The waiting is over. The world-wide musical sensation Ride the Cyclone opens at Church Hill Theatre on November 8, for only nine performances. Tickets started selling in August, so be sure to make your own reservations immediately. Ride the Cyclone, with music, lyrics and book by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell has been called “…the most uproarious and outrageous piece of musical theatre Canada has ever produced.” Since its premiere in 2008, this musical about doomed students from Uranium City, Saskatchewan, has become that rarity: a viral teen favorite that appeals to all generations. That is thanks to a timeless plot of loss and redemption—and to the memorable music.
Ride the Cyclone is introduced by Karnak (Howard Mesick), a mechanical fortune teller with the macabre ability to foretell when people will die. Unable to warn students in the St. Cassian Chamber Choir about an impending accident on a fair midway, Karnak arranges a game of life and death, pitting the teens against each other. Karnak also predicts that “the one who wants to win it the most shall redeem the loser in order to complete the whole.” Confusing, right?
The first contestant is Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg (Saige Wilson), a supremely self-confident school leader. She convincingly argues that as the most likely to succeed, she is the most worthy of continued life. Karnak seems less impressed with her song, “What the World Needs.”
Next up is Noel Gruber (Connor Christopher), who, while dishing out orders at Taco Bell, dreams of being a flamboyant French prostitute. Believing himself the only gay boy in Uranium City, Noel emulates Edith Piaf or Marlene Dietrich in the tear-jerker “Noel’s Lament.”
The third competitor is Mischa Bachinski (JW Ruth), adopted by a Canadian family after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Instead of the toddler they expected, Mischa arrived a troubled teen and they never bonded. To cope, he projects a gangsta rap image to cover up an acute longing for his old home. His hip-hop performance transitions into the love ballad “Talia.” Although not a contestant, Mischa’s lost love Talia (Chloe Bennett) makes a poignant appearance.
Mischa is followed by Ricky Potts (Ian Stotts), who despite becoming mute and unable to walk after a mysterious illness, is a member of the choir. In compensation for his disability, he has a fully formed fantasy life that features “sexy cat women” from a far-off galaxy. In “Space Age Bachelor Man,” we meet an entirely different Ricky.
The fifth contestant (Maya McGrory) is nameless because of the severity of her injuries. Known only as Jane Doe, her spirit has no memory of a past life. Her hauntingly beautiful “The Ballad of Jane Doe,” is the most memorable song in the whole show.
The final competitor is Constance Blackwood (Natalie Stinchcomb), Ocean’s side-kick and maybe the nicest girl in town. But Constance’s cheerful exterior hides self-loathing and self-harm. Only the roller coaster accident convinced her that living is “goddamn wonderful,” as she expresses in her song, “Jawbreaker/Sugar Cloud.”
Naturally, Karnak then changes the rules of the game, and it gets more exciting before we learn who wins.
Director Kat Melton has put the orchestra in the balcony and incorporated amazing video projections to transform CHT’s Art Deco jewel box theatre into the carnival ambience of a second-rate traveling amusement park. Ride the Cyclone will open on Friday, November 8, and run through Sunday, November 24, with performances at 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 pm on Sundays. More information and tickets on the website: churchhilltheatre.org
