Harvey, a classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy written by Mary Chase, was brought to life at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts by students of George Brown College’s (GBC) Theatre School.
Harvey is a story of friendship between Elwood P. Dowd and an unseen sixty-foot rabbit named Harvey.
Despite no one seeing Harvey, Wood decides to introduce him to others. This marks the beginning of a story that has been captivating theater audiences since 1944.
This time it was GBC School of Theatre’s turn to perform the play.
The Young Centre for Performing Art is home to the Soulpepper Theatre Company and the Theatre School of GBC. It is situated in the Distillery District among buildings that were predominantly built during the Victorian age, in Downtown Toronto.
The GBC School of Theatre held an information session on Feb.13 at 50 Tank House Lane, just before the play was about to begin.
At this event, Sue Miner, professor and director, with other professionals and faculty members explained the current theatre season, plays, and shows including Harvey, and their programs.
Miner said, “All students of tonight’s shows are from the three-year program [performance], however, [Peter Pasyk], the director, is a professional.”
Miner added that in the three-year program, students are prepared step by step to perform in one season`s plays.
Students in the first year are learning the basics of acting and theater and covering a lot of text, including Shakespearean works.
The second year is the “period of study” and students’ performances are open to friends and family, signifying an increased level of confidence and skill.
By the third year, students are expected to have reached a level of proficiency and recognition where their performances are open to the public.
Students’ participation in a season’s plays can go beyond mere acting to include other creative contributions such as composing music or dancing.
“You’ll also hear some piano music that’s all created by students, there’s some scene transitions as beautiful music. It was written by Micaela [Morey] and performed by her, who’s the woman who plays the [role of] doctor [in Harvey],” Miner noted.
Participating in public plays is a way for students to develop their careers and to be noticed by directors and theatre companies.
Therefore, one of the biggest challenges is the allocation of roles to give an equal chance of performance to all students.
“Because we have four different shows, some people will be featured more than others. There are only a few who were there with the bigger parts and the other people have smaller parts, but that’s because they had the bigger parts in the fall. Ideally, it’s shared up over the year,” Miner shared.
To be accepted into the three-year program is a challenge, as potential students are required to take an audition to be accepted.
Michael Longstaff, Theatre Arts support coordinator explained, “we get usually over 400 applications, and we only take 33 students in the first year.”
Sometimes candidates are advised to register for a one-year program as preparation and then come back for auditions again.
“In all three-year programs, we had at least one to three students who started in the deeper program. So, it is a stepping stone, the pathway to get into the three-year program,” Longstaff noted.
To learn more about the two theatre programs and how to register for auditions, students can visit the School of Theater website at: https://www.georgebrown.ca/arts-design-information-technology/media-performing-arts/theatre
Additionally, the 2024 Season of Plays will feature, “Dark of the Moon” from April. 9 to 20, 2024, and “As You Like It” from April. 10 to 20, 2024.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Young Centre website at https://www.youngcentre.ca/
