An evening artist talk with Lisa Lambert and Brooke Maxwell

The Guild Hall and the Yukon Arts Centre present an evening talk with Tony Award Winning Composer Lisa Lambert (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Brooke Maxwell, Co-creator of the international hit Ride the Cyclone.

The talk will be hosted by Jessica Hickman, an independent director, choreographer and teacher from Victoria, B.C. The free event at the Old Fire Hall will have Lambert and Maxwell talk about the creative process on producing original Canadian musical theatre.

The Guild Hall will be producing Lambert’s play “The Drowsy Chaperone” from April 4^th to 20^th and the production will be directed by Jessica Hickman with musical direction by Brooke Maxwell.

Lisa Lambert is an actress, comedy writer, and Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning composer. She his best known for writing the lyrics to The Drowsy Chaperone. She has also won three Canadian Comedy Awards while being a member of the sketch comedy troupe Skippy’s Rangers.

Her other stage credits include Cole Escola: Help! I’m Stuck, Ouch My Toe, Big Rosemary, Stars of David and The Ding Dong Girls.

Lambert has many screen credits including Slings & Arrows; Sensitive Skin; Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays; Highway 61; Blue; and The Joe Blow Show.

Brooke Maxwell is an educator/musician/composer/home studio nerd based in Victoria, B.C. He is mostly a teacher and working musician (swing bands, children’s entertainers, piano trios, freelance whatever) on saxophone/piano/voice, until about 2004 when he saw his first Fringe Festival and was drawn into the world of theatre.

At this time, he also connected with Victoria’s own Atomic Vaudeville. Eventually this led to the co-creation of the international hit musical, Ride the Cyclone, recently enjoying its off-Broadway success. (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, MCC Theatre NY).

Maxwell is currently working as a freelance musician around Victoria, doing various projects, including running the family-centred dance experience the Neighbourhood Hootenanny Time Machine, acting as the MD at Esquimalt United and other gigs. He has continued to do underscore and sound design for several local and national works, including: And Slowly Beauty (Belfry Theatre, National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre) A Tender Thing (Belfry Theatre) Little Shop of Horrors, The Glass Menagerie, Long Day’s Journey into Night (Bluebridge Theatre), JOAN (Theatre SKAM), Gruff (Puente Theatre).

Jessica Hickman is an independent director, choreographer, and teacher based in Victoria, B.C. She is the co-artistic director of Open Pit Theatre, an ensemble-based devised theatre company here in Whitehorse, and directed their touring show Busted Up: A Yukon Story. Other directorial credits include: Tombstone: A Cardboard Western (Ramshackle Theatre), and four seasons with The Badlands Passion Play, a production featuring a cast of 200 on Canada’s largest outdoor stage.

Jessica works primarily as a choreographer with credits including: La Bohème (Pacific Opera Victoria), Sweet Charity (Company C), A Christmas Carol, Puttin’ On the Ritz, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Mom’s the Word (The Belfry Theatre), Elf: The Musical (Chemainus Theatre Festival), and Elbow Room Café (Zee Zee Theatre). For the past 7 years, Jessica has taught movement as well as an intro to devising theatre at The Canadian College of Performing Arts.

Time and Date: March 4, 7PM

Where: Old Fire Hall

This event is sponsored by the RBC Foundation.

Admission is free.