Theatre review: East Van Panto gets real with Pinocchio
Credit to Author: Jerry Wasserman| Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2019 00:14:53 +0000
East Van Panto: Pinocchio
When: To Jan. 5
Where: York Theatre
Tickets & Info: From $26 at thecultch.com
The Cultch’s East Van Panto, now in its seventh year, has become a popular Vancouver seasonal tradition. In 2017 I argued that it needed to be reimagined because it had become dull and uninspired. Last year I gave it a miss.
The Theatre Replacement production team has really stepped up. The current panto, Pinocchio, is as funny, imaginative and exhilarating as any of its earlier incarnations. It should be near the top of everyone’s list of this year’s holiday shows.
Director Stephen Drover’s wonderful cast of professionals, Studio 58 students and super-cute kids brings Marcus Youssef’s supremely clever script to life, with lyrics and musical arrangements by Veda Hille. (Never mind Clapton, Veda is god.) As always, it looks great. And in the best panto tradition the audience has a raucous good time.
Youssef has taken the familiar Disney version of the Pinocchio story and East Van-ified it. The first of Cindy Mochizuki’s brightly painted backdrops has the motto, “This way to Commercial Drive where authenticity comes to get real.”
East Van Panto’s production of Pinocchio runs until Jan. 5 at the York Theatre with Pippa Mackie in the title role. Photo: Tim Matheson
Jiminy Cricket becomes B.C.’s favourite four-armed capitalist billionaire man-cricket, Jiminy Pattison (Amanda Sum). Geppetto is Gelato (Shawn MacDonald doing a ridiculous Italian accent and very credible Andrea Bocelli vocals), aided by a customer-hating feminist shopkeeper from the Drive, Beckwoman (Naomi Wright).
The puppet Pinocchio (delightful Pippa Mackie) comes to life with the help of his electric-skateboard-riding Fairy-Instagram-Mother (fabulous blue Chirag Naik), who tells him he can’t become a real boy until he gets 100,000 Instagram followers. Social media fanatic Jane (Wright) will show him how. She says “like” so much she stutters.
But wait (“look behind you!!”). Here come the sly fox and cat to steer Pinocchio wrong: sleazy, salivating Fox Theatre (MacDonald, resplendent in red dress and wig) accompanied by hep cat Michael Bublé (Naik). They’re one-upped by Doug Ford (Sum), the real bad guy (“boo!!”), who merges Hastings Racecourse with the Granville Island Kids Market, getting kids to skip school and gamble, hooking them on triple espressos and Red Bull.
Pinocchio, Gelato and friends end up inside the belly of an orca who needs to be saved from all the plastics it swallowed. A reformed Jiminy Pattison to the rescue (“yea!!”).
And Justin Trudeau (Naik) makes a surprise appearance. He comes to apologize. For everything. Except the pipeline. And SNC-Lavalin. And he reveals important information about those embarrassing blackface incidents.
Everyone sings and dances with aplomb to Amanda Testini’s lively choreography in Barbara Clayden’s outrageous costumes. Yvan Morissette’s colourful set is nicely lit by Adrian Muir. Calmly driving it all from stage left is marvellous Veda Hille on keyboards with drummer/guitarist Barry Mirochnick.
Hille has taken tunes from Rossini to Ariana Grande, from Lizzo and Lil Nas X to ABBA, and dropped in her own lyrics. Mamma Mia becomes Jiminia. Instead of “Mamma mia, here we go again,” we get “Intermission, off you go to pee.” The Village People’s refrain, “Young man,” becomes “East Van,” and we dance off into the night singing along with the cast, “It’s fun to be at the P(a)-N-T-O.”
This year, is it ever.