Rosebud Theatre’s Christmas show: hilarious but tender

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: November 2017 Strathmore Times

By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor

Nathan Schmidt (back, l-r), Norma Roth, Zach Running Coyote (front, l-r), and Anna Dalgliesh perform in the comedy Cariboo Magi, at Rosebud Theatre running Nov. 10 to Dec. 23. The play, set in 1870, is about a group of unskilled actors traveling north from San Diego to perform the Christmas story in Barkerville, BC. Photo Courtesy of Rosebud Theatre

Nathan Schmidt (back, l-r), Norma Roth, Zach Running Coyote (front, l-r), and Anna Dalgliesh perform in the comedy Cariboo Magi, at Rosebud Theatre running Nov. 10 to Dec. 23. The play, set in 1870, is about a group of unskilled actors traveling north from San Diego to perform the Christmas story in Barkerville, BC.
Photo Courtesy of Rosebud Theatre
Cariboo Magi, a Christmas comedy, opened in Rosebud Theatre’s Opera House Nov. 10, and is running until Dec. 23.
It’s 1870, and the story begins in San Diego. Fanny Dubeau (Norma Roth), saloon owner, is at risk of losing her business to the bank, because the California Gold Rush has gone bust. Desperate for money, she fraudulently signs a contract for an acting troupe to perform in Barkerville, B.C. Now she just needs actors.
William Teller (Nathan Schmidt) has just resigned his failed mission as an Anglican minister. Marta Reddy (Anna Dalgliesh), a former dancing girl, is seven months pregnant. Joe Mackey (Zach Running Coyote), an orphan of mysterious ethnicity, has come back from Canada to marry her.
Fanny tricks Teller and the newlyweds into going to Barkerville to perform. She’ll pay them a little, pay herself a lot – and save her saloon.
As they travel – by steamboat, and then on the newly-built Cariboo Wagon Road, by stagecoach, camel, snowshoe and on foot – Fanny directs rehearsals for her favorite plays: Hamlet, The Last of the Mohicans and A Christmas Carol.
The road is rough, of course. The relationships are no smoother. And when the unlikely Magi arrive in Barkerville on Christmas Eve, they learn that Theatre Royal wants them to perform only one play – the traditional Christmas story.
I expected Cariboo Magi to be a ridiculous and lighthearted story of people gathering to celebrate Christmas. It was certainly all of that. Our audience laughed aloud, and we laughed often. But I was surprised the play also has tender moments.
Each of these actors delivers a strong performance, as I’ve come to expect at Rosebud Theatre. But there, too, my hopes were exceeded. Under the direction of Paul F. Muir, they add numerous details and nuances that make the audience’s experience even more convincing, more touching and more hilarious.
This isn’t your conventional Christmas play, but it lightened my heart in a stressful season. And maybe, in our troubled times, with bad news flowing to us from every direction, its lightheartedness and hope are what we all need.
Cariboo Magi runs matinee and evening shows until Dec. 23. Tickets, which include dinner, are available at 1-800-267-7553 or rosebudtheatre.com.