Two upcoming interactive shows at the Esplanade

By Chris Brown on January 10, 2020.

Grease is the word, and the second word is sing-a-long.

Experience the hit movie musical “Grease” like never before as the Esplanade hosts Sing-a-long Grease night on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.

Programming and operations superintendent Trampas Brown says sing-a-long nights are new to the Esplanade but have become quite popular elsewhere.

“You see some of the videos of some of the other shows and people come out dressed to the nines. They’ve picked some of these really cool, iconic musicals and are using them to allow people to experience them in a whole new way,” he said.

It would be hard to name a better one to debut the idea in Medicine Hat.

“It’s ‘Grease,’ right, everybody knows the songs, whether you like them or not we all know the songs,” he laughed this week.

Brown said the audience is what makes the show fun. Audience members will get a grab bag with props that are to be used at certain points in the evening. The host, who comes from Vancouver, will lead the audience throughout the highly interactive show.

“The film is subtitled for all the music so it’s easy to sing-a-long and then the host interacts with the audience and the screen and the show. You’re not just sitting there passively watching a movie. You’re actively participating in the movie.”

Bringing a new show can be daunting, with the potential for people to be leery of buying tickets for something new.

Brown said sales have been better than he expected and anticipates a lot of walkups.

“It’s a really reasonable price point for the tickets,” he said. “We really made an attempt this year to make sure our tickets are reasonably priced in January because nobody’s sitting on a whole pile of cash at home that they’re not sure what to do with it.”

Another interactive show, Samajam, will be at the Esplanade the night before, also at 7 p.m.

Brown said it’s tough to describe the show, but gave it his best effort.

“Everybody in the audience will get a bag of musical instruments and the performers on stage basically teach the audience the songs. Its the big, raucous, loud party with the audience playing along.”

Samajam is the top children’s touring act in Asia, where, Brown said they often perform at stadiums. Medicine Hat is one of a handful of cities the group is playing in Western Canada this winter.

The show is the third in the Pay What You Will series.

At Pay What You Will shows, a ticket is required and audience members are given an envelope as they enter the door. As they leave they can put cash, a cheque or their credit card information inside to pay what they wish.

Tickets are available at tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777 or in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk.