& MUSIC MAYHEM
Theatre groups join forces for Crime Does Not Pay, Louis B. Hobson writes
It’s taken five years, three theatre companies and the sustained efforts of a dynamic creative duo, but Crime Does Not Pay is finally ready to explode onto the Arts Commons Engineered Air Theatre stage.
Forte Musical Theatre, Downstage Theatre and Hit & Myth Productions have joined forces for this original musical from Kris Demeanor and David Rhymer which is inspired by true events that are as bizarre as the pulp fiction world that spawned them.
In the 1940s, Bob Wood an aspiring comic book artist, tried to sell stories about how the common man was the pawn of corrupt corporations, law officials and politicians,
No one wanted Wood’s sob story comics.
Then he met a lounge singer with an abusive ex-husband and was introduced to society’s lurid underbelly which became the inspiration for his new Crime Does Not Pay comics filled with sex and violence.
They sold big time, but moral decency crusaders brought in laws to shut Wood down and, in a page right out of one of his comics, he ended up killing his girlfriend during a 12-day drunken bender.
“Bob Wood became one of the characters from his comic books. He ended up serving three years in prison for manslaughter. It’s a really interesting parallel of how violence can infiltrate reality,” explains Demeanor, who says it was this tragic irony that became the hook that sent him and Rhymer on their five-year odyssey to turn Wood’s story into a musical comedy.
This mix of music and mayhem worked for John Kander and Fred Ebb in their blockbuster musicals Chicago and Cabaret, so the Calgary duo are not exactly in uncharted territory.
Demeanor and Rhymer began by writing the 22 songs that make up the song sheet for their musical. Rhymer explains they “decided to create the show in stages with the songs being the first step.
“We wrote a concert version of the musical which we tried out, and then had another development session to write the book around these songs. The final step was to bring in Simon Mallett to see how the show could be staged and how to use the projections that we envisioned.”
Mallett says it was always his intention “to bring a comic book to life on stage.
“Tyler Jenkins, a local comic book artist, has created a whole bunch of original comics for us.”
Demeanor says Crime Does Not Pay is “a true musical.
“The songs are the backbone of the show. The narrative hangs on that backbone. If you were to play the songs back-to-back you would get the essence of the story we’re trying to tell.”
Rhymer agrees adding “we’re really proud that these songs are so solid they can stand on their own as a storytelling device.”
It takes seven artists including Demeanor and Rhymer to bring Bob Wood’s story to life.
Devin MacKinnon plays Bob Wood, Jamie Konchak his girlfriend Violet Page and Lennette Randall the moral crusader Elinor Flood.
Demeanor plays Mr. Crime, one of the main characters from Wood’s comics who acts as the master of ceremonies for the evening.
Demeanor, Rhymer and Mallett always envisioned that the actors would also be the show’s musicians which means MacKinnon plays guitar, Konchak bass, Randall conga and Demeanor guitar.
Also in the cast are Andre Wickenheiser (trumpet and percussion), Rhymer ( keyboard) and Selina Wong ( keyboard and percussion).
“We’re really proud that the cast is completely local. These are quadruple threat artists,” says Mallett, who is equally excited about his creative team that includes Alison Yanota ( lighting), Amelia Scott (projections), Anton de Groot (set) and Deitra Kalyn (costumes)
Crime Does Not Pay runs in the Arts Commons Engineered Air Theatre March 2 to 5 and again March 7 to 11 at 7:30 p.m. There is a 2 p.m. matinee on March 11.
For more information and advance ticket choice to to downstagetheatre.ca or fortemusical.ca