The Old House
How have you been spending your time lately? Are you the type of person to stay inside and binge on your favourite show, or would you rather go outside and enjoy sports or friends? Either way, JDY offers a perfect balance of the two. For only a weekend, you, your friends and family can attend one of the greatest depictions of a Russian Jewish household in the early 1900’s. JDY grouped their youth’s talent and created an entertaining musical that anyone can enjoy. This musical has everything you’d expect and more. The JDY team can sing, they can act and they can surely dance, this amazing combination of talent creates a vivid experience of “The Old House”.
I think the greatest part of the show was the dancing. The young teens that had danced in “The Old House” had an enormous background in dance classes and competitions. Dancing brought this show to life and built on the culture being depicted. Supporting the talented group of dancers there was a great cast of actors and singers, the most impressive part of this cast was that they worked as one. At the start of the show, the great singing would lead you to believe that these songs were pre-recorded and presented on this night to ease the job of the cast. This quickly changed when one actor repeated a line in a song when he wasn’t supposed to; the whole show instantly became so much more impressive, this moment gave me a breath of their work ethic, a work ethic that strives for perfection and is only satisfied when you can repeat the lines in your sleep. Other than that one little slip up, you wouldn’t have been able to believe that the cast was singing it live, and never had I noticed them being slightly distracted or confused by what they were doing. This collection of individuals created a show that left me hungry for more; it was so amazing that I wanted to buy another ticket to watch it again.
This magnificent play was created and directed by Dan Petrenko, his 4thplay in the last 2.5 years. His previous plays had similar plots to this one; they all gave us a perception of how it was to live in the early 20thcentury. The roots of all these stories came from his family’s vivid accounts of the times, which he recorded with his own spin, humor and a message. This may just seem like an average story to you, but it isn’t; it leaves a nostalgic feeling which could almost bring a tear to your eye. If the nostalgia didn’t get you, it would be the message. From what I could tell Dan would’ve loved to take a time machine into the past to meet his grandparents, and tell them that the current generation has a lot to learn from them.
In the end the show was beautiful, it surpassed my expectations and raised them to a high. I never thought theatre would become my hobby. Unfortunately, it seems that the stage was not large enough for the show. They had said that they picked this stage because the area was heavily settled by the Jewish community; this is an amazing idea, except for the fact that the whole theater was packed. What was sad is that all the people there were seniors; it made me almost mad that not a single one of my peers would watch this masterpiece of a show.
Michael Netuk, Grade 10