Dentist-led production a real driller thriller

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This article was published 06/04/2015 (4064 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: Wild ‘n’ crazy Winnipeg dentists will be onstage Thursday to Saturday performing in Young Frankenstein at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.

But it’s not a kids show, folks! Young Frankenstein is a full Broadway-style musical about Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson Frederick, who has inherited the Transylvanian castle and discovers his grandfather’s scary laboratory.

Says producer Kayla Gordon of Winnipeg Studio Theatre: “What I love watching is the sheer joy and enthusiasm of dentists getting out of their masks and working over patients all day. It’s a great outlet to go out and have fun and be with their peers.”

This cast of 18 may have your dentist in it. So take a peek: Leads are Chris Cottick as the Monster; Katie Davidson as the blond bombshell Inga; Tom Dobbs as Dr. Victor Von Frankenstein; Frank Hector as Igor; Billy Kettner (my dentist — what a driller, er, thriller) as Ziggy; and Tricia Magsino Barabe as high-society lady Elizabeth Banning. Michael Porco plays Frederick Frankenstein; Robin Szmadyla is Frau Blucher; and Randy Warkentin is Inspector Kemp.

The villagers are played by Kristin Cuthbert, Jerry Abells, Becky Antel, Cheryl Bacala, Kiranpal Kaur Sroay, Sarah Keating, Patrick Mao, Chris Yue and George Stolarskyj.

“A lot of them have the music and dance talent, and maybe studied when they were younger,” says Gordon, adding: “They are like sponges, working with a wonderful team of artists such as director Simon Miron, choreographer Reanna Joseph and musical director Dorothy Carroll.

For more info, check Winnipeg Studio Theatre’s website and call the box office at 204-942-8898. Profits go to Variety, the Children’s Charity, for free dental work for inner-city children, and a small portion for Winnipeg Studio Theatre’s emerging artists. Tickets are $40 and up.

CHUCK’S UP: Ojibway trumpeter extraordinaire Chuck Copenace has come a long way, baby. People will recognize his name from playing in funk-fusion group Moses Mayes. Early on, he was a street performer, went to university in Brandon to study music, played in various bands, but then dealt with drug and alcohol problems.

“I actually got sober when I was touring. I’d wake up early, hit a meeting before we left town — any way that I could keep it going while I was on the road. People were definitely understanding in the band,” he says.

After getting clean and sober, he started working with kids in trouble who needed mentors.

Recently Copenace put together a hot funk, soul and jazz band that will play the Garrick Hotel on Wednesday, April 15, featuring Ashley Au (bass), Victor Lopez (guitar), Eric Bachmann (saxophone) and Brendan Kinley (drums). Seating is limited to about 60-70 lucky people in the small venue.

The gig starts about 9 p.m., and doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is only $8.

“I want to spend my 40s focused back on music again,” Copenace says,

Copenace will also be playing at the Pan Am Games with the band Indian City on July 12 in Toronto.

DON’T BLINK! Tucked into the Garrick Hotel alongside the hallway of musicians’ posters is a tiny red-and-white slice of a funky restaurant called the Vinyl Diner.

On the menu are items like Cha Cha Chipotle Chicken, Hot Diggety Dogs and Ohh La La Poutine, plus healthy breakfasts and salads.

Founder Ashley Meilleur, famous for her acts of kindness in Winnipeg — such as getting a cellphone for a homeless girl who returned Meilleur’s $600 cellphone — has many other kind acts on the go.

For instance? The Garrick Hotel houses about 45 permanent residents, so she designed a program where they can get a punch card and get 15 meals for $100.

“And that means absolutely anything off the menu,” she says. She’s also started Deliciously Done catering, gathers clothing for charities and raises money for hygiene products and $10 Safeway gift cards.

“I didn’t think I’d stay in Winnipeg forever, but I love the people and all the different cultures,” says Meilleur, a 30-year-old single mom who grew up in northwestern Ontario.

CIRCUS CAMP: While other schools were dark and quiet during spring break, Gordon Bell High School was alive with excited kids at Circus Camp 2015. Yours truly caught camp founder Neal Rempel one morning singing a shmaltzy lounge version of Happy Birthday to one happy kid, and the gang ate it up.

In the main gym where the big show was held Thursday, kids had learned unicycling, juggling, magic acts, high-wire walking and aerial dancing. Hundreds of children came from schools all over Winnipeg last week to the three-ringed school.

And Rempel, the pied piper of fun, inspired kids from every culture imaginable with his noisy, confident circus-master personality. (He is the executive producer of the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival, after all.)

“I actually started out as a street performer myself,” he says with a grin.

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