Maple Ridge actor Brandyn Eddy makes his debut on the Arts Club Theatre stage in the musical comedy High Society.
Eddy has been performing in and around Vancouver since graduating from the musical theatre program at Capilano University five years ago.
His credits include Glory Days (The Boys Upstairs Equity Co-op), Prodigals (Twenty Something), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well (Point B), tick, tick … BOOM! (Ovation Award winner, FCP), Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story (RCMT), Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre under the Stars), The Wiz, The Three Musketeers, Children of Eden (Exit 22), Nine and Woyzeck (Arbutas Studio), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Emerald Pig), and The Man of Destiny (Presentation House).
Snappy dialogue and Cole Porter tunes – such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and True Love – abound in this sparky and funny musical.
Wealthy socialite Tracy Lord (Jennifer Lines) is planning a lavish second wedding, but which man will she marry? Her straight-arrow fiancé (Steve Maddock) or the undercover reporter from the society pages (Daniel Arnold), or her dapper ex-husband (Todd Talbot)?
Needless to say, it’s complicated – and Tracy has only hours to sort it out.
The stage musical High Society is based not only on the highly successful 1956 film starring Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Bing Crosby, but also on the 1939 play that inspired it, The Philadelphia Story. The latter was made into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name in 1940 and boasted the all-star cast of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart.
The work of composer and musician Cole Porter resonates throughout Western popular culture.
His oeuvre includes countless pop standards and his musicals are often revived or reinvented on Broadway. He is recognized as a key contributor to the Great American Songbook with a flair for punchy, complex rhymes and rhythms. High Society incorporates the songs that Porter wrote expressly for the 1956 film, but also introduces some of his other famous work, such as “Let’s Misbehave” and “Ridin’ High”.
“Cole Porter was writing during the heyday of Broadway and movie musicals. His lyrics are witty and his music tuneful – a great combination,” said Arts Club’s artistic managing director Bill Millerd.
“His songs also stand alone, perhaps made most famous by Frank Sinatra recordings with Nelson Riddle arrangements. Porter writes about subjects we can all relate to, which make his songs timeless.”
Show time
High Society plays at the Stanley Industrial Stage, 2750 Granville Street in Vancouver until June 24. Tickets at artsclub.com.
