In Charles Demers’s version of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack is a young teen living with his mom in East Van. They’re down and out so Jack takes his cow to the Trout Lake Farmers Market, meets a “realty wizard” and exchanges the animal for three magic Vancouver beans, explains Maiko Bae Yamamoto, who plays Jack. It’s a familiar story steeped in East Van references and written Muppet Show-style to entertain both the young and old.
Yamamoto, co-artistic director of Theatre Replacement, which is co-presenting Jack and The Beanstalk: An East Van Panto, says this riff on the classic British pantomime will include audience participation.
“[Pantomime audiences] were also traditionally encouraged to throw things at the players, to throw things up on stage,” Yamamoto said. “But of course we’re not doing that in the new York Theatre.”
The show premieres Dec. 4 at the revived York Theatre at Commercial Drive and East Georgia Street. The reopening is four years after it was rescued from demolition. The box office and entranceway have been restored to their late 1930s Art Deco glory, says Heather Redfern, executive director of the nearby Cultch, which will manage the theatre, and a two-storey glass lobby and walkway is meant to connect the arts venue to the neighbourhood.
Yamamoto and James Long, the other artistic director of Theatre Replacement, would daydream about producing a children’s show whenever they hit a snag in their creative process. “Back then it was called something like Fart and Giggle,” Yamamoto said. Then they both had kids. “The shows that we do are not really appropriate for children to come to, so they come to the theatre, they see what’s going on but they never get to stay and see the content,” Yamamoto said.
She wanted to produce something her kids could watch. Long expressed his desire to Redfern who commissioned them to produce a family-friendly show at the York. Theatre Replacement corralled comedian and author Demers to pen the panto. Veda Hille wrote the music and Amiel Gladstone, who Hille has worked with on productions that include the popular Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata, directs.
The East Van panto is layered with references to the area. The goose that lays the golden eggs is an East Van backyard chicken. But with its recognizable fairy tale foundation, inside jokes shouldn’t alienate visitors from elsewhere. “It’s the first show that I’ve done where there’s really traditional thing like [back] drops that fly down,” Yamamoto said. “They’ve got an East Van artist to work on the drops and they’re just gorgeous.”
Redfern has designed the costumes, which should be easy to admire in the 370-seat theatre that she says features fantastic sound and sightlines. “There’s no other space that’s this size and configuration in the city at all, so it’s very badly needed,” Redfern said. “It creates a real hub, a real cultural district here.” She hopes to hear lots of music at the York. “It’s got a small orchestra pit, there is no venue for classical music at all in East Vancouver… so I’m hoping we’ll see some of that,” she said. “I’m hoping we’ll see some rock and roll shows.”
Patrick Street Productions will present two different musicals at the York in February and March and the theatre will host the world premiere of Margaret Atwood’s first opera, Pauline, in May.
Jack and the Beanstalk: An East Van Panto runs Dec. 4 to 29. Tickets start at $18. A family pack for four is $94. Tickets 604-251-1363 or online.
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