By Marcia Arpin
Melodrama is defined as a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events. New Moon Production and Rob MacLeod’s Capitol Players delivers a wonderful example with their latest production. The actors featured in The Bones of Blackfly or The Fur is Gonna Fly worked as masterful storytellers to keep the audience entertained with a script that pokes fun at current events, local businesses, pop culture, and notable people in Thunder Bay.
Credit must be given to the clever script created by the mysterious T. T. Lucky, who has penned several melodramas using Thunder Bay as her inspiration. Characters were appropriately named Riva Dale (Julie MacCoy), Norton Wood (Colin Stewart/Chisholm Pothier), Victor Heights (Janis Swanson), and Wesley Fort (John Welyki) after our infamous neighbourhoods. Audiences needed to listen carefully as the references came quick in a smart plot of good-guy-meets-bad-guy-meets-good-girl-meets-bad-girl.
Melodramas promise songs and music accompanying action. The talented cast spun popular tunes and Broadway classics into original songs. The joyful and lively spirit of each tune taunts you to sing along. Each time Justine Beevah-Wood (Jessica Krasnichuk) entered the stage, the audience would greet her with a lovely sigh while Bertolt Blackfly (Jim Hobson) was greeted with a loud “boo.” Interactions from the audience tested the cast’s improvisational skills; in fact, the audience was treated to a trivia contest in the middle of the show, complete with prizes, while the actors maintained the storyline. Blackfly and his sidekick Toiva (Arlene Korhonen King) even endured an action packed “boo-ball” toss by the audience to defeat the evil foes. Actors filled the space with expression and harmony. The audience was treated to gasps, groans, and giggles. And the script provided a happily ever after. This must become your summer tradition at Chippewa Park.
