60 Seconds With… Untold Story of ‘String of Pearls’

Briefly introduce yourself/your company…
Lucky Fish Productions, based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, produces original musical theatre. Writer and producer Karen Kelm and director Kate Robbins take a classic approach to musical comedy. With a combined 85 years of experience, they understand live musical theatre.

What is it that makes your work/company unique
Our work features seasoned performers using their skills to develop musical theatre relevant to a mature audience. Following the structure of musicals from the Golden Age, the songs are distinct from the dialogue rather than the popular “sung-through” modern style. The subject matter of our shows is current but ageless, leaning toward seniors with decades of life experience.

What kind of experience do you hope audiences will have during your show?
This show offers audiences the chance to feel the emotions that accompany the aging process, for both themselves and their parents – sadness, certainly, but also surprising moments of humor. We hope audiences will recognize in some of the zany remarks and unlikely confrontations the fact that they are not alone in their frustration with the unfairness and loss of dignity of growing old.

Without spoilers, tell us what you think audiences will remember most about your show?
Hummable tunes; belly laughs; teary “gotchas”; “aha” moments that reflect their own relationships with their mothers.

What do you think is the best thing about the Fringe?
The privilege of mingling with the up-and-coming generation of creative theatre artists.

What is the most important thing you hope audiences will take away from your show?
A resonance with the mother-daughter relationship and its challenges. We want people to take a step back and laugh at themselves and the futility of fighting the aging process and the impossibility of the perfect mother-daughter relationship or the perfect ending.