Upon learning Blue Champagne featured 65 songs from the 1940s, I was not really enthused to see the latest presentation from Drayton Entertainment.
No offence to the artists or tunes of that era – or those who enjoy them – it’s just not my preferred musical genre.
But I was shocked at the number of tunes I recognized and even more blown away by how much I enjoyed most of the songs. The outstanding range of the five singers – Michael Killinger, Marianne McCord, Leah Oster, Stephanie Roth and Michael Torontow – added immensely to the overall enjoyment of the music.
Killinger and Torontow are both fine talents – as best demonstrated during Hooray for Hollywood, You Make Me Feel So Young and Down Mexico Way – though they are often blown away by the three women in the production, most notably Roth and Oster.
Roth is clearly the star of the show. She carries the production vocally, and infuses it with a certain spunk and flare after several momentary lags in the action.
That said, the work of Charles Cozens on the piano alone is worth the price of admission. Cozens, also the production’s music director, is masterful and does not miss a beat despite the production’s large volume of music. He is joined by Robert Mills on the bass, who adds another dimension to the musical numbers.
Make no mistake about it – the musicians and singers in Blue Champagne are fantastic.
But the music is the be all and end all here – Blue Champagne offers very little in the form of character development and even less in terms of story telling. That could be forgiven, since the production is set as a live radio show in the 40s, but I was left wanting more.
A few humourous moments during the commercials and News segments – all performed by the same five actors – are welcome additions to the musical numbers, but are not enough of a reprieve to draw the audience into the show.
Average viewers, particularly those too young to remember a majority of the songs, may find themselves asking, on more than one occasion, “What’s the point?”
But certainly not during the war medley, which is unquestionably the strongest of the musical’s eight main parts. Here, the audience forms a heartfelt connection to the music and characters, with some remembering, and others imagining, what it was like to experience life at home and on the front lines during the Second World War.
Wish Me Luck, about soldiers going off to war, and Goin’ Home, about those lucky enough to return six years later, are the emotional bookends of the war medley, featuring particularly strong vocals by Killinger and Torontow.
The war medley is not all doom and gloom either, as Der Fuehrer’s Face – once featured in the 1943 Walt Disney Academy award winning cartoon starring Donald Duck – provides several laughs. And Roth is marvellous in They’re Either Too Young (or too old), about the dating options for young women during the war.
Director and choreographer David Connolly does a fine job of leading the players, and set designer Sean Mulcahy’s minimalist set suits the production perfectly.
Overall, Blue Champagne is a good production with a small but stellar cast. Those fortunate enough to remember some of the tunes will undoubtedly view it as a nostalgic look into their past. But for others, the lack of a story and the cramming in of a few too many songs may detract from an otherwise enjoyable experience.
Blue Champagne plays eight shows a week until Aug. 1. For tickets call the box office at 519-638-5555 or toll free at 1-888-449-4463. For more info visit draytonfestivaltheatre.com.
