With their production of the English charmer Honk!, a musical of eccentric stripe (er, feather), Grindstone Theatre reveals its true showbiz agenda.
True, the young ensemble improvises a musical from audience cues on Friday nights at the Varscona (The 11 O’Clock Number), which is virtuosity at its most improbable. But their real purpose is not to be an improv troupe with a highly challenging task but a musical theatre company. So here they are, with a welcome full-length debut, a musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of The Ugly Duckling. As the opening number goes, “for our life is good and steady ’til we’re plucked and oven-ready/ It’s a poultry tale/ of folk down on the farm….”
Mark Vetsch’s production is a gravely playful affair; this is an oxymoron that dissolves when you see the animals in actio, reacting to Mathew Bittroff’s sweetly naive Ugly. The denizens of the farmyard eschew fur suits and fake beaks in favour of amusingly judicious costume bits and props (designer: Marie Muggeridge) and sincere application to the emotions of the moment. After all, the dynamics of social exclusion and sibling rivalry, not to mention the coming-of-age ups and downs of identity and self-esteem, are nothing if not human. And the glee misfortune elicits in others … well, schadenfreude wasn’t invented by the feathered.
The story you know: the outsized egg, and its equally outsized occupant who’s a highly visible (and audible) misfit in a family of ducks (Look At Him!), mocked and taunted at every turn. Only Ugly’s mom Ida, Kayla Nickel in a lovely performance, feels affection for the oddball arrival.
The George Stiles score, tuneful ditties that range from the Cat’s vaudevillian patter song to powerhouse ballads like Different, Ugly’s self-worth anthem, positively exude musical theatre, in an amusing and spoofy way. And Anthony Drewe’s witty lyrics give even the most sentimental of numbers a certain piquancy.
The singing is variable, in truth. Bittroff is appealing as the vulnerable, surprisingly good-natured quester Ugly, and he uses a small voice with some agility. But you wouldn’t describe him as an eloquent singer by any means. Will Mitchell, as Ugly’s slacker surrogate dad Drake, goes for the gusto in a likable comic performance, but the musical aspects of the role don’t seem to be his strength.
Nickel is a wonderful singer, and brings real emotional heft to Ida, with Nicole English turning in an amusing, apt performance as Ida’s best friend Maureen. I got a big charge out of Elisa Benzer as Turkey, and then as an imperious Goose squadron leader. The comic showstopper belongs to David Johnston as the singing/dancing Cat, the sinuous and treacherous enemy of all creatures with feathers. Play With Your Food, the show’s funniest number, is his, and Johnston takes it away: “it’s a crazy little game called Lunch.”
Music director Erik Mortimer, who’s an exceptional pianist in every way, accompanies responsively from the keyboard. And Vetsch’s cast is inventive about creating animal characters with identifiable idiosyncracies. This is a sweetly knowing tale about tolerance, acceptance of differences, and parental love. And it unfolds in a variety of spirited musical theatre idioms. Take the kids. Or go anyway, and leave humming, or honking. Or purring.
Honk! runs at the PCL Studio Theatre in the ATB Financial Arts Barns through April 26. Tickets: TIX on the Square (780-420-1757, tixonthesquare.ca).
Photo credit: David Rauch
