Laura Cowan is already feeling the magic.
The show is still in rehearsal. The actors haven’t moved into the theatre yet. The props and costumes and sets are still in progress. But somehow, it’s already there.
“The magic is unfolding,” Cowan says, during a busy rehearsal week leading up to the opening of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, one of the offerings at Theatre Under the Stars in Stanley Park this summer.
Cowan, who’s from Burnaby, has been involved with TUTS before; she worked backstage on its production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2002 and was onstage in Can-Can in 2005. She’s thrilled to be returning to the Vancouver summer theatre institution this year as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
Cowan says the production team, helmed by director Sarah Rodgers, is so passionate about the show that it has convinced her the huge time commitment is more than worth it.
“You can’t help but stand in this space and feel, ‘This is where I am meant to be,’” she says. “This is just a dream for me.”
The classic story – which Rodgers & Hammerstein originally created as a TV movie starring Julie Andrews – was modernized for a Broadway run in 2013. (Spoiler alert: this Cinderella has a passion for social justice.)
“It’s the same traditional theatrical magic, but the writing in it is going to be more relevant for 2018,” Cowan says. “Yes, it still has the happily-ever-after, but there’s a core message in our story of kindness and compassion. … It’s not just the girl getting the guy.”
That said, she notes, it hasn’t lost its fairytale feeling.
“There can be a modern message, but there’s still this magic, there’s still this feeling, ‘Oh my goodness, dreams do come true,” she says.
Cowan, as the Fairy Godmother, has the chance to share some particularly powerful stage time with Cinderella (Mallory James).
“It’s also been such a gift for me, performing with Mallory James,” Cowan says. “Our scenes together are so vulnerable and uplifting and powerful. It’s a real gift to share the stage with another woman and have that experience.”
She is, she says, blown away by the talent of the entire cast.
“Oh my word, it knows no boundaries,” Cowan says. “The ensemble takes your breath away. Each and every ensemble member is just breathtaking and very, very hard-working. … I feel we’re all very, very much connected to each other and we’re all sharing in telling this story together.”
Moreover, Cowan points out that performing in the ambience of Malkin Bowl just adds a little something extra.
“With a story like Cinderella, being outside will just add to the magic of this,” she says. “There’s already a connection to the story, and being outside … it just feels so real. … I think it’s truly going to be a gift to be able to perform Cinderella outside.”
To be there, onstage, making the magic happen for families in what has become a Vancouver summer tradition, is a gift for Cowan.
“This piece has made me believe,” she says. “It’s made me believe in magic. It’s made me believe anything is possible.”
CHECK IT OUT
What: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, presented by Theatre Under the Stars, alternating with 42nd Street
Where: Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park
When: July 4 to Aug. 18, 8 p.m. nightly (on fireworks nights, show begin at 7 p.m.). Previews run from July 4 to 10, with opening nights July 11 (Cinderella) and July 12 (42nd Street)
Tickets: $30 to $49. Buy through www.tuts.ca or call 604-631-2877
