Love comes in surprising places and in surprising forms: Sky Gilbert, Steward Borden, Nathaniel Bacon and Graham Conway on
My Little Brony: The Musical

9 Apr 2024 - Photos by Ryan Russell

Pop culture Svengalis swear that the little girls know. But so do the boys say the brony subculture. A 'brony' is a "brother in ponydom," or a fanatical male fan of My Little Pony. And Sky Gilbert (Greg's Cookies, Inside, Kink Observed, Who's Afraid of Titus?, I Cook, He Does the Dishes, Sad Old Faggot, It's All Tru, The Terrible Parents, To Myself at 28, My Dinner with Casey Donovan, A Few Brittle Leaves, Dancing Queen, Hackerlove, The Situationists) is taking us deep into that mysterious tribal group with a musical tale of gay nerd lust. Assisting are Stewart Borden (Musings, Music & TRANSmeditations, The Case of the Golden Purse), Nathaniel Bacon (Shakespeare's Criminal, Saving Hope, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, My Dinner with Casey Donovan, St Francis of Millbrook, Sherlock and Watson: Behind Closed Doors, Bent, Queer Idol) and Graham Conway (The Ding Dong Girls, Peter Pan). Individually, each is incandescent but how will they function as a team? Just how deeply will they delve into the magical psycho-sexual obsessive world of bronies and ponies? Just how sexy and fun will My Little Brony:The Musical be? We decided to find out by quizzing all four bronies-in-training.

Drew Rowsome: What is your role in creating My Little Brony: The Musical?

Sky Gilbert: Writer/director/producer

Stewart Borden: Composer and musical director

Nathaniel Bacon: I play Maximillian Traumgorge a computer programmer

Graham Conway: I play Cecil Lightly an aspiring animator

Had you heard of bronies before this?

Sky Gilbert: Yes I have a friend who is involved with the cartoon and so I heard a lot about them, and I was pointed to the documentary about bronies, Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony on YouTube, which is very informative. That was several years ago

Stewart Borden: No

Nathaniel Bacon: Actually, no. I'd heard the term but had no idea what it meant. This has been a very fascinating learning experience

Graham Conway: I'd been vaguely aware of the brony fandom/phenomenon, but one thing that continues to shock and delight me as word spreads about the show is how many bronies have been in my orbit this whole time. A friend of a friend, my roommate's brother, etc. Fans of the show just keep appearing out of the woodwork

What was the favourite toy or collectible you obsessed over in your childhood or youth?

Sky Gilbert: I'm very old, we didn’t do collectables in 1952 as there were no megacorpations brainwashing children . . .sorry to get political. I think a dog named Snoopy — so maybe I was brainwashed by Peanuts

Stewart Borden: A Batcar that had a moving flame out the back

Nathaniel Bacon: I had a plastic elasmosaurus that I took everywhere. I wanted to be a paleontologist as a kid

Graham Conway: I am absolutely a Pokemon millennial

How did it make you feel at the time? 

Sky Gilbert: Comfy

Stewart Borden: Made me sing the theme song, nanananananananananana-batman!

Nathaniel Bacon: Excited, I suppose. I've always had a powerful imagination and I could spend hours running around, pretending I was in prehistoric times

Graham Conway: When I was about seven I received my very first Gameboy (along with a copy of "Pokemon Red") for Christmas and I will never forget that feeling of sheer, ecstatic delight that Santa had been so good to me. I don't think I emerged from my bedroom for two weeks. That was one of the happiest moments of my childhood. Without a doubt

What did it mean to you in hindsight?

Sky Gilbert: I had to give my actual dog named Snoopy away because I was allergic to dogs, so I guess the stuffed animal was a poor substitute

Stewart Borden: I was attracted to superheroes in tight fitting suits

Nathaniel Bacon: I guess it gave me access to a safe place in my mind, where I could be whatever I wanted. And it helped me build some of the skills I now use as an actor

Graham Conway: The beginning of my dopaminergic screen addiction? Pokemon was ubiquitous in the schoolyard and a constant source of delight, competition, fascination, and social connectivity. Oddly enough, sometimes Pokemon still show up in my dreams. It's a happy place I can escape to, I guess. During the initial devastation and trauma of Covid, I totally regressed and descended into a Pokemon binge for several days

Was there a toy labeled as for girls that you coveted? Why? Did you eventually get one?

Sky Gilbert: Barbie! used to knit clothes for my sister’s Barbie. I knitted her a muff

Stewart Borden: An Easy Bake Oven. I never got one

Nathaniel Bacon: I watched Care Bears as a kid and loved Cheer Bear. I remember some people warning my mother not to buy me a pink bear with a rainbow on it. But she didn't care and got me the one I wanted

Graham Conway: Not a toy per se, but as a child I was seized by a violent obsession with the Spice Girls from the moment I laid eyes on them. Because I'm a homosexual

Which My Little Pony character is your favourite and why?

Sky Gilbert: I'm afraid I don’t have one

Stewart Borden: I never watched the actual cartoon

Nathaniel Bacon: Grandma Figgy. Elley Ray Hennessy voices her. She's one of my favorite actors and she just gives the character an incredible amount of humour, sweetness and personality

Graham Conway: So far I'd say my favourites are probably Rarity and Fluttershy. I'm also a hardcore Derpy stan

Why is a toy or collectable of a cowboy’s horse, Johnny Quest not Barbie, more acceptable for boys than a My Little Pony horse?

Sky Gilbert: Because boys are supposed to be masculine. These days, if you are not, there are serious suggestions that the child should question their gender

Stewart Borden: A horse is not the same thing as a pony. See act 1 of My Little Brony: The Musical. 

Why is the idea of two nerds having sex so erotic?

Sky Gilbert: Because it’s Nathaniel and Graham, both of whom are sex gods

Nathaniel Bacon: I think it's just the idea of unleashed repression. "Nerds" are traditionally desexualized in media. But people with real life experience know they have the same primal desires as everyone else, just hidden in a more mysterious way

Graham Conway: The limit does not exist

Is it fun watching Graham and Nathaniel play against type being nerds?

Sky Gilbert: Actually I think they are both secret nerds but don’t tell them I said that

Stewart Borden: They are very funny to watch as they work out their relationship

I’m a particular fan of Sky’s musical productions, so I’m particularly excited about this. How would you describe the musical style that Stewart has come up with?

Sky Gilbert: You will go out singing the songs

Stewart Borden: Sky said make it “Broadwayish,” so I tried for a different style in each song, as well as speed and rhythm

Nathaniel Bacon: The music is very memorable, full of hooks and great melodies. There's a palpable energy and a sense of fun

Graham Conway: Stewart is brilliant and has blown us all away with his musical genius at every step of the process. His creative talent is surpassed only by his kindness and humility. He's an absolute treasure and the world is a better, richer (and catchier!) place with him in it. Musically My Little Brony: The Musical is all over the map. Personally, I hear influences spanning the golden age musical theatre songbook to contemporary with a dash of Gilbert & Sullivan and a dump truck of Camp 

How does it relate/compare to the upbeat My Little Pony theme song?

Sky Gilbert: Our music is somewhat old fashioned. In a good way. Intentionally so

Stewart Borden: The songs are a little less cartoony than the My Little Pony theme, though we sneak one bar of that song into the show

Nathaniel Bacon: There are shades of that song and it's style in moments, but Stewart is incredible and has really done his own thing here

Graham Conway: You'll have to come see and find out

Compare to the work of Cole Porter?

Sky Gilbert: A couple of the songs from a lyrical, ie: my, point of view are my own failed homage to the master

Graham Conway: Porter wishes

Sondheim?

Sky Gilbert: Oh dear, I couldn’t possibly be as conceited as he was, so I won’t even try. Don’t hate me, I mean I love Sondheim too, but he became a fucking Saint of the Musical as he got older

Graham Conway: Sond-who?

Jerry Herman?

Sky Gilbert: Again, bow down at the feet of the master

Graham Conway: Good bye, Dolly

Lin-Manuel Miranda?

Sky Gilbert: Miranda as far as I can tell is completely modern and with it. This musical is old style like South Pacific

Graham Conway: En-CAN'T-o!

Stewart Borden: I’m flattered that you would ask for a comparison with Cole Porter etcetera, but I don’t think we’re quite at that level. Yet

Nathaniel Bacon: I will say there's a sense of whimsy reminiscent of Cole Porter in my opinion, but also more of a modern energy to the songs like Lin-Manuel Miranda's work

Does Sky’s parallel career as a poet give him an extra facility with lyrics?

Sky Gilbert: My god no. I find it very difficult to write lyrics as the boys will attest

Stewart Borden: Yes, we had to make surprisingly few changes to make it all fit with the rhythm of the music

Nathaniel Bacon: Yes. They come very naturally to him. And they're still written in the voices of the characters, even while singing, which I appreciate

Graham Conway: Why is a raven like a writing desk? I'll also share that the disillusioned teen who's still very much alive within me always relishes the opportunity to be a part of the crew Ms Sky Gilbert assembles. Sky is an imperfect human (don't tell her I told you) who makes imperfect art. Sky's plays, novels, operas, and blog posts are inflammatory, passionate, bold, uncomfortable, challenging, wildly funny, deeply moving, sexual, political, pissy, punk, problematic, entertaining, vital, and profound. I grow as an artist and as a person every time that I grapple with a Sky Gilbert piece. He is a hero and a mentor of mine, who I am now lucky enough to call my friend. I love him and I am fiercely proud to be a tiny part of his legacy in Canada's queer community. The cranky old bitch

The Epochal Imp is a great space and part of the theatrical blossoming of the East End which has just finished hosting two hit musicals. How does My Little Brony: The Musical fit into this new off-Broadway off Broadview?

Sky Gilbert: The East End is where it’s at — Coalmine, Crow’s, Red Sandcastle, Videocab and the Epochal Imp

Nathaniel Bacon: Sky wrote the play specifically for this place and we blocked it with the layout in mind. It's a very intimate, inviting space. The audience is all around you, so it's incredibly immersive

Graham Conway: The more the merrier! I'm an east-ender myself, so selfishly I only wish for the continued growth and flourishing of arts, culture, and live performance in my neck of the woods

Which number is your personal favourite and why?

Sky Gilbert: I'm afraid I think that in “Lost In Cheektowaga' Stewart and I suddenly became Gilbert and Sullivan or maybe Rogers and Hammerstein by some sort of freak accident.

Stewart Borden: “Algorithms” because it is upbeat and catchy. “Cheektowaga” because it’s funny and builds in suspense. “Best Pals Forever” because it’s a great duet. “Prism Bashful” because it’s softer and melodic. And “Bronies” because everything finally comes together with the last chord of this song

Nathaniel Bacon: Our closing song is my favorite. It's just very satisfying and leads to a beautiful ending

Graham Conway: They're all sincerely too fabulous to pick just one. It's a guarantee that you'll be humming a couple of them for days afterwards

The mythology of the brony world is daunting. How much research did you have to do? What fact was the most surprising?

Sky Gilbert: It was mainly the documentary and meeting the bronies face to face for me

Stewart Borden: Left that all to Sky

Nathaniel Bacon: We watched episodes and did quite a lot of research. Graham did an incredible amount of work in that area. He's very thorough and detail oriented. The story of Derpy was the most interesting for me. It was quite a controversy and fascinating story to dive into

Graham Conway: So far I've sampled episodes from multiple seasons of the undeniably fantastic 2010 "Friendship Is Magic" series and watched the phenomenal 2012 bronies documentary. I confess that I was actually quite trepidatious to begin researching My Little Pony because of my own ignorance and judgments around the subculture. Today I'm delighted to admit that I was totally wrong. My Little Pony is not only a towering artistic achievement in television for young audiences, but its continued impact and resonance among grownups of every stripe and gender identity—especially men—is proof positive that there's clearly something deeply meaningful here for everypony. As a very wise character remarks in our show, the expression of our vulnerability and messy, tender emotions is "the kind of activity that would bring a solution to most global quandaries if the powers that be would just try it." Friendship, and love, really are magic

What fan convention, aside from Bronycon, have you been to?

Sky Gilbert: I have never, it all scares me

Stewart Borden: None

Nathaniel Bacon: I'm a horror nerd and have gone to Fanexpo here in Toronto since I was about 10. It's a really special experience when you're part of a niche community and get to meet other members of your fandom

Graham Conway: I'm a music festival fanatic

The stated theme of My Little Pony is that “Friendship is Magic.” What would the one sentence summation of My Little Brony: The Musical be? 

Sky Gilbert: Plays and books and poems and movies and musicals — if they are art — have no discernible meaning. They come from the artist’s subconscious and are entertaining. I happened to meet a couple of real live bronies and had dinner with them in November. Their tragic little lives inspired me— I was telling everyone about them— so I just had to write a play. Message art is boring. It’s why no one is going to the theatre anymore in Toronto and theatres are closing in droves. We must rediscover art. Not preaching. Not politics! Art!

Stewart Borden: Bronies: More than Friendship

Nathaniel Bacon: Love comes in surprising places and in surprising forms.

Graham Conway: "There are some things you can't do wearing glasses"