“I always wanted to perform ever since I was a kid in St. Albert Children’s Theatre. But that was a thousand years ago,” said Melanie Gall with a laugh in her voice.
Gall has made her dream come true. The international performing soprano now splits her time between New York and St. Albert and will perform two diverse shows at the Arden Theatre on Tuesday, October 17.
Singer, playwright and actor, Gall has earned a reputation across North America for developing projects of interest. As part of Arden Theatre’s Noisy Theatre program for preschool children and their caregivers, she performs Opera Mouse, a 40-minute musical on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
Last performed at the 2023 Edmonton Fringe Festival, Opera Mouse is the sweet tale of Tilly Mouse, a hand-puppet determined to become a great opera star. She learns to sing and even goes to live at an opera house in hopes of getting onstage. Despite being rejected at every turn, she is determined to pursue her dream leading to that one big break.
In the evening, Gall switches hats to perform Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland & the Golden Age of Hollywood at 7:30 p.m. This one-woman show is a musical trip back to the 1930s and 1940s when movie studios ruled the lives of actors.
Gall says Durbin and Garland met as adolescents on the MGM studio lot but later became frenemies. Studio heads often compared and pitted them against each other. The Canadian-born Durbin was discovered at 14, filmed 21 movies and by age 28, left Hollywood choosing obscurity In France over fame. Garland, a Grammy Award winner, instead chose star power and continued making movies until her tragic death in 1969 due to a drug overdose.
Gall thoroughly researched the two stars digging through archival material, watching old movies and interviewing individuals who had knowledge of the two actors. She takes all the biographical information and places it into context with their lives.
“The plot starts with Deanna a while later. She has an apartment in France. A reporter wants to tell their story through Deanna about her life with Judy,” Gall said.
Tying the two-act narrative together are songs plucked from the actors’ vast repertoire originally sung in musicals and radio shows. From Garland’s lexicon, Gall has borrowed Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Zing Went the String of My Heart and Irving Berlin’s Always.
From Durbin’s catalogue, Gall selects It’s Foolish but It’s Fun, Spring Will Be a Little Later This Year, Molly Malone and I Love to Whistle.
“This is a look at Hollywood far removed from the life of a young girl (Durbin) who came from an immigrant family. Everybody has a story, and I didn’t want to let her story die.”
Tickets for Opera Mouse are pay-what-you-can. Tickets for Deanna Durbin & Judy Garland are $34.25 plus fees. Call 780-459-1542 or online at tickets.stalbert.ca
