization with a conservative reputation doesn’t seem like a match made in heaven, Zilberberg says that’s what’s so great about it. “Everything’s been getting so political lately,” he says, referring to recent campus tensions, particularly at Concordia, between Jewish and Arab students. “This is great because it’s not political at all. It’s just entertainment.”

Tommy has had many incarnations since it began life as a Who “concept album,” including an over-the-top film version by Ken Russell. The script that One Foot Productions is working from is the stage adaptation that hit Broadway in the ’90s. In this Tommy, Adam Blanshay stars as the “deaf, dumb and blind kid” who can’t be beat at pinball.

Annie is a different kind of student production. 42nd Street is a new musical theatre training school for aspiring performers of all ages. Its children’s section is called Purple Dragon Theatre. Theirs is clearly a “learn-by-doing” philosophy. Adult and child students spend each 15-week training period putting together a show. Hence, Annie.

Kendall-Jane Rundle, as well as directing, plays the nasty Miss Hannigan. Alison MacLean and Catherine Ouimet share the role of Annie, on alternating performances. Next spring the company gets three times as ambitious with near-simultaneous productions planned of Oliver!, Grease and West Side Story. :

Tommy, to Nov. 30 at Moyse Hall, McGill
University, $10/$15, info: 845-9171

Annie, to Dec. 1 at Douglas Hall, Douglas
Hospital, $10/$15, info: 995-9924

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