Full cast of RIDE THE CYCLONE
Produced by Atomic Vaudeville.
Presented by Theatre Passe Muraille
RIDE THE CYLCONE is a blast.
It’s a total blending of a hugely creative story, an interesting mix of musical genres, lyrics that dazzle with their wit and irony, and a strong cast that can do everything from sing, dance and act.
The show is produced by Atomic Vaudeville, an accomplished theatre company from Victoria, BC.—not a place one thinks of as the home of such a wildly creative group. We better pay attention from now on.
The story is about six young teenagers, all of whom sang in the high school choir and all of whom died one day when an amusement park ride named the Cyclone, malfunctioned.
The narrator of the story is the fortune telling machine at the amusement park. The machine’s claim to fame is that it can foretell when a person is going to die. In a monotone but droll delivery, the machine introduces each teen who then tells us about him/herself. The teen sings, dances, and tells us what’s going on in his/her world.
One teen had it particularly hard because she was decapitated in the accident and no one can actually say who she is. She’s called Jane Doe. There is the overachieving but unhappy Ocean Rosenberg; the oversexed Misha Bachinsky from Ukraine; Constance Blackwood, overweight, outwardly sweet and shy but inwardly raging and angry; Ricky Potts, slight build who dreams of being a rocket man of sorts; and Noel Gruber, gay and sophisticated.
The music is an eclectic mix of genres from hip hop to pop, rock, almost opera and funk, to name a few. Each song expresses the inner most thoughts of the teenager(s) singing them. And each song is hilarious in its own way.
The writing reveals a sharp wit; an inventive way of creating the story and an off balanced way of looking at the characters.
Jacob Richmond is a multi-talented creator. He co-created Atomic Vaudeville in 2004 with Britt Small; wrote the book of RIDE THE CYCLONE; co-wrote the music and lyrics; and co-directed the show with Britt Small.
The direction is clean, focused, clear and uses the stage to great advantage. The cast is exemplary. They all seem to have trained singing voices, many are exceptional; they all dance with style; and they all know how to keep that level of seriousness so important in comedy.
The result is a raucous, lively, tongue-in-cheek hilarious show. I want to see more of Atomic Vaudeville and I want to see it soon.
RIDE THE CYCLONE plays at Theatre Passe Muraille until December 3.