Last year’s Pick of the Fringe and this year’s Ovation Award for Outstanding Production, Small Theatre, is back! Sad Mag contributor Melanie Shim gets the inside scoop on what this year’s production is all about.

My first Archie-related memories involve visits to the dentist. My dentist is still low-tech and instead of a television, her office has an array of magazines and Archie comic books that you can peruse as you wait. But, I promise you that Riverview High: The Musical, which is based on those very same comic books, is like a palate cleanser to any uncomfortable memories of your dentist picking and prodding your teeth.

Riverview High employs the premise of a common Archie scenario – boy meets two girls, boy asks both girls out to prom, girls find out and demand that boy chooses between the two. Throw in a few song-and-dance numbers and you basically have a perfect Archie-inspired musical.

Returning to the Firehall Arts Centre for a two-and-a-half-week run in August, Riverview High is high-energy, nostalgia-driven and fun, fun, fun. Set in 1996, the familiar story centres around our protagonist, Alex, played by Erik Gow, who is stuck in a love triangle and must choose between girl-next-door Cathy (Alex Gullason) and sophisticated Erica (Ranae Miller). Seeking help with his high school dilemma, Alex enlists his girl-hating, hot-dog-loving best friend Parker (Cameron Dunster), who is wrapped up in his own girl problems since Esther (Michelle Bardach) just can’t take no for an answer. Alex needs to make a decision fast because the girls’ other suitors, Randy (Lucas Blaney) and Dexter (Caleb Di Pomponio) are vying for their affections too.

“When Angela [Wong, author of the musical’s book] and I first starting talking about writing a musical, we knew that we wanted to write something fun,” says Stewart Yu, composer, lyricist and music director. “The idea of taking familiar characters and putting a fresh twist on it really appealed to us, so we took inspiration from things we grew up with, like the Archie Comics, Saved By The Bell and California Dreams. In some sense, our show is in the vein of Avenue Q and Wicked—both of which play on familiar stories and surprise you with what they have done with the characters.”

Boasting the Pick of the Fringe in 2012 and six Ovation Awards in 2013 (including Outstanding Production, Small Theatre), Riverview High promises an hour and a half of smiles and laughter, choreographed dance sequences and original songs. While the Riverview High gang will be putting on the same show, there are exciting changes to this production from its run last year during the Fringe Festival.

Yu explains, “Yes, there are definitely some new things happening this year. The Fringe run was an incredible learning experience for us. Riverview High was the first musical we had ever written, so we learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t during the Fringe run. Thankfully, the majority of the show was very strong—we knew we were on the right track with the extremely positive feedback about the show. There were just a couple of story arcs that needed fleshing out and some tweaking that we wanted to do. After working on the show again, we have a couple of script changes and new songs to share with you!”

While Archie and the gang are sometimes considered flat and unchanging characters, the creators of  Riverview High crafts real people in real situations and offers a new perspective on the Archie universe. This is why Yu thought Archie would be great source material for a musical. He says, “It’s a story about a clueless teenager who is forced to grow up, whether he’s ready for it or not. It’s a story about love, and whether or not you have the guts to follow your heart…I think the reason why Riverview High has held people’s attention is because we start off with these fairly one-dimensional archetypes and turn them into real characters that you can relate to.”

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Riverview High: The Musical is social! Check them out all over the interwebs at their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube

Riverview High: The Musical

Created by Angela Wong (book), Stewart Yu (music/lyrics, music director) and Mike Mackenzie (lyrics, director)

Firehall Arts Centre

280 East Cordova Street

August 7 – 24, 2013
Wednesday to Friday 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sundays 3:00 p.m.

Buy tickets online or by call the Box Office at 604-689-0926