Set in the French courts of Louis XIV and inspired by the book Dangerous Liaisons, Portrait of a Scandal follows a plot set out by the Countess de Savoie through the narration of her chambermaid, Mathilde. The Countess has been having an illicit affair with the Duke de Lorraine with the goal of marriage in hopes of gaining higher status. However, when the Duke announces his sole daughter, Isabelle de Lorraine is set to wed the Countess' brother Comte Von Gruner in an act to merge families and assets, the Countess hatches a plot to sabotage the wedding by sullying Isabelle's reputation. She enlists the help her music teacher and former lover Maxim du Moulin. If Maxim can bed Isabelle and expose her to the court, the Countess can swoop in to marry the Duke. Upon their first meeting, Isabelle confides in Maxim that she is unhappy about the arranged marriage. Aware of the Countess' plan, Isabelle suggests that she play along with Maxim in hopes a ruined reputation will be her escape from the French courts to lead a simpler life in the country side. In a display to the Countess, Isabelle agrees to go with Maxim to a salon in Paris. Unbeknownst to the two is that the salon is in a bordello made as a replica to a temple to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. In a haze of opium Isabella and Maxim fall in love.
Three months later, Isabella discovers she is pregnant. She as continued seeing Maxim in secret while dodging Comte Von Gruner's awkward courting practises. They are unaware that the Countess has continued to keep a close eye on the lovers, looking for the right time to expose them to the Duke. Meanwhile, in spending so much time together making his daughter's marriage arrangement, the Duke and Comte Von Gruner have fallen in love. The marriage has become a veil for their romance to bring Comte Von Gruner into the house of the Duke. The Duke, being a man of honour, pens a letter to the Countess about his feelings and gives it to Mathilde to give to the Countess. The Countess has become frustrated by being neglected by the Duke, Mathilde accidentally exposes the romance with Comte Von Gruner without handing the Countess the letter. The Countess storms off to confront the Duke. Isabelle reveals to Maxim that she is pregnant, and the two begin plans to elope. In her rage, the Countess exposes Isabelle and Maxim's relationship to the Duke, while Isabelle confronts the Countess on her manipulations. The Duke, wishing to pacify the situation, asks Mathilde to finally hand his letter to the Countess. In her shame and discontent, the Countess makes plans to leave France. In her epilogue, Mathilde assures the audience that while the wedding between Comte Von Gruner and Isabelle did go as planned, Isabelle was mysteriously not in visual attendance. Instead at the wedding table sat Comte Von Gruner with the Duke. With her father's blessing, Isabelle eloped in secret with Maxim to a tiny cottage in the country where she had a daughter.
Three months later, Isabella discovers she is pregnant. She as continued seeing Maxim in secret while dodging Comte Von Gruner's awkward courting practises. They are unaware that the Countess has continued to keep a close eye on the lovers, looking for the right time to expose them to the Duke. Meanwhile, in spending so much time together making his daughter's marriage arrangement, the Duke and Comte Von Gruner have fallen in love. The marriage has become a veil for their romance to bring Comte Von Gruner into the house of the Duke. The Duke, being a man of honour, pens a letter to the Countess about his feelings and gives it to Mathilde to give to the Countess. The Countess has become frustrated by being neglected by the Duke, Mathilde accidentally exposes the romance with Comte Von Gruner without handing the Countess the letter. The Countess storms off to confront the Duke. Isabelle reveals to Maxim that she is pregnant, and the two begin plans to elope. In her rage, the Countess exposes Isabelle and Maxim's relationship to the Duke, while Isabelle confronts the Countess on her manipulations. The Duke, wishing to pacify the situation, asks Mathilde to finally hand his letter to the Countess. In her shame and discontent, the Countess makes plans to leave France. In her epilogue, Mathilde assures the audience that while the wedding between Comte Von Gruner and Isabelle did go as planned, Isabelle was mysteriously not in visual attendance. Instead at the wedding table sat Comte Von Gruner with the Duke. With her father's blessing, Isabelle eloped in secret with Maxim to a tiny cottage in the country where she had a daughter.
“I remember in the Bordello scene when Aphrodite appears, on opening night I heard the audience gasp. I knew at that moment that we had done it!” - Anna Jaeger
May 2017
Cast:
Adam Martino as The Duke de Lorraine Geneviève Fullerton as Isabelle de Lorraine Tristan Bell as Comte Von Gruner Rachelle Bain as The Countess de Savoie Axel Roman Allioux as Maxim du Moulin Bella Canto as Mathilde Belle Epoque as Aphrodite
Photos by Ruth Gillson and Sly Pereira
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In the early months of 2017 Knox and Anna sat to draft the script for Portrait of Scandal. Inspired by the films "Dangerous Liaisons", "Amadeus" and the art work of Sandro Botticelli, the duo wished to highlight a decadence and romance of the aesthetics of the Baroque era. The goal was to be spectacularly visual, theatrical and fantastical with a full narrative. Anna primarily wrote the characters and plot, while Knox focused on dialogue and dramaturgy.
Using her previous experience with The White Light Follies months before, Knox set out to establish a creative system of operations. The production would be a profit share model, with ticket sales being equally divided among all members of the production. Artists would also have more control of their earned income from the show with a commission system, where $5 from each ticket a performer personally sold either in person or online would go into their own pocket. Knox also wanted to expand her roster of performers and released a casting call for dancers, while also personally contacting artists she wanted as part of the production. Rehearsals were scheduled based on the availability of the performers. In a system Knox would come to call “scheduling Tetris”. Every Friday Knox would email proposed times for rehearsals to the cast for the following week, they would fill out their availability and Knox would organize rehearsals based on that data, the current needs of the production and a set of production deadlines Knox established. The finalized schedule would be sent out by Sunday night or Monday morning. With a larger production that included duets, solos, scene work as well as group numbers, Knox was able to focus on one chunk of the production at a time with the required players. Knox also started regularly sharing rehearsal footage for study in a private Facebook group. Anna would also be taking on rehearsals, choreographing “The Lover’s Duet” and “Aphrodite’s Summons”, a featured burlesque solo with Anna in the role of the Goddess of Love closing the first act. Anna recalls creating choreography in her kitchen late at night using the reflection of my microwave as a mirror. “The idea (was) initially inspired by the Botticelli painting "The Birth of Venus" … like a Romanesque statue unveiled and come to life.” - Anna Jaeger After two weeks of rehearsals, two members of the ensemble left the production due to scheduling conflicts. Knox was able to quickly replace the two dancers. Less than one week before show opening, her burlesque guest artist dropped out of the production, citing “unreasonable working conditions.” Anticipating the performer’s departure, Knox approached Maximum Capacity for a quick replacement act where Max would trim a shrub on stage as a royal gardener. The act was a highlight of the production, and each night the trimmed bush was raffled off to an audience member.
One of the biggest challenges of the production was costumes, as the plot took place in 18th century France. Having acquired a new sewing machine, Knox, with the help of ensemble member Kaitlind Gorman, spent nearly two week before opening night consistently sewing all the costumes seen on stage. “I used clothes I already had around my apartment as haphazard patterns for the costumes I wanted to make, then would embellish, hypothesize on the fit and make many of them so they could come apart on stage. It was a formative trial and error process as I reconnected to sewing, which at that point I hadn’t taken seriously since high school.” - Knox Harter By the end of the run, the show had made enough money to reasonably play the artists, but had used much of Knox’s personal budget. Audiences were romanced and charmed by the show, especially the closing first act scene in the bordello. Anna was praised as a particular highlight. The show established new successful working methods for Knox, Anna and High Society Cabaret as a whole.
Show Times:
Wednesday May 3rd, 2017; 8pm Thursday May 4th, 2017; 8pm Location: Revival Bar, 783 College Street, Toronto Script: Anna Jaeger and Knox Harter Group Choreography: Knox Harter, Anna Jaeger Director: Knox Harter Producer: Knox Harter, Anna Jaeger Costumes: Knox Harter Props and Set: Knox Harter Promotional Art: Adam Tupper Media and Marketing: Knox Harter Video: Liam Jaeger Video Editing: Knox Harter Ticket Price: Early bird $20; Advance Admission $25; Door $35; Group of Four (advance only) $75 |
September 2018
Cast:
Adam Martino as The Duke de Lorraine Geneviève Fullerton as Isabelle de Lorraine Daniel Bowen as Comte Von Gruner Rachelle Bain as The Countess de Savoie Mateo Galindo Torres as Maxim du Moulin Jillian Schock as Mathilde Belle Epoque as Aphrodite
Photos by Chris Hutcheson
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“This show was very close to my heart and I am grateful that Knox and I were able to make it happen! Our collaborative process when we were writing the story was one of the finest experiences we have had together.” - Anna Jaeger Portrait of a Scandal was revisited not only because it was a beloved show, but due to technically difficulties, large parts of the first production were undocumented. With costumes and script already complete, and many of the cast returning to their original roles, Knox and Anna saw this as an opportunity to aggressively push the production’s promotion to have the work seen by as many people as possible. Both worked hard to see that local publications, bloggers and notable names in dance and burlesque came to see the show.
As with every change in casting, new additions brought new life into the work. While most of the choreography stayed the same, Knox encouraged the cast to take bigger risks with the emotionality of the show and to find more ease and play. Anna met ew challenged in rehearsal with the birth of her second child, often running rehearsals with her in a body carrier. Nevertheless the dancers welcomed the work with enthusiasm. The production was also very well received by audiences and made it’s proposed budget.
“This was probably the most seamless a rehearsal process has gone for me. Everything just seemed to fall into place, even when things hit a bump, it seemed to quickly resolve, and everyone was in good spirits. There was something very relaxed about this process.” - Knox Harter Show Times:
Wednesday September 5th, 2018; 8pm Thursday September 6th, 2018; 8pm Wednesday September 12th, 2018; 8pm Thursday September 13th, 2018; 8pm Location: Revival Bar, 783 College Street, Toronto Script: Anna Jaeger and Knox Harter Group Choreography: Knox Harter, Anna Jaeger Director: Knox Harter Producer: Knox Harter, Anna Jaeger Costumes: Knox Harter Props and Set: Knox Harter Promotional Art: Adam Tupper Media and Marketing: Knox Harter Video: Liam Jaeger Video Editing: Knox Harter Ticket Price: Early bird $20; Advance Admission $30; Door $40 |
