I saw a great show last night. For the last three weeks, my daughter Myrna has been attending CharActors Theatre Troupe Summer Theatre Arts Program run by Megan and Wayne Davis. During the three weeks of camp they work on a show and present it on the last Thursday evening.

This session's show was DEAR EDWINA, with Book and Lyrics by Marcy Heisler and Music by Zina Goldrich. What a cool show! I had never heard of DEAR EDWINA before this. Myrna played Edwina in Act 1 (Because it is a camp, they split up the main roles over the two acts to give everyone a chance) and was fabulous! She wowed them not only with her amazing voice (was that a high C?) and "Russian" dance move, but with her engaging smile and on-stage charisma. You rock, Myrna!

It's really amazing to see a production of such high quality when you consider they only work on the show for 3 weeks, and they take a day off in the middle of the second week to go on a day trip to The Stratford Festival (they saw SOUTH PACIFIC).

From what I hear from Myrna, they really work the kids to get the best performance possible (I like the sound of that!), but also have such a great time together. On the last day everyone was hugging and exchanging emails, and yes, there were tears.

DEAR EDWINA was presented at the Holy Trinity Church Hall, with direction by Wayne Davis and Lynne Lurie, Choreography by Sharon Lindsay and Musical direction by Megan Davis. My favorite number was "Fork, Knife Spoon!"

I even got to see Daniel Greenberg again, who played Pigling in THE TALE OF PIGLING BLAND at the Toronto Fringe in July. He was helping out as a production assistant!

DEAR EDWINA is a fabulous camp show because there are so many solo singing roles for so many kids. Everybody gets a chance to shine and strut their stuff!

From the MTI Web site:

Thirteen year-old Edwina Spoonapple would do just about anything to be a part of the Kalamazoo Advice-a-palooza Festival. While her siblings both have proof "up on the fridge" of their accomplishments, poor Edwina has nothing. When a talent scout from the convention visits her hometown of Paw Paw, Michigan, she trots out her musical advice giving shows live from the family garage in hopes of finding her place in the spotlight.

She is assisted by her older siblings (on piano and drums) and a host of quirky friends and neighbors: Becky, the perky cheerleader; Kelli, the cool, sophisticated ballerina; Annie, the girl-scout cookie-selling champion; the Vanderploonk triplets; Bobby, the befuddled new kid on the block; and Scott, who is helplessly and hopelessly in love with Edwina.

Together they set out to tackle the world's problems, in number after hysterical number about everything from birthday party etiquette to the proper way to set a table ("salad fork, fork, plate, knife, spoon"). This beguiling one-act charmer can be played anywhere, with extremely modest sets and costumes. Sweet, smart and tuneful, it appeals to audiences of all ages, as Edwina doles out advice, and finally learns to listen to some of it herself.

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