Tag: Kristen Finlay

Meet the team of CHESS – Sally Hunt is Music Director

Sally headshotWhat is your role on the production? I am the music director, so I have ultimate responsibility for every note you hear.  The music, while beautiful and very catchy, is surprisingly complex throughout – it is much harder than it seems.  Throw in some singing in Hungarian, and the need to pare down a very full orchestration to a small ensemble suitable for a space like Walterdale, and I have spent many hours going through over 300 pages of music.  And I have loved every minute of it!

What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? I’ve been a music director and teacher for over 25 years.  I currently teach musical theatre at the Citadel Theatre’s Foote Theatre School.   As a music director, I seem to do shows with either very long titles – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,  A Tale of Two Cities,  The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,  Die Dreigroschenoper (the original German title of The Threepenny Opera) — or very short titles —  Shout, Nine, and now Chess.   My most recent work with Walterdale includes The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Threepenny Opera, and Nine.

What brought you out for this show? What drew you to it? This is one of my favourite scores of all time.  From a purely musical perspective, it is one great song after another, so who wouldn’t want to work on that?   This was also another opportunity to work with Kristen Finlay.  This is our fifth show as a director/music director team, and I love the creativity and vision she brings.  It is always a great pleasure to assist her in bringing a show to life on the stage.

Why do you think audiences should come see this show? What do you think they will take away from it? The story itself has surprising twists and layers – Cold War politics is not a common backdrop for musical theatre, so it is definitely not your typical “boy meets girl” musical.  The big draw of this show, though, has to be the music.  It is SO GOOD!  I guarantee people will be singing the songs as they head home.

Chess is a Board Game… What’s your favorite Board Game? Why? Got any funny game-playing stories? When I was a child, my father found a book on old board games, and decided to build some for us.  He made a number of games, including Go and Nine Men’s Morris.   You’ve likely heard of Go, but Nine Men’s Morris is a little more obscure.  A version of it dates back to ancient Egypt, it gained popularity in medieval England, and is mentioned by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.   Hmmm, sounds somewhat like the opening song of this show…

Meet the Cast of CHESS – Tanya Mirzayans is in the Ensemble

Tanya_8x10What is your role in Chess? I am performing as part of the ensemble. Being in the ensemble requires you to adapt quickly and play a variety of characters. For me, this show’s primary challenge has been learning lines and lyrics in multiple languages: German, Russian, and Hungarian.

What is your background in theatre? At Walterdale? A few years ago, my voice teacher encouraged me to get out there and audition for a show. I had been singing my whole life but hadn’t been involved in community theatre. I performed in Jekyll & Hyde with Two One-Way Tickets to Broadway, followed by Wizard of Oz with Festival Players. My free time went out the window as I fell in love with theatre!

Walterdale is such a great place to get involved. The people are friendly, welcoming, and so willing to teach people with minimal experience to contribute to shows in new ways. My crew work at Walterdale has included a variety of jobs, so I have learned a lot and made some great memories there. I was a dresser for The Three Penny Opera (“yay… hooray”), stitcher and dresser for Nine, ASM for Proof, stitcher and dresser for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and lighting operator for Six Degrees of Separation. I was also ASM for Round Barn Productions’ SHOUT! A Mod Musical. 

What brought you out for this show? I really wanted to be part of a Walterdale cast for the first time, not to mention the opportunity to work with Kristen, Sally, and Bethany again. Initially, I was not very familiar with this particular show, but at this point some of my favourite musical numbers are from Chess, and it’s a joy to perform. 

Why do you think audiences should come see this show? There are a lot of reasons to come out for this show, but I will keep it simple: “Anthem” is goosebumps-good.

Chess is a Board Game… What’s your favorite Board Game? Why? Got any funny game-playing stories? I used to think I was good at Chess. Having since played with a few friends, I realized I only thought that because my sister and I are both terrible at it. We make up for that being an unstoppable team at Taboo.