New West Theatre’s theatre for young adults presentation of “Peg and the Yeti,” should be called Peg and the most patient parents in the world. It runs at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre until Jan. 5.

 It begins a with soft Celtic music playing as a few members of the audience in the front rows are issued ponchos to go with the Maritime setting.

  The tight, three member cast of Geneviéve Paré (Mom), Cari Russell (Peg) and  Jed Tomlinson (dad) reinterpret the children’s tale with subtle skill and get the audience involved in an hour long journey though Peg’s over-active imagination.

  The family lives on a fishing boat, which could be stultifying for many a young person. But not Peg, who embraces it, bounding all over the stage with childlike enthusiasm.
 She climbs all over the stage, climbs to the top of the sail, imagining she sees Mount Everest and she’s off as she takes her parents along for the ride.

 No fishing will be done today as they travel to Mount Everest through a variety of methods. And her parents, good sports as always, supply the sound effects and smoothly shift pieces of the set to reflect whatever Peg imagines. They also play a variety of characters she meets like Scottish mountain climbers, and, yes, the Yeti. Paré and Tomlinson lose themselves in their roles so much, that they become prominent parts of Peg’s imagination rather than just endlessly patient parents playing with their child. Cari Russell’s  contagious, childlike enthusiasm comes naturally. She is just adorable. The audience gets just excited as she does on her adventures.

The parents will come back to set Peg straight, when Peg loses her temper because  the avalanche  she asks them to create isn’t big enough. This is where a much of the audience participation comes in. While the audience  is asked to sing and make a few sound effects like a train whistle and wheels, the kids  in the ponchos are asked to come on stage to create a huge avalanche, and Peg’s parents make sure she thanks them for their help.
 “Peg and the Yeti is a  lot of fun for parents, kids and big kids. It’s interactive and a great way to blow away those winter blahs. It runs Jan. 2 at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. and  ends Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

New West Theatre brings good tidings, lots of fun and an Up With People attitude that can’t help to make you smile. They are almost too gleeful to be possible in their winter production of “Tidings,” which is a best of show featuring some beloved classics from previous shows.

While their comedy always makes the show for me, bringing back their Elvis medley, featuring all of the guys plus Erica Hunt singing and dressing like Elvis from all of the different stages of his career from his rockabilly beginnings to his Las Vegas excesses, is worth the price of admission on its own.
Scott Carpenter makes not only the weirdest Elvis dressed in army fatigues and a black toupee, but also sounds the most like him.
 Erica Hunt isn’t to be outdone as Elvis though, taking on one of his Las Vegas era appearances.
Mwansa Mwansa’s spine-tingling, arm hair standing rendition of  Beyonce’s “Listen” is fantastic, which is definitely a highlight of the show.

 Other highlights include Jocelyn Haub singing the Dixie Chicks’ “I’m Not Ready To Make Nice,” though it is a darker toned number which almost sounds out of place in a show which is otherwise which is pure goofy fun.
 It doesn’t get any  goofier than their humour. There are plenty of one liners, groaners, puns (many of them during a Christmas party themed bit) and beloved characters who make brief appearances like Erica Hunt’s Scottish film critic.

The guys have some goofy fun dressed like valley girl era Cyndi Lauper while singing “Girls Just want to have Fun,” which segues into a good comedy bit about the girls having to pass an intelligence test to get into a nightclub
 Scott Carpenter and Jason Poulsen have a long and hilarious bit together as Poulsen steals Carpenter’s drink which leads to a discussion of Carpenter’s very bad day.
 Poulsen also shines whole doing his best Michael Jackson dance moves, including a moonwalk, on “Bad.”

New West Theatre is planning big fun in a world of imagination in this year’s Theatre for Young Audiences production of “Peg and the Yeti.”

 The production, based on Kenneth Oppel’s children’s book, runs Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.
“It’s a super, wonderful adventure story about a little girl ,” enthused director  Jacqueline Russell.

“She lives on a fishing boat with her parents who go on an adventure. It’s all about children using their imagination,” said Russell who wasn’t familiar with the book before directing the production, but enjoyed the fact that Peg’s parents go on adventures with her in her imagination, instead of  kids being left  to have fun on their own.
“ They travel by boat, they travel by train and they even travel by water buffalo,” she laughed.

“ I love that it is a play about imagination. I love that it is an adventure with the parents. They play with Peg instead of telling her to go to bed,” she said.

The performers move the set around to create approximately 20 different scenes and situations in their imaginations.

She has an acting degree from the University of Alberta and is artistic director for Evergreen Theatre for Children in Calgary. She hasn’t worked with New West Theatre before.

 She has worked with the other cast members Geneviéve Paré and Cari Russell (no relation) and Jed Tomlinson.
“ I’ve worked with them in a variety of capacities,” said Jacqueline Russell.

“It’s been a really fun process and Gen and Jed are percussionists, so we have a lot of music in this show, though it isn’t a musical,” she emphasized.

There is a lot of audience interaction as the audience is asked to participate by supplying a variety of sound effects.
“And there’s a Yeti. Who doesn’t love a Yeti. Mom and dad play the Yeti together,” she continued.