aslan is on the move | tales from the tour

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE arrived in Kamloops last Monday and has now been at Western Canada Theatre for a week. The show has been going great! It's been playing to sold out school matinees every day along with very full public performances in the evenings. Today the gang had a day off, but stage manager Laura Mclean took the time to share a few thoughts from her time in Kamloops so far:

Narnia is a pretty magical place, and my favourite part of this production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is that in order to bring that magic onto our little stage we use classic theatre magic. A stunning soundscape created by Jeff and Corina and beautiful lighting by Lauchlin. And I feel pretty lucky that every night I get to make that magic happen. 

Laura and Kaitlin posing with the Witch's coat.

There are 257 called cues in this show. That’s not really that many for a large show, but when you consider that this is a pretty small show that runs about 75 min and that there is constant sound playing throughout that entire time, the sound and light cues quickly become a very present and integral part of the show.

I haven’t counted how many times I’ve called the show at this point; suffice it to say it’s been enough for me to memorize all of the cues. So I just sit, watch, and react to the actors and I really feel like I’m the third performer. I’m Maugrim growling, and the White Witch’s whip cracking, I’m Peter drawing his sword and Aslan breathing on the stone statues.

a scene from the show via Laura's perspective.

 The best is when we get to explain how we create all of this magic to the kids. We’ve been doing school shows in the mornings here in Kamloops and afterwards the kids have a chance to ask Mack and Kaitlin questions. More often than not one of the kids asks “How did you get the light to glow out of the Wardrobe at the end?” or “Where did all the sounds come from?” 

Laura peers down from her booth.

And so we explain, I lean out of the booth and wave to them and they all excitedly look up and wave back. And I just love how excited they are by what they’re seen, and how even more excited they are to understand how we can do such cool things in theatre.

It’s nice to be part of something so magical, and to be reminded of just how magical theatre can be. 

The show runs for one more week at Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops. All ticket info can be found here.