Indigenous off-Broadway musical’s tour starts in Virden
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A fully-Indigenous cast rendition of the musical “Grease!” kicked off a tour in Virden this fall and will be travelling through the maritimes and on to the West Coast.
“Bear Grease,” an Indigenous spin on the famous “Grease!” musical, started its tour in Virden on Sept. 21 after its Broadway debut. The cast was set to continue to Halifax in early October, producer Henry Cloud Andrade told the Sun.
The tour just so happened to work out that Virden Aud Theatre made the most sense for a starting point, Andrade said. The team continued to Winnipeg for a set of shows, before going off to the East Coast.
It’s been a wild ride since conceiving the project in 2019, he said, and the show’s recent traction with audiences has been amazing to see.
“It was has just been a dream,” Andrade said. “It’s a life of its own. It belongs to the people; and the people see so much in it.”
Indigenous representation is key to the show, Andrade said. He explained that language and original music have been intermingled into the the classic ’70s musical to weave in Indigenous culture.
What started as a fun project with that in mind has now grown bigger, he said, contributing to a larger purpose in Canada and beyond.
“The message that it gives people all over the world, is that we’re still here, that we’re funny, that we deserve a seat at the table, that Indigenous representation is something that is needed.”
In the performing arts, a very low number of Indigenous talents are visible, he said, adding the full cast in his musical goes against that trend.
The Virden show was the first since the team completed their off-Broadway debut in New York City. Performing at that level was a success that came after years of practise, with writing beginning in 2019 and shows since 2021, he added.
“It started as a 30-minute show, and we just kept trying it, testing it in the market, seeing what they laugh at, seeing what they love, and growing it and building it. And now that we debuted in New York City, we have it to the T and it’s just a beautiful, crisp, re-imagining of the classic.”
The show will also visit Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick through October before travelling out to the West Coast in December and performing until Christmas.
»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com