PL AYBILL AL L IG AT OR PIE
ALLIGATOR PIE POEMS BY DENNIS LEE CREATED BY INS CHOI, RAQUEL DUFFY, KEN MACKENZIE, GREGORY PREST AND MIKE ROSS }{
a pproxi m at e ru n ni ng t i m e: 1 hou r t her e w ill be no i n t er m ission
ARTIST NOTE: JENNIFER VILLAVERDE Our stage manager, Ashlyn, has been with Alligator Pie since the beginning. She doesn’t mess around and, therefore, is absolutely reliable. When I asked her what Alligator Pie was like, she responded without hesitation, “Pure joy.” PURE. JOY. That’s some intense joy. The last time I felt that was when I held my daughter in my arms for the first time. To experience that again, I’d have to put everything on hold and focus solely on creating the purest of joys. The last time I did that it took 9(ish) months. Who has that time??? The answer: we don’t. We have about two weeks. That’s some serious Soulpepper pressure cooker and I love it!
This is what I know: Dennis Lee is THE BEST! His rhymes make me dance! The creative team has assembled a group of hooligans who LOVE what they do. We’re working with the “Originals” and they’re some of my favourite people in the world. Also, we have Ashlyn, our intrepid stage manager. We’re in good hands. If you’re reading this (thank you, by the way), I’m telling you right now, if you leave the theatre and that inner child of yours is not tap dancing beats in your heart until it explodes rainbow jelly beans (minus black licorice - gross!), you have a heart of stone. There’s no hope for you. If your heart is dancing, HOORAY! I know exactly how you feel!
JENNIFER VILL AVERDE, Performer in Alligator Pie
r aqu e l du f f y, i n s c hoi , m i k e ros s, k e n m ac k e n z i e , gr e g ory p r e s t. p hoto: C y l l a von t i e de m a n n .
CREATIVE TEAM
ALLIGATOR PIE
ORIGINAL CRE AT ION ENSEMBLE
20 15 ALLIG AT OR PIE ENSEMBLE
Ins Choi Raquel Duffy Ken MacKenzie Gregory Prest Mike Ross
Peter Fernandes Jennifer Villaverde Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster Qasim Khan Hailey Gillis
PRODUC T ION
Dennis Lee Poet
Mike Ross Music Director
Kelly McEvenue Alexander Coach
Ins Choi Raquel Duffy Ken MacKenzie Gregory Prest Mike Ross Directors
Ken MacKenzie Production Designer
Ashlyn Ireland Stage Manager
Adam Harendorf Sound Designer
Jordana Weiss Assistant Stage Manager
Jacqueline Robertson-Cull Head of Hair & Makeup
Barbara Nowakowski First Hand
Greg Chambers Props Builder
Geoff Hughes Cutter
Gulay Cokgezen Sewer
SOULPEPPER PRODUC T ION
Poems by Dennis Lee are used with the permission of the author and publisher HarperCollins Canada.
BACKGROUND NOTES
D
ennis Lee’s funny, crafty rhymes have accompanied several generations of Canadian parents and children through their bedtime and story time rituals. Alligator Pie’s antic delights began colonizing our minds in 1974 when Dennis Lee had a “Road to Damascus” experience with a nursery rhyme superstar. He was shocked into (poetic) action when he realized that, “Mother Goose was an imperialistic conspiracy... it was all a plot to infiltrate the brain boxes of two-and-a-half year olds and make us think we lived somewhere else and that our own time and place had no right to be played upon by the imagination.” So this poetic firebrand set about writing for and about here-and-now Canadian children, using Canadian place names to boot: a revolutionary act at the time. Lee describes his books as “hell-bent for election rides of feeling, thought and exploration.” A few years ago, Albert Schultz approached Ins Choi, Raquel Duffy, Ken MacKenzie, Gregory Prest and Mike Ross about adapting Alligator Pie. These original creators – hell-bent for election every one – jumped right in. They composed, invented, improvised and riffed. They sang, danced, joked and sashayed through Lee’s poetic playground, flinging this zesty musical romp on stage like an explosion of brightly coloured confetti. Our audiences, both young and young in spirit, adored it.
new crew of gung-ho revellers, all Soulpepper Academy graduates: Jennifer Villaverde (First Academy), Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster and Qasim Khan (Third Academy), Peter Fernandes and Hailey Gillis (Fourth Academy). Welcome to the joyride and remember the critical thing: Give away the green grass Give away the sky But don’t give away my Alligator Pie.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Dennis Lee is a Toronto treasure. His contributions to our national life began in the late ’60s when he co-founded the House of Anansi Press, a champion of homegrown poets. In 1970 he began writing poetry for children and four years later his Alligator Pie won multiple awards, setting the stage for further collections Garbage Delight, Jelly Belly and Lizzy’s Lion. In the ’80s he branched into television, writing nearly all the song lyrics for the beloved children’s show Fraggle Rock. Among his many honours are: a Governor General’s Award for Poetry, a Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement, being named Toronto first poet laureate, and being an Officer of the Order of Canada. Dennis Lee is a Resident Artist at Soulpepper and he continues to create, tour, speak and perform across the country.
Alligator Pie was born and nurtured in the Soulpepper Academy. It returns with the same irresistible score along with designer Ken MacKenzie’s zany playroom environment. This time around we have a brand-
Background Notes by 2015 Soulpepper Resident Artist Paula Wing
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Complete your Alligator Pie experience with a reading from the author himself, Dennis Lee.
DEC 17 – 8:45 PM DEC 20 – 11:45 AM
DEC 22 – 6:30 PM DEC 27 – 2:45 PM
JAN 3 – 2:15 PM JAN 3 – 5:15 PM
In conjunction with select performances, Mr. Lee will give a 15 minute reading from his works past and present, and be available for signing. Copies of his books will be available for purchase on site.
family festival presented by
family festival supported by
S o u l p e p p e r at t h e S t. L aw r e n c e C e n t r e i s s u p p o rt e d b y t h e Y o u n g/S c h u lt z V e n t u r e F u n d