Bohemian Rhapsody

>> The Wildside Festival offers a selection
of eccentric one-act plays

by AMY BARRATT

Rhapsody in Blue, the movie biopic starring Robert Alda, got it wrong: George Gershwin did not in fact drop dead of a brain tumour while playing piano in a packed concert hall. A brain tumour did kill the jazz composer at the age of 38, but the collapse happened in his home, and he died only after lying in a coma for four days.

That coma is the frame, or the setting, for Joel Fishbane’s play Rhapsody, opening tonight as part of the Wildside Festival at Centaur. Lying in bed, Gershwin is confronted by characters from his past, among them numerous mistresses whom he treated rather callously.

“There is a lot of evidence,” says Fishbane, “that in the last year of his life, Gershwin was despondent about never getting married, never settling down. He actually wrote letters to all the women he used to date asking them to marry him. No one took up the offer.”
The 25-year-old playwright, who also has a degree in history, was attracted to the tragic elements of the composer’s life.

“These days, we always hear how Gershwin is one of the greats of the 20th century, but during his life he never had the success that he has had after he died. He was popular with the public, but constantly at odds with the critics. Jazz was not considered ‘real’ music at the time.”

The play, which was titled Rhapsody in Paris when it premiered at McGill’s TNC theatre last winter, stars Fishbane as Gershwin, and the author also co-directs, with Shawn Baichoo. Four actresses—Jessica Mackenzie, Marianne Danforth, Melinda Wilson and Carrie Colak—play approximately 20 roles. Gershwin’s music also features prominently.

Born to be wild?

In addition to Rhapsody, the Wildside has picked up three shows from last year’s Fringe. Unsinkable, written and performed by Michelle Winters and Lori Delorme, is about two hopelessly nerdy high school girls obsessed with synchronized swimming. They devote all their time to perfecting their routines, in spite of the fact that they don’t have access to a pool. Sweet and funny.

Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, I Am Three is actor-cellist Karen Kaderavek’s tribute to jazz great Charles Mingus. She plays multiple roles and intersperses the action with musical selections on what was Mingus’s first instrument, before he took up the bass.

In Teaching Detroit, writer-actor Keir Cutler revives the pompous teacher character from his Teaching Shakespeare. This time, he has put his own unpublished work, Detroit, on the reading list for a course he’s teaching in the modern novel.

The fifth and final play in the series is The Wild Party, adapted from a 1929 text by Joseph Moncure March which still apparently has the power to shock. It was originally produced last summer by fledgling company La Maison.

The five one-acts are playing in repertory over the next 10 days. Tickets to individual plays are $10, or $8 reduced. If you see two shows in a row on the same night, the second admission is just $5. A festival pass covering all five shows is also available for $30. :

Rhapsody, tonight, Jan. 10, 7pm; Fri. 11, 9pm; Sat. 12, 3pm; Wed. 16, 3pm; Sat. 19, 7pm at the Centaur. Call 288-3161