'The Self-Isolated Artist' Series: Vancouver Profile of Alexa Mckee
Interview conducted by Fabulist Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Coming all the way from Saskatchewan, Alexa is a 3rd year Human Geography major and Theatre minor at UBC. She has been acting since elementary school and, after a few singing lessons and a trip to New York City when she was 16, Alexa started to get involved in musical theatre. She performed in her high school’s musicals and worked on ‘To The Moon’, a musical children’s show in based Saskatchewan. Since then, Alexa has worked in the cast, crew, and creative teams for UBC Musical Theatre Troupe’s shows over the past 3 years. Chicago is the 20th show Alexa has worked on as a performer. Alexa loves theatre and performing because it gives audiences and performers the chance to escape their own lives and forget about the outside world. She loves that theatre can bring people together through shared experiences.
Firstly congrats again for your OVATION win for Pippin
Thank you! This is the first time we’ve gotten any sort formal recognition for our productions. Everyone worked so hard to put the show together and we were so honoured to be chosen!
Tell us a bit about the UBC Musical Theatre club
UBC Musical Theatre Troupe or UBC MTT, is UBC’s only musical theatre club. We stage two full productions a year, one in the fall and one in the spring! We have opportunities to participate as cast, crew, band, or creative team members in our shows. Beyond the productions, we also host events throughout the year that offer additional performance opportunities or a chance to participate in the community.
How do you find working with an all-student-run group? Any tension, any egos? How do you delegate? Where does the funding come from?
Working within a student group is a unique experience! Our funding comes from the Alma Mater Society at UBC. Additionally, any money made through production ticket sales goes back into the club for future productions. The club is run by an elected executive team consisting of the President, VP Admin, VP Finance, VP Production, VP Events and VP Marketing team. I have been the VP Events for the past two years, so I’ve gotten to know the inner workings of the club fairly well. The executive team takes applications for creative team members and hires each role to put the production together. There are a lot of moving parts and levels as far as leadership within the club.
Our club members come from completely different backgrounds and experiences. I personally love having such a diverse group of people to work with! One of the challenges with club productions that is unique to a student group is that many of our members have close personal relationships. It can be hard to navigate and separate personal and professional matters sometimes, but we’ve always managed to make it work! Managing different perspectives is a challenge at times. Some people are really focused on production quality while others are focused on providing a fun experience. It's all about balance. The positive side of having a close-knit community is that everyone is incredibly supportive no matter how things turn out. These are people that you know have your back. A lot of strong bonds are built because so many people return year after year.
Can anyone participate in the shows, or just UBC students?
Anyone can join the productions if they purchase a club membership. In the past we have had non-UBC students involved in shows. However, we do try to prioritize the involvement of UBC students.
Being that you are a student-run organization, with multi-level performers, was your production team able to find a balance to keep the show consistent? (Chicago is traditionally a very heavy dance show).
When the show was chosen and when the creative team was beginning the process, we all knew that we had chosen a dance-heavy show and that it would be a challenge. The creative team was able to balance the show well. I know that dance abilities were taken into consideration when casting Chicago. Kyra Lien, our choreographer, did a fantastic job at pushing the cast without going way beyond our capabilities. The creative team also added a dance chorus so that we could showcase our strongest dancers and use some more complicated choreography in the show.
This group has been around awhile, but we only really heard about it in the community after Legally Blonde. Give us a brief history highlighting your past productions.
MTT used to be known as the Gilbert and Sullivan society. The club used to do original musicals in the fall and then larger scale productions in the spring. Productions used to be all-inclusive so anybody could join. This was the case during You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (2016) and Curtains (2017). Following ‘Curtains’, the club decided to limit space in the productions. The cast was getting so big it was becoming unsafe and difficult to manage. Our spring show in 2018 was Heathers and I think the show was a turning point for MTT. We had a surprisingly good audience turnout. We even received fan art for Heathers.
Overall, it was this realization that while yes, we did shows for fun, we also had the ability to put something together that was good and that people wanted to see. The fall of 2018 we did 13, which was the first time we did a Broadway musical in the fall. Our biggest spring production, not including Chicago, was Legally Blonde (2019). The first show of our current season was Pippin (2019) and that was a big change coming from ‘Legally Blonde’. The club has grown a lot and so has our audience over the past few years. Current and former club members often get involved in Vancouver’s theatre community in a variety of ways which has also allowed us to connect with the greater theatre community.
How far were you into rehearsals before you had to shut down on account of COVID-19?
We had to stop partway through our dress rehearsals. We shut down 5 days before we were supposed to open.
What's the size of cast and crew involved with the show?
We had 29 cast members, 19 crew members (including designers), 12 band members, and 12 creative members.
Why was ‘Chicago’ a good fit for your group?
In the past, MTT shows have been very vocally demanding. When we chose ‘Chicago’ we thought it was a good opportunity for our dance-oriented performers to shine. We also try and mix-up the kinds of shows we have every season. We had done pop-rock shows the previous two years so ‘Chicago’ was a much-needed change of pace. Since we try to take in as many people as we realistically can we also typically look at shows with large ensembles and the ensemble in ‘Chicago’ is super fun.
MTI had announced the ability to Live stream shows as part of some royalties. Was this an option for you?
Obtaining the rights for ‘Chicago’ is quite the process to begin with because the licensing company is pretty selective. Getting the rights to livestream would have been tough. We were also so close to opening that we didn’t really have time for the process. The other issue we ran into was the ban on gatherings of 50 or more people. Our production had more than 40 people with just the cast and the band alone, so we wouldn’t have even been allowed to have everyone in the same room.
What has been the hardest part of shutting down the show?
Personally, I’m disappointed because I was playing Annie (aka ‘Six’ in Cell Block Tango) and one of my dream roles is playing a Merry Murderess in Chicago. I do think the hardest part is never getting to see our work realized. The productions are extracurricular and because most of us are full-time students and have jobs and other commitments, all our free time goes into the show. We had been working on the show for 2 months prior to the cancellation. Our production of Chicago was going to be the first ever fully-licensed production of the show in Vancouver. Everyone was excited because being the first company to do such an iconic show felt like a big deal. The other difficult part is that we have members graduating or leaving this year and for some, ‘Chicago’ was their last show with MTT. Some members have done 6+ shows in the club and it’s unfortunate that their run with MTT ended with a cancellation.
Is there a possibility to move it until the next season? Or later in the year?
There are no plans to move it to the next season or later in the year. Finding venues that accommodate such large productions is tricky. UBC has moved online, so we have people that are moving home until September. Again, we also have graduating students who may not even be around later in the year. We also don’t want to take opportunities away from students who may want to get involved in a show next fall. There is some discussion of alternatives, such as performing the songs in a concert style event.
What is your favorite word?
Serendipity
What is your least favorite word?
Pustule
What turns you on?
Originality
What turns you off?
Laziness
What sound or noise do you love?
Dissonant harmonies
What sound or noise do you hate?
Microphone feedback
What is your favorite curse word?
Shoot. It isn’t an actual curse word but I definitely use it like one.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Special FX Makeup Artist
What profession would you not like to do?
Doctor or Nurse. I’m way too squeamish.
If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
All the dogs you’ve ever owned are inside, waiting for you.
Contact Damon at fabulistmedia@gmail.com if you would like to highlight profiles in your community.
“Inside The Artist's Self Isolation Studio’ was an idea born from Fabulist Theatre in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This interview keeps the art alive even if the work was cancelled, postponed or closed early. And conducted from the safety of home. This work was inspired by the work of others responding to staying active in this difficult time.