When Beaches the Musical opens on May 24 in the Max Bell Theatre, it will have been one of the biggest and most anticipated productions ever to be mounted on a Theatre Calgary stage.
How the production came to be is in many ways a mirror of the thematic elements of the musical itself, with the longstanding friendships between Theatre Calgary’s Artistic Director Stafford Arima and author Iris Rainer Dart herself.
But when audiences sit down to watch the world premiere on Friday, it will be the star power of a pair of Broadway veterans Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett that leave them spellbound—with a little help from catchy lyrics and music by Dart and Mike Stoller.
“These songs are beautiful; they’re earworms. Something I find amazing about this show is that you’re not getting contemporary music, you’re getting this traditional musical theatre, kind of old-school pop sound that Mike is very, very well known for,” said Vosk.
“I had a couple people here last night in previews say, ‘man, I leave humming the songs,’ and I think that these are songs that are going to be used over and over again once the show comes out. That’s a pretty huge deal.”
Audiences will know Stoller as the one half of the Grammy award-winning Leiber and Stoller, who wrote such hits as Stand By Me, Hound Dog, and Jailhouse Rock.
But it will be hard not to want to sing along to songs like Show the World as Vosk, playing Cee Cee Bloom, and Barrett, playing Bertie White, draw audiences into the 35-year-long friendship of the two characters.
Vosk said there might even be a nod or two to Bette Midler (who played Cee Cee in the movie version of the story) throughout the play.
“I should preface this by saying that I am the biggest Bette Midler fan in the world. I was a huge fan of the film, because of Bette Midler. So stepping into this role, there’s quite a bit of you no reverence to it, because it is Bette Midler. I’m sporting the red hair. I’m sporting some of that hubris, and outfits, and ego and everything that she came along with, but trying to make it my own at the same time,” said Vosk.
“That’s the beauty of creating a role is that you can take little moments from what you’ve seen or read in these past iterations, but also make them your own and make them who you are. So, you know, if Bette Midler is out there and wants to come hang out with me and talk about it, I’m willing to do so. I just wanted to say that.”
The role every actor wants
Barrett said that getting the production right for audiences was a huge responsibility.
“When I read the book, I found a lot of different textures. What I love about this medium is everyone has their own interpretation. I mean, with any luck, Beaches will go on and other people will play this role and they will put their own spin onto it,” she said.
That decades-long friendship on stage, which involves the highs and lows of life, was the kind of role that actors dream of taking on, said Barrett.
“It’s what you’re looking for. The reason I step on stage every night is to take the journey and to complete the arc. We love that as actors, to feel in two to three hours, we can take an entire life’s journey, but this is actually literally what we’re doing,” Barrett said.
“So, even though it’s extremely challenging, it’s so fulfilling to leave the stage and say, ‘oh, wow, I just told the life of a human being,’ and you hope that you do that human being justice.”
She said that what she hopes audiences will take away from Beaches the Musical was that central message in the production to find connection.
“That’s the beauty about theatre, you take what you need… there’s a lot here to take, it is a buffet of what you need. But I do know that what’s wonderful about the show is although it’s absolutely heartbreaking, we leave you with hope. Hope is the bottom line, period, end of sentence,” Barrett said.
“I really hope people leave and they call their person. Whether it was a person they don’t talk to anymore because they thought they screwed it up and they can’t get it back, or somebody that they really, really love. I just hope everybody leaves and calls that person and says ‘life’s too short, I gotta tell you what I feel about you.'”
Beaches the Musical is presented by Theatre Calgary, Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso, Douglas McJannet for Arden Entertainment, Alison Spiriti for Right Angle Entertainment, and Broadway and Beyond.
The production runs until June 26 at the Max Bell Theatre in Arts Commons. For more details and for tickets see https://www.theatrecalgary.com/shows/2023-2024-beaches-the-musical.
Photos from Beaches the Musical
