Sharon Crandall has made a career out of singing and dancing, but she didn鈥檛 actually know what a musical was until she was in Grade 7.
Her family moved to Canada from Jakarta, Indonesia when she was 10 years old, and she, her two sisters and one brother hardly spoke English when they arrived. So when a classmate suggested they both audition for the annual musical, she responded with curious enthusiasm.
鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥極K! What is that?鈥欌�� Crandall recalls with a laugh.
After doing a bit of research, she tried out for the school production of Grease and ended up landing a part in the junior chorus. The experience ignited her lifelong passion for the stage.
鈥淚 kind of fell in love with it right away,鈥� she says.
Fast forward to the present and Crandall has a long list of theatre credits to her name and has just launched a musical theatre company called Two Monkeys Productions, a reference to her own two monkeys, her six- and eight-year-old sons. The company鈥檚 inaugural show, Edges, a coming-of-age song cycle by writing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, runs until April 11 at Studio 1398 on Granville Island.
The mandate of Crandall鈥檚 company is to give herself and others in the industry another avenue to demonstrate their talent and hone their craft.
鈥淭he whole reasoning behind it was I was tired of getting the bit parts and wanted to have a little bit more of a substantial part to show what I can do,鈥� she admits.
Two Monkeys will focus on small productions with casts of no more than 10 so all of the actors get time in the spotlight. The company also plans to present lesser-known shows, giving musical theatre fans an alternative to the often-performed Broadway hits.
Crandall discovered Edges last year when she participated in a master class instructed by Pasek and Paul. The songwriting duo visited 麻豆传媒映画in December when Carousel Theatre for Young People presented their musical adaptation of James and the Giant Peach. In preparation for the class, Crandall had to choose and prepare a song to workshop.
鈥淚 started researching their songs and totally fell in the love with the song, which is in Edges, it鈥檚 called 鈥楻eady to be Loved.鈥欌��
A departure from typical musical theatre fare, the song has a 鈥渕ore poppy鈥� sound, Crandall explains, and yet it still follows a narrative arc.
鈥淎 lot of their writing is like that 鈥� every piece of music is a story in its own.鈥�
Originally written when Pasek and Paul were sophomores at the University of Michigan, Edges speaks to a generation standing on the precipice of adulthood.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to figure out what this whole life thing is about,鈥� Crandall says of the characters.
The show features a cast of four, including Crandall, Adam Charles, Brandyn Eddy and Devon Busswood, whom Crandall first met on the set of Theatre Under the Stars鈥� Legally Blonde. In fact, the whole cast and much of crew are made up of theatre professionals Crandall has worked with previously.
鈥淔or this first [show] especially, I wanted to surround myself with people who I trust, people who I know are capable of doing the job and who want to do it,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want any of the politics of egos and things like that to come into it because I think that deters from having good product.鈥�
At this stage, Crandall is not yet sure how many shows Two Monkeys will produce each year, though she is planning at least one more before the end of 2015. As for her other two monkeys, who have grown up in greenrooms and rehearsal halls, it seems Crandall鈥檚 passion for theatre might be rubbing off on at least one of them.
鈥淢y six year old, he鈥檚 got stage fright, as his brother says.鈥� Her eight year old, however, is a budding performer and will appear in Oliver! this summer at Theatre Under the Stars.
鈥淚t鈥檚 his first foray into the musical theatre professional world, so I鈥檓 super proud of him,鈥� Crandall says. 鈥淗is wish is to do a show with me one day, so we鈥檒l make that happen.鈥�
Edges runs until April 11 at Studio 1398 on Granville Island. Tickets and details at .
