Yellowknife (Dec 05/03) - Ron Kent is recruiting dance hall girls. Singing is optional.

"Well they weren't there because they could sing," he said, laughing. "Or dance, for that matter."

Lunch Pail Theatre is holding auditions for Kent's new musical The Mad Trapper next Thursday Dec. 11 at the Yellowknife Actors' Studio and Sunday Dec. 14 at the Library Meeting Rooms.

Kent is quick to point out that Mad Trapper isn't a musical like Oklahoma, where everything is done in song. In this play, only a couple of the characters sing.

"The songs stand alone," he said.

Kent wrote the musical with community theatre in mind, so he made room for about 30 parts. But Kent also pointed out The Mad Trapper won't be like the now legendary Yellowknife production of Evita, where rumour has it there were more people on stage than could fit in the audience.

Though the plot follows the tale of the Mad Trapper of Rat River and his much-fabled stand-off with the RCMP in the 1920s, Kent said the story is not necessarily about the trapper.

"It's the story about the people around him who are affected by events," he said.

Tales from the dance hall

He has set the play in a fictitious Klondike-type dance hall in Aklavik. The tale is told by a group of guys sitting around the bar, telling stories.

"The genre is melodrama," he said. "There are humorous pieces in it, mostly situational."

The Mad Trapper sings. Jake, the bad guy, and Scotty, the local Bay store operator, have a duet. And dance hall Maggie and the girls have an ensemble piece.

Kent is also looking for a honky tonk pianist to play the music in the dance hall scenes.

"That kind of music sounds best when the piano's not in tune. It's called whorehouse ragtime."

There are also lots of opportunities to help behind the scenes.

Lone Sorenson will be doing the choreography and Brian Collins will direct. The musical will premiere at NACC in March.