Is there a word for the crippling fear of musicals? Librettophobia, maybe? I did not realize I was afflicted by this rare condition until I was sitting through the opening number of Patrick Street Productions and Touchstone Theatre’s entertaining new adaptation of Terry Fallis’ satirical novel about Canadian politics, The Best Laid Plans, playing at The York Theatre until October 3rd. Watching groups of cheerful faces darting around in well-choreographed patterns, singing loud yet comprehensible lyrics about the importance of elections, my face started to flush and my heart tightened. I don’t know why the performers’ unabashed joy produced such fear deep inside me -maybe I thought the audience would have to join them? But after they stopped singing and the audience started wildly applauding (as they did after every song!) I calmed down and allowed myself to enjoy the spectacle, and I’m glad I did. The Best Laid Plans is way funnier than Of Mice and Men.
Its somewhat convoluted story is about Daniel Addison (a very game Nick Fontaine), the idealistic young speechwriter for the Opposition Leader. When the plays starts, Addison has a bright future in politics, with a high-status position and a relationship with political aide Rachel (Shannon Chan-Kent), who he met when they got their lanyards tangled. It all goes down when he discovers Rachel underneath his boss, the slimy campaign manager Dick Warrington (Zahf Paroo), and rest assured this production does not skimp on the Dick jokes. Trying to beat a disgusted retreat from Ottawa, Addison ends up stuck with the Liberal Party’s most undesirable task: finding someone to beat the popular Finance Minister in the (fictional) Conservative stronghold riding Cumberland-Prescott. All he needs to do is run a losing campaign and he will be free from politics. He finally lands on his landlord, the irascible Scottish professor Angus McLintock (the great Andrew Wheeler), who only agrees to run on the condition that Addison takes over his teaching position (his description of teaching English to engineers as the worst form of torture in existence hit home with at least one member of the audience); that no actual campaigning occur; and that there is no chance of him winning. Of course, Addison’s careful plan goes awry…
The musical’s cast is uniformly excellent, with Meaghan Chenosky as Daniel’s love interest Lindsay a standout vocalist. While the lyrics contain perhaps a few too many caucus puns and crowd-pleasing CBC jokes, many of the song concepts are funny and original. A number about the great Canadian novel, which inexplicably includes a bear and Lindsay’s affectionate slam poetry pisstake (“O Canada, did you know politeness was a paintbrush?”) were silly fun. I especially enjoyed the ode/parody of CanCon galas set to our nation’s greatest montage song, “Hallelujah.” When we are first introduced to the characters of Kris and Qris, gender-queers who insist on being referred to as “Zem,” I was worried they would be the basis for puerile transphobic jokes, but Zem (warmly played by Steffanie Davis and Hal Wesley Rogers) turn out to be the play’s conscience. McLintock’s solo number “The Other Side,” mourning the death of his wife, was genuinely moving, and the Conservative Minister’s hypocritical and sexually charged paean to family values was a hoot.
All that said, the adaptation from novel to musical left passages of clumsy exposition, as Addison explained where and when a scene was taking place. The character of Addison probably also worked better on the page, as his spineless passivity and flirtations with entitled “nice guy” misogyny keep him from being too sympathetic of a hero. The attempts to make comedy out of parliamentary procedures and omnibus bills lacked the energy of the election material. Beyond these issues, The Best Laid Plans takes a scattershot approach to political satire in a moment when the country needs a flamethrower. Its central insight is that the populace will fall in love with and then abandon politicians like Angus who are willing to speak difficult truths. That is of course correct, but it’s also a small idea to build a whole play around.
Even if the plot of The Best Laid Plans failed to entirely win my vote, anyone who wants to support well-made and hilarious Canadian musicals should go see it as soon as possible. Furthermore, if you want to meaningfully support Canadian arts for years to come, please please please vote out Stephen Harper on October 19th.
The Best Laid Plans runs until October 3. Tickets and showtimes here: https://thecultch.com/events/the-best-laid-plans-a-musical/