A Big Deal about a "Big River"

 

Only on a stage do you play at a recital and recite at a play. I went to one of those the other day, that is, a play where there was a lot of reciting. In fact, "Big River" was almost three hours long, less the fifteen minutes we were given for an intermission.

The weather was great, I had three of my kids with me, Burger Baron came through with another great meal, and the play itself was fantastic. It doesn't get any better than this. It made me feel so, well, civilized. And cultured.

And that's what a good, wholesome drama production represents – culture. The audience clapped and laughed at the right time; no one was rude or loud, like, say, at a hockey game. The performers were professional but not slick, a microcosm of what's great about Canadian entertainment. And the content was yet another meaningful presentation of real history from 150 years ago, with no need to slip into the raunchy, rowdy, and risqué element that normally assaults our moral standards.

Clearly, I love live performances, be it in most forms of musicals and dramas. For years I have gone to Larry Dye's early November production at his church on Centre Street in Bow Island. As stated previously, it too has been marked the same standards as classy dramas, namely, a responsive audience, unpretentious acting, and a significant production – usually a Christian spoof of some well-known Hollywood movie. I would describe that church's drama ministry as witty, entertaining, and clean. Again, part of a healthy society.

Yet unlike the Yates Theatre in Lethbridge, Dye's congregation serves very good dessert and coffee during the intermission. You might say that even their yogurt was cultured..

I think if we lose our taste for the live stage, we slip as a society. That loss can come in one of two ways: On the one hand, there is the sense we need to cross the line morally, or on the other hand, there is no stomach for it at all – that is, there is no live theatre. For example, as the Balkan countries and the Iraqi nation have slowly lurched back into something that resembles a civilized state, one of the first expressions of such has been live stage productions.

And you thought having a Starbucks on every corner was a step toward civilization!

Most prairie towns that have any life – including our own Foremost - have the usual landmarks of golf courses, graveyards, liquor stores, post offices and theatrical clubs. Even a good movie doesn't move me like a good musical. (Obviously, there are exceptions, but there is just something about a live performance that really grabs me.)

I have been on both sides of the audience as well – clapping in the crowd and speaking on the stage. I love drama, both as a bystander and a performer. There is a real rush with acting, and I have done quite a bit myself with some of my family over the years.

I would be hard-pressed to tell you whether I would rather watch "The Sound of Music" on DVD or head down to Milk River to watch it live, as I did last year. There is no question that Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer did a supreme job in the former, but there is also no question that watching some gas jockey, school teacher, and waitress perform their hearts out has a different appeal. In other words, I don't think it is a matter of either/or. Both are good, both are necessary, both are moving.

Now if you want to compare a live performance to a hockey game, well, that is a different story.

I love a good 'Canes game as much as anyone, but I don't find I am as moved or touched there as I am when Jim and Huck sing, "World's Apart."

No, I think I'll take the crowd, the performers, and the meaningfulness at a play over a game any day. I even like the score better – the musical score, that is.