NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER Tristan Glasier, Robert Olson, Justin Irving and Shelby Haga rehearse for the upcoming Medicine Hat Musical Theatre production “Now. Here. This.”
cbrown@medicinehatnews.com@MHNBrown
An oft-cited piece of advice for living your best life is to live in the moment.
Years ago a group of four friends in New York took that simple nugget and turned it into an Off-Broadway show. That show, “Now. Here. This.,” comes to the Gas City Feb. 7-8 and 12-15 courtesy of Medicine Hat Musical Theatre.
Director Tyler Johnson explains that the foursome wrote about their experience at the Museum of Natural History. Throughout the day they each tell the story of how they got to where they are at that point in their lives.
“‘Now’ being this moment in time, ‘Here’ being wherever it is you are and ‘This’ being whatever it is you’re doing. If you can get to the intersection of now, here and this, you may be able to lead a little bit of a happier life even though you intersect with people who might not always be your tribe,” Johnson said. “Different people, different personalities connect and there’s no one reason or one thing that makes people connect.”
Being present in the moment is only one part of the message the show conveys. Be authentically you is another, Johnson said.
“‘Now is the only time, here is the only place, this is all I want to be.’ That’s one of the lines in the show,” Johnson said. “What I take away is if you’re not living your authentic self now then you’re not living your truth. And you’re the only one who can change that.”
The cast has just four members – Tristan Glasier (as Susan), Shelby Haga (Heidi), Justin Irving (Jeff) and Robert Olsen (Hunter) – and Johnson says they’ve been working tirelessly since October. He said the songs in the show are unbelievable and the four-part harmonies have been a lot of work for the quartet.
The director cautions “Now. Here. This.” isn’t the typical offering from MHMT. It’s not a big showtune and dance performance, Johnson said, but is instead a thought-provoking show.
“I like to do shows that make you think when you walk away and that’s what this us. It’s extremely relatable. You go from laughing to crying and back to laughing within a couple of minutes. With people telling four real-life stories there’s a relatability factor to absolutely everyone.”
It’s also done in black box style where there’s no set, said Johnson. With four different stories going on simultaneously that are all brought together in the museum, Johnson said it’s like nothing he’s ever directed before.
Any nerves he may have about that are likely calmed by one particular person he has in his corner.
He met co-author and actor/character Susan Blackwell at a workshop in 2009 and through two subsequent workshops built a relationship with her. She’s been supportive along the way, Johnson said.
“She’s been on board and I’ve bounced a number of things off of her throughout the process.”
Tickets, showtimes and more information on “Now. Here. This.” is available at mhmtheatre.com
