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Culture Stage

Laura’s Cow

LAURA’S COW: THE LEGEND OF LAURA SECORD by Errol Gay and Michael Patrick Albano (Canadian Children’s Opera Company/Luminato). At the Enwave (231 Queen’s Quay West). Previews Jun 6-7, Wed-Thu 10 am and Wed 1 pm. Opens Jun 7 and runs to Jun 10, Thu-Sun 7:30 pm, mats Sat-Sun 2 pm. Rating: NNNN


One of Luminato’s themes this year is the bicentennial of the War of 1812, and you won’t find as sweet and palatable a related show as Laura’s Cow. That’s appropriate, since it tells the story of a woman best known these days for her sugary treats.

Errol Gay and Michael Patrick Albano’s children’s opera celebrates the resourceful Laura Secord, whose information about a surprise American attack on British troops is often seen as a turning point in the war.

The centrepiece of the 65-minute show is Secord’s arduous night-time trek across dangerous enemy territory to get to Beaver Dams, accompanied by her trusty bovine, which she says she’s taking to market when she gets stopped.

Along the way Secord meets a number of creatures, including a hardworking group of beavers, some marshmallow-roasting coyotes and a few curious deer. Her talking cow, helped by some aboriginal guides, tells them which animals she should trust to show her the way. It’s a delightful sequence, and clearly a favourite of the kids who made up the audience when I went. Lisa Magill’s costumes for the animals (and the period ones for the humans) show great imagination.

There are other lovely moments in librettist/director Albano’s production, like a quilt-making scene before Laura’s marriage to James Secord, and a spirited sequence in which young soldiers sing about love and war.

Gay’s score, given a vigorous reading by conductor Ann Cooper Gay, is lyrical and lively, with snatches of folk songs and even a Mozart tune woven into the fabric. Strangely, one trill-like motif meant to evoke fun sounds a lot like a riff from an Oscar-winning movie soundtrack.

As the bovine belter, the gleaming Tessa Laengert (who alternates in the role with Marta Herman) is as fine a singer as she is an actor, and John Fanning’s rich baritone is well suited to various roles, including the narrator and Lt. FitzGibbon, whose song about wasting time has a mournful melancholy.

But mostly this show, which has terrific touring potential, provides a great showcase for the talented Canadian Children’s Opera Company and students of the First Nations School of Toronto.

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