It seems like yesterday that Rosebud Theatre produced The Kite, a humourous W.O. Mitchell play that left audiences literally crying with laughter.
Rosebud patrons have very fond memories of Daddy Sherry’s performance as the oldest man in the world, and his colourful sense of humour. This summer (May 27-August 28), W.O. Mitchell’s rural humour is back with Jake and the Kid: Prairie Seasons - and who better to play Jake (the hired farm-hand), than the man who played Daddy Sherry, Nathan Schmidt.According to Schmidt, “The fun of playing characters like Daddy Sherry and Jake is that they are refreshingly honest, headstrong and lovable. I relish the opportunity to attack and speak impulsively rather than thinking before I act. It’s similar to the dynamics Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau have in Grumpy Old Men and The Odd Couple. Jake and Old Man Gatenby just say what they think and fight for what they know to be true and delight audiences along the way. Add to that the fact that W.O. Mitchell is a magnificent Canadian author with tremendous skills in creating realistic stories and humour. In both The Kite and Jake and the Kid: Prairie Seasons, the punch lines are perfect and the humour lands every time. It is a treat to get to play these roles.”
Schmidt hails from the small Alberta town of Vermillion, located east of Edmonton near the Saskatchewan border. Rosebud Theatre patrons will remember Schmidt in numerous other memorable roles including Schmendrick in Village of Idiots, The Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof, Father Damien in Damien, Fagin in Oliver! and the gardener, Ben Weatherstaff, in Rosebud’s Christmas production of The Secret Garden.
When he’s not entertaining audiences on stage, Schmidt is sharing his knowledge and expertise with students at the Rosebud School of the Arts where he is in charge of the Acting Programme.
The play shapes three of W.O. Mitchell’s Jake and the Kid stories (The Day Jake Made Her Rain, Cabin Fever and You Gotta Teeter) into a two-act play with tall-tale story lines, colourful vernacular dialogue and poetic descriptions of Canada’s prairies. Combined, the show successfully brings to the stage the cantankerous hired hand Jake, the Kid, the Kid’s ma, Old Man Gatenby, a character that reappears in the stories as Jake’s neighbourly nemesis and a CBC radio reporter.
Jake and the Kid: Prairie Seasons plays on the Rosebud Theatre Opera House stage from May 27 Wednesdays through Saturdays until July when it extends to Wednesday through Sunday until August 28. Matinee and evening performances are available.
