Bremner sings: Everything in New Orelans is a Good Idea
Created by Bremner Fletcher Duthie
Produced by Big Empty Barns Productions (New Orleans, USA)
60m
Content Notes: Mature language, Adult themes
“Keep a sledgehammer in your attic!”
This isn’t just any American city. This is New Orleans. Plus, it’s much more than just the touristic version of New Orleans with Dixieland Jazz, beads and “Show us your…” This is Bremner Duthie’s New Orleans, his home. Where the locals know that “life is brief and precious” so “they sing and dance and party”.
Here, Duthie sings and tells stories to celebrate New Orleans in a local’s love letter. He describes New Orleans from different angles, trying to capture the bigger picture.
This is a brand-new work. Some of these songs are powerful. Duthie’s ode to Princess Stephanie, owner of the gay bar Mag’s, is a real barn-burner. He sings her lament that alcohol doesn’t satisfy her desire because “a man don’t come in a glass” and ends with “pour me a double, nothing but trouble, man!”
Another big number is Duthie’s celebration of the Cajun Seafood Restaurant. The Nguyens came from Vietnam in the 1970s and opened the restaurant offering a vast array of New Orleans (and Vietnamese) dishes that the locals eat on the street. This could easily be a New Orleans Tourist Bureau anthem.
One more powerful example is Duthie’s ode to the local Saint Anne’s Parade which invites everyone to don masks and amble through the Bywater, Marigny, and French Quarter districts, partaking of the fare at local bars and restaurants along the way. This celebration of life is a participatory parade, not a spectator event. Hours after it begins, it finishes at the river in a powerful moment of human emotion.
Not all Duthie’s songs have the same impact. But many of his stories do. Outsiders may find it hard to understand the resilience of the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina. So Duthie weaves a tapestry of the contributions of many ethnic groups that built New Orleans, including French, Spanish, Italians, Germans, Jews, Irish, Cajuns and Creoles.
This tale left me wanting to know more. (Always leave them wanting more!) If someone wants to know more about the history or the non-tourist side of New Orleans, Duthie’s play is a good place to start.
It’s a work in progress, a sampler of the history, diversity and atmosphere of this unique North American treasure. Even if not everything in the show appeals to you, you can still luxuriate in Duthie’s warm-as-whisky, baritone voice.
Bremner sings: Everything in New Orleans is a Good Idea is playing at ODD Box until June 24, 2023. Visit ottawafringe.com/fringe/ for the schedule and box office info. Read more reviews at https://apt613.ca/category/festival/fringe/.
