FCP Celebrates 25th with Retrospective Show

Side by Side by Sondheim, 2007

Fighting Chance Productions [FCP] is celebrating their twenty fifth production with retrospective fundraiser show 25 and Still Fighting: Great Moments in FCP History. Twenty five shows is no laughing matter. Fighting Chance has proven time and again that the musical theatre scene in Vancouver is alive and buzzing with talent. Forty performers from a dozen different shows are being reunited for the first time ever to reprise some of their most memorable numbers from the past five years.

25 and Still Fighting
Jericho Arts Centre
May 4th, Friday
Doors open 7pm, show at 8pm

Only 100 tickets available! Email tickets@fightingchanceproductions.ca to reserve yours.

The very first Fighting Chance show I ever saw was its second ever venture, Side by Side by Sondheim. At the time, I was mainly excited about seeing a rare Sondheim piece live. I had no idea what I getting myself into. The cast of Side by Side was composed by three seasoned vocal powerhouses. In the intimacy of the Carousel Theatre, it was hard not getting goosebumps throughout the show.

Tying everything together with humorous sarcasm and quick wit was the narrator, incidentally artistic director Ryan Mooney. Being the musical theatre geek that I was (and still am), it was great to be able to watch someone who held more passion and knowledge about musical theatre than I did. As part of his duties as narrator, Ryan passed along many anecdotes and musical theatre trivia. All of which I ate up like a sponge.

Musical of Musicals: The Musical, 2008

Side by Side was followed by another rare piece, Musical of Musicals: The Musical. The comedic spoof musical had its own stellar cast and was a huge hit with Vancouver Fringe audiences. It ended up becoming one of four Picks of the Fringe that year.

A few months later, Fighting Chance found itself in the local papers after the Westboro Baptist Church tried staging a protest against their next show, The Laramie Project. The play was based on the real life murder of gay teen Matthew Shepard. I joined many of the local queer and theatre community outside the Havana Theatre for a solemn protest-against-the-protest. I'm happy to recall that the Westboro folks never actually made it through the Canadian border.

Rent, 2009

My next Fighting Chance experience would be the start of their large ensemble shows. Rent would have its Canadian Premiere in the Presentation House in North Vancouver. Extremely popular and highly successful, I caught the first preview with a friend who had travelled all the way from Saskatchewan just to see the show.

By this point, Fighting Chance had become very visible in the community, making appearances in parades, festivals, and community events. They had expanded to larger venues. And the shows had much, much larger casts. One of which I am very proud to say that I was a part of. Hair the Musical was the closing show of their 2009/2010 Season and I still consider that show to be one of the best experiences of my life.

Currently FCP is running the Canadian premiere of Grey Gardens, also at the Jericho Arts Centre. In August, they host a remount of Rent at the Waterfront Theatre, which should once again prove to be another crowd pleaser. Especially since this company has grown an incredible amount in such a short period of time.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to reuniting with the tribe from Hair and catching some of the shows I've missed at this upcoming retrospective. This includes Larson's Tick, tick... boom!, Nunsense, and bare. Don't forget to bring your wallets as there will be a live and silent auction, including fabulous theatre packages from TUTS and Bard on the Beach.

Hair, 2010

Bare, 2011

Grey Gardens, currently playing
tickets via [Jericho Arts Centre]

Posted by Filipina Colada