Burloak Theatre Group's (BOTG) 11th annual holiday pantomime show returns this holiday season with joyous fanfare. The cast and crew have been busy working on one of Oakville's great entertainment traditions, with thousands of patrons coming from ages 1 to 100 over the next two weeks.
This year, BOTG's holiday show is the group's wacky take on the classic story of Rapunzel. Called Rapunzel: A Holiday Pantomime, the quest will see Rapunzel travel on a quest to the Mushroom Kingdom on a family-friendly musical adventure.
Oakville's pantomime returned to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts (OCPA) last year with the show Cinderella Potter after a multi-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
Rapunzel opens tonight at the OCPA and runs from now until Dec. 29, 2023, blending fairytales, music theatre and popular culture into a family-friendly show.
Usually staged in the last two weeks of December, the now-annual tradition of retelling classic fairytales in the style of an English musical comedy is one of the Oakville Centre's best selling theatre shows every year.
The story of Rapunzel has long been in the minds of co-authors real life married couple Chantal Forde and Tim Cadney. They've written all but one of the BOTG pantomimes, with Forde returning as director and Cadeny again joining the cast, like always, as the bad guy.
"Rapunzel is typically stuck in a tower for the majority of her story, which doesn’t make for a great show," explains Forde on her original idea. "When we figured out a fun play on why and how she needed to leave, we knew we were ready to write it."
"There are so many unexpected characters in our version of Rapunzel," she continues, "with a little something for everyone. This year we have a lot of new faces in the cast and crew, and we love to welcome new people into the Panto family."
It's an often repeated story for this specific kind of show - every year there are a dozen or more new local Oakville and Halton artists who join the show's cast and crew. Forde says the pantomime is "often what brings people into the BOTG family."
But there's also a devoted family or artists who come back to the show year after year. Pantomime regular Brady Morrison is back for his eleventh consecutive year, and there are multiple performers who've also been in more than half of the shows.
Read more: The pantomime man with the perfect run
In addition to playing the villainous Lady Gothel, Cadeny is also a producer on the show and is the President of BOTG. He's thrilled at the news that the production is over 80% sold out, with some performances already at capacity with hundreds of families coming to see the show.
"Audiences are coming back from where they were at pre-pandemic shows, which is great for the company," says Cadeny. "But I'm most excited about the show itself. It’s really fun this year with lots of popular references and trends from 2023 to bring into the show, like Barbie, Indiana Jones and Mario."
"We want people to come back, laugh, celebrate the holidays, and do something together over the break. That that something is local live theatre really excites me. All of us can't wait to meet the audiences."
Perhaps most excited to meet the audiences is star Jordan Brunet, playing the title character of Rapunzel. She was last on the OCPA stage in January's An Ideal Husband as Mabel Chiltern and is appearing in her seventh pantomime with Burloak. This is, however, her first time as the lead character.
"The most exciting part is that we have such a dynamic cast this year," says Brunet. "We have such a great vibe and energy and I really enjoy working with everyone."
"My favourite part is getting to see all the kids in audience, especially dressed in their costumes, coming out and laughing and having a good time. I love to meet them at the end of the show - getting to spend time with the audience is a really special time."
Brunet rightly explains that mild audience participation is a key part of the pantomime tradition: "We want to have audience interaction - cheering, booing, and dancing along. We want people to have a great time and, like the characters, we want you to have a wonderful adventure."
For her, the hardest part is not to laugh at Cadeny, playing her wicked stepmother.
"It's so hard trying not to laugh at Tim! He’s hilarious, and he throws so many curveballs. It’s hard not to break character and laugh at him."
For the music, Forde cites a tribute to one her favourite Broadway shows as a standout number, while Brunet mentions the act one closer, "where we get to sing a song by my favourite artist Ariana Grande. It’s a big group number and it’s lots of fun."
This year also features the first-ever original song in an Oakville pantomime, co-written by Forde and the show's musical director Michelle Righetti (also leading BOTG's upcoming play 20th Century Blues next month.)
Audiences of all ages are surely set to have a bright, fun-filled time at Oakville's Rapunzel this holiday season - if for no other reason than the one thing mentioned by (literally) every interview conducted for this story.
"The show has some great sets," says Brunet and Cadeny. But this is Rapunzel, and as Forde laughs, "...it’s also very exciting to have a giant tower!"
Rapunzel: A Holiday Pantomime
Co-written and directed by Chantal Forde
Now playing at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts until December 29, 2022.