This weekend, Applause Musical Society returned to the stage with an in-concert presentation of Cole Porter’s rarely seen musical Out of this World.
Presented at the intimate PAL Studio Theatre, Applause only began rehearsals 6 days prior to the first performance of the books-in-hand style show, meaning anything could happen during the show. One of the actors losing their place in the pages is not uncommon, but a quick recovery shows their professionalism. The black box theatre matched the all-black costumes of the 18 performers, giving sharper focus on the book and music of the show. Without staging and costumes, the actors’ personalities come to the fore as well, allowing big personalities and voices to take centre-stage, figuratively and literally. The lack of sets can make the simple story of Greek gods, (with Roman names), meddling in the love affairs of humans can seem a bit convolute, especially with that old trope of doppelganger mistaken identity but the cast and crew created a fun and engaging 2 hours. While this was our first experience with an Applause presentation, many in the audience seemed like regulars and iif this presentation of Out of this World is the standard, it’s easy to see why people keep coming back.
We will be looking forward to seeing more from Applause Musical Society. The next production is the Kander & Ebb whodunit musical Curtains, at the Jack and Darlene Poole Theatre on Granville Island October 13-15, Then the romance Do I Hear a Waltz? by Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim takes the PAL Theatre stage December 1-3.
Visit applausemusicals.com for details and tickets about the upcoming shows.