Theatre 2026: Operation Mincemeat Musical @ Royal Alex

Operation Mincemeat was the code name for an elaborate scheme of deception carried out by British Intelligence in 1943 that contributed to the success of a critical invasion and helped to turn the tide of World War II. It was so far-fetched and macabre that it comes as no surprise that the germ of the idea came from future James Bond creator Ian Fleming, who was employed as an assistant in Naval Intelligence at the time.  He helped pen the “Trout Memo”, which offered up 54 suggestions for deceiving the enemy, of which the idea that became Mincemeat was #28. The concept was to drop a dead body into the sea with “secret” documents containing false information meant to misdirect the Germans. Fleming attributed the strategy to a similar plot from the 1937 detective novel called The Milliner’s Hat Mystery by Basil Thomson. The goal was to convince the Reich that the Allies planned to invade Sardinia as opposed to the true target of Sicily.

As core members of the counter-espionage organization called British Twenty Committee, Ewen Montagu (Naval Intelligence) and Charles Cholmondeley (MI5) were tasked with adopting and expanding the concept. They contacted pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury and a coroner to find the perfect corpse whose cause of death could plausibly pass for a recently deceased drowned man of the correct age and physique but also who had no family seeking to bury him. The candidate selected was Glyndwr Michael, a homeless man who died after ingesting rat poison. With the help of many agents and officers throughout MI5 and the British military, Montagu and Cholmondeley created a persona for their corpse. They named him Captain William Martin, who was on a mission to deliver secret documents to the Allies when his plane was shot down. The corpse would be transported via submarine to the Southern coast of Spain near Huelva and released into the water to be discovered by the Spanish, who were known to share information with Germany.

In order to sell the story and Martin’s persona, the team went to great lengths give him a backstory including creating a fiancée named Pam waiting for him back home. They enlisted MI5 junior clerk Jean Leslie to portray Pam and added her photo to the “pocket litter” found on his body, along with receipts for an engagement ring, theatre ticket stubs and several love letters that were written by Leslie and senior secretary Hester Leggatt. A briefcase was strapped to his trenchcoat containing the letter with the misleading battle plans, as well as other correspondence between various high-level officers.

The ploy worked and the misdirection caused Hitler to reallocate troops to Sardinia, leaving Sicily relatively unprotected. The Allies successfully liberated the island with surprisingly low numbers of casualties on both sides. The operation was almost derailed by an unexpected turn of fate when an American pilot (also named William!) crash-landed and survived in the exact same location a mere 3 days before Martin’s corpse was discovered. Suspicious of this incredible coincidence, the Spanish conducted an autopsy on Martin. British diplomatic vice-consul Francis Haselden was in Spain to help the plan along. He influenced the autopsy results to reflect a drowning and then lured the Spanish into passing the false information to the Germans.

Because of the morally questionable way that the team procured their body, the details of the operation was kept secret for many years after the war ended. Since then, there have been many books, movies, plays and now even a musical based on this fantastical but true story. In 1953, Montagu wrote the government-sanctioned book “The Man Who Never Was” which was turned into a movie in 1956. More adaptations were created throughout the years including a 2014 BBC television miniseries “Fleming” The Man Who Would be Bond”, telling the story from Ian Fleming’s perspective.

In 2022, a war/spy drama aired on Netflix starring Colin Firth as Ewen Montagu, Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Cholmondeley, Kelly Macdonald as Jean Leslie and Penelope Wilton as Hester Leggatt. For dramatic purposes, the movie added fictitious subplots including a love triangle between Charles, Ewen, and Jean, suspicion that Montagu might be passing on secret information to his brother, a known Soviet agent, and a grieving sister who wants to claim Glyndwr Michael’s body and had to be paid off.  I think the true story is so fascinating on its own that these tired Hollywood trope additions don’t seem necessary.

Surprisingly, the 2023 West-End stage musical comedy of Operation Mincemeat actually follows the historical facts of the mission much more closely, despite being a fast-paced, farcical, irreverent, gender-bending five-hander.  Five actors play the major roles of Ewen, Charles, Jean, Leslie, and superior officer Colonel Johnny Bevan who was the gatekeeper and decision maker for the operation within the team. In addition to these five main roles, the actors played almost 80 other characters, often in quick-change style with rapid on/off-stage costume changes or by simply donning or removing hats or glasses or by changing posture and demeanor while remaining on stage.

Traditionally, the male roles of Montagu and Bevan are played by female actors while the female role of Hester Legatt is played by a male actor. The deliberate gender-blind casting is meant to alter the way the audience perceives human behaviour. It allows the female actors to portray roles of power, satirizing MI5’s misogynistic “old boys club” while the male character gets to show vulnerability. This is especially true in Hester’s showstopping song Dear Bill where she provides the text of for the fake love letter that Pam writes to William Martin. It starts off as fiction but eventually morphs into a heart-wrenching lament as Hester relives her personal sorrow over her own lost love Tom, who died in WWI. It is impressive to note that the male actor is not given over-the-top feminine wardrobe to play Hester amongst his other male roles. Wearing his white shirt and grey slacks, he turns into character with a mere change of posture, voice and spectacles on a chain that he props onto the bridge of his nose. Yet he is totally believable in the role.

Through all the character changes and dialogue, the musical focuses on the extreme level of detail, administrative bureaucracy, mundane paperwork, and office politics that was involved as well as highlighting the female clerical staff with several songs including Useful where Jean and Hester lament never getting recognition for their contributions. Instead of introducing a love triangle or a fake relative for the corpse as in the movie, the musical satirizes the real-life issue of the additional plane crash, dubbing the U.S. survivor “Willie” Watkins and making him a stereotypical, loud and pompous American caricature.

Despite sticking closer to history, the musical also takes some liberties and makes additions for dramatic purposes. Similar to the movie, there is a subplot involving Montagu absconding with secret documents and being suspected as being a spy when in reality, he wants the information to write a script for a movie after the war. Jean Leslie is portrayed as a highly ambitious clerk that fights for agency, recognition and feminism while in reality, she was a newly hired 18-year-old clerk who donated her photo but was much less central to executing the plan. One deliberate change from history was the portrayal of pathologist Bernard Spilsbury as a morally corrupt con man when at the time, he was a well-respected expert. It has been described as “historical revisionism utilized for dramatic justice” since decades later, it was proven that he performed sloppy autopsies and often falsified evidence leading to wrongful convictions and even executions. It was illuminating to see photos and read about the real heroes of this operation within the program compared to the portrayals that we watched.

The songs and score of this musical were ambitious, complex and eclectic, featuring a wide range of different musical genres and pastiches while doing a great job of advancing the plot through the lyrics. The only issue was the unusually muddy sound quality at the Royal Alexandra which typically has good acoustics, making it difficult to make out the words sung in some of the fast-paced songs.

The opening song “Born to Lead” as well as “The Pitch” are written as classic military tunes or traditional marching band music with fast-paced patter and a strong marching beat. Cleverly, the opening few bars of Born to Lead sample a snippet of the iconic James Bond Theme by as a tribute to the contributions which Bond author Ian Fleming made to this operation. Hip-hop and Rap are used for rapid-fire lyrical delivery in the songs “God That’s Brilliant” and “Bevan’s Update”, conveying significant information so quickly that you need to really listen to hear it all. The Disco-Pop song “All the Ladies”, where Jean dreams about working alongside the male officers, noticeably riffs on Beyoncé’s iconic song “All the Single Ladies (Put a Ring On it)”. “Sail On, Boys”, sung by the crew on the submarine, is a traditional folk song or sea shanty. Despite its title, “The Ballad of Willie Watkins” is an upbeat bluegrass/country rock song, while the satirical “Das Ubermensch”, which mocks fascism and the Third Reich, is a high-octane German techno and Eurodance parody. And as already mentioned, “Dear Bill” and “Useful” are sincere, heartfelt ballads. My favourite tune is a patter song, “Act As If”, that features rapid, rhythmic delivery of lyrics that mirrors the escalating panic, manipulation, and tension between the characters.

The closing numbers of the two acts of this musical are both showstoppers. Act I ends with a mashup of another fast-paced patter song “Just for Tonight”, where Montagu convinces the team to prematurely celebrate the success of their plot”, juxtapositioned against a somber reprise of “Sail On, Boys” as the submarine comes under attack while trying to complete its mission of releasing the body. The five actors on stage rapidly switch between the two songs through the use of lighting and by donning and removing of the sailors’ knit beanie hats.

The tour-de-force final song of the show titled “Glitzy Finale” summarizes the success of the operation, then becomes a reprisal melody, calling back to many of the previous song motifs with their eclectic genre styles. Next the song switches to Montagu finally directing his film about the caper, with an actor playing Cholmondeley, who was deemed not right for the role of playing himself.

It is in this scene that we finally found out why the audience was not let into the theatre until 10 minutes after the show was supposed to start, causing long lineups of patrons waiting outside for over 30 minutes. As Montagu brags and exaggerates about his accomplishments, he is supposed to be hoisted into the air, just to have the hoist malfunction and drop him down again. Rather than the scripted malfunction, the technical issue was real and the hoist would not work even after the long delay. Finally giving up, the show proceeded but when it got to the point where Montagu was to be lifted, he made a crack about delaying the start of the show for so long just to have this still not work. The missing sight-gag didn’t really affect the performance and the ad-lib was almost funnier. The song ended on a somber note with a tribute to Glyndwr Michael, explaining how he finally was recognized (posthumously) for his contributions to the war with a plaque and his name added to the tombstone of “William Martin”.

This show was both silly fun to watch and historically enlightening. Despite the long wait and the slight sound issues, I really enjoyed watching this musical.

Theatre 2026: Son of a Preacherman

We first encountered Ins Choi when by pure luck we scored the last two tickets of the last performance of Kim’s Convenience at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival. We had bought a package of 10 tickets that needed to be redeemed at the theatre before each show.  We tried to arrive 30-60 minutes ahead of time for the shows that we wanted to see, to ensure there were still tickets left. We had not heard the hype for Kim’s Convenience or realized that every performance before this had sold out. But I misread the start time of the show which resulted in our arriving at the theatre over 90 minutes in advance. Because of that, we secured the last two tickets and were able to brag that we watched this play before it became nationally and then internationally famous, touring across the county and being turned into a TV series that eventually got picked up by Netflix.

Ins Choi’s latest endeavour is a 70-minute-long autobiographical play titled “Son of a Preacherman” which is basically a one-man show where he tells stories, sings songs and recites a poem while reflecting on his life and career. He is backed by a 3-person band, playing keyboard, percussions, and guitar, who sporadically join the scenes as other characters to fill out his narratives.

As conveyed by the play’s title, one of the main themes of this show deals with how despite there being multi-generations of preachers in his family including his grandfather, father, siblings and cousins, Choi had no desire to follow the family tradition. Instead, he wanted to be an actor and struggled to achieve this goal, against the express wishes of and pressure from his mother, and the depressing lack of substantial acting roles for Asians when he was starting out.

Son of a Preacherman was first performed in Vancouver in 2025, then moved to Ottawa in September 2026, before selling out in Toronto for its 3-week run (extended by a week due to popular demand). While the show was staged in regular theatres in the previous cities, in Toronto the venue was the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. This was an inspired choice given the religious subject matters discussed. Within the church, the play was performed in the chancel with the band positioned in the apse at the back. The audience sat in the choir seats that flanked both sides of the altar while Ins strolled up and down in the space between. At times during the play when Ins would ask God or Jesus for guidance, he would look up at the magnificent stained-glass window (titled “Light of the World”) at the back of the apse, or out towards the back of the church where a light was shone.  Seating the audience right in the choir created a uniquely immersive and intimate experience for the attendees. It also allowed us to see the video displays that were projected high on either side of the apse, with the images adding context to Choi’s stories.

The show began with Ins singing a whimsical but irreverent song titled “Birkenstock Jesus” that seemed to set the light, comedic tone of what was to follow. It posed the question of how Jesus would react and be received in the 21st Century. Then Choi introduced himself as a preacher’s kid (PK) and listed a disparate bunch of celebrities that were also “PKs” (Denzel Washington … Vincent Van Gogh ... Alice Cooper). 

From there, he mused about not having many Asian role models growing up (let alone Korean ones), so he idolized the few that he could find. He sang a song about wishing he could be “Bruce Lee’s Best Friend”, while showing an image of the Chinese Kungfu master on the video display. He moved on to Japanese idols including pro wrestler Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and skateboarder Christian Hosoi who invented the move called “Christ Air” where he spread his arms mimicking Christ on the cross. Choi cheekily even claimed to identify with Bert from Sesame Street because he was yellow-skinned with black hair. His point was that while growing up, he could not easily see himself on TV or movies although things started getting better with George Takei on Star Trek, Pat Morita on Karate Kid, and Michael Chang on the tennis circuit (Still no Koreans!).

But as he tried to pursue an acting career, he could only land stereotypical background roles like “Waiter #5” or “Asian Gangster #4”.  His experiences sounded identical to those described in the novel Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Choi concluded that the only way to act in a story that reflected his own heritage was to write one himself. This led to his writing Kim’s Convenience about a Korean family running a grocery store, including a part for himself as the ne’er-do-well son.

Son of a Preacherman then took a step back to reflect on the lives of Ins’ grandparents and parents as he described their journeys to becoming preachers and his own path to eschewing the “family business” (which he reluctantly worked at for years) to pursue his true passion. Ironically, he ended with an impassioned poem that felt like a sermon as he urged us all to not give up and “just start” to follow our dreams. This seemed to validate his father’s point that there is not that much difference between a preacher and an actor.

While Son of a Preacherman started out as a light comedy, it lost focus and changed tonally along the way, turning into a serious drama as he described the impacts of the Korean war on his family, and finally ending up in a preachy manifesto. Although the play was extremely short at only 70 minutes, for me it felt like I watched two separate plays. It seemed like Choi could not decide what type of play he wanted this to be. However, it was very cool to watch this show from the choir and if possible, all future productions of it should be staged in a church.

Theatre 2026: Dancer - A Musical in Ten Furlongs

I warily went to watch Dancer: A Musical in Ten Furlongs since I usually don’t like “musicals” that are mainly dance performances. Shows in this vein that come to mind include the second half of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Song and Dance”, Contact which features three stories told through contemporary, swing and classical dance, and “jukebox dance musicals” such as “Movin’ Out” which featured the catalogue of Billy Joel songs. I don’t think that dance conveys a story as well as listening to the lyrics of a song, and for me, the dance portions often feel like “filler”. 

This was especially true during the Golden Age of Musicals where a ballet “dream sequence” was often inserted into the middle of a show because it was the trendy thing to do and did little to advance the plot. Modern dance musicals do a much better job of actually using this art form to tell the story. The 2020 dance musical Message in a Bottle employs Sting/The Police songs to present a poignant tale of war, displacement, and the refugee crisis through the use of contemporary dance, breakdancing, acrobatics, street dance and ballet. Watching this show opened my eyes to how a well-done dance performance accompanied by the right songs could be a very effective narrative vehicle. Dancing to lyrics of songs as opposed to just a musical score helps to bridge the gap for me between a pure dance performance (which I still don’t enjoy as much) and a book musical (which I usually love).

Dancer: A Musical in Ten Furlongs follows the life and trajectory of Northern Dancer, the iconic Canadian thoroughbred racehorse who won the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes and the Queen’s Plate races in 1964 and was one of the most influential breeding stallions in the 20th Century. Owned and bred by Canadian business tycoon Edward P.Taylor, Northern Dancer was named as a tribute to his grandfather, the American racehorse Native Dancer.  Born late in the season, Northern Dancer was relatively small and extremely temperamental, resulting in his failure to be sold at Taylor’s annual horse auction. Instead, the feisty yearling stayed in Taylor’s own Windfields racing stables. Northern Dancer was trained by the legendary Argentine-born trainer Horatio Luro, nicknamed "The Grand Señor", who was known for his patience and knack at handling difficult, high-strung horses, and tended to by black stable hand Bill Brevard, who was thought to be the only person the horse truly trusted. Given Northern Dancer’s inauspicious beginnings, his triumphs and legacy make for the ultimate underdog (or in this case, “underhorse”) story.

Although this is officially a book musical with songs and dialogue to propel the plot, dance is a vital part of this show. Unlike the play Warhorse which uses a massive puppet to depict the titular horse, Northern Dancer and the other horses that he races against are all portrayed by skilled performers who embody the movements, spirit and emotions of the animals through contemporary dance mixed with ballet and modern dance moves. Luckily, the dancers are not costumed with hokey horse heads, possibly having learned a hard lesson from the musical Cats! Instead, the dancers representing the other horses wear sleek leotards in shades of beige, brown, tan and roan with matching-coloured socks. Accompanied by their flowing movements, these minimalistic costumes turned each lithe dancer into a graceful, elegant and powerful racehorse right before our eyes. By contrast, the short, stocky dancer perfectly cast to play Northern Dancer stomps onto the stage with hunched back and dressed in baggy shorts, a wife-beater tank top, and white socks (representing Northern Dancer's three white hoofs). The surly sneer on ther performer's face (which he maintains throughout the entire show until the bows) and his jerky, skittish movements effectively convey Northern Dancer’s reputed temperament.

The stage is set up with a curved racetrack ramp that is used to simulate laps for the choreographed races while the open area in the centre of the stage allows for straight-on views of a race as the horses gallop, leap and jockey for position. At the top of the ramp is a platform for the announcer who calls each race and also serves as the narrator of the story. A multi-media screen mounted on the back wall displays black-and-white video projections of archival photos and video of historic races.

Several of Northern Dancer’s races are recreated, leading up to his climactic Kentucky Derby victory. In one of these races, the famed jockey Willie Shoemaker is hired to ride Northern Dancer.  I thought it was quite hilarious that the actor who portrayed Shoemaker in this scene was huge and heavy set and would have crushed the horse in real life. I guess this actor was chosen because he could sing, as he struts around while belting a song that brags about of his riding prowess. Willie Shoemaker is famously known for turning down the chance to ride Northern Dancer in the Kentucky Derby, opting to ride the larger, more powerful California-bred colt Hill Rise instead. The performer who portrayed Hill Rise was a statuesque, muscular dancer dressed all in black who towered over all the other dancers. It was breathtaking every time he was on stage. At the start of the Kentucky Derby, dancers dressed as jockeys actually mounted each of the horse dancers, and this time, the performer playing Shoemaker was much smaller. The race for the Kentucky Derby came down to a neck-to-neck victory by Northern Dancer over the much larger Hill Rise, and the size difference between the two dancers portraying these horses really emphasized the David vs. Goliath battle.

The innovative choreography, designed to simulate the horses’ movements and to create the thrillingly intense and athletic horse races, turned out to be the highlight of the show. The actual songs and book of the musical paled in comparison. We found the songs to be forgettable and overshadowed by the dance elements. But even worse was the book which distorted history in an attempt to add unnecessary drama to the plot. The Trainer Luro was portrayed as a cartoonish, mustache-twirling villain who ordered Northern Dancer to be “whipped into submission” and forcing the horse to run on a cracked hoof.  In reality, Luro was firmly against any physical punishment and halted training to rest Northern Dancer. In the musical, it was the black groom Brevard who was portrayed as the saviour fighting for the welfare of the horse. The true-life racial indignities that Brevard suffered during this Jim Crow era was compared to the physical hardships endured by Northern Dancer. The other social issue that the book tried to highlight was the fight for equality by the feminist movement, as represented by the frustrations of E.P.Taylor’s wife Winnie. Much of the plot and many of the songs were devoted to these two social issues, which took focus away from Northern Dancer’s story. It felt like the book writer tried too hard to add gravitas and social relevance to the story, when just sticking to the facts of Northern Dancer’s feats would have been enough.

To my surprise, while I really enjoyed watching this musical, it was the dance and choreography which I loved and not the songs or the parts of the plot that did not relate to the horses.  Maybe I am starting to appreciate dance after all!

Theatre 2026: Measure for Measure @ Crow's Theatre Studio Space

Measure for Measure is one of William Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, written in the middle of his career, and often termed one of his “problem plays” since there is not a definitive consensus of whether it should be considered one of his comedies or tragedies. The plot deals with themes of justice, exploring the balance between following the letter of the law versus showing compassion and mercy. It questions the difference between what is legally versus morally right.

The play begins with Duke Vincentio wondering if he has been too lenient in following his own laws. To test this theory, he passes his power to the strict judge Angelo and pretends to leave Vienna but secretly returns dressed as a friar to witness how Angelo wields his power.  Angelo invokes an ancient law which punishes premarital sex with death and sentences Claudio to die for impregnating his betrothed Juliet prior to marriage.  Claudio’s sister, a chaste novice nun, arrives to beg for mercy. The lecherous Angelo bargains with her, offering to spare Claudio if she agrees to give up her virginity and sleep with him. This is the ultimate hypocrisy since Angelo would be committing the “sin” that Claudio is accused of but can get away with it since no one will believe Isabella. The nun refuses to give up her soul to save her brother (much to his dismay).  The Duke/Friar comes up with a plan whereby Angelo’s ex-fiancee Mariana, who Angelo dumped after her dowry was lost at sea, will sleep with Angelo while pretending to be Isabella. Despite getting his way, Angelo still orders the beheading of Claudio. The Duke/Friar intervenes again by arranging the head of a dead pirate to be presented to fake Claudio’s death. 

In the last scene, the Duke reveals himself, forces Angelo to marry Mariana, produces the still alive Claudio, and then proposes to Isabella but the play ends without her answer. This ambiguous ending has been cause for much debate with a split opinion of whether she accepts or refuses yet another unwanted proposal from another powerful man.

I generally do not like watching Shakespearean plays as I find the flowery, archaic language difficult to understand and I spend so much energy trying to discern the meaning of what is spoken. I decided to watch Crow’s Theatre’s production of Measure for Measure, adapted by Christopher Manousos, because of its play within a play format where a group of (deliberately unnamed) actors perform the Bard’s work as a radio program. The premise of this adaptation promises intrigue between the actors of the outer play, which would reflect upon the inner play. This added dimension intrigued me.  To prepare, I read a detailed synopsis of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure which I summarized above.

The show was performed in the smaller Studio space in Crow’s Theatre with the stage set up in the round, or more accurately, in the “rectangle” as the audience were seated along all sides of an elongated rectangle. At the centre of the stage were two long, narrow tables that fit together to appear as if they were a single table.  Once the show started, the tables were separated and moved to the left and right of the stage. On each table were props used to create sound effects for the radio show including a pair of boots that made stomping noises, bells for ringing, paper for crunching, chains, belts and various metal cups and plates.

Microphones attached to the corners of the tables where used in rotating fashion by the actors as they performed the Shakespearean play. Four chairs, one on each side of the rectangular audience seating, were marked as “reserved” with one of the chairs placed directly next to my seat. Once the performance began, actors who were not in the current scene would alternate sitting in one of these chairs.

Prior to the show, the room was bathed in stark white light and haze while during the radio performances, the lighting dimmed and changed to shades of greens, blues and violets. Whenever there was a break in performance, the bright white lighting reappeared, clearly delineating the inner and outer play.

While waiting for the show to start, we heard strange sound effects of drumming with the occasional echoey sound that reminded me of sonar or perhaps whales calling. It was never clear to me why these sounds were played since I did not detect the correlation to anything that happened later once the show started.  I asked Google AI when I got home and the explanation was that the sounds tried to emulate the chaotic audio-recording environment and clarified that we were not supposed to be in 17th century Vienna.  This was lost on me.

As the show started, five actors appeared on stage to perform the radio show, referenced only by their roles. There was the Sound technician, responsible for the foley effects as well as being the narrator who indicated the start and end of scenes, and announcing commercial breaks.  The director and his very pregnant movie star wife strolled in hand-in-hand, followed by another actor who was friends with the director, and finally a beautiful, long-legged actress who was a last-minute substitute.

As these characters interacted, it seemed clear that their roles within Measure for Measure reflected their personalities in the outer play.  Each of them played a main role as well as one or more smaller parts. The director, who appropriately played Angelo, was also in a position of power in the outer play. And similar to Angelo’s character, the director was smarmy and lascivious towards the substitute actress who was playing Isabella, leering at her and once pressing himself against her.  The substitute actress was flustered and out of place, thrown into a high-pressured live broadcast with zero rehearsal time. This mirrored Isabella’s situation as she tried to negotiate with Angelo.

The visibly pregnant movie star appropriately played the pregnant Juliet as well as many other roles including Angelo’s spurned ex-fiancée Mariana, an elderly male magistrate, and a female brothel owner. The director’s friend played the Duke disguised as a Friar while the sound guy played Claudio, Claudio’s flamboyant, loose-lipped friend Lucio, and a pimp (bawd) named Pompey. At one point, the Sound guy performed an argument between Lucio and Pompey, signifying the switch back and forth between the two characters by donning and removing his sunglasses.

Watching Measure for Measure performed as a radio play with all the necessary sound effects, and watching the actors rapidly switch between characters as they navigated across the stage added an interesting dynamic. But the promised “outer play drama” never amounted to much and was much too subtle for me to fully appreciate at the time. There seemed to be some tension in the first act between the movie star and the substitute as they eyed each other uneasily. Then a shocking action closed the first act and we looked forward to watching the fallout in the second act. But nothing came of it and in the end, the play was mostly just a rendition of the inner play.  This was disappointing for me.  One interesting reference between the outer and inner plays occurred at the end after the radio show was done. As all the actors were leaving, the director complimented the substitute actress on her work and invited her to join his company. She looked a bit shell-shocked by the invitation, hesitated in her response and then the show faded to black. This was a direct callback to the Duke’s marriage proposal to Isabella at the end of Measure for Measure.

Theatre 2026: Hell's Kitchen @ CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre

I have stated many times that I prefer a book musical with an original plot and songs over a juke box musical that relies on the catalog of a popular performer or group to form a show. For me, the worst is the biographical juke box musical that is often a drama about the performer’s life and career with songs sung in a diegetic manner as part of auditions, studio recordings or concert performances. Almost as bad is the jukebox musical that comes up with a ridiculous story in order to force-fit a set of songs. Bat Out of Hell (Meatloaf) and We Will Rock You (Queen) come to mind, each reduced to using the trope of the “dystopian” world in an attempt to make the plot work. The gold standard which all future jukebox musicals with original stories are compared to is Mamma Mia, whose plot weaved ABBA’s songs so seamlessly that it felt like each song was written for the show.

Lately as a way to generate a built-in audience, more and more juke box musicals are being produced, hoping to cash in on the fans of the artist(s). Hell’s Kitchen is the latest jukebox musical to come to Toronto via Mirvish productions, featuring the discography of R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys. Since I only know a handful of Keys’ songs and her genre is not usually my favourite, I could not even count on familiarity like I did for MJ the Musical. Knowing that the show was playing at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, which is notorious for its poor acoustics, did not help. I therefore went in with low expectations, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. But first, to give myself a chance, I read the synopsis in Wikipedia, then listened to the cast recording while following along with the lyrics.

One interesting aspect of Hell’s Kitchen is that it is a hybrid of the two types of jukebox musicals. While this a fictional story and not considered a typical biographical musical describing Keys’ childhood, career and rise to success, many elements of the plot are heavily influenced by Keys’ life. The main character is a 17-year-old girl named Ali with a protective white mother nicknamed “Jersey” who once worked as a performer, and absentee black father named Davis who is a traveling piano player always on the hunt for his next gig. The show implies that Ali gets her musical talents from Davis. The portrayal of Jersey closely mirrors Keys’ mother Terria Joseph, who maintained an acting career while working as a paralegal to support her child. Keys’ real father Craig Cook was a flight attendant, not a musician, and was not a part of her childhood, unlike Davis who pops in and out of Ali’s life but cannot be depended upon to stick around.

The supporting characters, including sounding-board friends for Jersey and Ali, Ray the doorman, and especially the older street percussionist Knuck, who becomes Ali’s love interest, are all fictional composites that help flesh out this coming-of-age story and the mother-daughter conflict that is the heart of the musical. The ensemble dancers with their baggy clothing, low-riding jeans that expose their underwear, and hip-hop dancing add to the vibrant and gritty vibe of the neighbourhood.

I thought the book writer (in collaboration with Keys) did an excellent job of selecting songs and weaving together a earnest and heart-felt (albeit, a bit derivative) tale of the spunky, independent 17-year-old, Ali, who chafes against Jersey’s efforts to shield and protect her. The show opens up with “The Gospel”, a song written by Keys in 2014 which acts as a no-holds-barred depiction of New York City ghettos. The fast-paced lyrics, starting with “I said we're all God's children, products of the ghetto. Momma cooked the soup. Daddy did the yelling… The roaches and the rats, heroin and the crack, Couldn't blame me, I'm just giving the facts" went by so quickly and was mostly drowned out by the loud orchestrations, vindicating my efforts to review the words beforehand. I still couldn’t follow what was being sung, but at least I had an idea of what the song was about. This was a great song to set up the environment for the story.

Next wisely, Keys wrote two new songs specifically for the show which introduced each of the two main protagonists, revealing their hopes and fears. Ali sings the “I want” song “The River” which describes her desire for more freedom. “I'm alone here in a crowd of seven million. I know there's more to life than this, cause something's calling me”. Jersey then sings “Seventeen” which vocalizes her frustrations and fears that her daughter would get into trouble trying to grow up too soon. “She’s just 17 and her brain just don’t work… Think she knows it all. She don't know nothing.” 

Then the show takes flight and reels off one Alicia Keys hit after another, including the few that I recognized. When Ali tries to talk to Knuck for the first time, she and her friends sing “You Don’t Know My Name” as they dare her to approach him although for the first few choruses, the friends tease her by singing “He don’t know your name”.  Eventually Ali starts a relationship with Knuck (without revealing she is just 17) and also discovers her love of the piano through lessons with Miss Liza Jane.  Ali’s euphoria is perfectly depicted through the song “Girl on Fire”. The song is interrupted by Ali’s friend Tiny who spews off an angry rant in rap, giving her a reality check and reminding her that Jersey is going to kill her once she finds out.  Unfortunately, the lyrics were unintelligible given the loud background music and bad acoustics. I had to google later to find out what all that was about.

Later, things fall apart after Jersey catches Ali and Knuck together and has the police haul him away. Devastated, Ali refuses to speak to her mother, who calls Ali’s father Davis in for moral support. Davis is all charming and flirty with Jersey, singing the sultry song “Fallin”, then cheers up Ali by singing the song he wrote for her as a child “If I Ain’t Got You”. But then, Davis takes off again and Ali realizes that it is her mother who has aways been there for her. They reconcile with the song “No One” (“No one can get in the way of what I feel for you”).  I must admit that familiarity does have an impact since I appreciated the songs that I recognized more and marveled at how well they were integrated into the story—not quite Mamma Mia standards, but not bad at all!

There were a couple of powerhouse songs that were new to me but blew me away with their force and passion. The first was “Perfect Way to Die” which Miss Eliza Jane sings about the racism and police brutality that she endured and witnessed in her past. Keys wrote this song in 2020, at the height of Black Lives Matter, as a protest against the frequent murders of blacks by white policemen. This scene was one of many that effectively used background video. In this case, images of murdered children including Emmett Till (murdered in 1955) flashed by. The other was “Pawn It All”, sung by Jersey to express her dismay that Davis was leaving and disappointing his child once again. The tour-de-force performance by Jersey as she belts out this song made it the “eleven-o’clock number” of the show, leading to thunderous applause.  Hell’s Kitchen ends with the uplifting anthem “Empire State of Mind”, acting as a love letter to New York City.

The set representing the neighbourhood of Hell’s Kitchen in New York City was filled with scaffolding with video used to project skyscrapers.  The orchestra played on various platforms within this scaffolding, including the piano player who provided much of the live music while the actors portraying Miss Liza Jane, Ali and Davis pretended to play. On Broadway, the piano player in the orchestra was Alicia Key’s own high school piano teacher at Manhattan’s Performing Arts School. The show opened with a very effective use of video as Ali rides down the elevator from her 42nd floor apartment, describing how different musicians lived on various floors. As the elevator door stops, there is Jazz on the 32nd floor, Merengue and Latin dance music from a dance class on the 27th, Opera on the 17th floor, Classical music on the 7th to 4th floors, and finally piano on the ground floor, which turns out to be Miss Liza Jane playing.

As much as I prepared myself not to like this jukebox musical, I found myself really enjoying it and admiring the natural ease with which Keys’ lyrics propelled the story. I can see this musical being used to introduce a younger generation to musical theatre. The age of the audience members surrounded us at our performance seems to confirm that this is the case.

On a side note, shortly into the first act, the musical had to be paused due to technical difficulties. A voice came over the intercom asking the actors to leave the stage, the audience sat in the dark for a few seconds, and then the lights came on. It took several minutes for the action to resume.  This is the second time within the same year that an issue occurred at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre.  The same thing happened during a performance of Some Like it Hot, which we watched in February.  Add this to the fact that the sound quality at this theatre is terrible, to the point where entire reddit threads complain about it, and you wonder if it is time to shut down this theatre and perform a major upgrade. Hopefully something is done soon to resolve these technical issues.

Amélie Musical @ Daniel Spectrum (AKI Studio) Theatre

The whimsical, endearing, and critically acclaimed 2001 French-language romantic comedy Amélie was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best International Feature Film. Starring a wide-eyed Audrey Tautou in the titular role, the movie explores how Amélie’s sheltered childhood with Raphael, her emotionally detached father, and Amandine, her strict, high-strung, and apathetic mother, affects her relationships with others as an adult. When her doctor father gives her a regular checkup as a child, she is so excited to see him that her heartbeat rises, causing him to misdiagnose her with a heart condition. Trying to protect her, Amélie’s parents keep her isolated at home with a goldfish named Blubber as her only friend. Once she turns 18, Amélie leaves her now-widowed father behind and lands a waitressing job at the Two Windmills in Montmartre, Paris. There she interacts with the eccentric staff and customers but shies away from any personal entanglements. Things change upon the death of Princess Diana along with the unexpected discovery of a hidden box, which leads Amélie to open up and become a do-gooder like her idol Diana. Through her adventures in discovering the owner of the box, Amélie meets her soulmate Nino, an equally quirky character who is obsessed with the photos left in photobooths. But can Amélie overcome her awkward upbringing to embrace true love?

In 2017, a Broadway musical version of Amélie bombed, closing after just 6 weeks.  Created in the vein of slick, commercialized Broadway musicals, this show went for big, broad sets and an Americanized score and songs. This includes a confidence building “I Want” song (“Times Are Hard for Dreamers”) sung by an intrepid Amélie as she heads off for Paris, that channels Maria from the Sound of Music as she leaves the convent. This totally deviated from and therefore lost the quirky, innocent charm of the original story, and undermined the character of Amélie, who is supposed to be a shy, naïve dreamer. The change in tone did not resonate with the audience, leading to the show’s early demise, despite casting Broadway powerhouse Phillipa Soo of Hamilton fame in the lead role.

Luckily for musical lovers, in 2019, a new U.K. musical version totally revamped the show, resurrecting the charm, whimsy and quirkiness of the movie. Instead of American accents, the characters spoke with French accents intermixed with common French words.  Actor musicians played various instruments while acting and singing on stage. The sets and staging were more intimate to closer reflect the source material. Many songs changed in tone with slower pace and a more wistful, European feel. Some tunes were replaced with new songs to flesh out the characters and story, and others were moved to provide a better flow.

In the American version, young Amélie was played by a child actor who sang the earlier songs and appeared throughout the show to harmonize with her adult counterpart. The goldfish, renamed Fluffy in the musical, is played in full camp style by a grown man with a fish costume on his head. By contrast, in the UK musical, both young Amélie and Fluffy are played by puppets. The result of all these changes was a show that fared much better, playing across the UK and the West End between 2019 and 2021 despite being subjected to COVID shutdowns for over a year. This version received multiple Olivier award nominations whereas the U.S. version received no Tony nominations.

Shifting Ground Collective is a Toronto-based incubator for emerging musical theatre talent, giving early-career artists opportunities to act in full-scale musicals and cabarets.  We watched this group’s excellent production of The Drowsy Chaperone earlier this year and thought it was extremely well done. For their new show of the 2026/27 season, Shifting Ground Collective put on a production of the UK version of Amélie. Once again, we thought the show was stellar, featuring impressive triple-threat young performers who could act, sing and dance, although they did not play instruments. Instead, the band was positioned on either side of the stage with the strings, woodwinds and piano on the side and drums/electric guitars on the other. The actors also didn’t try to adopt French accents but did occasionally throw in simple French words such as “au revoir” or “merci” which even non-bilingual people like us could understand. I approve of this choice, since a fake French accent would have made the dialogue and lyrics more difficult to understand, especially in a theatre that already did not have the best acoustics.

Amélie is portrayed by Colette Richardson who is also a founding member and the executive director of Shifting Ground Collective. She plays the part with a sparkle in her eyes, a mischievous grin, and a sweet shyness and vulnerability that perfectly embodies the role. The strong supporting cast complement her well, providing both comedic and touching scenes and great dance numbers. At the Two Windmills Café, she meets the owner Suzanne, who once was a circus trapeze artist before an accident occurred where she was dropped by her partner (both physically and then romantically). Her two co-workers are Gina, who is still mourning the death of her husband who had left her for another woman, and Georgette, a hypochondriac who has a crush on the customer Joseph, who in turn is fixated on Gina. Other customers include Hipolito, a poet who has writer’s block and Philomena, an airline stewardess. She also encounters the grocer Collignon, who mistreats his assistant Lucien, her neighbour Dufayel, who is housebound due to a bone disease and spends his time reproducing copies of Renoir’s masterpiece “Luncheon of the Boating Party”, and finally Nino, who she falls in love with but is afraid to get too close to.

The main set piece on the left side of the stage is the photo booth that drives key plot points, with stairs behind it that lead to Amélie’s small Parisian flat. Various props are pushed onto the centre of the stage create the father’s doctor’s office, the family’s dining room, and later on, the interior of the Two Windmills café. Without props, it becomes the open space where large ensemble dance numbers are performed. On the right side of the stage is a door and a window which acts as the frontage of various homes including that of her neighbour Dufayel.

Following the lead of the UK musical, this version had some creative staging including the use of the cutest puppet to play young Amélie, styled with the same haircut as the actress playing the role. The scene of the child’s physical examination by her doctor father seemed much less creepy when performed on the doll as opposed to the adult actress. Rendered as a papier-mache fish on a stick, Fluffy the goldfish leapt out of the fishbowl and floundered on the ground. Shocked by what she considered a suicidal fish, Amandine insisted that Fluffy be released back into the river. As he swam away calling out “Au revoir”, he was represented by a large parade-float. When Dufayel showed Amélie his numerous attempts to reproduce Renoir’s masterpiece “Luncheon of the Boating Party”, the ensemble cast appeared on stage wearing similar straw hats and posed in the same positions as the people in the painting.

One effective concept that was not in the movie but added in the U.S. musical is the ancient Greek philosophical argument “Xeno’s Paradox” which argues that two objects (or people) can never meet because there will infinitely be a half-way point between them. During home-school lessons (in the song “Half-way”), Amandine teaches her daughter this theory and it becomes a metaphor for Amélie’s fear of intimacy and inability to form human connections. This inability to connect is mirrored in the other characters, who eventually are helped by Amélie’s good deeds. She helps pair up both Georgette and Joseph, and Raphael and Suzanne, gives Gina closure by forging a reconciliatory letter from her late husband, jolts Hipolito out of his writers’ block and gives him confidence by writing his insightful quotes on a wall, shames Collignon into appreciating Lucian, and spurs Dufayel into painting something original (a portrait of her) instead of merely copying others. But it takes Nino solving Xeno’s Parodox that leads to Amélie finally letting him in. With a reprise of “Half-way”, Nino determines that if they both step forward at the same time, they can bridge the "infinite" gap.

Two elements of high camp were retained from the US version, probably to demonstrate Amélie’s vivid imagination. First, after Princess Diana’s death, Amélie imagines that it is her funeral and Elton John, clad in his sparkly white jumpsuit and platform heels, is serenading her with the song “Goodbye Amélie”. Later, she steals Raphael’s garden gnome and sends it off on foreign adventures with a stewardess friend in order to help her father get out more and expand his world. To illustrate the postcards that Raphael receives from the gnome’s travels, an actress dressed in a green gnome costume prances around and sings the song “There’s No Place Like Gnome”. I felt like these two songs didn’t quite fit in with the vibe of the rest of the show.

We really enjoyed this delightful production of Amélie and were glad that we saw the U.K. and not the U.S. version. We continue to be impressed by the work of Shifting Ground Collective and look forward to watching more of their shows in the future. We especially like that they target more obscure musicals as opposed to the old standards that theatres like Stratford and Shaw like to produce. I regret that we did not learn about them earlier as I would have loved to have attended their recent productions of Ride the Cyclone and 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee.

Theatre 2026: A Fine Balance @ Crow's Theatre

I had not read Indo-Canadian author Rohinton Mistry’s acclaimed 1995 novel A Fine Balance, set in an unnamed city in India during a tumultuous period termed “The Emergency” between 1977-1979. But several of my friends had dubbed it one of the saddest books that they’ve ever read. Reviewing the synopsis of this 600+ tome in Wikipedia did nothing to dispel this assessment. Dealing with systemic oppression in India’s dictatorial political system at that time, the book touches on the inhumane caste system that demeaned and inflicted brutal violence upon the lower castes, abject poverty and slums, forced labour, rampant corruption, and programs of mandatory sterilization for population control. The novel follows the lives of Ishvar and his teenaged nephew Om, trained tailors who were born into the lowest caste and deemed “untouchables”, the financially strapped widow Dina who employs them, and Maneck, a well-to-do young student who she rents a room to in order to help make ends meet. The four form an unlikely “family” who struggle together to survive these turbulent times.

Given this horrific history as a backdrop and shocking plot elements that involve torture, physical mutilation including castration, murders and suicides, I was skeptical of the novel’s purported underlying theme of resilience and maintaining hope in midst of so much despair (the “fine balance”). I was therefore not looking forward to watching Crow’s Theatre’s stage play based on the novel and adapted by Indo-Canadian playwright Anosh Irani. I braced myself for a 3-hour long night of tension and misery. I also wondered what would remain and what would be lost in the adaptation of such a large novel with so many characters and storylines.

I concluded that Irani did an excellent job by focusing on the four main characters and distilling the important elements of the plot to fit into a reasonably long play, conveying entire chapters of events into single expositional dialogues. In this manner, we found out about the horrors that befell Isvar’s and Om’s families who were brutally murdered by a sadistic upper-caste landowner, about Dina’s struggles for financial and physical independence from her abusive brother, and of Manesh’s hazing in his school dorms that led him to seek lodgings with Dina. I was also surprised to find that the overall tone of the play was not as oppressive and downtrodden as I expected. While the horrors described in the book were definitely portrayed, they were interspersed with lighter, more personal and even tender moments of interaction between the characters and I was amazed at the few moments where I actually chuckled softly. By the end of the play, I was definitely grateful not to have been born to a lower caste in India, but I also admired the spirit, and yes, resilience of these poor people who could find a tiny bit of joy in midst of all the tragedy that they have encountered.

The actors portraying the four main characters were superb, as were the two extra actors who played all the other roles, including a bent-over, aged tax collector and an armless/legless beggar. But as always with every play at Crow’s Theatre, what impressed me most was the staging.  The main set is Dina’s apartment with a door and verandah stage left, the living room and kitchen in the centre, and a spare bedroom to the right where the tailors set up their sewing machines. An overhead metal rail at the front of the stage is used to slide across props that transform the space into different locations. At the start of the show, Ishvar, Om and Manesh are all crammed into the same train that is taking them to Dina’s house. A set of overhead grab handles are slid along the track and through the use of lighting, sound effects, and the jostling bodies holding onto the rails, the set becomes a moving train. That the train hits a bump and is delayed by what is probably a body on the tracks (either suicide or murder victim) and the nonchalant reactions of the commuters quickly establishes the normality of such occurrences and foreshadows more to come. Next the hand holds are slid off stage and a door is slid across to become Dina’s front door. This was a quick and effective way to control set changes.  On two occasions, video text displayed on the door to establish time jumps (e.g. 3 months later, 8 years later).

In the end, I still would have preferred to spend my time watching a happy play, but I definitely appreciated this work for the touching performances and the innovative staging.

Theatre 2026: The Great Gatsby @ Ed Mirvish Theatre

The Great Gatsby is a classic, tragic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 that deals with themes of obsessive love, privilege that comes with great wealth, corruption, moral decay, and disillusionment. Set in the decadent Jazz Age on Long Island, NY, the story is told through first-person narration by writer and bond trader Nick Carraway, describing his interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire obsessed with reuniting with his former lover, the flighty and selfish Daisy Buchanan (nee Fay), who is Nick’s distant cousin.  Jay and Daisy were in love before he left to fight in World War I. Because he was poor, she chose not to wait for him and married the wealthy, brutish and philandering Tom Buchanan instead. Determined to win her back after the war, Gatsby turned himself into a self-made millionaire through shady dealings including illegal bootlegging. He built a mansion directly across the bay from the Buchanan home, which has a green light on its dock that acts as a beacon of hope for Jay. He throws lavish, uproarious parties to entice Daisy to attend but she never does. When Nick moves into a cottage next to Gatsby’s estate, Jay convinces him to invite Daisy to tea as a ploy to set up the former lovers’ reunion. Gatsby’s obsession with the past and his unrealistic, idealized image of Daisy eventually leads to tragic events that symbolize the loss of the American Dream.

The Great Gatsby has been adapted into movies several times. The most notable movie is a faithful 1974 adaptation starring Robert Redford as the suave, aloof and mysterious Gatsby and Mia Farrow as the ethereal Daisy.  The tone of the movie is muted and melancholy, reflected even in the wardrobe of the characters which are often in white or black hues, while jazz music true to the era is played throughout the scenes. By contrast, the 2013 remake starring Leonardo Dicaprio in the titular role and Carey Mulligan as Daisy leans into the hedonism and debauchery of the times with hyper, fast-paced cinematography, bright colours and controversially, the use of modern hip-hop and pop music intermixed with jazz. Whereas Fitzgerald’s book is a dark, cynical critique of the wealth, greed and excesses of the upper class, the 2013 movie glamorizes and even celebrates it.

The musical version of The Great Gatsby opened on Broadway in 2024 to mixed critical reviews but rave audience reaction, partly propelled by the star power of Tony-nominated actors Jeremy Jordan (Newsies) as Gatsby and Eva Nobelzada (Hadestown) as Daisy.  A roadshow version has come to Toronto but must not have sold very well since the run was cut short by multiple weeks and our tickets were moved to an earlier date to fit the new closing date. Accordingly, we went in with low expectations.

Our first impressions were good since the set design was stunning. Before the show opened, we were treated to the view of the Buchanan home and its blinking green light as seen from Gatsby’s estate. Adding to the ambience were the sounds of crashing waves and the calls of seagulls. The stunning sets continued with glamorous Art Deco designs representing Gatsby’s mansion and the era-appropriate, luscious costumes were equally impressive. We received an early glimpse of some of the wardrobe from displays in the lobby.

The initial songs do a good job of setting the scene and propelling the plot. The opening number “Roaring On” describes the jazz age (“Tonight let’s misbehave … the city’s reignited. The Great War is done”) while also providing Nick’s exposition as he starts to narrate the story. “Absolute Rose” introduces Daisy and her friend Jordan Baker who becomes Nick’s love interest.  “New Money” explains Gatsby’s world of the nouveau-riche and “For Her” allows Gatsby to convey the depth of his obsession with Daisy.

We also liked the choreography, especially in the large group numbers like “Roaring On” where the influence of legendary choreographer Bob Fosse seems quite apparent. The number “Shady”, describing Gatsby’s illicit dealings with his partner Wolfsheim, was also well done with the use of square spotlights and dancers in fedoras and trenchcoats that flap around like capes as they move.

It was interesting to compare some differences in tone and especially in plot between the various sources. The musical tried to redeem the characters to make them less self-indulgent and unlikeable or added plot points to give them more depth. As a result, Daisy no longer cynically chooses money over love when she gives up on Gatsby and marries Tom. Instead, through manipulation from her father, she is led to believe that Gatsby died in the war and marries Tom while in grief. Tom’s mistress Mrytle is pregnant with his child in the musical and is given the fabulous torch song “One-Way Road” where she also debates her choice of love or money before meeting her unfortunate fate.

Our major issue with the show was with the portrayal of Gatsby and it is unclear whether this was a result of the actor’s performance or the way the character is written in the musical’s book. Rather than the mysterious, sophisticated and debonair persona described in the book and as portrayed by Redford and DiCaprio, our Gatsby came across as goofy, insecure and immature. This especially came across in the song “Only Tea” where he is so nervous to meet Daisy that he actually jumps into the bushes to hide when she arrives. As a result, we did not feel much romantic chemistry between the two leads.  Whether this was deliberately played for laughs or not, it undermined the dark nature of the source material. Looking at the images of the cast in the program, I wonder if the actor playing Gatsby was too young for the role.

It did not help that the show played at the Ed Mirvish Theatre and as always, the sound system is problematic.  Usually, it is impossible to hear since the sound is too low. This time, perhaps to compensate, the sound was cranked up so loud that every song sounded like the actors were shouting and that in itself muffled the lyrics for me and took away any tenderness or subtly to the love songs. As a result, although I liked the songs when listening to the soundtrack, I did not enjoy these live singing performances.

This show has promise and I might have appreciated it more had I watched it in a theatre with good sound and a more appropriate cast. Based on what we got, I understand why the show’s run ended early. We might have been in the minority in our assessment of the show since many others in the audience were really into it and there were multiple women walking around dressed like flappers.

Theatre 2026: Blyth Festival - Last Mayor of Rusty River, Curveball, Dry Streak

After talking about it for years, this is the first year that my husband Rich and I managed to get to the Blyth Festival in Huron County, Ontario. Founded in 1975, this is a theatre festival dedicated exclusively to the creation and performance of original Canadian plays, often with rural or small-town themes and occasionally based on true local stories. The festival runs each year between June through September and offers 5-7 shows for the season. There is usually a “Bonanza Weekend” where most if not all the shows are programmed to run back-to-back with special passes sold for this event. Two venues are used for the festival—the indoor Memorial Hall (Margaret Stephens Stage) and an outdoor space called the Harvest Stage with an open-air stage and a covered canopy for the audience.

Because of other commitments, we were not able to attend the Bonanza weekend this year.  But we did select three shows that would play on Saturday and Sunday and made a four day long-weekend out of it with visits to nearby Goderich (which we used as a home base) and Bayfield along the way. Our first trip to the Blyth Festival was so much fun and watching original, Canadian stories made it all the more special.  We will be sure to make this a regular occurrence.

Our first show was The Last Mayor of Rusty River, a bluegrass musical comedy which had a very promising premise for zaniness and hilarity. To protest the ineffectiveness of longtime incumbent mayor Larry Fletcher and his obsequiously loyal deputy Jerry Jones, two young, up-start councillors (Tina Stackhouse and Tim McCavity) decide to run Captain Whiskers, a cat, as his opponent in the next election. I wondered if it was intentional that Tim's last name was also the name of one of the lead characters in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats?

The first act of this two-act play sets up the conflict through several council meetings in municipal chambers, held both behind closed doors and open to the press, as represented by reporter Harmony.  The beleaguered clerk Judy Townsend tries in vain to keep decorum. In these meetings, through bluster, bullying and mockery, Fletcher rebuffs any attempts by the younger councillors to discuss important issues like infrastructure, economic growth, or homelessness, which is Tina’s passionate cause. Instead, he focuses on trivial matters such as deciding on a town mascot and tries to hide shady dealings made for his own personal gain. Finally fed up with Fletcher’s incompetence and corruption, Tim declares that he will register his cat Captain Whiskers to run against Fletcher in the upcoming election, since even a cat would do a better job than the current mayor. After this lengthy setup, we are primed for the mockery of an election between a buffoon and a feline.

Instead, the second act takes a tonal shift when Tina decides that she will also run for mayor, making it a three-way race, highlighted by a mayoral debate between the candidates. Suddenly the play becomes very preachy as Tina rails about the plight of the homeless and we feel like we are in a humanities or ethics lecture instead of watching a comedy. Whether intended or not, the character of Fletcher channels our current provincial premier Doug Ford, using his signature catch-phrase “my friends” to preface each sentence and replying with nonsensical doublespeak that never actually answers the questions put before him. Tim’s “interpretation” of what Captain Whiskers had to say produced some funny moments, including the proverbial “cat coughing up of a hairball” joke.  But for the most part, much of the humour felt sapped from the play as it veered from being a satire to trying to make a serious social statement. There were some cute songs sung by actor-musicians who also played the various instruments including piano, drums, guitars, and more. The songs were fun but didn’t really advance the plot to make this a traditional book musical and felt disconnected from the rest of the show. Both Rich and I thought that the play started strongly but waned by the second act and went on a bit too long.

We encountered clever promotional material that hyped up the show before even entering the theatre. There were political signs campaigning for Captain Whiskers found along the streets leading up to Memorial Hall. In the lower-level gallery below the theatre was a polling station where you could vote for Fletcher, Larry (“Experienced, Connected, Probably Knows a Guy) or Whiskers, Captain (“Independent, Curious, Answers to No one…except the Global Tuna Consortium”). We still found this show entertaining to watch, but it did not turn out to be what we expected).

Our next show was based on a true story from the 1950s of women employed at Stratford, Ontario’s Kroehler furniture plant who were part of the company’s softball team. This was during a time when corporate softball and fastball leagues were popular in Southwestern Ontario. After their day jobs assembling furniture, they played competitive baseball at night to packed stands. After a disappointing 1952 season and a slow start with many setbacks in 1953, the Kroehler Girls staged a “legendary” comeback that took them to the regional championships, resulting in their winning both the Provincial Women’s Softball Union Intermediate A and Junior A Championships.

Expanding on the 2021 play “Kroehler Girls!”, Curveball: The Fast-Pitch Ladies from the Factory Floor is a musical that dramatizes this historic achievement. Fictionalized characters, who are amalgamations of real-life players, were developed from extensive research through the archives of the Stratford-Perth Museum.  Some of the stories and dialogue were taken directly from interviews with the original team members.

The cast includes the male coach and six female players who represent the core of the team. There is Honey, the leader and star player who has lost her powerful hitting stroke due to personal issues that become apparent as the show progresses. Doll is the matron of the group with three children to juggle on top of her factory job by day and her baseball job by night. She represents the grit and determination of the players who refused to give up their passion for sports even after marriage. Shack is fierce, abrasive and the most competitive member of the team. Her character is named in honour of Elaine Shackleton, a key member of the 1950s squad. Despite being portrayed as the team’s “sexpot”, Wanda is intelligent, ambitious and determined to break free of traditional women’s roles set by the era’s patriarchal limitations. She dreams of leaving the steno pool to become a saleswoman. Wanda’s sister Georgie is the newcomer to the team, a power pitcher who tries to fit in and win the trust and respect of her teammates. Nora is a dependable player and factory worker who rounds out the core roster and takes part in the game sequences. Finally, James is a bit actor at the newly opened Stratford Theatre where evening performances conflicted with the baseball games that were played at the same time. James becomes a romantic partner for Georgie, thus merging the arts and sports worlds.

This is a heart-felt show about teamwork, camaraderie, “finding your power” and dealing with any “curveballs” that come your way, whether in baseball or in life. It intermixes action-packed sequences from softball practices and games with scenes that delve into the personal lives of the players and their coach, highlighting their hopes, fears and challenges. It also gave historical context to the regional Ontario in the 1950s, reflecting on post-World War II industrial culture, shifting gender roles, the rise of theatre in Stratford, and the start of decline in interest in women’s sports that had become so popular during the war years. 

It was especially fun to watch this show in the open-air Harvest Stage that was decked out with an old scoreboard and faded vintage signs advertising companies of the time including Kroehlers, Canadian Tire, A&P Food Stores, Olin Brown Candies, CJCS 1240 Radio and more.  The composer of the musical played piano at one side of the stage, providing musical accompaniment for tunes that ranged from emotional “I want” songs to upbeat team cheers. Before the show started, the artistic director of the Blyth Festival paid tribute to audience members who were descendants of Kroehler Girls. It was interesting to note that one of the playwrights was Andy Pogson, the nephew of the power-hitting 3rd baseman Marg Syms (née Pogson) on the team.

Our final show was a hilarious comedy that coincidentally starred the entire cast from Last Mayor of Rusty River, plus one additional actor. It was interesting to see all these performers in different roles so soon after watching them in the first show. Dry Streak is set in the fictional town of Stoney Valley, Saskatchewan in 1988 but is based on playwright and grain farmer Leeann Minogue’s real-life experience of living through one of the worse droughts in modern-day prairie history that year while working on her farm in Swift Current Saskatchewan.

The plot focuses on one multi-generational farming family headed by patriarch Peter and his put-upon wife Olive, who is expected to do all the cooking, cleaning and even answering the telephone. They have three children including Denise who is married with rambunctious twin boys (never seen but always getting into trouble), Charlie, the black sheep who spurned farming in favour of a job in radio broadcasting and youngest son John who is returning from the “big city” of Calgary with his new girlfriend Kate. 

This becomes the proverbial “fish out of water” trope as the family strives to accept Kate who is a punk-rock loving, vegetarian and is not interested in marriage and knows nothing about farming or rural life. John was born and bred to be a farmer and wants to take over the farm one day. Big-hearted and ultra-sociable, Kate works hard to fit in and adapt while suffering along with the rest of the community from the stifling heat, dust and lack of rain. One day after having a few too many drinks at a bar, Kate jokes that if it would just rain already, she would run naked down Main Street. Unfortunately, her flippant remark was overheard and reported in the local newspaper and from there things spiral out of control, going national after being picked up by the CBC.

Dry Streak is a wonderful, heartwarming, feel-good story that continues to build and gain momentum until it reaches a hilarious, laugh-out-loud, and thoroughly satisfying twist ending. Structurally, this is exactly how a good play should progress. Of the three shows that we watched, this was by far our favourite and it was so great to end our first Blyth festival on a high note.