Red Deer opera "It's COCO!" (Supplied)

By Alessia Proietti

June 9-11: Scott Block Theatre

Red Deer opera “It’s COCO!” shows how triumph can rise from a difficult youth

Jun 10, 2022 | 3:04 PM

Red Deer’s first-made opera “It’s COCO!” showcases through the lens of fashion-icon Coco Chanel that a difficult youth does not have to continue into adulthood.

The Red Deer Public Library (RDPL) and Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (CACAC), supporters of at-risk youth, have partnered with the production from June 9 – 11 at the Scott Block Theatre.

“That’s what they need to know,” said volunteer Cheryl Wowk. “That someone like Coco Chanel, who grew up in an orphanage, became a legend today still.”

An opera years in the making, not a line was spoken except by the witty and often humorous narrator and actor Serge Beliveau. The remaining cast of five, consisting of lyricist and main character Anna Maria Kaufmann, Sharon Braun, Cory Michaud, Ron Schuster and Angela Siemens, all playing various characters, sang and danced authentically to the time period of early 20^th century France, even performing in French. A nine-piece orchestra occupied nearly half of the stage guided by the conducting of Steve Sherman.

(From left to right) Serge Beliveau, Narrator; Sharon Braun, ensemble; Ron Schuster, Coco’s Father and more; Anna Maria Kaufmann, Coco Chanel; Angela Siemens, ensemble; Cory Michaud, every man and more. (Supplied)

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“Live theatre is alive and well and we have a fabulous group of performers right here in central Alberta,” said local Cheryl Cooney, music creator for the opera.

The show began with the death of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s mother, her father removing her and her sisters from poverty to live at a convent orphanage. Although abandoned, it was there she learned the foundation of her future life’s artwork: sewing. The surrounding actors filled the room in hymn, captivating the crowd by singing and acting out the repeating, monotonous steps of Chanel’s seven years in the orphanage leading her to master her craft.

“Stitch, stitch, stitch

First crank the bobbin, thread the machine

Work in the needle, then sow the seam

Backwards, forwards, straight,

Endless toil”

Leaving the convent a seamstress and a strong woman, as she describes herself, Chanel earns her pseudonym “Coco” through various theories, stemming from her flirtatious ways with men, her time singing cabaret, and the French word “cocotte” for mistress. Perhaps the name suited as it was with the financial help of one of her male admirers that Chanel started her own fashion business in hats.

But no amount of tragedy phases the young beautiful Coco. A resilient opportunist, she capitalizes during the First World War by redefining women’s fashion, introducing to the audience frequent costume changes of more “boyish” and comfortable clothing like pants, simple colors, and shorter skirts with fabrics predominantly used for men’s clothing like underwear.

She later created her infamous perfume, Chanel No.5 and during the following economic depression, revitalized the struggling diamond industry.

After her English love affair dies in a car crash, she transforms the mourning color of black to one of class. From her mother’s death to the nuns at the convent, she inspiringly creates the staple of the little black dress singing, “Everyone must have you, little black dress. You make me confident.”

Multiple lovers later, even one supposedly a German Nazi officer causing a conspiracy that she became a spy for the party during World War II, she died a spinster “married to fashion”, she says, in an elegant black dress.

“I think the community, including ourselves, are very excited to have live theatre and music happening again in our lives,” said Darold Roles, Director and choreographer for the opera, and former Dean of Arts at Red Deer College, now Polytechnic. With the tickets selling out before the show began, Roles says it “is a testimony of the audiences in Red Deer and their hunger for the arts.”

Crowd applauding cast of Red Deer’s “It’s COCO!” opera at Thursday night’s show. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

A roaring Thursday crowd left those present on their feet by the end. John McDowell, an audience member who has known Cooney for a few years, says he particularly enjoyed the musical incorporation.

“I really appreciated the thoughtfulness in the way she used different musical styles to enhance the different periods and different aspects of Coco Chanel’s life,” he said.

“It’s truly amazing what this woman did in her life and we’re able to show a very honest side of this grand woman,” said Kaufmann.

After costs of production, remaining proceeds will be distributed to the RDPL and CACAC.