Shotgun Wedding is a ridiculously fun jukebox “mix tape” musical featuring pop R&B music from the early 1990s. It’s a site-specific performance that takes place in the Alexander Park Community Centre.
When the audience enters the room, we see that it has been set up for a birthday party; Mississauga Filipino beauty queen Veronica Mendoza’s (Belinda Corpuz) 18th debutante birthday party to be exact. After the audience is seated by Veronica’s friends – Noel, JP and Kate (Jeff Yung, Richie Guzman and Arlene Paculan) – we meet Edsel (Mickey Rodriguez).
Edsel is secretly in love with Veronica and is her escort for her debut since she hasn’t told her family about her boyfriend Jerome (Tony Ofori), presumably because they would disapprove of their relationship because he is black.
Throughout the course of the evening the plot unfolds with a series of twists and love triangles worthy of Melrose Place, all of it set to the songs of Boyz II Men, En Vogue, Bel Biv Devoe, TLC, Jodeci and other artists of the era.
I had a blast at this show. I’m a child of the 90s; it was a time before the Internet and text messaging and when pagers were more common than the big gray bricks known as cell phones and really loved all the throwbacks to that era. The ensemble cast delivers solid performances; they sing, dance and act with conviction and really work to deliver the material.
Unfortunately, a multi-purpose room in a community centre isn’t ideal space to design sound for, the actors sing unamplified and because of the orientation of the performance it is sometimes difficult to hear them, it’s a minor quibble though.
Shotgun Wedding is The Fresh Prince of Belair meets Glee (sans the Autotune), a Rock of Ages for the 90s, a multi-cultural Mamma Mia set in the suburbs of Toronto. It is filled to the brim with charm. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s just so much fun and I’ll admit I was giggling like an idiot for most of it.
Details:
Quixotic Theatre & The Carlos Bulosan Theatre proudly present
at the Toronto Fringe Festival
July 6th – July 17th 2011
Written by Leonard Cervantes
Music by Kierscey Rand
Directed and Choreographed by Catherine Hernandez
VENUE: Alexandra Park Community Centre, 105 Grange Court, Toronto ON, Near Dundas St and Spadina Ave
SHOW TIMES
July 6th –17th at 8PM
No Show on Monday
Ticket Price: Tickets are $10 at the door, $11 in advance
No refunds or exchanges. All ticket sales are final. Additional surcharges may apply
Phone: 416 966 1062
Online: http://www.fringetoronto.com/
In Person: At the Door starting at 7PM on performance nights. Cash Only.