It’s the morning after seeing My Little Brony: The Musical. The music was great, and we laughed a lot. It’s a delightfully enjoyable play.

I went into it thinking about reviews and critics, wondering how I would approach a new musical, with music (songs, piano & music direction) by Stewart Borden at the electronic keyboard.

While I feel confident writing about music I wanted to be careful approaching the play’s subject. My Little Brony: The Musical celebrates a relatively new but obscure subculture about which I know next to nothing.

The book, lyrics & direction are by Sky Gilbert.

I see in his bio that Sky is now a Professor Emeritus. As someone who used a senior ticket to get in yes, time is flying by. And the prolific Dr Gilbert has another book about Shakespeare coming in the fall so I will have to chase that down, subject matter for a future review.

Critic #1 is George Bernard Shaw who said that although he could not lay an egg yet he was a good judge of omelette. As I’ve never read a review or a play by a chicken maybe GBS can be forgiven for thinking he was a better writer than any chicken.

Critic #2 is CS Lewis, bemoaning reviewers who are not lovers of a genre. I’m going to quote this big chunk of text from a piece titled “On Science Fiction“.

Of the articles I have read on the subject (and I expect I have missed many) I do not find that I can make any use. For one thing, most were not very well informed. For another, many were by people who clearly hated the kind they wrote about. It is very dangerous to write about a kind you hate. Hatred obscures all distinctions. I don’t like detective stories and therefore all detective stories look much alike to me: if I wrote about them I should therefore infallibly write drivel. Criticism of kinds, as distinct from criticism of works, cannot of course be avoided: I shall be driven to criticize one sub-species of science fiction myself. But it is, I think, the most subjective and least reliable type of criticism. Above all, it should not masquerade as criticism of individual works. Many reviews are useless because, while purporting to condemn the book, they only reveal the reviewer’s dislike of the kind to which it belongs. Let bad tragedies be censured by those who love tragedy, and bad detective stories by those who love the detective story. Then we shall learn their real faults. Otherwise we shall find epics blamed for not being novels, farces for not being high comedies, novels by James for lacking the swift action of Smollett. Who wants to hear a particular claret abused by a fanatical teetotaller, or a particular woman by a confirmed misogynist? (and he says more: On Science Fiction)

I quote Shaw and Lewis because I see them as two poles in the critical conversation. I’m a swooning admirer of Lewis, having heard JRR Tolkien’s claim ( quoted from Town and Country) that “but for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more, I should never have brought The L. of the R. to a conclusion”. In addition to Lewis’s splendid writing this is what a critic needs to do, namely help another artist on their creative path.

I am more of a skeptic about Shaw and his criticism, fearing he might sometimes mistake composers & artists for barnyard creatures, talking down to us from his lofty height.

You will notice I say “us” as a practitioner (singer, keyboardist, composer), but feel I should also include Pierre Poilievre’s words in the discussion. On This Hour Has 22 Minutes last week he was quoted as saying “Those who can’t become critics”, which might be conventional wisdom. Whichever pigeonhole seems right for me, I’m enjoying this process of writing about operas, musicals, plays and concerts.

If PP might also say “those who can’t act become drama teachers…” we know who he would have in mind.

The show was presented in an intimate performance venue at the Epochal Imp.

My hesitancy about being a critic includes fear of using the wrong label for Epochal Imp, a newly opened space on Danforth close to Broadview, a safe and welcoming space. They offer coffee, beer or cocktails, standup comedy, live music, Tarot readings as well as currently hosting the new musical. There are three performances remaining, Tuesday, Wednesday & Sunday next week, April 16, 17 & 21 and note that it starts at 7:00 pm each night.

There’s a stage plus the entire space down the middle. We were offered comfortable seating, including a cup of skittles and a cute unicorn headband that many in the audience chose to wear.

Lots of seating was sacrificed to give us an immersive experience of songs right in front of us. That can’t be easy. My big mouth was tempted to speak when my eyes locked with a performer 5 feet away from me, but I stifled my subversive impulses.

I invited my friend Greg along, worried that I might not understand the implications of Bronies (the male followers of the My Little Pony cartoons / films: bro + pony = brony), but Sky and his team made this a welcoming experience for anyone regardless of their background. Sky has a gift for writing dialogue. While the exposition of the story is slow enough for a newby (moi) it’s still sufficiently absorbing to keep everyone intrigued. Greg was guffawing as much as I was. And the tiny venue helps, as there’s a great deal to take in when the whole show is physically close to you.

Greg and I agreed that the music was the best thing in the show, which is why I wanted to lead with a picture of Stewart rather than Sky. Full disclosure, I altered a picture I found on Stewart’s facebook page, that shows another aspect of his busy life including a book he published several years ago.

The songs do the thing we want them to do in a musical, namely to go where words cannot go. Maxim (Nathaniel Bacon) is especially aided by his music, as there is a great deal that is deep under the surface, gradually emerging musically. When we first meet Maxim he’s a shy quiet computer nerd, at least until he starts to sing, warning us of the inevitability of A.I. I believe Cecil (Graham Conway) has a bigger part as far as lines and stage-time are concerned, although I don’t believe his music is as challenging. Cecil is a very believable 19 year-old, a student animator planning to study at a community college.

Stewart’s song-writing and keyboard work are impressive, at times dazzling. Yet if anything the musical element is understated and could stand to be drawn out further in the next version of this show.

The program says “My Little Brony: The Musical is the first draft of a musical we are hoping to develop into a full length piece (this musical has, at its centre, a “road adventure“).

When we see Cecil get into Maxim’s car, it’s the first part of what’s likely to be a much longer trip in the next iteration.

The roughly 70 minutes flew by, leaving us all cheering at the end.

For tickets & further information click here.