Theatre 2024: The Last Timbit @ Elgin Theatre

My husband Rich and I have been watching musicals written by sisters and Toronto-based composers and lyricists Anika and Britta Johnson for years now.  We first attended Anika’s hilarious work “Blood Ties” at the Toronto Fringe Next Stage Festival back in 2017 as well as her collaboration with Britta on the immersive cult musical “Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life” which took place in a church where the audience literally were able to “drink the koolaid” and be blessed at the end of the show.  We have also watched several shows written by Britta alone including an early excerpt of her musical Life After, that is now completed and will be part of the 2024-2025 Off-Mirvish subscription series.  We also saw Kelly vs Kelly at CanStage Theatre in 2023 and Britta's mini musical that was part of Reframed held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  To say that these sisters are prominent names in Canadian musical development is no exaggeration.

It was therefore with great excitement that we learned about a new musical that Anika and Britta had written called “The Last Timbit”.  This show was sponsored by Tim Hortons to celebrate their 60th anniversary of being in business in conjunction with Michael Rubinoff who produced the smash Canadian musical Come From Away.  The project came together very quickly, written in just six months and features a stellar cast of Canadian musical theatre stars including Chilina Kennedy who has appeared on Broadway in many shows including Beautiful: The Carole King Story and Jesus Christ Superstar, Sara Farb who was in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway (and at Mirvish) and Jake Epstein who starred in the TV Shows Degrassi and Suits.

Although the action is set within a Tim Horton’s restaurant and there are many references to Timmys’ products including coffee, the BLT sandwich and of course, the eponymous Timbit donut, this musical is much more than an extended product placement commercial.  Based on an actual occurrence, the plot of The Last Timbit involves a disparate group of people caught in a wicked snowstorm in smalltown Ontario who all find refuge at a Tim Horton’s along the highway.

Separated from her husband, Michelle tries to bond with her moody teenaged daughter Olivia who is angry about the split and that she is forced to spend weekend visits with the mother that left her behind.  Dressed in sparkly black and gold spandex, Nicole and Vince are wannabe influencers trying to get to an important social gathering.  Kathy and Ellen are bickering best friends with a secret. Shane is an eccentric forest ranger who takes pride in being alone out in nature where he may or may not have seen a UFO.  Chloe desperately wants to fit in with her workmates and was enroute to meet them at a hockey game, even though she knows nothing about hockey. Anton is an old man who regularly frequents this Tim Hortons and always sits in the same seat at the same table.  As the show progresses, we learn more about these people including their issues and the reasons why some of them are so desperate to get back on the treacherous roads to reach their intended destinations.

The manager Monty and his employee Charlie try to distract their customers whose nerves fray as the wait seems interminable.  Together they devise a humorous 3-stage competition with the winner receiving the last Timbit that remains in the coffeehouse.  As it turns out, Charlie is in Olivia’s band class and is her crush (as reviewed by her song “Second Clarinetist”.)

The Last Timbit is sweet, funny and full of heart.  After opening with the entire cast singing “What Would You Do for a Timbit”, the story progresses with each set of characters singing a song that explains their situation. It is also Canadian to a core including a choreographed “hockey game” played with mops.  We watched this show on opening night in a sold-out theatre. At the end after bows from the cast, the producer introduced the technical crew as well as the writers of the show who each received special jackets from Tim Hortons.

This show generated much buzz for Tim Hortons and harkens back to the early 20th century when “Industrial Musicals” were popular.  These were musicals sponsored by companies like IBM, General Motors and Marshall Field’s Department Stores to promote enthusiasm amongst their workers.  Perhaps Tim Hortons has started a new trend in Industrial Musicals, this time for the general public. It would be natural progression from the wonderfully sentimental commercials that Tim Horton used to produce, like the one about the Asian grandfather watching his grandson play hockey while talking to his resentful son.  When the son realizes that his father had secretly watched his games as well, that one still brings a tear to my eye.