2 days ago
Seasoned and rookie actors come together in Silver Stars production ‘Agent Quest'
What do you get when you blend summer action blockbusters with a little bit of Golden Girls?
The Silver Star Musical Review Society is proud to present its 40th show -- Agent Quest. It's a take-off on spy movies with a number of operatives all interested in becoming the newest James Bond character.
It's a custom script written by Gail Whiteford with spies singing, dancing and trying to eliminate each other in pursuit of their goal to become the next 007.
'I thought since there's a big kerfuffle about who the new 007 for the movie (franchise) is going to be, why didn't we do that?' said playwright Gail Whiteford, who also directs.
'There's a little bit of comics, a little bit of the Austin Powers franchise and there's four characters from the James Bond franchise.'
This is the third custom script Whiteford has written for Silver Stars. The actors range in age from their 40s into their mid-80s and some are seasoned performers while others are making their stage debut. They audition for roles and sometimes Whiteford has to be able to pivot when she runs into age-related issues with the actors.
'I had this great idea of one of the characters who plays the pilot from a James Bond movie and she was up (on stage) and she was going to come down and sing in the audience,' said Whiteford. 'She said to me 'I can't do stairs, I have bad knees' so we've got one with a bad back, two with bad knees, one with a bad foot and two with bad legs.'
Former professional performers
Silver Stars was founded in 1998 by a troupe of former professional performers who wished to continue bringing the magic of Broadway to the stage. For the last 27 years, they've chosen an annual theme and have produced energetic, entertaining musical revue shows for spring time audiences.
The group's mandate is to facilitate artistic expression and foster inclusion in their productions.
'It is so motivating and so heartwarming once you are in with a group of people who support each other in their aspirations,' said Hanna Hess, president and performer. 'Because being creative doesn't always give good feedback or it's got its ups and downs as far as growing pains go.'
Hess says she's one of the two oldest performers in their mid-80s.
'If you look at the name 'silver' you may think it's really senior,' she said. 'But we are encouraging a lot of people to come in their 30s and 40s to join us as well, because we are a high energy group, anyone who comes to the show will see that energy and just because of age, it doesn't preclude the energy.'
Hess says the group meets twice a week to rehearse their roles because she says sometimes they forget too much if they leave it a whole week. The Silver Stars performers are always looking for new members to join them on stage.
'We're inviting anyone who would like to come and just have the fun of performing,' she said. 'It's not for the faint of heart, there's a big commitment but it's fun to come out.'
Agent Quest will host three performances at the Irish Cultural Society, 6452 – 34 Avenue NW on Saturday, June 7 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and the third on Sunday, June 8 at 2 pm.
Learn more about Silver Stars and it's latest production here.
