PICTOU – It’s the classic story of a girl with big dreams and the love of the theatre. And on Thursday, 42nd Street will come to life on the stage of the deCoste Entertainment Centre, put on by the Rotary Club of Pictou.
“It’s about a young girl named Peggy Sawyer who comes to New York, seeking her shot at Broadway stardom,” explained director Don Hill.
Peggy, played by Amanda Hill, starts out as a chorus girl, but that all changes when the lead actress takes the old line ‘break a leg’ quite literally.
“The lead ends up breaking her ankle and she gets her big chance.”
Peggy becomes an overnight sensation, but the play is about much more than one girl’s dreams. Considered by many to be the definitive Broadway musical, 42nd Street also gives the audience a glimpse of everything that goes into putting on a play.
“It’s a show within a show,” he said. “They’re in rehearsals for Pretty Lady within the show, and it shows the backstage and all that goes on in putting on a show. It’s a homage to Broadway.”
No one loves Broadway more than the character of Julian Marsh, played by Murray McLaren, he added.
“He plays the director of Pretty Lady, he’s a big time Broadway director putting on a show, and his vision and love for musical comedy really comes through,” Don Hill said. “In that way, it’s a love story, too – the love of Broadway.”
The play is based on a 1933 movie of the same name. In 1980, that movie was turned into a Broadway show.
It’s since won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2001 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
The play is one of the Pictou Rotary Club’s biggest endeavours yet. With a cast of 40, plus a 14-person orchestra and numerous people working behind the scenes, it’s a fitting tribute as the Rotary Club celebrates its 40th anniversary of their first Broadway musical production in the town.
“There’s a lot of logistics that go into putting on a show like this,” said Don Hill. “There’s a lot of people involved, we’ve been practising three times a week since January.”
It’s been a challenge at times, admits leading lady Amanda Hill. This is her first time being involved in a Rotary play, but says it’s been an amazing experience.
“We’ve worked very steadily since early January,” she said. “We’ve had multiple singing, dancing and dialogue rehearsals every week.”
It’s been challenging at times, she said, particularly when it comes to the choreography.
“We had to learn to tap dance,” she admitted with a chuckle. “We have a wonderful choreographer, but none of us are dancers and had to learn tap dance from scratch. That was a big challenge for me to overcome, I have no experience tap dancing at all.”
The play is a true community effort, she added, as well as a family one. Don Hill, the director, is her uncle, while both her parents are helping out backstage.
“It’s a great show, a lot of fun, it’s all community people who are doing this,” she said. “This isn’t our full-time job, these are people who are putting extra time and effort into putting on this show, and we want to do a great job since it’s the 40th anniversary since the Rotary Club started doing plays here.”
42nd Street will run from Thursday through Saturday at the deCoste Centre in Pictou. Anyone interested in seeing it, though, should get their tickets fast.
“It looks like we’ll sell out,” Don Hill added. “We sold out this year and ticket sales are going faster than ever.”
Tickets are on sale now for $18 at the deCoste Centre Box Office from 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily or by calling 485-8848. All proceeds will go to support projects by the Rotary Club of Pictou.
