you Today on YQG in bloom I am at Windsor's KordaZone
theater and I am with the director Dean Valentino
and Brandon Chappus who plays the main character
of Murder on the Orient Express. How you guys
doing today? Great. Thank you. How are you? I'm
great. I'm excited and Just watching a little
bit of the practice. I can't wait to see the
performance What made you choose this actually
a little bit of an odd story? last year a friend
of mine and a fellow actor, she presented me
some scripts to read and to consider presenting
to different theaters. I'm not a murder mystery
guy. I've never been in one. I've never directed
or acted one. I've done over a hundred shows
and it was really kind of foreign to me. I never
read the novels. But when I read this one, I
was shocked at the... morality of it and the
ethics that came into it. And so I read it again
not as a murder mystery, but a story about a
person who has to make a decision. And so it
struck me as a play that I would really like
to take on. It was a good challenge, technically
a good challenge. And yeah, so it started as
just a gift from a friend in a genre that I was
unfamiliar with. But I took it on really quickly
because it was quite a delicious ending. Now,
with a production like this, being that it's
from a novel, and it's already been a play, movies,
how far are you allowed to go to make it your
own? I think that the adaption by Ken Ludwig
gives you enough space that you can either build
out an enormous elaborate stage... or allow the
audience to do most of the work. Given the stage
size we have here and the limitations on space,
we've defaulted to that. The audience has to
do a lot of work to put us in the train, in the
atmosphere. But once they're there, it's a pretty
easy show to keep them there. It's easy to be
able to envision it if you have a really good
cast and you got that dialogue going, and half
the time when you're reading a book, you're just
kind of playing it out in your head anyway. So
Brandon, who is your character? So I play the
detective, Hercule Poirot, and he's of... well
-seasoned character. Many actors have played
the role, and I'm honestly honored to take on
and kind of add my own spin to them. So yeah,
I'm very excited. We watched a little bit of
the practice. Your accent is amazing. It was
spot on. Oh, thank you. I've been working pretty
hard on it. I do have... a French background,
so I am bilingual. I do speak French, and so
I kind of took that and spent some time with
the character to try and... Figure out how he
would speak and and it just kind of all really
kind of came together very naturally so and then
adding on the extra Mustache do you think by
opening night a little curl? Oh, yeah, I think
I could get a nice curl for sure for sure Awesome.
Now this is quarter's first ever How did I be
say it public call for production? I think in
general the way the people at quarter worked
was on When they do their production meetings
they they tend to know they want to keep the
direction in -house like a Jeff Marin Tate is
Basically the resident director one of the most
incredible people you ever meet incredible director.
I've worked with I've known him for I'm not gonna
say how long we've known each other for a very
long time work together so much And I think it
it's such a great family here that sometimes
asking for outside producers directors If they
don't know you It makes them nervous because
they have a reputation a very positive and solid
reputation and I haven't worked with them for
years and years and years. I think it made it
easy for me to to be accepted as the next director
here. The last time I directed a show here was
Shakespeare's Othello, and that goes back almost
10 years. So it's been a while since I directed
here. I've been in a number of shows since then.
But they are cautious because they have a reputation
to uphold, but also they have standards. So it's
quite flattering that my friends here thought
that I would make sure to maintain those standards.
Now, how long have you... Have you acted as well
as directed? Yes, yeah. My first show I was in
grade seven, and I was the evil prince, and I
haven't stopped playing bad people since then.
Yeah, I tend to do two or three shows a year,
so. Do you like being on stage or directing?
Selfishly. I like doing both at the same time.
I like being in shows I direct because especially
if I have a real solid vision of what I want
from a certain character and from the overall
show, my preference is on stage because the interaction
with other actors is just so good. Now, are you
in this or just directing? Just sitting out there
watching. And how many... Crew members do you
have? The cast of 12 and including all the crew
that's supporting both sound light and stage,
we have seven of them. Oh my goodness. So 12
on this stage, that's a pretty big cast. Yeah,
there's definitely certain scenes where it gets
a little tight. And sometimes in about a space
between you and I, we're fitting between like
five, six, maybe seven actors at once. Oh my
goodness. So yeah, it's a little cramped, but
it's fun. It's fun. As long as you like each
other. We get real close real quick. And you
were just in Three Musketeers here at Cordon
not too long ago. Yes, I was. Yes, yes. A wonderful
experience. And I've always loved being a part
of Korda. So I've done the Three Musketeers,
but I have my first show here was when I was
in high school with Jeff Marentate, actually,
who is my former drama teacher at Massey. And
we... We've been very close since, and I've gotten
the chance to take part in so many cool shows.
Romeo and Juliet, that we were both in. We were
both in together? And then there is a beautiful
one that we did last year, The Trench. I don't
know if you remember that one. Yes, I did the
podcast for that one. Yes, yeah, I know. It was
really good. It was such a good show. And then
Three Musketeers, and then now we're here at
Orient Express, and honestly I'm I'm just so
excited to finally be able to show people kind
of a little what I can do. Now is this the first
time that you're the lead? For a stage production,
yes, actually. This is my first leading role
that I've had. I mean, I've always kind of enjoyed
just taking on any character that's given to
me. I like... delving deep into how a character
thinks and acts and feels, and it doesn't matter
the size, it's just now I've been given an opportunity
to have an entire story based around this character.
And to be able to explore it as exhaustively
as I have, it's been really, really, really rewarding.
For a production like Murder on the Orient Express,
is it hard to cast, being that there's going
to be 12 on stage? It was... The hardest show
I've ever had to cast. A lot of times I'll go
in as a director and I'll have a preconceived
notion of who I want for parts. You get to know
the actors in the community and sometimes a part
you just know there'll be an actor who would
just knock it out of the park. Going into this
one, I had to see who could play this role. And
I've worked with Brandon enough and I know his
versatility. And there were 43 actors came out.
There were eight men. And that's not a lot of
variety to choose, but it wasn't even close.
He was far and away the best actor for the role,
albeit young. So everybody else after that, I
had to cast based on his age. So some of my most
favorite actors that were just too old had...
I had to leave them aside because we had to sort
of massage everybody into a bit of a different
age demographic. It wasn't hard in terms of quality.
There's a lot of good actors came out. There
really is a lot of good actors. In this community?
Oh, great. Yeah, you have a bevy of riches for
quality actors. So once I decided with Ian Loft,
who's my assistant director, who was always by
my side on every show I do, we decided it had
to be Brandon. We sort of had to take everybody
else and figure out, well, they're great. They're
great. How do they fit in with this actor? And
I think... I'm gonna suggest that we have found
a really good chemistry and you know yourself
and Maggie work together so well as she's the
countess and You and Greg is book it with some
things just fell into place quite nicely and
sort of makes me Grateful the decision -making
team that we had we I think we got it right is
this first time that murder on the Orient Express
has been produced at Cortisone Theatre? Yeah,
I think so. They have done a number of door -slamming
farces, you know, the murder mystery farces,
which they knock out of the park because Joey
Wright did one a year and a half ago, and my
brain is forgetting what it was called. Clue?
Yeah, the clue he didn't clue. Yeah, and it was
outrageously good funny and and but this one
there's bits of humor But is it's supposed to
be very serious and the moral conundrum makes
it so so yeah That's the one thing I I have to
read here when I was talking to Abby Lee to get
this podcast going She said while setting up
this interview She quoted you as saying you are
focusing on the ethical conundrum offered by
the text and the power of the female characters.
Now, what is that all about? Since I'm new to
this whole production. When I first read it,
I didn't see it. And one could say it's obvious
why. I'm almost 57 -year -old white male, so
I see things through a lens. But as we started
to rehearse and the actors that were cast and
their interaction with Poirot really spoke to
the fact that these women are really strong and
they have characteristics that you can see in
the period of the suffragette would be the ones
that were publicly presented by the brave but
admired by the ones that weren't and I don't
know, I'm gonna have to read more Agatha Christie
or more about her because these characters are
determined, they're strong, they're focused,
and they, I don't mean this pejoratively, they
control so much. And even if Poirot, who is not
only... a genius character, but played extremely
forthright by Brandon. They control a lot of
stuff he does. So it is a really interesting
play to see the power of the female character.
And I really want the audience to get that. And
the actors are just taking it on and really absorb
that and working together very well. Now how
are you finding playing such a character? It's
been a wonderful process. There is a huge...
catalog of, of stories with Eric U. Poirot in
them, and many actors that have taken on that
role. And so in my research, you kind of see
what each person kind of takes from the character,
like David Susette, Albert Finney, Kev Brana.
But it's been really, really cool to kind of
get into the mind of a detective, of a person
who has to take all of these hints and clues
and piece them all together to try and make sense
of a story. And it's been really cool going through
the script, figuring out when he learns what
and how that affects him emotionally. Because
there is truly some heart -wrenching scenes.
One in particular I can think of with the Countess
that really motivates him emotionally. And it's
a conflict that he finds between his own moral
standing, that he finds so rigid in black and
white and a little bit of a challenge to that,
a little bit more of a compromise. He has to
figure out how to go about the situation. He's
never been in that situation before. And so he's
extremely... detailed in how he thinks, he processes,
and also how he presents his information as well.
He sounds very complex. He is very complex. And
I have noticed there's a lot of dialogue for
him. Is that going to be... Yeah, that'll be
a bit tough. There's still time. How long have
you guys been practicing for? Well, we... auditioned
for it in November, and we just sort of did once
a week for the end of 2024 and built it up. I
was in another show that took a bit of my time,
so I thought we'd just start slow and build it
up. So we've been working on it for a bit. I
think the reason we needed that much time is
I originally said I didn't want accents, because
most actors, when you say we're doing accents...
they can't do them and they try to do them first
and I have a real problem with that and not everyone
will agree with me and I'm perfectly happy with
that but when you start approaching a character
with an accent with the accent first you don't
develop any character you work so hard at making
sure every single syllable sounds like that person
from that that I get a robot I don't want robots
so I said no accents but Then as time went on,
as we knew our characters, built them up over
this full length of time, we just let the accents
happen. And now they're bringing into, and the
characters are complete, they're full, the accents
make sense, they understand their lines, the
purpose of it, the cadence is improving because
they're finding their accent. So that's why we
had that length of time. I know this is bouncing
back just a little bit, but I have to give some
credit to Brandon on what he said. The research
he's done and the time he's committed to it,
he has invested in the moral conundrum deeply
and personally, and that's what's bringing so
much authenticity to the character, is he's spent
time. He's looked into why this character is
important to him and why the conundrum would
be important to the character, and it really
shows. So I mean, in such a complex story, I
think it helps to have that extra time to really...
create your own version of this, whether it's
watching all of the other people and how they
portrayed it and taking little bits and pieces
to make it your own. I think it's going to be
fabulous, because just that little piece that
I've seen, even though you're reading it, you
can tell that it's really becoming a part of
you. And I'm really excited. Now, how long is
it until opening day? Three weeks yesterday.
Three weeks yesterday. There's always the moment
where you have the... Oh, Christ, what did we
do? And I think it's different for actors and
directors and stagehands, but the stage crew
is incredibly proficient and capable. No concerns
there. Sound and lighting will be fine. Once
our stage is done, it's hard for the actor when
you're not in your place. When your place is
finished and you have your home, then it becomes
much easier. All the lines sit easier, the action.
So they're still faking some of the place. So
I know how hard it is to get all of the nuance.
But once we get the sets, the flats, the beds
all done, then the first rehearsal, when everything's
there, will be a disaster. And we know it. But
that's okay. You know you're going in. So when
should the set be ready? How long were you on?
Last week. Well, I know there's a production
here at night, but yeah, they'll have a couple
of weeks with all the pieces parts Yeah, and
the cast works really well together so that if
anybody kind of Wavers somebody's got your back.
Yeah, honestly, it's it's it's a really really
good cast of characters and a good group of people
I I've worked with a number of them before, but
just kind of all of us together right now, I
can already feel like us getting so close and
like to the point where sometimes we get a little
rowdy backstage, we gotta calm down a little
bit. But no, all of them, wonderful people to
work with. It's gonna be a great, great cast
of characters, for sure. How long has it taken
you to grow that mustache? Well, I mean, ever
since I found out that I was cast, I haven't
cut it since. So I've been growing it since about
the beginning of December. The key to it all
is making sure that's teased, and I have my little
comb that I keep, and it keeps it nice and neat.
So you're getting ready to wax it? Oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah. We're getting ready to give it some
style, some pizzazz. Now, are you going to have
a hat on, too? Or are you just going to let the
hair? We're going to. I don't know for sure exactly
how we want to do the hair yet. My hair does
have a mind of its own. But no, we're going to
just, if anything, it'll probably be a nice.
comb over or like a nice neat look to it. We
have a hairstylist who is a present student at
the University of Windsor in education working
with Jeff Maratait to bring his name back up
again. And she was in recently to talk about
it. That time period, the 30s, is one of her
specialties. So she's going to take care of everybody.
So the men will have their hair styled just as
well as the women. So I'm leaving it to her to
tame the madness. But I actually don't have mind
his natural look. I think it looks quite good.
I don't either. Yeah. And sometimes for characters,
you have to adjust it. In this case, we'll see
what she says. But she has total control over
that. Because it's over to this. I think that's
what makes it work, especially once you get that
full -on mustache, because you don't want that
to overtake everything either. And a hat would
detract from that too a little bit. Hats are
dangerous on stage, because if you don't wear
it correctly, then the lighting will create a
weird shadow. So if it's not necessary, you'd...
tend to not use them. In this case, some of the
female characters will have hats, but only for
a short portion. That's why I was just going
to ask you, being that this is set in the 30s,
the costumes. Yeah, the costumes were fun. Karen
Kilbride and one of our other actresses, Sarah.
I've been working on costumes. Actors have been
finding little parts themselves, but they have
really worked hard at finding period -specific
material and dressing everybody up so they look
quite good. So they're an incredible team, the
two of them, so. Yeah, I never even thought about
when it comes to costumes. Is that something
that's created or just, like you said, just found?
Value Village found, but you'd be surprised what
this theatre has. And every nook and cranny,
there is a costume from a time... period or a
genre, they have something to start with. Yeah,
they had 20 years to build up this whole thing,
and there's a whole loft of a really wacky selection.
That's a good word for it. Yeah, there's definitely
some weird ones up there, but it's fun. It's
fun to go up and play around. I might have to
go up there after. Yeah, it's pretty interesting
for sure. Because you said it's going to be a
minimalistic set. What exactly do you envision
having up here? So the main set pieces are these
three revolving flats. And on one side will be
painted the bedrooms and you'll see the door.
So there are three bedroom compartments that
need to show up for a number of scenes. And on
the other side, they'll be slid together and
it'll look like the dining car. It'll just simply
be. painted as if it's the wall of the dining
car instead of the window side. So that will
do the bulk of the heavy lifting when it comes
to convincing the audience where we are. Then
the set pieces will do the rest. But because
of the nature of the... The fact that we don't
have a train car. We don't even have the correct
depth for a proper train car. So everything has
to be, as Brandon said, squeezed. So you have
sometimes five actors into one little tiny area.
But it will be just the combination of the pieces.
And the fewer, the better in this case, because
then you make the audience do more work, and
once they've done the work, it's done. So you
don't busy it up. So it'll be very plain background,
two colors, two colors on the turning flats,
and then the beds or tables, and everything is
simple. So it'll give the impression of the scene,
and the actors' lines will do the rest. And the
one thing I like about cortisone theater is I
noticed in... the three musketeers the the people
behind the stage that come out and they just
move things around but they kind of intertwine
themselves with the cast you don't even really
notice them after the first time they come out
because it's like oh they're changing a set right
then and there, but then after a while they just
kind of get in. You don't even notice that they're
there. Such a great crew you guys have here.
Yeah, no, they work hard and they do such a good
job. Amazing job. Now, after this show, do you
have anything planned, or is it gonna be a little
bit of a break? I'll let you go first, because
my list is big. My list is a little big, too.
You guys have a big list? Yeah, good. What's
next? What's next for me? So I I do acting in
both the the theater community as well as the
local film community And so there's there's a
few projects that I have lined up One or two
feature films that I'm going to be filming which
is really cool and then I don't know how much
I can talk about it, but there is a potential
Shakespeare coming to to Windsor in an outdoor
space sometime soon. I can't say too much more,
but it's gonna be a lot of fun. It's gonna be
really cool. Yeah. I will equally say as little
as possible about the same production because
we might... both be involved in that. Immediately
after this, I returned to a play that I just
put on at the Bank Theatre in Leamington. We
put it into WODL, a Western Ontario Drama League
festival. We got into the festival and we got
the prime Saturday night slot. The festival's
run out at the Bank Theatre. And so we're redoing
that show, remounting it for adjudication. So
we'll get feedback from professional acting adjudicators.
And then... we have this summer project. Dr.
Barry Brody wrote a play about Tchaikovsky that
I'll be doing in end of September. And then there
are a couple of shows I'm actually auditioning
for in the fall, both of which excite me. So
I'm hoping that I have opportunity for one of
them. And then next year, I can't say the name
of the show, but I'll be doing another very big.
Personal favorite at the bank theater again,
and I have an idea to put forward for this theater,
too So so I'm thinking 2026 will be as busy as
25 I am so excited because Windsor Essex County
is exploding in the theater, in the arts in general.
It's just amazing the amount of productions.
And we're talking like major league quality productions.
I love it. I'm very excited about what's coming
up this year, next year. Yeah, when you look
at this place, post -productions at the Shadow
Box, Windsor Feminist Theatre, Eric Minchin,
his improv, the Bank Theatre. a number of other
groups that do things. It's not just because
of the shitstorm of stupidity in our world that
arts is good in this town, but we notice it more
when it goes crazy. Otherwise, it's always there.
There are great people in this community doing
great. Oh, and how could I forget? Martin and
Carly have just opened the space at the Masonic
Theatre, and they just put on a... Killer production
and they have a great space there and they're
just so enthusiastic and great to work with we
have We're very lucky and jump to film and you
could speak to that way more than I can there's
so much there is a huge huge community around
here dedicated to the arts. And it doesn't feel
like it's given the opportunity to breathe as
much as it could because there is so many cool
ideas and so many cool projects just waiting
for funding or some kind of thing to just bring
it all together and get it going. But the ones
that you do see the final product of are amazing,
amazing. I've worked with many, many good people.
WIF has driven that passion for the city in terms
of film. It's been a really, really an honor
to be a part of that. There's some great people.
Great people here. We have an incredible community
of actors, actresses, behind the scenes, directors,
writers even, of on stage, on film, and then
we have the film festival on top of it, the flick
fest. We have so much going on here. And when
does the production open? I think we open the
28th, the Friday. for a Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
And then the subsequent two weeks are Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
And there's always the traditional... court a
Thursday night, pay what you can. And off the
top of my head, without the poster here, it's
usually the second week that that happens, but
I could be wrong, so I'd investigate it through
the website. But they have a nice opportunity
for people that, especially students, that may
not be able to pay the full value, they can come
on a Thursday, pay what you can. So starting
the end of March and then going into April, which
is really nice because not everybody has the
time the first weekend. And I'm going to have
all of the information about this production,
about Courtesan Theatre. in the highlight on
my reels and on social media. So make sure that
you get to the Cortisone Theater in Windsor this
coming end of March and see the Orient Express.
I'm so excited. Thank you guys so much for being
here today. You're welcome. Thank you for the
opportunity. Oh, I really do appreciate it. My
name is Tracy Martens. I want to thank you so
much for joining me for another episode of YQGM
Bloom at the Cortisone Theater. Have a great
day.