Talent springs from forces unknown.
In this case it is the police force. Twenty-four members of Waterloo Regional Police Services star in Caught in the Act II: Repeat Offenders, now playing at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse.
Those talented boys and girls in blue have plenty to do while retaining their day jobs. The finest just keep getting finer as all proceeds will benefit local charities.
All the while it is most apparent that they are really enjoying themselves and thoroughly engage the audience in their moods and mirth. Audience members will find themselves checking their playbills to make sure the police service is whence it came.
The variety show venue scans the decades of the war years from World War I to the present, allowing for a broad spectrum of showcasing and law enforcement evolution.
There is dancing, singing, comedy and tragedy all expertly directed and conceived by Alex Mustakas, of Drayton Entertainment, in repeated partnership since the original show of 2007, which raised $50,000.
Many of the cast members have had training in the entertainment field and perhaps in extreme life scenarios from which they may draw, having “seen it all.”
The wartime songs that meant so much and denote a sorrowful legacy of love and loss are especially well represented in this production.
Brian Duyn, now Division 3 Patrol, spent 13 years working as a professional opera singer and leads off powerfully with Say You’ll Not Forget Me and later the poignant I’ll Be Seeing You.
Police Constable Rachel Molnar Snyder tugs the heartstrings with her lovely rendition of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Investigator Heather Wilson and Company break hearts with their beautiful The White Cliffs of Dover. Special Constable Chad Hanlon is especially moving with his rendition of If You’re Reading This from later war years.
Comic relief is priority one and Phil Martin, recognizable from several Drayton Entertainment appearances, is just the Special Constable for it. In most unlikely drag he does The Dummel Dazzle Damask Dinner Napkins sketch and with the company performs The Rhythm of Life.
They are the silliest host of hippies ever to have spilled out of a smoke filled flower power van. Also a total riot is audio visual producer Rob Bridel, whose depictions of Sonny and little fella in The Magic Act come up hilariously short.
Staff Sergeant Doug Sheppard and others heartfully belt out In the Navy and Macho Man to mass euphoria. A burly threesome top it off as “The Andrews Sisters.”
Music is backed up by footage on screens on either side of the stage. The audience can glimpse the cliffs of Dover and even read the lyrics to gleefully sing along to some long almost forgotten Canadian songs such as Canada … we love theeeee...
After the shows’ conclusion on opening night, cast members donned their working uniforms to grace the lobby, as if nothing had ever happened. Departing theatre goers couldn’t have respected them more as they spilled out, still warm, into the night.
Caught in the Act II : Repeat Offenders plays eight shows a week until March 1.
For tickets call the box office at 519-747-7788 or 1-888-449-4463. Also see draytonentertainment.com.
