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March 28 - April 4, 2004 |
Magic Transformations
Jennifer Gould a Cinderella this holiday that's also a mommy
By Sarah B. Hood
Originally Published: 2003-12-07
The day before American Thanksgiving, the Cat in the Hat, a.k.a. Mike Myers, pointed out to David Letterman on late-night TV that his new film is "like the British Pantomimes, with some jokes for the kids and some jokes for the grownups".
Whether or not Letterman got the reference, Myers, like many of his fellow Canadians, grew up knowing about the Panto, with its fairy-tale plots, its slapstick comedy, its nutty drag characters (the "Dames") and its happy ending of wonderful transformations, when boy and girl become prince and princess, and all their faithful friends are rewarded for their heroic antics and loyalty.
Actor Jennifer Gould was also familiar with the tradition when she was chosen to play Cinderella in this year's edition of Ross Petty's annual Panto at the Elgin Theatre, although, she admits, "I've never been in any kind of theatre like this." She's much more familiar with the Stratford stage, where, this past summer, she played the title role in Gigi and the gypsy girl Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
At Stratford - unlike Panto - the audience doesn't scream and holler at the characters onstage, hissing the villain and warning the good characters of approaching danger. However, Gould doesn't seem to think she'll have much trouble adapting to the form. "I've worked with children for about 16 years now in many different capacities; as a teacher, as a musician. I have a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter myself, so I'm very familiar with this world and how they'll respond," she says.
Gould believes that fairy tales have an important place in contemporary childhood. "Having a little girl myself, I'm actually pretty immersed in that world," she says. "I think little girls do need heroines these days. There's so much male influence, and I think all kids can relate to issues like trying to fit in, having a new family, getting adjusted to that.
"And then there's the archetypal characters like princes and princesses and falling in love," she adds. "I think there's a lot of things that children can relate to. And then being inherently good, and what that means. I think that you can get far in life by being an inherently good person. The good guy doesn't always finish last."
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