Feature: SPELLBOUND by The 7 Wonders Theatre

Popular culture has brought us pop-up restaurants, pop-up stores, pop-up galleries, and other kinds of short-lived unique events and flash in the pan experiences. Within the Montreal theatre community, we tend not to see a ton of local pop-up one-night-only shows, but rather established mainstage runs lasting anywhere from several days to several weeks. It was a neat surprise to discover that The 7 Wonders Theatre has done an annual pop-up musical revue for the past three years. Their latest offering, Spellbound, hit the stage on Saturday September 22nd for just two performances at Mainline Theatre.

The 7 Wonders Theatre is ironically comprised of nine amateur performers and a musical director, most of whom are soloists with the Lyric Theatre Singers. "We were a group of friends who loved to sing and perform and were always brainstorming and thinking of creative ideas. We decided to start the company as a fun, creative outlet," explains Stage Director, Choreographer, and Featured Performer, Laurie-Anne Jean-Baptiste. The troupe members all have day-jobs, but gather together in their spare time to collectively produce a musical showcase to challenge themselves to learn the various aspects of what it takes to put on a show.

"Some of the repertoire is chosen by myself as Director," says Jean-Baptiste, "but it is also a collaborative effort. The performers make suggestions and I try to make sure that we pick songs that fit our theme for the year and gel well together for an interesting program." Spellbound's vocal selections included well-known favourites from Pippin, Les Misérables, Grease, Cabaret, and Follies, while successfully introducing patrons to lesser-known pieces from Title of Show, Grand Hotel, Ordinary Days, and Something Rotten!, among others. All in all a nice but understated presentation of solos and small group numbers with repertoire from 1960's to present day Broadway, as well as a smattering of songs from TV and film. The performers engaged nicely with the audience members, both in their ballads and up tempo numbers, but could have benefited from a cabaret-style venue as opposed to the black box theatre.

Find out more about The 7 Wonders Theatre on their Facebook page. Stay tuned for other pop-up musical theatre coming this fall, such as Full Circle Productions' Six Degrees of Broadway Separation and WISTA's Show Off, but don't blink or you'll miss it!