A modest Kiwi house with three generations of women and a handsome young boarder sets the scene in the latest production by Nelson Musical Theatre, which is Haidee Channings’ first solo director’s role.
The scene for the musical play, 18 Eden Avenue, is a run-down historic house behind an overgrown garden at the end of an avenue, where the arrival of a boarder changes the relationships and leads to the potential revelation of a long-kept secret.
It was produced in 2022 by a couple of Invercargill theatre stalwarts who worked on it for 20 years and Haidee says Nelson Musical Theatre will be only the second community theatre group to be staging it.
Being the first time that she has directed a show by herself, with the show’s production manager Hugh Neill as a mentor, Haidee says it has been “definitely a lot of nerves”, but mostly exciting.
An added pleasure was casting her 16-year-old daughter, Jordy, as the teenage girl’s character in the play.
“She listens to all the feedback and has really stepped up; she has been a dream to work with. I’m really proud of everyone’s efforts working on the show.”
The musical play, which is showing at Red Door Theatre from 10 -20 April, looks at the changes that occur in families as children grow up, adults age and situations as well as relationships alter.
“I think a lot of the characters are really relatable. The mother has a lot of balls in the air and Poppy is the typical 15-year-old, and when a try-hard actor comes into the home she is smitten with him. But really, it’s the boy next door that she ends up with in the end. The older guy, Arthur, is plodding along, leading a mundane life which comes to life at the end. It’s happy endings for all of them.
“In our interpretation of the script, I’ve given the actors room to develop their character as they see them,” says Haidee.
“My goal is for everyone to come together and have a whole lot of fun and put on a good show.”
Tickets for the show are available here.
