“Last Night At The Gayety” Celebrates Montreal And The Stage.

Gayety

Definition: Variant of gaiety, gaily ; the state of being gay or cheerful.

Credit: Andrée Lanthier

It’s a definition that’s absolutely accurate.

I like theatre that’s entertaining. That’s a personal preference. I like being transported out of my day into a world that lets me leave it feeling refreshed and inspired.

In that way, and in nearly every way that entertains, “Last Night At The Gayety” fires on all cylinders. From casting, to music and staging – it’s an inspiring and entertaining piece that celebrates a certain aspect of Montreal history while keeping up a pace that’s consistently inventive and well done.

The show invites the audience to step back in time, to Montreal in 1951, and a time when vaudeville and indecency were front and centre on the city’s menu. When police chief Pax Plante decides to clean up the city, things don’t bode very well for Lili St.Cyr and the patrons of “The Gayety”.

Featuring hilarious tongue-in-cheek music by Bowser and Blue, the story hums along with no reference to Montreal left unturned. With songs titles like “In Griffintown” and “Alcohol Created Montreal”, you get the idea what type of light-hearted fun the show has in store. Language, boroughs and social class are all poked at, with lots of laughs derived from french accented characters like the aforementioned Pax Plante and cleanse instigator Father D’Anjou.

Holly Gauthier-Frankel and Julia Juhas are standouts, painting larger than life characters that live on in the mind long after you exit the theatre.

“Last Night At The Gayety” continues it’s run through May 15th at Centaur, though it’s easy to imagine a show like this becoming a permanent part of Montreal’s stage culture.

More information: http://www.centaurtheatre.com/gayety.html