Doug Jamieson’s last two musical theatre works, Jorinda (Amy Ferguson Institute 2015) and Fastlane to Paradise (Kootenay Musical Theatre Society 2019), were successfully staged at Nelson’s Capitol Theatre without the slightest concern about physical distancing. Now that a pandemic has arrived — devastating the performing arts world — staging a new work requires a creative solution.
In response to COVID-19 protocol, Kootenay Musical Theatre Society will present their new production Donuts of Mass Destruction! using a different location in Cottonwood Falls Park for each scene. The performers presenting Scene One will present that scene three times each evening. The audience — in small groups of around 25 — will move from location to location as the story unfolds. After Scene One, an audience group will move to Scene Two at a second location, where different performers present that scene, and so on.
Donuts of Mass Destruction!, which runs June 17 to 19 at Cottonwood Falls Park, promises to be an entertaining and delightful experience for all ages. There is political humour for older folks and wackiness for the younger set. And who doesn’t love dinosaurs?
The dinosaurs in the show are surprisingly contemporary. There are corrupt elections, mob violence, existential angst, environmental travesties, true love and the challenge of raising a family in dangerous times. The telling of the tale will use several forms of masks and puppetry.
Most palaeontologists believe that dinosaur extinction happened due to a comet striking the earth. Donuts of Mass Destruction! results from an alternative theory supported by a group of somewhat questionable scientists, that dinosaur extinction happened because they ate too many donuts. When asked for evidence, these so-called scientists are quick to point out that donuts do not leave fossils.
If you are a singer and want to be part of the choral recording, or if you are a youthful soprano or alto and would like to record some solos, contact composer and author Doug Jamieson: doug@kootenaymusicaltheatre.com.
Tickets to Donuts of Mass Destruction! are only $10, and are on sale at Otter Books or by email at tickets@kootenaymusicaltheatre.com.