YOU STILL CAN'T: The Company

Brett Ziegler, Debra Sears, Glen Pinchin, Laura Van Dyke

Gratifying. About two hours ago I put the finishing touches on the rehearsal draft of YOU STILL CAN'T, ready for our first day's rehearsal on Monday. Good feeling.

Also gratifying to think about the cast of Emerging Artists we've pulled together for this show. Andrea Loewen, Christie Maxson and Laura Van Dyke are this year's crop of PT apprentices: you heard Laura breathe in MOURNING DOVE, and saw her in REMNANTS and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, but the other two will be making their mainstage debuts.

The show is a co-pro with the TWU Theatre program. We're featuring Kat Gauthier, Alex Voicu and Shalyn McFaul (who were in REMNANTS), Philip Miguel (the IRS man from YCTIWY), and Kyla Ferrier in her first PT role. Also back from YCT (notice how even the abbreviation gets abbreviated?) are Brett Ziegler (who played his own grandson), a keyboard veteran of many a CHRISTMAS PRESENCE; Glen Pinchin (who played his own father), a graduate of the UCFV theatre program; and Debra Sears (who was the Princess Olga Katrina last year), a Pacific Salt Company and Stones Throw Productions veteran!

Mack Gordon, Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson come to us from the University of Victoria BFA program, and Byron Noble is immersed in the Studio 58 program. Tim Bratton is a student at Regent College: I'm tickled to see him play Norman, a pirate radio dj character I stole from another of my plays, THE TOP TEN THOUSAND OF ALL TIME - which Tim performed a couple summers ago at the Winnipeg and Edmonton Fringe Festivals.

Here's the cast list. Can't wait 'til Monday!

Grandpa Tony Kirby - Glen Pinchin

Sky Poppins, Tony's grand-daughter - Kat Gauthier

Norman Poppins, Tony's grandson - Tim Bratton

Dianne Poppins, Tony's daughter - Shalyn McFaul

Aunt Myrtle, another daughter - Debra Sears

Aunt Bea, another daughter - Andrea Loewen

Aunt Pearl, yet another daughter - Christie Maxson

Dylan Carmichael, grandson of Ed & Essie Carmichael - Brett Ziegler

Sasha Kolenkhov, granddaughter of Boris Kolenkhov - Laura Van Dyke

Vladmir Kolenkhov, son of Boris Kolenkhov - Byron Noble

Dave Smith, Sky's friend - Mackenzie Gordon

Tiffany Smyth-Wattles, a friend of Dave's - Alex Voicu

R. Milhouse Starkey, Tiffany's cousin - Philip Miguel

Al, a beat poet - Byron Noble

Unnamed, a feminist - Kyla Ferrier

Other Daves - Peter Carlone, Chris Wilson

Set design, Dale Marushy; costumes, Krista Sung; props, Linsy Rotar; lights, Lora-Lynne Frewing; composition, Brett Ziegler; sound, Ron Reed; stage manager, Lois Dawson; production manager, Frank Nickel.

YOU STILL CAN'T runs May 15 - Jun 13 at Pacific Theatre. Check the PT website for more details, or to buy tickets