Blast from the past

North Kildonan’s Laurie Fischer is putting his decades of experience in the theatre world on the line with Moments in Time: A Multi-Media Historical Experience.

"This is the first time I’ve written a show," said Fischer, who has been producing musicals for the North Kildonan Community Players for 21 years. "For the first time I can call myself a playwright."

Moments in Time, an hour long journey down "memory lane," will debut at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival on Thurs., July 20. The show will run seven times at the Asper Centre for Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg (400 Colony St.), wrapping up on July 30.

"It’s centered around those moments in your life where you’ll always remember where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with," Fischer said.

Fischer, who also acts as the narrator, gives credit to his "technical wizard" Mark Essenburg for bringing his vision to life.

"Mark is an equal partner," Fischer said. "He’s very adept at putting these kind of things together."

Essenburg’s audio-visual component is designed to transport the audience back to specific places in time.

"Music takes you back to the moment that you lived that part of your life," Fischer explained. "Music is the fabric that ties these flashbacks together."

Fischer cited Don McLean’s American Pie as an example.

"Whenever I hear that, I flash back to being an 18-year-old, living in California."
Key events of the past 50 years, from the Kennedy assassination to 911, are touched on over the course of Moments in Time. But it’s not all doom and gloom.

"We’ve also had some good times. I was thinking, how can I get (the audience) to relive the moments with me?" Fischer said. "The show will be successful if I can get people to feel those moments, or for some to relive those moments in time."

Apart from Fischer’s narration and Essenburg’s audio-visual component, the action on the stage will be largely setting up a scene to allow the audience’s imagination to run wild.

"Onstage you have people dressed in black creating different scenes with black blocks as we go through them," Fischer said. "As the narrator, I’m secondary to what’s going on around me."

After years of experience in the theatre, how is Fischer feeling as the premiere of Moments in Time approaches?

"I have been in so many shows that I don’t really get nervous any more," he admitted. "But I guarantee the whole day before we do this, I’ll be extremely nervous. It’s going to be a surreal experience for me, seeing it come to life. And more importantly, seeing how the audience reacts to it."

Tickets for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival and Moments in Time are now available at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (174 Market Ave.). Tickets and show times are also available at www.winnipegfringe.com

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