Review by Arielle Follett
60 min / Live music, Musical / G
A quick disclaimer before I begin this review: I am a major sucker for a good musical. Now with that out of the way, let me say that the PepTides mini-musical “Love + Hate” delivered.
The musical was put on as a series of sketch-type skits with musical numbers performed during and in between. The audience was told after the show that this was the PepTides first time involving acting in their show, as they usually just stick to singing, but it never showed. They put on an incredibly entertaining show that had the audience laughing and sympathizing with the characters in all the right places. Themes such as war and disease, the origins of human nature and of course, love and hate, played out throughout the show.
The band also stole the show away, particularly the drumming by Alex Wickham. This great percussion carried the show from song to song and scene to scene. Later on, keyboardist Scott Irving stole the show, playing the role of the bartender in the final skit of the night and stealing some audience laughs.
The real stars of the show however, were the three leading ladies. Olexandra Pruchnicky, DeeDee Butters and Rebecca Noelle, with help from their incredible voices and impeccable comedic timing, brought the house down. And their retro, colourful costumes weren’t half bad either. Noelle’s beautiful bright purple bob (with matching eyebrows and tights to boot!) was a hair colour addict like me’s wet dream.
In fact, Noelle was perhaps the best part of the show. With her smooth and jazzy vocal styling, she was simply captivating. Noelle was bewitchingly seductive, staring deeply into the eyes of the other actors and audience members as she sang and danced. Her facial expressions were flawless as well. One of my favourite parts of the show was a simple moment during her skit in which an enchanting smile spread across her face as she licked her teeth and raked her eyes over the body of her scene partner.
The venue, Mercury Lounge in the heart of the ByWard Market, was used to its full potential – right down to the disco balls hanging from the ceiling. The dark venue with its red lighting was the perfect setting for the show. Every part of lounge was used. Between scenes, the actors would walk through the rows of chairs and up the stairs, snapping their fingers and singing on the way back down. Props were also used to the show’s advantage, with off-stage actors tapping away on keyboards to set the scene during an office skit most notably. A look in the background would even find Wickham pretending to sharpen his drumsticks in a pencil sharpener.
This first foray into acting for the PepTides is a definite Fringe must-see.
Love + Hate is playing at BYOV-E: Mercury Lounge (located in the ByWard Market) on Tuesday, June 24 – Thursday, June 26 (20:30) and Saturday, June 28 (14:00 and 20:30). Tickets are $10.
.gif)
