Miss Caledonia: funny, warm and convincing, a truly unforgettable character

Photo. Barbara Gray

It is sometime in the middle of the 1950s on a remote farm in Ontario where teenager Peggy Ann Douglas lives and daydreams about a shiny future as a movie star. Inspired by Hollywood success story Debbie Reynolds, she envisions herself in the role of a big, new discovery that is coached by Bing Cosby himself. So, dreaming about the fabulous world of fame while labouring through farm chores and domestic goings on, she decides that the road leading to her goal runs through local beauty pageants. To win, she decides to attend classes teaching beauty, charm and poise in a local charm school, but not before she gets around a stumbling block in form of her feet-firm-on-the-ground farmer father first. Fortunately for her, she finds all necessary support in her mother.

Although the focus of this one-woman show seems to be on a winning the beauty contest, Miss Caledonia is a story about growing up in a small, tightly knit community where it is only by engaging in firm optimism that one can confront and win against an ungainly reality. Melody A. Johnson, alone on the stage but for musical accompaniment Alison Porter, talks about this episode in the life of a young country girl with enormous warmth and energy. As a performer, she voices an array of characters with such skill that it’s easy for the audience to see her family and the whole community on the stage: a hard working father who sticks to reality, a creative and practical mother who responds to the constricting circumstances of life with small, innovative projects. Then, of course, there is the narrow-minded school teacher, fellow-contestants in the beauty pageant, and assorted neighbours. The narrative flows naturally and is perfectly paced, with each character adding a piece to the mosaic. Apart from being a great comedian, Johnson’s success lies in her ability to appreciate life’s small moments and give them a chance to be the centrepiece of her performance. Her work is natural, never seeming desperate for the public’s approval. She tells her story, simply and without fanfare, allowing its inherent humour to shine through. The music, although at times funny and fitting, ultimately gets overshadowed by the actress and almost seems superfluous.

With her witty mind, sharp sense of humour and honesty, Johnson creates an atmosphere around the place that she so clearly loves. Telling a simple story about a simple life and big dreams, Peggy is funny, warm and convincing all the way through to the final scenes. This is particulary evident when she is telling the pageant jury about a memorable incident from her life. At that moment, which is the dramatic climax of the play, she grows up and, recognizing for the first time the real value and beauty of her seemingly dull life, she talks about a moment that perfectly connects her with her family and the whole community.

For 70 minutes, Melody A. Johnson makes the spellbound audience smile, laugh, and warm up to a truly unforgettable character – that young, brave, hard-working and wistful Miss Caledonia.

Written and performed by Melody A. Johnson

Musical arrangements and original score by Alison Porter

directed by Rick Roberts and Aaron Willis