For Immediate Release
November 9, 2004

SEX, LIES AND THE 18TH CENTURY
Saint John Theatre Company to Stage “Dangerous Liaisons”

While other teenagers are doing homework or hanging out at the mall, Alana LeBlanc is enjoying an “amazingly unreal” life filled with curtsies, corsets and seduction.

The 17-year-old St. Malachy’s High School student has won the role of manipulated ingénue Cécile Volanges in the Saint John Theatre Company’s production of Dangerous Liaisons.. The play, Christopher Hampton’s delicious tale of lust and intrigue in 18th century France, opens at the Imperial Theatre November 18.

“To perform at the Imperial when I'm only 17 is kind of freaking me out,” LeBlanc laughs. “It's a huge thing because I've been going to performances there since I was like 6 and now I'm going to be performing there, and people who I used to watch shows with will be watching me. It's amazingly unreal.”

Cécile is anything but a bit part. The innocent teenager is unwittingly pulled into a wicked game of sex and deceit masterminded by the brazen Marquise de Merteuil (SJTC veteran, Elizabeth Chase). Through the weeks of challenging rehearsals, guest director Jerry Etienne says Alana has been remarkable to work with.

“She has to go through some extremely disturbing scenes,” he says. “The delicate situations in the scenes are done tastefully, I think, and Alana has been made as comfortable with the scenes as we can make her. I'm very pleased with how open she has been to my suggestions for her character. She is a very bright girl, she catches on quickly, and she is very expressive. Her choices are very clear and she has a wonderful energy and life on stage. What more could I ask?”

LeBlanc, a grade 12 student, has acted in The Secret Garden, Annie Get Your Gun and other productions at St. Malachy’s High School. But Dangerous Liaisons is giving her an extraordinary opportunity to work with seasoned stage professionals. Etienne, a former Artistic Director with the Atlantic Theatre Festival, performed lead roles at the Stratford Festival for four years. Graham Percy, who plays the devilishly dashing Valmont, is a native Saint Johner with an impressive list of professional theatre credits to his name including Bilbo Baggins in TNB’s production of The Hobbit, Mozart in Atlantic Theatre Festival’s acclaimed production of Amadeus, and is a core member of Mermaid Theatre’s international touring company.

“I love working with Graham and Jerry,” LeBlanc exclaims. “They both know so much, and I’m becoming a better actor because of them. Graham, aside from being so incredibly sweet and having gained the affections of all of my friends, is teaching me a lot, including that it is possible to really just do acting for a living without being a starving artist! They're both making this experience so much fun, along with all of the others in the cast, and I'm so ecstatic about it all.”

Dangerous Liaisons runs November 18-20 at 8 pm. There is also a matinee at 2 pm on November 20. High school and post-secondary students are invited to the Open Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday, November 17 for only $6. Tickets for all performances are available now through the Imperial Theatre Box Office at 674-4100 or 1-800-323-SHOW.

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