Reprint: Steven Gallagher and song and dance romance during the blackout of 2003

17 Aug 2019

Steven Gallagher (Elegies) is a fixture in the Canadian theatre scene as an actor, director and writer. His talents as a writer have been tapped for Reprint, "an imaginative triptych of short original musicals inspired by the archives at The Globe and Mail." Reprint is the first production from Launch Pad, a musical theatre residency program created by The Musical Stage Company (Dr Silver, Fun Home, Onegin, Elegies, Once on This Island, Falsettos, Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata, Ride the Cyclone) and Yonge Street Theatricals.

Gallagher's third of Reprint, titled Cygnus, is based on the headline "In the hot, muggy night of the blackout, millions were left to count the minutes," referring to the blackout of 2003. "As we were doing our research," says Gallagher, "and as I recalled that night as it happened to me, there was something mysterious and adventurous in the air. Neighbours who never spoken to each other were suddenly sharing bottles of wine in the backyard and having barbecue’s. There was a level of intimacy that happened during the blackout, that perhaps only lasted for that night. The possibility of true connection when there were no mechanical distractions was something that we wanted to explore. The show also deals with loneliness in the big city, and this was a perfect night to take a chance and make a connection."

Cygnus is, in the grand musical theatre tradition, a love story, partially drawn from Gallagher's personal experience. "The corner store was running a sale on freezies," he says, "and the whole neighborhood was out drinking and chatting. It was quite a night. Very full of life and love. I always draw inspiration from my own life, and although the characters in this play happen to be gay, finding human connection in a city of two million people is a universal problem. In our play, Cygnus the constellation represents the power of transformation. And what better time to transform than on the darkest night of the century?"

A love story requires two dynamic leads, which Cygnus has in Michael De Rose (The Wizard of Oz, Merrily We Roll Along, Grease, My Dinner with Casey Donovan) and Brandon Antonio. "They are our gorgeous couple who meet in the blackout," says Gallagher. "I’ve worked with Michael before and I adore him. He is so versatile as an actor, and anyone who has seen him flex his comic muscles in the past will be surprised, and I hope moved, by his performance in Cygnus. He is beautifully vulnerable in this show. I’ve also known Brandon for a few years and it’s such a joy to watch him coming into his own as a performer. Both men are fearless and committed to bringing the best out of the piece. I feel lucky to have such wonderful performers premiere this new work."

He also feels lucky to have great producers. "Mitchell Marcus, the artistic and managing director of Musical Stage Company, has always been a huge supporter of my career, both as an actor, and as a writer. Mitchell invited me to be part of Reprint. Every project I’ve done with Musical Stage Company has challenged me, be it as an actor or a writer. With their support, I’ve taken my career in a completely different direction, one that I would not have if it weren’t for their faith developing new Canadian musicals. Everyone at Musical Stage Company is committed to excellence and helping artists grow beyond what they thought they were capable of."

And lucky again when he was paired with the composer Anton Lipovetsky. "He is so inspiring, his talent and generosity are limitless," says Gallagher. "Since he is based in Vancouver, we have done a lot of Skype, phone, and text conversations. We had a mini-retreat in the winter where we hammered out the themes and details of what we wanted to write about, and then two workshops led by our incredible director Ann Hodges. Ann has been instrumental in helping us shape the piece as we move forward to production. Over the past few weeks, it’s been more of a daily check-in for Anton and I, does he like this new sentence, do I like this new lyric. It’s been incredibly collaborative, and we are intimately involved in each other’s work."

He has not thought about future productions of Cygnus. "Right now, we are just happy to have written a thirty-minute musical in eight months, and we can’t wait to see it on its feet. Part of the goal of Launch Pad is to match music theatre writers who might not have the opportunity to work together and see what kind of sparks might fly. I would, of course, love to work with Anton again, so that’s a success already."

He also won't dish on any competitiveness with the other two musicals Fangirl and What Goes Up. "I’m friends with the other writers of course, and I admire all of them immensely," says Gallagher. "We have not seen each other’s work yet, but we’ve heard about them all. I’m so excited to see what everyone else has come up with. I think each musical will work well on its own, they aren’t connected in any way except that we all found our prompts from The Globe and Mail."

Not only did the newspaper provide the inspiration, they are also hosting Reprint in a venue on the 17th floor of The Globe and Mail Centre. "At this point, I’ve only seen photos," says Gallagher, "I haven’t visited the venue. However, it looks amazing and I trust Ann Hodges to get whatever she needs out of the set and lighting. Since all three shows share the same space, everything must be designed to accommodate them all. Cygnus takes place outside under a starry sky, I think the backdrop of the city at night will be a pretty amazing scenic design."

Even google couldn't find The Globe and Mail's review of Bat Boy, a musical that Gallagher was in that underperformed (Toronto often doesn't understand camp). But the nasty review might also have made an intriguing inspiration for a future version of Reprint. "That show was was so much fun," says Gallagher. "Sadly, I think it just didn’t land in the way Urinetown, which I was also in, did the year before. We opened in March, the entire cast got sick in previews, the set was enormous . . .  and we never really had time to find an audience after the terrible reviews. It was a joy to be part of that show however, and I wear the reviews as a badge of honour."