Dani Girl is an exciting new musical by New York writers Christopher Dimond and Michael Kooman, and it is opening in Toronto this weekend. The writing pair have been dubbed one of the hottest duos currently on the theatre scene, and won the prestigious Jonathan Larson Award in 2010 for their work. Dani Girl enjoyed a successful run in Barrie through Talk is Free Theatre last year, and is back this month as a co-production with Show One Productions. Gabi Epstein returns in the lead role of Dani, and she is joined by Jonathan Logan (who was also in the Barrie production), Jeff Madden and Amanda LeBlanc. The show will once again by directed by Toronto Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian.
Dani Girl tells the story of a nine year old girl battling terminal cancer, and examines how she uses music, humour and imagination to cope with her illness. The intermission-less show occurs largely within Dani’s imagination, and employs various fictional characters and games to explore the serious themes and events that transpirer. Hailed as “touching, lively and humourous” the show promises to make you laugh and cry, while providing a unique insight into the mind of a child.
BWW is thrilled to be profiling some of the people involved in this production, including Gabi Epstein who returns to the role of Dani. Gabi took some time to talk with us about what the journey has been like for her, committing to a difficult role, and why Dani Girl is the type of show that will appeal to people of all ages:
Congratulations on the return of Dani Girl! How are rehearsals going so far?
It's interesting because it's very much the same (as last year) and at the same time different. We have less time to rehearse than we had in Barrie and we have two people who already have a grasp of the work, but we also have two brand new actors. They’re brilliant actors and it changes the dynamic. We could do the exact same things as we did last year but it wouldn’t be right, and it wouldn’t be natural. So while a lot of things remain the same, equal amounts are changed and different. It’s challenging for me because my brain is trying to remember last year’s show and learn the new stuff. It’s challenging me a lot to not just go on auto-pilot from what I did last year but instead really rethink my scenes and listen to the characters. It’s been a great exercise for me to do all of these scenes with new people because it’s like starting from scratch but with a good handle on the character.
How much of a show like this do you remember after a year?
I have a stupid brain! I actually remember a lot really well. I was a bit surprised because when we were going through the blocking again I would hold the script but I realized that I didn’t really need it because it’s so in my body from last year. Especially when I would go through a scene with Jono (who is also returning) we would remember 90 percent of it. That’s also why it’s hard to add new people because you remember but you also have to change things. It’s been a great brain exercise.
You have Jeff Madden coming into the role that was played by your brother (Jake Epstein) last year. How does that affect your take on the character of Dani?
He’s doing such a great job. Not only is he coming into a remount and a shorter rehearsal process but his role is a really tough role and it’s impressive what he’s done in such a short time. He has to play at least ten different characters. When I did it with my brother last year we played the two characters as siblings in a way because it felt very natural and it worked for the material. It fit well to act that way and we had a natural chemistry between us. With Jeff I have to take a different approach to Dani’s relationship with his characters. I had to get to know him as an actor before I could establish that comfort level with him as my imaginary friend. I think it works really well to have that character a bit older than Dani because he’s guiding her through the story, he gives her a lot of tough love in order to teach her the lessons she needs to learn. So I think it’s good for my character to have an older actor in that role.
