Often when I see original musicals, especially those in Fringe Festivals and early in their development, the music is the most promising aspect of the show, but often the characters are the equivalent of cardboard or the dialogue is rocky or the plot is thin as Tommy Tune. Sirens: The Musical, now playing at the Atlantic Fringe Festival is a strange and fascinating exception to this rule.
Sirens: The Musical has two strong, quirky, compelling and unique protagonists, female police officers in New York City. It has snappy, witty dialogue that usually complements its strong and vibrant protagonists. Sirens: The Musical actually has the makings of what could grow to become a really interesting play. I did wonder why when the husband comes to report his wife missing that the two officers don’t consider the possibility that she has been kidnapped and I also wondered why, of all the possibilities a missing wife presented, that the writers Stephanie Johns, Allison Saunders and Tara Thorne picked such a simplistic and anticlimactic journey for their powerful protagonists.
As a musical at the moment Sirens is playing as an unintentionally campy Fringe show whose performers have embraced its campiness. So, in this way, the show is absolutely entertaining for its audiences. Yet, Sirens still falls in the wonky middle ground between being an overt, flamboyant, deliberate, postmodern musical pastiche and being a sincere book musical.
The music for this show has not found its distinctive sound yet and its lyrics, especially the rhymes, could benefit from being tightened up. Also the transitions into the songs are bumpy and the characters tend to lose themselves in them rather than the act of singing enhancing or solidifying their personalities or driving the plot forward.
Sirens: The Musical seems to be still very early in its development, but I think that this team has a lot of interesting material and great potential to work with.
Sirens: The Musical plays at the Living Room (2353 Agricola Street) at the following times. It is $7.00
Sunday September 4th, 7:00pm
Friday September 9th, 7:00pm
Saturday September 10th, 7:00pm
Sunday September 11th, 2:00pm
To book advanced tickets please visit Neptune Theatre’s Box Office, 1593 Argyle Street or call 902.429.7070 or visit www.atlanticfringe.ca.
Same Day Sales are available at the venue (Neptune Studio Theatre) From 1 Hour Before the First Show of the Day.
