Saving Céline

Montrealers have an ongoing love/hate relationship with our famous real-life chanteuse, as well as with other Canadians that have ‘done good’. How do we actually feel about fame in this ‘reality-show’ society?

Playwright Mark Watty sums up his take on today’s celebrity worship, “In the age of YouTube, Facebook and MySpace, if everyone can have Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes then what really matters? Here, Mado’s character Céline doesn't emulate Céline Dion because she wants her acclaim, but rather everything else that she thinks comes with the package - acceptance, security and a sense of purpose.

Director David Pelligrini concurs, “I would like audience members to recognize the degree to which they too might be star-struck; that there is a general overemphasis on popular culture rather than on other important issues which face us today.” However Watty stresses that Saving Céline is also, “a wink and a smile to the wonderfully eccentric characters that make Montreal unique”.

Film buffs will have fun spotting allusions to classics like Psycho and Dressed to Kill in this multimedia production. Pelligrini expounds, “Video and film offer a compelling design element in our show. The symbolic references add a context to the action of the play, but also suggest the power and irresistibility of the image to form our realities.” He continues, “Céline, for example, has never actually met Céline Dion, but thinks she knows her intimately having been exposed to her through the media.”

Pelligrini was also fascinated by another facet of the show - the drag element - having never worked in this arena before. “I was aware of the very specific traditions and techniques associated with this form. For example, the greater part of the history of western theatre involved drag performance, as women were not allowed on the stage until the 17th Century.” Working with Mado, talking to the performers backstage at her cabaret and viewing the tremendous variety of approaches to drag performance has been a revelation to him.

Busy writer/producer Mark Watty is thrilled to be premiering his first show in Montreal after working on numerous large-scale productions in London from the populist (Disney Theatrical Productions amongst others) to the refined (The Covent Garden Festival, where he was Music Theatre Director). Director and Theatre Professor David Pelligrini is enjoying a sabbatical year, previously having focused on such classics as King Lear, Antony & Cleopatra, Henry IV (parts I & II), 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and Strindberg’s A Dream Play. His innovative take on these productions has frequently involved multimedia elements in their staging. Mado has developed a huge following as Montreal’s reigning queen of drag with a larger-than-life persona that is both witty and outspoken. Her continuing development as a character in her own right is a marked departure from traditional female impersonation (where male performers mimic the mannerisms of various female singers).

Mado is enthusiastic about being part of this cast, "It's a big challenge for me to do my first major role in a play, especially in English and even more so, having to impersonate someone who worships Céline Dion. It’s no secret that Mado has been poking fun at Céline for many years!”

The cast is rounded out by Concordia University theatre graduate Vance De Waele; stand-up comic and improv artist John Hastings (also a Concordia graduate); Michael Kaneva, originally from Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre and the Vancouver Playhouse; Mike Payette, Lead Artist for Black Theatre Workshop’s Youthworks and co-founder/acting artistic director of Tableau D’Hôte theatre company; and Dum Blonde Productions’ Alexandra Valassis, (Montreal Fringe/Wildside Festival presentations of the highly popular Sex and La Cite, Parts 1 & 2).

The creative and production credits include: Scenic Design by Greg Thompson; Costume Design by Mado’s personal costume designer, Daniel Serrurier; Lighting Design by Cara De Grandpre, Multimedia Design by Stuart Wheeler; Original Video Sequences by Tristan Brand; Sound Design by Patrick de Moss. The Production Stage Manager is Katharine Childs; the Assistant Stage Manager/Props Master is Victoria ‘Torie’ Martin Mackay. The Production Manager/Technical Director is Nanette Soucy

“I think there’s a little Céline in all of us and if we just let ourselves reach for it,

even the most ordinary person can do the most extraordinary things.”

For reservation, call 514 848-9696