The (Post) Mistress understudy wows the crowd
- Andréa Ledding | December 15, 2015
Tomson Highway’s latest play, a one-woman musical, took Saskatoon by storm in November. The opening piece for the newly renamed Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwan Theatre, The (Post) Mistress starred powerhouse Patricia Cano in the evenings, with Tomson accompanying along with a saxophonist. Cano also had a local understudy, Krystle Pederson, who performed the matinees and brought the house down with her closing performance to applause after every song and a standing ovation at the end.
After her final performance, she had a few minutes to talk with Eagle Feather News in her dressing room which she shares with Cano, complete with a cot — Cano is so dedicated she sleeps right in the theatre when she can, explained Krystle.
Krystle, a graduate of GTNT’s Circle of Voices, said the experience was incredible.
“It’s been very exciting, Tomson wrote such a beautiful play, the whole story — every song goes with a person that she’s talking about, and just the way it’s written I’ve been told by many people you never catch on to what’s coming at the end,” noted Krystle, referring to a plot twist that enters with the last song or two, when the audience realizes what kind of magic has been afoot. “But it’s so beautiful, the whole script. The woman is so loving and caring and she just kind of makes you laugh. It’s been a great time to be a part of the show and be The (Post) Mistress.”
Krystle had been away from the stage for five years, so she was a bit unsure although excited when she found out about the upcoming show a year ago. But when rehearsals arrived this winter, she realized how much she missed being on the boards and being a part of theatre life. Despite putting out so much energy, especially in the beginning of the second act with a dance and song that ends with her on the floor, she says she ends the performance really pumped up with all the energy that comes from the audience.
So how much preparation does a two-hour one-woman show take?
“We did three weeks of rehearsals, so not very long,” noted Krystle, adding that as understudy, the process was unique. “My rehearsals were a lot different than hers, it was a lot of watching. Understudying is kind of new for myself, it was lots of watching and absorbing what was going on in rehearsals. And, I guess that mentorship side — Patricia really mentored me throughout the whole process — we’d do the show together, we’d do choreography at the same time. I really leaned on her to guide me through the show. It was awesome to work with her — and Tomson as well, his songs are so beautiful.”
Krystle also sang with Tomson Highway a few years ago at the Roxy Theatre, performing three songs from The (Post) Mistress, so it was satisfying to learn the whole repertoire for the musical and completely become the character.
“It’s just been an exciting journey. You think two hours is going to be so long but once you’re up there it just flies by. It was a great experience from top to bottom,” said Krystle before new General Manager Osemis Isbister-Bear knocked on the dressing room door. He and Warren Isbister-Bear noted that while they’d watched Cano perform several times and her powerful stage presence always brings them close to tears, there is something about watching a northern Indigenous woman performing in Cree that puts them over the top.
“And Tomson just said in the lobby, the best part of coming out to Saskatoon was watching you grow and develop,” noted Osemis. “He says next time you’ll have an understudy who does your matinées while you do the evenings.”
That brought Krystle to hug Osemis amidst laughs and tears of gratitude herself, like the tears and laughter she had evoked that afternoon from a packed house, with her beautifully music and emotion-filled laugh-provoking performance.
Just when it couldn’t get any better, Tomson himself appeared in the doorway, and when asked if he had any words said only, “Well, I’m proud of her, I think that says enough.”