The Muse Wanders

The cat inspires me on a daily basis, but not as much as Mikey, seen supine here on the bed. I've painted him a few times now. He's my sweetheart, my room mate, a fellow artist in a different field... and I think he's cute.

I'm more or less writing about him, and a friend of ours who is also in the Evil Dead the Musical cast. Everyone involved in the show is part of this little write-up by extension, but since these are the two I know best, and also the only two I ended up photographing, they will be the focus.

I took the photo after the show, so they're both back in their civies. Chris, who plays the lead, Ash, in the show, has still got a face full of blood, so you can imagine how their clothes look by the end of the performance.

You're going to have to go see the show yourself for much further detail. I'm writing today not to spoil the production, but instead to talk about how interconnected the arts are.

Case study Mikey:

We met on the stage of Belleville-ville, as painted in the first image above. We were both in character, and didn't get to meet until after the show. At that time, I'd taken several improv classes several years before, but had never really been involved in a show. He'd also gone to Second City many years prior, but this was the first regular gig.

We were both still in the very very early stages of our arts careers, and neither of us had completed university studies for it. He had a long job history of insurance, and night club management, and I had experience in a variety of odd jobs in the service industry, and child care. We were largely self-taught in our art fields.

So we moved in together very quickly, and had to find clever ways to make ends meet when our respective arts careers were failing to be lucrative. He makes frames and other carpentry projects on the side. I help with that.

I learned very quickly that Mikey is a socialite. He's an adept people-person, which makes it very easy for him to network and make friends. One day, on the background of a TV film set, he met our buddy Chris.

Chris is a dadaist comedian, a physical comedy savant, and a mensch. Because of meeting Mikey, he and I ended up making acquaintances at some point, (I can't remember when!) and since then, have worked together on fun projects.

A mutual friend of mine and Chris reached out to me last year, when it was just starting to get warm, and asked if I would be interested in working with them to produce a piece for the then upcoming Clown Festival. It was collaborative, so I certainly cannot take credit for their contributions, but as it happened, they both ended up having to move during the writing phase, so a fair chunk of that duty fell onto me. This is how I found out I really enjoy writing.

Coincidentally, my friend Bruce Hunter (whose name I put in full so you can look him up and check out his mask workshops!) was putting on some writing workshops, and invited me to come out. I ended up with a collection of short stories stored away, which came in handy when Chris got the calls - one, that he'd won the Fringe Lottery, and could put a piece in the Fringe this year, and Two - that he'd been offered the part of Ash in Mansfield's Cabaret's production of Evil Dead the Musical.

He reached out to me and asked if I'd be interested in working on this project, and of course, I said yes. Because, obviously yes.

So these two guys have been out in Oshawa, singing their hearts out and entertaining rooms full of people every weekend, all the while developing what will most certainly be lifelong friendships with everyone in the cast and crew. More than a few of the people in the show, I had the opportunity to meet last year, from We Will Rock You, in which Mikey played Buddy, the aged rocker-hippie dude.

Mikey is a much more confident performer since working out in Oshawa. And since seeing the opening night show of Evil Dead, followed by last night, he works that stage like it's a second home. They all do. They're so comfortable now. They're working together to produce a piece of theatre, so they all have to trust each other implicitly. I think that's how you can tell that they'll be friends for life. Not every show has that obvious synchronicity between performers.

So, instead of getting rambly, I'll end off with that. I'm excited to see what comes next for all these performers, and for Mansfield's Cabaret. I'm excited to see what happens with our Fringe piece! I think we're going to have fun with it, at the very least.

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