Middle-America isn't a place, it's a lifestyle. It's a way of being. It's apple pie. It's corn on the cob. It's church picnics. It's barbershop quartets. It's immigrants in turbans. Wait...what? That last part, there, that doesn't sound quite right.
It's all true, though, at least in the way that theatre reflects and represents truth. It also provides a caution as to the dangers of the high B-Flat. That's what caused the untimely demise of one-quarter of the Fabulous Lipitones.
Thankfully they find a replacement, but he's not exactly a carbon copy.
"The band members heard him sing over the phone and hired him sight unseen," said Stephen Aberle, who plays one of the three remaining tones in need of the fourth. "When he shows up, and he's South Asian in a turban, it's a bit of a shock. It sounds all earnest and serious, but it's rip-roaring funny and chock full of great singing. The rehearsals have been a tonne of hard work but a tonne of fun as we're woodshedding away on the music."
Aberle knows a little about what it's like to be a stranger in strange land, at least artistically. When he was in Grade 8 he had a friend in the school choir who introduced him to choral singing.
By Grade 9 Aberle was a full-time member and the two of them became "the musical nerds of our day" which included singing barbershop harmonies on the school bus, which was never the cool thing to do but it was certainly the dedicated thing to do.
Fast-forward into early adulthood and Aberle graduated from Studio 58's performance school in Vancouver, and he has worked in professional stage and screen productions ever since. He got his television start in a small part on a show called 21 Jump Street starring a new talent named Johnny Depp. He went on to have parts as well in shows like Dark Angel, The Guard, Supernatural and quite recently The Magicians.
On stage, he has been given some of the most substantial leading roles in musical theatre. He was Fagin in the Theatre Under The Stars production of Oliver and he was Tevya in Fiddler On The Roof done for both Western Canada Theatre Company and Chemainus Theatre Festival.
He has also been to Prince George for past performances.
Theatre Northwest cast him in the title of their 2010 production of Ivor Johnson's Neighbours.
He was also one half of the two-hander show for local schools done by Green Thumb Theatre in 2012 called People Like Vince. His co-star in the show was Jennica Grienke who is currently working at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon alongside another TNW alum Lisa Bayliss.
"When I got the call to come back to Prince George, I jumped at the chance because I just love working with Ted (Price, director) and Anne (Laughlin, producer)," said Aberle. "I feel very comfortable here. They put me up with the same billets I had when I was here playing Ivor. Books & Company is still one of my favourite coffee spots anywhere. And Ted and Anne are wonderful people in every way, in terms of the work they do and how they provide a home for actors to do their stuff."
Price and Laughlin were with TNW when they first met Aberle but since then they have their second theatrical startup underway, Miracle Theatre, which presents professional plays that raise funds for local charities. The chosen beneficiary of The Fabulous Lipitones is The United Way and all its member not-for-profit agencies such as the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Active Support Against Poverty and many others.
"Ted gave us all something to think about the other day in rehearsal when he just kind of casually said 'how often do you get a chance to do your work and feed people in need at the same time?' and wow, yes, not very often. I know that's a foundational value Ted and Anne are bringing to their theatre work and one feels drawn in by that to help support it."
As much as it's a comedy and a feel-good story, The Fabulous Lipitones is framed in a message Aberle also finds important to support. The need to shed biases towards culture, ethnicity, religion and nationality is close to his heart, as someone who immigrated to Canada as a child with his American parents when the Vietnam War was underway and the United States was exhibiting a strong streak of prejudice.
"This play was written in 2014 in the United States, which was before the most recent election but there was already plenty of xenophobia building up and prejudice building up," Aberle said.
"We can't let ourselves off the hook here either. It's pretty thick in the States right now, and it always has been, but I know you probably don't have to think hard to come up with people you know here who have the same sentiments and we in Canada cannot fail to confront the terrible policies that have abused Aboriginal communities. We still have to reconcile that. These themes exist in every country, and this play brings our mind to it, and let's us have a good laugh and a good think all at the same time."
The Fabulous Lipitones is on at Artspace (upstairs at Books & Company) starting Saturday.
Shows are held at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays until
March 18 (Sundays also have a 2 p.m. matinee). For tickets, go to the Books & Company desk or call 250-563-6637.
