So…to be perfectly honest…there may be some bias in this article. Drury Lane’s Music Hall is full of old friends… and my wife, Sheila Flis, who, by the way, is fabulous.
And so are many others.
Music Hall’s sub-title this year is No Tunes like Show Tunes, and it follows a traditional Drury Lane format. Each act is framed by two medleys, the last of which is virtually the same every year: the Pearly Kings and Queens, in which actors dress in old English Music Hall inspired costumes of black suits covered with buttons to resemble pearls.
The other medleys fit in with the overall theme of Show Tunes and consist of mostly newer Broadway show tunes, television theme songs and new Disney shows. Between opening and closing medleys are various songs and skits.
Newly-installed video screens on either side of the stage feature the names of Broadway musicals to help the audience contextualize the songs being sung.
Here’s something I didn’t quite care for: the chairman no longer stands behind a podium on stage left. Instead they roll out a box office construction that resembles a lemonade stand, and the chairman is dressed as an usher or ticket-taker.
It fit the overall theme of the theatre, but regulars will miss certain elements of the traditional dignified tuxedo-clad chairman.
To begin, the big set design of Music Hall is attractive and interesting, and reminiscent of the girders of NY City buildings and simultaneously of NYC’s Broadway theatres, with archways and curtains which give depth to the stage. The stage maintains its basic configuration throughout the show, but it is refreshed with video images on a large cyclorama screen upstage and the two aforementioned screens on either side of the stage.
The back ‘cyc’ was used well for lighting purposes, but could have given more background pictures to certain skits and songs.
This year’s version of Music Hall is directed by Danny Harvey, his second Music Hall, and its music is directed by Donna Dunn-Albert, who has been with Music Hall for at least 15 years.
The show was compiled by Carrie Mines, who is also in the show and who also wrote the crowd favourite If I Were Not Upon the Stage, which the audience ate up. Carol and Rick Mackenzie acted as the producers, so often unsung heroes of shows, especially extravaganzas like Music Hall. It would be a shame not to mention that there are countless volunteer technicians and stage hands and assistants who make this job complete.
It seems that shows pre-Covid and immediately after the worst of the pandemic had trouble drawing enough talent, at least the male actors, but that problem has disappeared. Recent productions have brought several new faces to Drury productions – and some older ones – and the stage is full of actor/singers, although sometimes too full. There are moments in medleys that feature all players when the stage is crowded and even the best of choreography can’t stop them from getting in each other’s way.
The choreography is fun and inspired, but it’s best when the whole cast is not onstage, or when choreographer Aislynn Curran features one group downstage doing most of the movement while those upstage support with less complex movement. At those times when everyone is moving about, the larger than usual cast causes traffic jams onstage and some awkward bumping in the night, as it were. There are difficulties maintaining a balance across the stage when there is a line-up of all actors, something which no doubt will be resolved in future shows.
Among the more experienced players is Michael Belton as Mister Chairman/Usher of the Theatre, who introduces numbers and tells mostly bad jokes to fill time between numbers. The rest of the men have varying levels of experience doing Music Hall: the welcome return of young, talented Aaron Clause, veteran Bill Everett doing his third Music Hall after playing leads on the Drury Lane stage for many years up to the early 2000s, Don Montgomery and Greg Porter returning for their third and second Music Halls, and relative but not so young newcomer Leopold Koff. Bill Everett has a terrific solo from Jekyll and Hyde, and Greg Porter has some great featured moments, especially the drag version of You Gotta Have a Gimmick, from Gypsy, which also featured Montgomery and Everett.
The ladies dominate the show, and their dazzling moments are too numerous to mention. Among the ladies, May Farquhar, Carrie Mines and Sheila Flis, who have each done Music Hall for 20 years plus, shine throughout the show, as do all the ladies. Margaret Moir and Melody Rasmussen round out the ladies who have more extensive experience and they are joined by newcomers Dania Thurman, Victoria Rusin and Heather Hooper, all beautiful, captivating singers who make all the ladies the dominant, attractive powerhouse of the show. Together, with the men, they form a strong chorus…although sound levels are too loud at times when all are in full voice, a technical problem which will no doubt be resolved in coming days. It’s said by players of Music Hall that the performers have the most fun, and looking at the enthusiasm of the ladies, I can attest that the rumour must be true. The Ladies’ medley, a group of songs from Waitress, was nicely costumed and choreographed, and these songs, though new to the vast majority of the audience, were so well-performed, we couldn’t help but be impressed.
Audience members who know Michael Belton were amused by his antic moments, but his plodding delivery of weak jokes in Act I, as he lounges in his newly designed box office lemonade stand, tend to slow proceedings down. Thankfully, Belton saved both of his good jokes for Act II, and there were fewer moments when he was needed to tell long jokes while performers readied themselves for the next number. By Act II, the show moves through its paces far more quickly, and the audience barely has time to catch its breath.
The audience was excited most by songs in medleys with which they were familiar, most notably the more famous songs from a Godspell medley, ‘Can You Hear the People Sing?’ from the opening medley, and the entire television theme song medley to close Act I got the audience excited about returning for Act II.
But in some medleys, there were too few familiar songs, and in one case, the Disney medley, the director inexplicably turned A Whole New World into a joke rather than let the beautiful chorus help us feel the heartfelt words of the song. Perhaps there was some hidden irony – lost on me – but the direction seemed to call for the players to act silly: they were intentionally bumping into each other.
It was nice that lesser known duets or solos featured the name of the play from which they were taken, but at times, I wondered why a lesser known song from a musical was chosen over numbers which have become popular because they’re better songs. I suppose musical afficionados were excited by the inclusion of a song from Dear Evan Hansen, for example, but I wondered how many audience members knew the reference.
Yet, all in all, despite some glitches and my personal opinion of some numbers, this show is vastly entertaining and featured many moments of fun and great music. Several skits are highly comedic.
Consider the criticisms “IMO” and go be entertained for a couple of hours by some very talented local actors and singers. You’re bound to enjoy yourself.
Music Hall continues every weekend, with Sunday matinees which sell quickly, through March 17.
Tickets can be purchased by leaving a message with the Box Office at 905-637-3979 or directly online at drurylane.ca.
