THEATRE REVIEWS: TORONTO FRINGE III
7 Jul'10

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

It was Shakespeare who suggested that music might be the food of love, but for people who make theatre at the Fringe, as well as those who consume it, a musical is just another way to have a good time — or so we hope. Still, it seems there just might be entirely too much time wasted on the search for the next DROWSY CHAPERONE, when really, all we should be looking for is a bit of musical theatre that's capable of transporting us, secure in the knowledge that everything else is a bonus. Mind you, be careful what you ask for, because sometimes the place that a musical takes you might not be a place you really want to go. With that in mind, here's the lowdown on a few of the high notes at this year's Fringe Festival, and a word or two on the off-key as well.

THE DUCK WIFE, playing at the Bathurst Street Theatre: Seems the folks at Inertia Productions aren't even remotely interested in being the 'next' anything, so caught up are they with leading the pack with work like this wonderfully unconventional and innovative dance/rock/opera, based on an Inuit folk tale of a young hunter who falls in love with a duck woman  — all the swans, apparently, having been snapped up by European princes. With songs and lyrics by Justin Maxwell, edited by Ted Strauss, it's a story told largely through the music of a tight, cutting-edge rock group that calls itself Grub Animal, but it is brought to life by the choreography of Jann Doan and a wickedly subversive modern dance troupe, backed by a range of haunting effects. Sure some may call it cultural appropriation, but when it's this good, it's also a microcosm of the cultural mosaic at its best.

DIE ROTEN PUNKTE - KUNST RICK, playing at the Bathurst Street Theatre: Imagine, if you will, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH in a tight punk collaboration with HANSEL UND GRETEL , with just a touch of the Katzenjammer Kids thrown in for good measure and that will give you at least an inkling of the kind of thing going on when siblings Otto and Strid Rot take to the stage as part of what is apparently a world tour. Raised in the forest by abusive relatives after the death of their parents, they fled the familial environment at just about the same time as the Berlin Wall fell and apparently they've been making their own music ever since — music that seems awfully loud but otherwise delightfully listenable. But really, the fun here comes in piecing together the siblings' backstory from tidbits dropped during their onstage banter. Subversive, often silly, quite often profane and surprisingly touching, these two provide a delightful wake-up call for those that think that THE DROWSY CHAPERONE represents the apex of musical offerings at the Fringe.

SEVEN OF US, playing at the Bathurst Street Theatre: After the success of ALTAR BOYZ and THE LAST FIVE YEARS, producer Brian Goldenberg has succumbed to the temptation to produce his own work, teaming up with playwright Jean-Paul Yovanoff to create a new musical. Working with an extensive and seemingly talented cast, he uses his own music and lyrics to drive a story of seven young people on the cusp of adulthood, all searching for direction. But under the direction of Dayna Chernoff, the whole thing emerges as more than just a bit of a yawn — trite, banal, utterly forgettable and too often off-key. The upside, if there is one, is that he didn't decide to write a show called Twelve of Us, which one suspects, just might make one's head explode.

EVERYTHING YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT WOMEN: FOR DUMMIES, playing at the Royal St. George Auditorium: While what they've created is not a musical per se, spoken word artists Dwayne Morgan, Tomy Berwick and Leviathan Grant face many of the same challenges composers face when it comes to incorporating their work into a stage show — and frankly, this trio needs to take this idea back to the drawing board for a retro-fit. Mostly set-up, it's good fun, in a cringe-worthy sort of way, but in the end, one spends far more time thinking that this is a show by dummies rather than for dummies. Still, it's a joy to watch and hear these talented artists play with words — and happily, they more than redeem themselves in their valedictory addresses.