When Gordon Schwinn is whisked away to the hospital after collapsing while eating lunch with his friend, the doctor-described “trouble in his brain” is not the main source of his anxiety.
For Gordon, a frantic composer, the worst thing that could possibly befall him is the chance that he may not live to create his greatest musical work. Prior to his stay in the hospital, Gordon was working on a “spring song” about frogs for a children’s TV show — hardly his magnum opus, he insists.
This is how we begin William Finn’s A New Brain, a sung-through comedy musical semi-based on Finn’s own experience with a near-fatal stroke in 1992. With feverish but beguiling songs seamlessly bleeding into one another, we track Gordon’s journey coming to terms with a life-threatening health scare, surrounded by nurses, his overbearing mother, his sailing-loving boyfriend and the frogs that haunt his thoughts.
The Cast of A New Brain. Photo from Alex Henkelman Photography.
Directed by Bethany Papadopoulus, TotoToo Theatre’s production embodies the heart of the story with an adeptly chaotic style. Dynamic performers execute the brilliant score, and the show becomes a touching depiction of art as a remedy for all of life’s strifes.
Morgan Coughlan is frenetic and peevish as the troubled composer, but he clings to just the right amount of endearing. When we first meet Gordon, he is frustratingly banging away at his keyboard and muttering something about frogs and lily pads. Coughlan portrays petulance and self-inflicted anger for his character’s frustrations, which then dissipates to genuine worry — with sunken eyes and a quivered brow — as his time dwindles away.
His health may be deteriorating, but Gordon’s mind is as alive as ever. Eventually, Mr. Bungee (Yazen Jaouni), the director of the children’s TV show, appears to Gordon in a vision. Jaouni not-so-gracefully glides in on a tassel-decorated scooter (at my performance he wiped out on stage, but intentional or not, it was farcical and wildly in character). Decked out in a bright green suit with a glittery green bow tie and a big-eyed green hat, he’s the frog straight from Gordon’s songs and nightmares.
Yazen Jaouni as Mr. Bungee in A New Brain. Photo from Alex Henkelman Photography
Some aspects of Gordon’s hallucinations are less funny, and more confounding. When he’s in a coma, black-clothed hooded dancers flail about with large forks and spoons, as well as plates of food.
However, the majority of group numbers were decently choreographed by Papadopoulus, despite the actors occasionally dropping the odd prop or appearing slightly crowded on stage. Notably, the bouncy “Heart and Music” near the beginning of the show and the riveting “And They’re Off”, where Gordon reflects on his neglectful father in the context of horse race betting, are energetic and earnest.
The performers (especially Stefania Wheelhouse tackling notes in an upper range with ease as Gordon’s friend Rhoda) sang in glorious layers of luscious harmonies, backed by a springy orchestra headed by Sabrina Tang.
In all of its froggy, springtime haze, A New Brain ensures to shift the spotlight on Gordon’s relationships — literally. Don Douglas’s timely lighting moves warm yellow-tinged spotlights onto tender moments where Gordon is surrounded by loved ones.
Luc Cormier as Roger in A New Brain. Photo from Alex Henkelman Photography.
As Gordon’s sailor-obsessed boyfriend, Roger, Luc Cormier dons a white windbreaker and light khaki pants with swagger. His rendition of “I’d Rather Be Sailing” is wonderfully hilarious — “sex is good, but I’d rather be sailing / food is nice, but I’d rather be sailing,” he sings with a far off lovelorn gaze towards the sea.
Cormier also balances heart, when breaking down in the wake of his boyfriend’s coma to the sweet homeless person, Linda (a fine Naomi James). His portrayal is the grounded sadness to Vivian Burns’s anguished despair and panic as Mimi, Gordon’s mother.
Ultimately, however, the panic laced throughout the show is Gordon’s own, in his determination to hang on until his best artistic work can be conceived. Yet at the end of it all, he walks away with a newfound appreciation for life. Specifically, Gordon realizes the power in how heart and music can truly make a song.
TotoToo Theatre’s A New Brain is running at The Gladstone Theatre until June 22. Tickets can be purchased here.
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