MUSICAL ENGAGING, EMOTIONAL JOURNEY
Us tackles LGBTQ issues with humour, gravitas
Life in general can be perplexing but for youngsters trying to come to terms with living outside societal norms, life can be extremely difficult and complicated.
When it comes to the LGBTQ community, society has evolved in a positive manner yet has still fallen short of perfection. The struggles and challenges of those walking that path are the focus of Us, the latest main stage production of Globe Theatre.
Written by Kelley Jo Burke with music by Jeffery Straker, Us is a musical about people finding their identity, having the courage to embrace it and discovering that when others are in their corner, they can do anything.
Inspired by Camp fYrefly, a leadership retreat in Saskatchewan for LGBTQ youth, Us focuses on a group of campers at Camp Us, where they now find themselves in the majority, as opposed to every day society where they are the minority.
Does Us have all the answers for the LGBTQ youth battling to find their identities?
Of course not. In her program notes, director Valerie Ann Pearson stated, “Us doesn’t pretend to solve any issues or provide any answers to questions of identity, but rather explores in a humorous, musically engaging and emotionally engaging way a group of folks who are as diverse as their stories.”
Thursday’s performance was the world premiere of Us, which on Oct. 29 received the Stage West Pechet Musical Award from the Playwrights Guild of Canada as the best new theatre production in development for 2017
When the musical opens, a camp counsellor describes Camp Us as being “like a summer camp in heaven.” The chorus of the opening song shares the joy the campers feel about being in the Camp Us environment:
“Always the odd one out,
Odd one out is me,
Always the odd one out,
Here that won’t be.”
The camp strives for inclusion for all, asking that the campers arrive not as a person with individual problems but rather as part of a team for a few short days in paradise.
The theme of helping each other out is a constant throughout the production. While the positive reinforcement does help bring the individual stories to fruition, Burke was wise enough to not make the musical nothing but sunshine and roses.
Burke’s characters deal with intense issues and using overly optimistic songs and dialogue would have been a serious insult to them. Instead Burke chose to stay true to the characters and the battles they were fighting.
While the show started off a little slow, its momentum picked up nicely throughout the first act and prepared the audience for the emotionally heavy second act.
Burke’s script was matched wonderfully by Straker’s music. The Regina singer/songwriter penned 17 songs which were the lifeblood of the show.
The diversity of the songs was truly impressive, from light and fluffy dance tunes to emotional ballads that revealed the darkest fears of the characters.
The seven characters in the production were shared among four actors. David Light played Carley, a transgender woman for the entire play while Daniel Fong, Angela Kemp and Kaitlyn Semple had two roles each.
The actors also faced the additional challenges of singing, dancing and delivering comedic material. That’s a tall order for any performer, but the cast was certainly up to the challenge.
The quality of the vocals matched the quality of Straker’s material. Whether it was singing solo or harmonizing or powering through a song as a group, the actors delivered in fine form.
As for the comedy, the cast was on point and got many guffaws from the audience. Fong, as the slick camp counsellor Damon, had a plethora of great material to work with and milked laughs from all of it.
In addition to Pearson, who is the director and musical director, the creative team is comprised of Johanna Bundon (choreographer), Wes D. Pearce (set and costume design), Wendy (Greenwood) Lundgren (lighting designer), Jeremy Sauer (sound designer), Nathan Coppens (assistant director), Kenilee Kehler (stage manager), Alana Freistadt (assistant stage manager) and Craig Salkeld (performance pianist).
Us runs through March 18.