The Other Guys is a Victoria-based theatre company that specializes in historical musical revues.
And since it launched in 2002, artistic director Ross Desprez and musical director Tobin Stokes have sought out Canadian stories to tell, especially with a B.C. angle.
Moodyville Tales describes the Klondike rush while Good Timber talks about the logging industry on the west coast.
But for their new production, the pair altered their mandate slightly to tell the tale of American singer and activist Pete Seeger, a fixture on the radio in the 1940s and ‘50s.
The Incompleat Folksinger — a title based on his 592-page book from 1972 — recounts Seeger’s earlier years standing up for the poor, the opposed and the exploited.
Desprez thought it appropriate to pay tribute to that legacy following Seeger’s death last year.
In January, the show debuted at the Metro Studio Theatre in their hometown. Next week, it will come to Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre for five performances and will include a full look at Seeger’s life including a documentary screening this Sunday and “talk back” session on Sept. 22 and 24.
Desprez said he’s been enamoured with Seeger’s journey and music for years, a message he explained when contacting Seeger’s family for permission to produce the tribute (they gave him their blessing).
“One thing we found when we were putting the show together is that there are a lot of things he talked about then that have modern equivalents,” Desprez said, citing the conflict in Israel and the Middle East and the people caught in between. “It really strikes you that nothing has changed since then. You wonder, where is our Pete Seeger of today? He was such a global citizen.”
As for his music, Desprez said Seeger didn’t have a large catalogue. In fact, he and singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie felt that once a song was sang, it belonged to the world — as long as credit was given to the composer. It’s a statement he writes about in his 1972 tome, likely deemed to be controversial today given the complex copyright laws.
Desprez said the main thrust of The Other Guys productions are to get the audience to sing along. And for their Victoria shows, the crowds were in full swing during the Seeger “concert” delivered by actor-musician Mark Hellman.
Hellman, who has been with The Other Guys for a decade and worked on Moodyville Tales and Good Timber, called Seeger a musical hero. When he learned to play the guitar 40-some years ago, his guide was written by Seeger. “My mom saw him three times on stage and his music was in our house all the time,” Hellman said, adding, “It’s an honour and pleasure to play him.”
As for Desprez’s next projects, he is pairing with Stokes again for an opera based on the life of English-born Francis Rattenbury, the infamous architect who built the B.C. Legislature in Victoria, left his wife for a younger woman and died an unfortunate death. They are also creating BC Songs and Legends, based on historical events from the province over the past century.
• Tickets for The Incompleat Folksinger are $35/$30/$15 by calling the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca. The shows run Sept. 22 to 26 at 8 p.m. with a 4 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
