By Étienne Thevou
Morinville – Charming silliness, truly zany and wonderful lunacy are some of the words Morinville Community Cultural Centre Manager Laurie Stalker and others are using to describe the comedic and musical stylings of Al Simmons, who opens the children’s concert component of the Centennial Concert Series this Saturday night.
Al Simmons’ show is labeled inventive musical comedy and is a one-man, multi-prop, music-filled, off the wall performance Stalker said is suitable for the whole family. “He’s a one-man Vaudeville show,” stalker said, adding Simmons is also a well-regarded author and dancer. “He combines all those things in his show. He creates bizarre sorts of gadgets he uses in his gags, and some of them are instruments. I have seen him do the 1812 Overture and blow confetti out of his instrument that he’s made from found objects. It’s just good, zany fun.”
Stalker is hoping that fun will appeal to Morinville and area children and their parents and set the children’s series off with the same sort of bang as Simmons’ confetti-exploding props.
“I think he’s perfect because he is appealing to all ages,” Stalker said of choosing Simmons and his show for the first children’s stage performance. “It’s something parents can come in and enjoy with their kids. They’ll laugh at different things than the kids, but they’ll all have a good laugh and just a good, jolly, crazy kind of time.”
Stalker said Simmons’ performance is approximately one hour long and is just the right length of time for a young family. But the price of the event is also right for a young family. Tickets are $10 per person, a price Stalker said makes the evening affordable for families.
The Al Simmons show takes place at the Morinville community Cultural Centre Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. tickets are available at tixonthesquare.ca, at the cultural centre officer or at the door.
