>>REVIEW
MEMORIES OF HANK AND PATSY
Runs until February 17
Lunchbox Theatre
Bow Valley Square
Lunchbox Theatre has always been a literal escape, a small theatre in the centre of Calgary’s business district offering alternate reality for 50 minutes at a time. In Memories of Hank and Patsy, this escapism also offers a distinctive tinge of nostalgia for the downtown core’s baby boomer demographic. It’s also a toe-tapping retreat for those too young to remember Hank Williams and Patsy Cline firsthand but savvy enough to realize that country wasn’t always saccharine, retooled pop. Once upon a time, country music kicked ass.
Reviewing a show like Hank and Patsy is a challenge, given that its emphasis on familiar tunes and its performers’ skill makes its core virtually unassailable. While musical revues have consistently been part of Lunchbox’s seasons, shows that are essentially scaffoldings holding up a playlist don’t provide much fodder for criticism. In the case of Hank and Patsy, for one, there are two distinctive segues.
In the show’s first half, stars Marie Bottrell and Aaron Solomon offer out-of-character commentary on the lives of two of country’s greatest legends, providing context on the separation between the two singers (10 years), and even a humorous example where, because of the Grand Old Opry’s censorship, Williams was forced to hamfistedly subsitute "milk" in place of "beer." In the second half, the two address the audience in character as Hank and Patsy, headlining the Heaven Honkeytonk complete with all-white cowboy ensembles.
Whether Bottrell and Solomon’s uneasy interactions and generally rigid presence are a direct homage to the sometimes stilted style of the old time variety shows, or simply reflect early kinks in the production, these segues are hardly the main act. When it comes to the music, with songs like "Your Cheatin’ Heart," "Walking After Midnight" and "Hey Good Looking," Bottrell and Solomon have old-school charm.
Bottrell herself is an accomplished, award-winning singer who isn’t afraid to put her own stamp on the familiar Cline standbys, extending syllables with soulful cries that make these distinctive tunes her own. Solomon, too, proves himself a master of the yodel, dropping and raising octaves with a kind of country ease while sawing on his fiddle or strumming his guitar, even at one point jumping around the stage like the prototypical showman that Williams was. Backed by a band that includes co-creator Colin Steward on string bass, it’s a good ol’ time.
Memories of Hank & Patsy is a nostalgia machine, churning through a dozen songs and decades worth of country as classic as it comes. The edifice that unifies its songs may be rough, but the legacy of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline provides a 50-minute retreat that’s hosted by a pair of performers with the country chops to pull it off. |
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.