The sound of money

>> Lyric Theatre tries to battle debt with a gala

by AMY BARRATT

Lyric Theatre is 34 years old and $34,000 in debt. The only group in the city devoted solely to revivals of Broadway musicals, Lyric suffered a financial setback with last November's production of Company. They ran up against the age-old dilemma faced by professional and amateur companies alike: mollify the public with a steady diet of familiar, "safe" shows (like The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof) or try something a bit different and risk losing your audience.

"You can't do The King and I every year," says Lyric president Don Belec. "We budgeted for 20 per cent less audiences for an 'audience-building' show like Company, but that wasn't enough." Because every show that Lyric does is by definition lavish, it takes only one moderate flop to run up a debt in the tens of thousands of dollars. As Belec points out, a professional company receiving government support would be able to absorb the losses and move on. But Lyric, which gives a tremendous amount to the community (five performances in Company's three-week run were benefits), is considered ineligible for government support because of its non-professional status. That puts a lot of pressure on Lyric to produce one hit after another. And for the last nine years, with shows like The Music Man, Guys and Dolls and Evita, they did just that.

Lyric went into this season so optimistic that they planned to put on two full-scale musicals instead of one. Ironically, How to Succeed in Business... Without Really Trying was scheduled to open this week. That run had to be cancelled. But instead of crawling away with its tail between its legs, the company has put together a gala fundraiser for later this month at the Centaur.

Titled Broadway Beckons, the gala will feature excerpts from past shows, many of them performed by original cast members. "We have 80 people in rehearsal for this gala," says Belec, "and they're all donating their time. In a crisis, the good people float to the top. In a funny way, it's turned out to be a positive experience."

Theatre's up and comers

For a school that doesn't have a professional theatre program, McGill is a perpetual hotbed of theatrical activity. The McGill Drama Festival, now in its 10th year, was born out of a playwriting course offered by the English department. The course was short-lived, but the festival, a showcase of new plays written and performed by students, is still going strong. This year's instalment, which begins Monday, features six one-acts chosen from among 14 scripts submitted.

Judging by a recent preview of scenes from the plays, they cover dramatic ground from naturalism to theatre-of-the-absurd and beyond. A Passion Play by Matt Allen is a stalker story with a twist: the play begins after the wacko has shot and killed his victim and himself and they are trapped together in a Sartrian afterlife. Playwright Allen claims to have come up with the idea after hearing "Bye Bye Love" over the sound system at Mondo Frit.

Road Stories by Kevin Armstrong is about a couple of '90s hippies trying to recapture '60s counterculture by setting off across the country in a Volkswagen. Though The Board by Elizabeth Haydn-Jones starts from the premise that we play games (and how seriously we take them), it quickly reveals a great deal about our personalities. The scenario features Maggie, a Scrabble enthusiast, her boyfriend Mike, who prefers Risk, and his roommate Adam, who has an unhealthy obsession with Clue.

Dis:order by Andrew Manboard begins in a fairly ordinary way with three young guys just out of high school sitting around, drinking beer, trying to figure out what to do with their lives. But it quickly veers off into the world of '80s bands and the suicide rate among pop stars.

Ned Howey's Matryoshka Dolls are Carved From Faggots is a funny, convoluted piece about a playwright, his lover ("I'm bilingual... I can speak both gay and straight") and their best friend. The dialogue may be a bit didactic, but the cleverness makes up for it.

Finally, Jill Sweetin's Waiting for Moscow, a creative reworking of Chekhov's The Three Sisters, should be one of the festival's highlights.

Lyric Theatre's Broadway Beckons, March 18-22, Centaur Theatre, 7:30pm & 1:30pm weekend matinees. $100 for the first night, $25 for all other performances, 288-3161. McGill Drama Festival, March 9-14 & 16-21, Players' Theatre. $10 regular, $6 students. Pass for all six plays also available, 398-6813