Wonderful “Soundtrack” to Summer

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I was very impressed by “Soundtrack,” my very first New West Theatre production, which I saw Thursday night at the Yates Theatre.

An outstanding cast including an effervescent, scene stealing Erica Hunt, the captivating Kathy Zaborsky and a superb Scott Carpenter, worked their way through some beloved movie hits including  “Man in Motion” from St. Elmo’s Fire which opened the show. 

Original comedy sketches were interspersed between hits like “When You Wish Upon A Star,” “Flashdance,”,“Maniac” and  the “Galaxy Song” from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life performed by Grahame Renyk who bore an uncanny resemblance to Eric Idle.

 They included a take off on award shows, and one of my favourites featured kilt-spoting Erica Hunt and a bare belly bearing Scott Carpenter as two Scottish movie critic, borrowing  Saturday NIght Live’s Mike Myers’ line “If it’s not Scottish it’s crap.”

 

Carpenter and the cast had a series of inspirational moments during a montage of instrumental movie hits. Carpenter played everything from Captain Kirk, ET, Austin Powers, Superman and many others while the cast  provided hilarious support.

Jessica Ens’ beautiful ballet numbers were another highlight of the performance.

New West newcomers Jocelyn Haub and Duff MacDonald also had outstanding moments. Haub shone in a sketch with MacDonald which lead to a rendition of “You’ve got a Friend in Me.” MacDonald  also stood out as an excellent punch drunk and aging Rocky during “Eye of the Tiger,” sung by Mark Nivet, who hit Steve Perry’s high notes no problem, while Carpenter sported a cute fake mohawk as Rocky’s nemesis. 

 A couple of interesting selections included “Born to Be Wild” which was performed by the ladies in various Lethbridge team uniforms and “Old Time Rock  and Roll” which the guys performed in their underwear doing their best Tom Cruise  “Risky Business”  impersonations which had them dancing in the midst of the crowd.

 Another hot number was  “You Can Leave Your Hat On” as performed by Erica Hunt and  Scott Carpenter, which was prefaced by a sketch about the two of them going on a blind date together.

“Soundtrack” is well done, beautifully choreographed and performed by an enthusiastic, affable cast. Check it out. It runs until July 25 every day except Sunday and Monday. The show begins  at 8 p.m each night. Plus there is a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday afternoons.

— Richard Amery, L.A. Beat editor

 

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