With the federal election campaign in full swing, this musical couldn’t be timelier. I had high hopes that this show, based on Terry Fallis’ novel, would poke fun at our democratic institutions and political parties all through engaging song and dance, but I couldn’t help but feel there may have been a rush to get it on stage before the election, leaving it a bit premature.
The other reason that this show should have been much better is the creative team behind it. Benjamin Elliott and Anton Lipovetsky teamed up for the show’s music and lyrics, and I have been impressed by their work numerous times, but many of these songs fell flat. The humorous premise and performances by Andrew Wheeler and Nick Fontaine carried the show.
Wheeler previously played Stephen Harper in Proud at the Firehall, and in this production he plays Angus McLintock, the unlikely Liberal candidate for Cumberland-Prescott — a sleepy Conservative-dominated riding near Ottawa. Daniel Addison (Fontaine) is a speechwriter for the Liberals who is tasked with finding a candidate for the unwinnable riding, and when he moves in with McLintock, they make a deal that he’ll be the candidate if Addison teaches his dreaded English for Engineers course at the university.
Addison’s plans never seem to go smoothly, and what ensues is a wonderful satire of our electoral process.
One of the best scenes involves David Cameron (Gordon Roberts) giving a press conference about family values that turns into an erotic rock ‘n’ roll performance. He is later caught in bed with his campaign manager, wearing a diaper and soother while she sports a dominatrix outfit. ‘Diapergate’ was the perfect counterpoint to the recent ‘peegate’ scandal, and goes to show that this story isn’t as farfetched as we might think.
Aside from the political antics, the characters have typical personal lives. Addison is the quintessential misguided fool who almost falls back in love with the woman who cheated on him before coming to his senses. McLintock is a sensitive widower who is building a hovercraft in his spare time — all run-of-the-mill plot devices in terms of rounding out these characters and giving them material for emotional songs.
The two characters who did stand out and add something different were Kris and Qris (Steffanie Davis and Hal Wesley Rogers), two gender-neutral best friends who work on McLintock’s campaign. I also enjoyed the addition of the senate chorus who were dressed in sequined jackets and showed up to advise Addison, and of course the jabs at omnibus bills and scandals were wonderfully relevant.
For anyone who enjoys political humour, this show will be entertaining, but I have a feeling it could have been even better given a bit more time to come together.
The Best Laid Plans: a Musical is presented by Touchstone Theatre and Patrick Street Productions at the York Theatre from September 17 to October 3. For more information visit touchstonetheatre.com.
