L-R: Mark Gough, Christian Jeffries, Arthur Wright
Soup Can Theatre presents
Love is a Poverty You Can Sell
Featuring MJ Cyr, Jennifer Dash, Mark Gough, Christian Jeffries, Victoria Kucher, Natalie Kulesza, Hayley Preziosi, Jonathan Tan, Arthur Wright, with Ryan Anning and Scott Dermody
November 27-28, 2009 @ Bread & Circus
By Kerry Freek
When I think of the music of Kurt Weill, rarely do shining young faces come to mind. Rather, his influence conjures society’s dark underbelly: murderers, thieves, prostitutes, and other unsavory characters. Certainly not a bunch of wrinkle-free 20-somethings. Perhaps that’s one reason Soup Can Theatre’s inaugural production, a 1920s-style Berlin cabaret, seemed a little green — most performers looked a little too fresh to be singing about life’s hard knocks.
The night’s hosts, played by Ryan Anning and Scott Dermody, at first had trouble with inconsistent German accents and stilted banter, their calls and responses coming a bit too fast and seeming slightly over-rehearsed. As the show continued, however, the two (especially Dermody, who actually looked German) found their groove and worked together to great effect. Between songs, the two grew visibly more comfortable and really hammed up their back-and-forth. The gentlemen’s tiff surrounding Anning’s character’s silver-spooned background was particularly well-timed and enjoyable.
The cabaret itself had its ups and downs. Some of Weill’s best songs were butchered (pardon the wordplay) by performers singing out of range, or a tad too sharply; “The Ballad of the Soldier’s Wife” and “September Song” endured the worst treatment. Luckily, comedic duets like Chicago’s “Class” (Jennifer Dash and Hayley Preziosi) and the crowd-pleasing “Money, Money” (MJ Cyr and Victoria Kucher) from Cabaret redeemed the show (and some of the performers). Where calibre seemed a bit unbalanced, the live band provided a relieving consistency.
Standout actor-singers included Jonathan Tan (Sondheim’s “My Friends” and “A Little Priest”) and Arthur Wright (“Lost in the Stars”), who conveyed insane and lovestruck, respectively, with a good deal of flair and talent. I’d love to see Tan play a show-length Mr. Todd; his cleaver-wielding duet with Jennifer Dash’s sassy Mrs. Lovett was a highlight. Wright, on the other hand, has a very sweet voice with heartbreaking vibrato, though his performance could be improved if he’d made use of his arms.
The hands-down stars of the show were Christian Jeffries and Dermody. In the first act, Jeffries turned out a fantastic version of Street Scene’s “Lonely House,” his well-crafted crescendo complemented by controlled, appropriate staging. Near the end of the second act, he emerged in full drag for a staggering version of “Streets of Berlin” from Bent and positively wowed the crowd. After a rocky start, Dermody revealed himself quite skilled, deftly finding his way around a handful of personalities (Host, Devil, et cetera).
At the evening’s end, the full cast took the stage and delivered a decent version of “What Keeps Mankind Alive?,” encapsulating Weill’s oeuvre in the only logical manner. But while the show failed to fully grasp the essence of Weill’s dark humour and social commentary, that’s not to say it wasn’t a success. Love is a Poverty was a great start for Soup Can. If the collective builds on the stronger points of this show, the future looks bright. Keep an eye out for these guys, especially as they grow older and a little more jaded.
