Lal, SN mire

 

  

 

HAPPY END IS
TOTAL
THEATRE

 

 

 

(*hicegn is a cold place in
December 1919. A motley
gang of bullies and toughs rule
the streets, extorting protection
money from local merchants.
Head hoodlum is one Bill Crack-
er, and a crackerjack crook he is.
Meanwhile, virture mobilizes, in
the form of Salvation Army
Lieutenant Lillian Holiday.
When Bill meets Lil, the plot
thickens, of course. Good and
evil must battle it out, but some-
how, the audience can sense that
with Cupid calling the shots,
when all is said and done, the
end will be happy.

In the musical melodrama,
Happy End, Bertolt Brecht and
Kurt Weill returned to some of
their favorite themes and a
familiar underworld setting. The
result was both a social commen-
tary andadelightful —
entertainment that is as fresh
today as when it was written in
1929,

This month, the Douglas Col-
lege Theatre Department will
present a new production of
Happy End. Dorothy Jones,
Douglas College instructor and
director of the upcoming perfor-
mance, says, "The play’s title is an
appropriate one. It is a happy
and fun show." The cast is made
up of first - and second-year
theatre students. But, that’s not to
say it is an amateur event. In-
stead it is a full staging of the first
quality. The production, which
incorporates slides and film along
with the music and drama,
presents a challenge - one that the
student cast ably meets. As Jones
paints out, "It’s a professionally
mounted show," adding, "The
music is extremely difficult. It's
far and away the most difficult
thing we've tackled.”

 

 

The set is designed by Pearl Bel-
leson who recently designed the
stunning costumes for the Van-
couver Playhouse’s production of
Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Musical director for the produc-
tion is Henry Waack, instructor in
the Douglas College Music
Department. The complex musi-
cal component involves a band as
well as a bevy of singers, in a
presentation that will be a multi-
media event of the fullest form.

"What makes the show interest-
ing is that it is total theatre," says
Jones, "You've got all the dimen-
sions: music, audio-visuals,
slides, film, interesting lighting."

Happy End opens November
20th at the Performance Theatre,
Room 4100. Evening performan-
ces will take place on November
20th and 21st, and November
24th through 28th, at 8:00 p.m.
There will be a special Sunday
matinee November 22nd. Tickets
are $7.00 general admission and
$5.00 for students and seniors.
Admission to the November 24th
show is two-for-one. Reserva-
tions may be made by calling
520-5488.

 

Theatre students gearing up for November 20th opening of Happy End.

 

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