The Souris Valley Theatre is putting on its first production of the season a bit early this year, with the madcap musical comedy Fitz Happens.
Artistic director Kenn McLead said they wanted to put on the play sooner than usual to give people chance to check it out before they can too caught up in summer plans.
Fitz Happens, a Saskatchewan based play, follows British aristocrat Fitz William as he gets exiled from London to work as a Mounty in the small Prairie town of Dry Gulch.
“It’s a sort of a classic fish out of water tale. A British aristocrat is sent over to the colonies in 1905 to straighten out his act. He’s going down a not so great path, so his father sends him off to straighten out,” McLeod said.
This will be the third production of Fitz Happens, a fairly new play, and it’ll also mark the first performance in Saskatchewan, the province it takes place in.
It premiered in 2016 at the Lighthouse Festival in Port Dover, Ontario, and McLeod said because this year is the 150 celebration of Canada, the play would be a perfect fit for this year’s line up at Souris Valley Theatre.
He added because it’s a musical comedy the play is also a great way to showcase a lot of the talent in Saskatchewan.
“We have some excellent musical theatre performers and musicians so getting a chance to fill the stage with that is quite desirable,” he said.
One of those performers is Saskatoon’s Mikael Steponchev who plays the lead role of Fitz William.
Steponchev said he thinks audience members will identify with the play because it’s not over-your-head intelligent, while at the same time doesn’t come across as too lowbrow.
“I think they’ll also identify with my character who has a sort of a fall from grace and has a lot to make up for,” Steponchev said.
“In the first scene he’s kind of lambasted as this awful, horrible excuse for a human being who has to rise above that and win them back as (the play) goes on. So I think everyone can connect with some of the more charming aspects of the characters.”
He described Fitz Happens as crazy comedy romp suitable for all ages with jokes for both adults and children.
There are only five actors on stage to pull off the production who have to fill the shoes of more than 20 characters, playing roles of everyone from American whisky runners to saloon girls.
The leading lady Louisa is one of the other characters Steponchev thinks audiences will enjoy, he said, as she starts off with a rough and tumble attitude and slowly finds her softer side as the play progresses.
Louisa is played by Regina’s Amanda Trapp who described her character as a true Saskatchewan gal who can hold her own.
“She shoots, she throws knives, she wears overalls, she does not take any of Fitz’ drama and she really challenges him,” Trapp said.
“The play is very whacky, but still at the end, it’s all about home and what home means and I think all of us being actors who have to travel a lot, the show is something we really identify with and we think the community will to.”
She agreed Fitz Happens offers something for everyone, calling it one of those classic stories that speak to all ages.
“I definitely think (audience members) are going to leave singing some of the songs, some of the songs are going to get stuck in their heads. There’s a lot of over the top silliness and I think those will be the main things audiences will enjoy,” said Trapp.
Anyone who wants to catch Fitz Happens can check it out from June 21 until 30 at the Souris Valley Theatre.
