The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Janna!

Back in July I had posted about the outcome of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?", the CBC TV talent search to cast the role of Maria in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber/David Mirvish production of "The Sound of Music" which has just recently debuted on the Toronto stage. Though the role was officially won by Elicia MacKenzie, the judges were also so impressed with first runner up, Janna Polzin, that a couple weeks later they asked her to be both Elicia's understudy as well as perform as the alternate Maria for the Saturday matinee and Wednesday evening shows. The show opened in October and has met with wide acclaim both from the theatre critics and audiences.

I went to see today's matinee performance starring Janna, and was able to meet with her for a few minutes after the show to present her with this framed print of the caricature I had illustrated of her at the conclusion of the TV series. I'm happy to report that Woodstock Ontario's Janna Polzin is a lovely and gracious young lady in addition to being a phenomenal singer and actress. Janna is a recent graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Sheridan College, where I currently teach in the Animation program. I had actually seen her in Sheridan's production of "The Music Man" three years ago, though her role was only a non-singing bit part that I admittedly cannot recall. I suspect that we also likely passed each other many times in the hallways of Sheridan without my knowing it! Anyway, I certainly know Janna now, and I predict that her success in "The Sound of Music" is going to lead to many more roles in a long and happy career.

By the way, the show itself really is magnificent, with strong performances from all of the leads and a bunch of cute kids as the von Trapp children. The sets are quite inventive, especially the opening number where Maria is first seen lying down in her hilltop alpine meadow gazing up into the sky, where we in the audience see her as if from a bird's eye view above. Then the hilltop slowly angles back into a flat plane, allowing our Maria to stand up and do her famous Julie Andrews twirl as she sings the title song. Janna's voice is clear and pure, with a sweet soprano able to hit all of those high notes perfectly. Broadway's Burke Moses plays Captain von Trapp with a strong voice, and I must say he reminded me a lot of the young Orson Welles, both in vocal quality and appearance! Stratford veteran, Keith Dinicol provides some excellent comic relief as Music impresario, Max Detweiler.

As the production has recently been given an extension through March, I'm very tempted to try and catch another performance to see Elica MacKenzie as Maria. She was also so outstanding during the TV competition and richly deserved winning the role. I suspect she brings her own distinct qualities to Maria, with her bubbly and excitable personality. Incidentally, I'm happy to report that, in sharing the role, these two young ladies (elegantly pictured together here in their evening gowns!) have become very close friends and are very supportive of each other. They're both just so thrilled to have this great opportunity to show Toronto audiences their immense talents and I believe theatre goers will enjoy them both very much in the many months to come. Here's where to go if you're interested in getting tickets to this fine production.

And now, for your added enjoyment, here's one of Janna's performances from "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?", where she sings Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit song from "Evita":

"Maria" Problem Solved!

For the record, I have to state that I am not a fan of so-called "reality shows" on TV. I've especially avoided the various "American Idol" type talent shows, mostly because I can't abide contemporary pop music. However, a recent addition to the reality show genre did intrigue me enough to tune in earlier this summer. CBC started showing "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?"- a talent search for the leading role in a big stage revival of "The Sound of Music" to be produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, no less, here in Toronto. It's based on a previous talent search that successfully aired in Britain on the BBC some time ago.

Being a Baby Boomer myself, I grew up in the tail end of the Hollywood musical era, when film adaptations of hit stage shows were still big box office. So, yes, I saw "The Sound of Music" when it originally played in movie theatres back in 1965. I believe I saw it again in a rerelease a few years later, which is when I probably understood better what it was all about. Around that same time I also saw "My Fair Lady", which still ranks first on my list of favourite musicals. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to see what type of talent would be on display in this CBC search, so I tuned in from the first show. By the time they'd pared down a possible 20 to the 10 young ladies who would compete on the weekly show, I was hooked. It has been a real delight to see all these wonderful girls sing their hearts out each week, hoping to make it through to the following week.

Of course, that's also the problem with the series, for in order for one girl to win, nine must lose. And so it went that I'd enjoy the hour long Sunday night show, watching the ladies perform, and then cringe a bit at the end of the half hour Monday show, where two girls would have to do a sing-off based on the lowest number of votes cast, resulting in one being eliminated by the judges. There is something inherently cruel about the process, which is why I still don't much care for the whole reality show concept. Even though some of the girls may not have had the right stuff, I did not like to see any of them hurt, as they were all quite adorable.

I'll admit I had my favourite, but once they'd whittled it down to three final contenders by last week, I was convinced that any one of the three would have been ideal in the role. These three girls pictured above are the final contenders, Jayme Armstrong, Janna Polzin and Elicia MacKenzie.


So here I'll reveal Janna Polzin as my favourite choice for the role. I liked her right from the start, as there was a very professional air about her. Not only blessed with a beautiful singing voice, but Janna seemed to have an instinctive flair for the performance in delivering her song material through strong expressions and body language. I also found out along the way that Janna just happened to be a graduate of the Musical Theatre program at Sheridan College, at the same campus where I teach in Animation. In fact, in researching her, I realized I'd actually seen two productions at Sheridan that she'd appeared in, though she was only in the chorus so I couldn't recall her. I'm a big fan of Sheridan's program, and try to show my support by seeing the shows whenever I can. I know a couple of the girls who would have been Janna's classmates, and I'm also friends with Sarah Cornell, a grad from a few years ago who went on to star in the Toronto run of "The Producers", of which I wrote about in a previous post. Yeah, I'll admit I'm a sucker for pretty gals who can sing and dance - they're my feminine ideal!

Janna did in fact make it into the final round this weekend, and she'd been considered the front runner for awhile, I believe. But it was not to be, for last night the winner was announced and it was.....


....Elicia MacKenzie!

Fact is, though she may not have been my pick, I still think that Elicia richly deserves the role. She too has been blessed with a wonderful voice and seemed the most adaptable to whatever type of song they chose for her to sing. Whereas Janna seemed the more seasoned professional, Elicia is still that diamond in the rough, though I've no doubt she will rise to the challenge and be ready for the stage this fall. She is certainly a fresh faced, wide eyed beauty, and very much the image of the Cinderella who has well earned her "happily ever after". I think Elicia was more surprised than anyone when it was her name that was read from the envelope and her victorious performance at the show's finale of the title song from "The Sound of Music" was just magical. I wish Elicia much success and look forward to seeing her on stage as Maria!

Here are video clips of both Janna and Elicia, courtesy of YouTube:

Ladies & Gentlemen, May I Present...

I've been teaching part-time for several years at Sheridan College in nearby Oakville, Ontario. Currently, I'm the Character Design Instructor for 2nd Year in the BAA Animation Program, which I prefer to having taught 1st Year as it allows me to get more involved with the subject of characterization rather than concentrating merely on the basics of construction. For me, the idea of getting that performance on paper (and ultimately onscreen by my students) is what really thrills me. Because of this, I am also very interested in another program here at the college.

Sheridan has also become rather renowned for its Music Theatre Program. I've seen a number of the Sheridan productions and have been very impressed with the high calibre of the students involved. And once they graduate after the three years, many of Toronto's big theatrical productions have benefited from their talent. Some of them even go on to international success. I'd like to introduce you to two of these fine talents.


In my last post, I talked about the contribution to Toronto theatre of Ed and David Mirvish. Several years ago, the Mirvishes brought the Broadway hit, "The Producers" to their Canon Theatre here in Toronto. Well known Canadian comic, Sean Cullen was cast as the bombastic Max Bialystock. But the two characters that really impressed me were played by Sheridan graduates, Michael Therriault, as accountant Leo Bloom, and Sarah Cornell, in the role of the Swedish bombshell Ulla. Here's a picture of me with Sarah and Michael backstage after seeing them in performance. I had given them prints of caricatures I had drawn from a TV interview with them I'd recently recorded from TV.

By the time he came to "The Producers", Michael had already had several roles on the Stratford stage and brought such a poignancy to his role as Leo Bloom that I felt his performance was the heart of the show. The character is a mixture of the neurotic and the sweetly naive, and I think Michael stressed the latter in his portrayal. Since then, Michael Therriault has gone on to play Canada's Tommy Douglas in the CBC TV miniseries, "Prairie Giant". Soon after that he originated the role of Gollum in the musical stage extravaganza, "The Lord of the Rings" which debuted here in Toronto last year before moving on to London this summer. He was one of only a couple performers, I believe, that was asked to continue on in the move to London and, despite the show having garnered mixed reviews, Michael's Gollum is usually singled out as one of the highpoints. As you can see from this photo, his portrayal of Gollum is nothing like the genial Michael Therriault himself!


The statuesque and lovely Sarah Cornell was just perfect for the role of Ulla in "The Producers". In fact, before originating the role on the Toronto stage, Sarah had initially auditioned for and won the role on Broadway, replacing Cady Huffman when she decided to step down, playing Ulla for several months in New York before transfering to the Toronto production. Not only is Sarah a wonderful singer/dancer, but she has a natural flair for comedy. Currently she can be seen onstage in the darkly comic, "Evil Dead - The Musical". I just saw her a few weeks ago in the show and she's hysterically funny, playing two separate roles no less! For this performance, Sarah was recently nominated for a Dora Award, which is the Canadian equivalent of the Tony. She and one of her friends and co-stars from "The Producers", Jonathan Monro, had also been starting to develop a cabaret act for which I had been commissioned to create a caricature for their presskit. Alas, they've had to put that on hold for awhile as these other opportunities have come along. I still hope they'll resume those plans one day, though, as I thought they were just superb together. Actually, I wish Sarah would also record a CD of the standards that she sings so beautifully.

Both Michael Therriault and Sarah Cornell are two performers to keep an eye on. They're sure to go on to even greater success in the future!

He Will Be Honestly Missed...

I am very sad to read that Canada's Ed Mirvish passed away this morning at the age of 92. Here's the story in this Globe and Mail article. "Honest Ed", as he was fondly nicknamed, was a beloved figure here in Toronto. In addition to the crazy discount store with that same moniker, Ed Mirvish was also responsible, along with his son David, for making Toronto a major player in the arena of live theatre, putting this city on the map alongside New York and London. It is that, of his many accomplishments, that I am personally most grateful for.

CBC's biography series, "Life and Times" broadcast a terrific profile on Ed a number of years ago. It was from recording and viewing that show that I had done this caricature of Ed and David Mirvish. Also, that show revealed that Ed and his wife Anne were ballroom dancing enthusiasts - a hobby that they took very seriously and were passionate about for several decades. Having been involved in ballroom dancing myself for over ten years, I can well appreciate and share their passion for this enjoyable art.

Ed Mirvish was that rarity of successful businessmen, in that he never forgot where he came from and was constantly giving back to the community. Toronto just loved him and we all will miss this wonderful man.