The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge

A beautiful story of persevering during hard times. When you feel alone and like the world is ending, lean on others, connect with others and keep on going. This show felt very appropriate considering the global political climate and made me feel like the human spirit will carry us through hardships. Touching on climate disaster, stranger danger, and soup varieties I laughed I cried and I saw this show 3 times. Go get your hold over tickets!!

Ps the performers give their hearts to the audience and more often than not the audience gives theirs right back

I loved this show a lot, and despite the faults of the venue, the two actors played off of eachother well and told a beautiful story.

I also love an original piece with substance and this show is it! Shout out to the amazing performance of Kara Addams!!

I wanted to love this one, but sadly, this just wasn't the show for me. It's wonderfully crafted, the actors can sing well, and I love shows with a local setting, but the plot was slow. And as much as I enjoy musicals... I think this might have been better as a regular play?

I will note, though - for all the issues this venue has with sound, the seats were a pleasant surprise. As was the pre-show announcement, which was very much pro-Canada in terms of the upcoming October vote. Kudos, folks!

I will not remove stars because of the venue because it is not fault of production or the performers. The audience facing speaker system in the venue wasn’t helpful to the Performers but the did beautifully in yhr face of the obstacle The work that must have gone into a 2 person musical shows seems overwhelming but the performers were prepared and gave outstanding performances. Thoughtful set pieces such as the books chosen show the thoughtfulness put into the material. Highly recommend!!!! Can’t wait to see the hold at show at another venue.

"The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge" is a new musical, previously a play, which follows (almost) two librarians attempting to keep a little library often in an apocalyptic wasteland. With a charming premise, strong singing, and a good message, there is a lot to like about this show, even if the execution does not quite live up to the premise.

In "The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge", Frankie (Karalee Adams) is an excitable librarian in training who runs a tiny, free library out in Nanton following the apocalypse. Frankie is soon joined by Jean, (Courtney Swan) a former librarian who begrudgingly agrees to help out Frankie in exchange for batteries. The musical follows the 1.5 librarians as they work to save the library, and figure out meaning in their wasteland.

To begin, the performances are one of the most memorable aspects of this production. While the music didn't always feel needed, and there wasn't much of it, it was a welcome chance for Adams and Swan to show off their impressive vocals, with Swan nailing a beautiful ballad and Adams often leaving the audience slack-jawed with their powerful voice. In addition to beautiful vocals, Adams and Swan played off each other well, with Swan the grounded, darkened foil to Adams' energetic Frankie. While their scenes with each other occasionally played at too slow a pace, when they got it just right, it was truly special.

As for the script (Anna Leslie, Michael Long), it is an incredibly intriguing premise. The kind of premise that could easily become a two act, full scale production. That being said, the script could use some fine tuning before it becomes that. The script focuses on the human aspects of the wasteland, which is a smart choice to help the emotional beats of the show hit. However, in its current form, the show moves quite slow and could benefit from some more action. There are long stretches of dialogue which had low importance in the grand scheme of the show, and featured very few songs for a musical. The concept of "slice of life in an apocalypse" is a very promising concept, though the show leaned into the slice of life concept almost too much that it became mundane. There's a lot to build off here, and I truly hope the show continues to workshop, but it does not seem to have hit its peak yet.

To finish, The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge has a heartwarming message: Even in times of great struggle, there is a community for someone everywhere, and there is benefit to keeping books & knowledge alive. It is an impacting show, and there are some great vocals, and I personally cannot wait to see where it goes.

THE LAST 1.5 LIBRARIANS NORTH OF LETHBRIDGE, THE LUMOS DENTAL STAGE. FOUR MORE PERFORMANCES.

Andrea Noga, Alberta Youth Theatre Collective.

the premise of this sounded so cool. A library popping up post apocalypticly. However it was slow. And the singing felt unnecessary. It had so much potential, but i was let down. Also not a great venue during the day with the café open. You can hear all the scraping of the chairs upstairs.

I really enjoyed the concept and theme of this show. I don't think making it a musical worked out for the best. The songs didn't really stay with me. They do convey some of the emotional tone but the best moments are just in the regular dialogue. The actors did a good job conveying the brave optimism and cynicism of their characters. The venue is a limitation. It was hard to see the stage from near the back, so you need to lineup early.

The performers they did very well. Their singing was great, but the music underneath the scene overcame their voices and we could not get the lyrics. For my husband with a hearing aid it was even worse. The venue basically sucks. The performers and the script all of that was fabulous. Would love to see it again in a better venue.