Frenchy’s: The Thrift Musical is a fun and fun-loving family drama set in one of Nova Scotia’s beloved second-hand clothing stores.
The musical comedy by playwright David S. Craig and composer John Roby got an immediate standing ovation at a recent, sold-out matinee at the Ship’s Company Theatre, Parrsboro. Tickets are in high demand for this world premiere, running to July 26. The surefire hit, a co-production with Eastern Front Theatre, goes to Dartmouth’s Alderney Landing Theatre October 16 to November 1. (The Ship’s Company production is dedicated to Edwin “Frenchy” Theriault, the founder of the Maritime Frenchy’s thrift store chain; he died at 94 on June 28 at his Church Point, N.S., home.)
What’s so lovable about this two-hour show is its playfulness, familiarity, distinctly Nova Scotian flavour and fantastic, hummable songs, all brought to life by a superb musical theatre cast and tight, fun-loving direction by Patricia Valance. There is pain and pathos but overall the energy is light-hearted and loving.
After collecting her two daughters and granddaughter for a surprise weekend family reunion at a spa, Sally decides to drive to Frenchy’s in a snowstorm because her granddaughter Tessa needs work clothes by Monday.
Sally and daughter Gail – in the midst of a heart-breaking divorce and constant battles with her daughter Tessa – are dedicated Frenchy’s shoppers. Daughter Marjorie, who left Dartmouth for Toronto at a young age, hangs onto a childhood disdain for Frenchy’s. She reflects the journey thrift shopping has taken from being déclassé to trendy.
In this play Frenchy’s represents transformation and “magic,” allowing people who can’t afford designer prices to re-make themselves through clothing. For Tessa it’s also a wise environmental choice. But for Sally and Gail it’s all about “the find.” Their overheated excitement when they stumble across the “find of the day” is a wonderfully acted and written scene with a great song.
The conflicts are serious and authentic: Tessa is struggling to define both her gender, to her mother’s distress, and her future; the two sisters are locked in a battle that goes back to their teen years; and Sally, the matriarch, is hiding the real reason she has called the family together.
However, the humour, playful music and peppy, fast-paced staging keep this musical light-hearted and fun. Melodies skip along from reverential odes to Frenchy’s to high-energy rock and pop, even Latin, numbers all performed with great choreography by Lesley MacLean. There are brief musical theatre nods to shows like West Side Story and Mamma Mia! with a lovely mother/daughter song that recalls Slipping Through My Fingers. You’ll hear a kazoo, a tambourine, lots of lovely little pops of sound.
Director Vanstone has a dream cast of powerful singers and actors in Nova Scotia musical theatre stars Martha Irving (Sally) and Julie Martell (Marjorie), both just off their run in Neptune’s Theatre production of Come From Away, in Merritt awardwinning, New Brunswick actor, singer and dancer Mélanie LeBlanc (Marjorie), and in the highly talented, Mara Teare, of Edmonton, as Tessa. Teare is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada’s s acting program and Sheridan College.
The four actors form a tight-knit ensemble – you can feel their joy in bringing this play to life. They often divide up into the format of a solo singer with three back-up singers as Allen Cole directs the music for beautiful harmonic singing.
It’s great that the band is visible because the band is its own character adding warmth and friendliness to the show with musical director Allen Cole playing the accordion, percussionist and Acadia University music professor Mark Adam, ukulele player Angela Dwyer, who was a child in the Chalmers Doane Ukulele program and now plays in the Chalmers Doane Trio, and well-known Halifax musician Lukas Pearse.
The band members dress in red “STAFF” T-shirts and perform in a space like a homemade tiki bar with lattice walls and gold and red lighting in Orion Gokiert’s vibrant design. This space, with a cash register out front, stands next to a row of four dressing room doors representing Frenchy’s in Zach Faye’s set design. There are clothes everywhere – wheeled in on bins and racks and mounded on top of the set’s walls.
Merritt awardwinning costume designer Diego Cavedon Dias sometimes goes for high artistry and complex builds; here Dias is solidly inspired by Frenchy’s itself and the show’s downhome quality. The characters dress in straightforward outfits reflecting their life styles and identities. And then there’s all the clothing to be found in the Frenchy’s bins triggering emotions, ideas and plans. One exception in the design is the wild and entertaining array of outfits that Tessa chooses as she explores her identity.
Also on the technical team are assistant director Amy Reitsma and stage manager Christine Oakey, totally on top of the show’s quick costume changes and moving set pieces, with assistant stage manager Alexa Kirste.
This is the third co-production between the Ship’s Company and Eastern Front Theatre, following the success of Downed Hearts by Catherine Banks (starring set designer Zach Faye) and last season’s Coal Bowl Queen by Richie Wilcox (also produced with HEIST).
Since a work-in-progress reading during the 2023 STAGES Theatre Festival at Eastern Front Theatre sold out in days, which was a festival first, the musical has evolved into a full-scale production under the direction of Vanstone.
There’s a feeling that many have come home to play. Composer John Roby, also this show’s sound designer, has composed music for over two dozen musicals. He is from Windsor, N.S.; the ukulele featured so prominently and joyfully here was his childhood instrument. Both he and Vanstone, a native of St. Stephen, N.B., and an award-winning director, performer and dramaturge, went to Dalhousie University. Award-winning Toronto playwright David Craig does not appear to have a Maritime connection but is gifted at writing from a woman’s point of view and understanding Maritime culture.
People leave this musical smiling, humming and with a spring in their step. Tickets are online at http://www.shipscompanytheatre.com and http://www.easternfronttheatre.com.
Note: If you are driving from Halifax or Truro for Saturday matinee take extra time due to the vast number of yard sales along the road and if you are getting food at Harbourview Restaurant (which has great over-stuffed, traditional lobsters rolls!) build in extra time as well since it’s a very busy time of year for that oceanside restaurant of legendary, traditionally-served seafood and pies.
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