Three years ago, Montreal
theatregoers were dazzled by “Boom”, Rick Miller’s breathless, multimedia
journey into the people, events and pop culture that made up the post-World War
II Baby Boomer generation.
And how did Miller follow up
this exciting episode of time travelling? By putting together a sequel that is
just as breathtaking, just as spectacular and just as fun as the original.
“Boom X”, which is playing at the Segal Centre until March 10, explores the
25-year period between 1970 and 1995 in the same way as “Boom”, only this time
he focusses on the era that nurtured Generation X.
This show is like a newsreel
that’s ratcheted up several notches, as Miller takes the reins as your guide to
this rather turbulent, change-filled era in modern history. He starts off with
a sort-of prelude in 1969 by acting out Jimi Hendrix’s famous electric guitar
interpretation of the Star Spangled Banner, as he shows the best (Woodstock)
and the worst (Altamont, the Manson murders) of what the final year of the
1960s offered.
From there, Miller gives a
more personal touch to “Boom X” as he relates his own growing up in NDG during
that period, as well as conducting interviews with four people he knew, and how
the events of that period shaped and influenced their thinking and career paths
as they became Gen Xers in their own right. Through his boundless energy, comic
ability and his strong talent for mimicry, Miller takes the audience on a
nonstop, whirling dervish of a historical panorama of 25 years that shaped
modern history and the people and events that shaped it, such as Pierre
Trudeau, Ronald Reagan, Rene Levesque, Mikhail Gorbachev, disco music, video
games, grunge music, the Montreal Expos, Star Wars and so much more.
As well, I credit Miller for
his uncanny ability of not only relating to his audience on an intimate level,
but holding their attention for this two-hour plus spectacular. This was
marvellously exemplified with one little performance piece he did just prior to
the intermission, in which he performed with his guitar the top 20 hit songs of
1984 in two minutes, and encouraged the audience members to shout out the song
title(s) in question if they knew it (it made for some great exercise for the
brain).
“Boom X” is a wonderful
blockbuster of time travelling (which leaves Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s Wayback
Machine miles behind in the dust), which makes me eager to find out what is up
Rick Miller’s sleeve with the upcoming third and final installment of his Boom
trilogy. If we want to get a vivid, enjoyable understanding of our modern world
was and is all about – and the culture that went with it – let Rick Miller tell
that story through his “Boom” shows; it’s living history at its entertaining
best.
* * *
In other Segal Centre news,
the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre (DWYT) will present an
all new sing-along show to celebrate Purim called “Harmonies & Homentashn”
on March 24 for two performances at its Segal Centre Studio venue; show times
are at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Join in with a number of the Yiddish Theatre’s singers
and performers – as well as KlezKanada – for a selection of festive holiday
songs that will be sung in English, Hebrew and of course, Yiddish. Tickets are
$25, with special rates available for students, seniors, subscribers and
groups.
Also, following its sold out
run at last year’s Montreal Fringe Festival, the critically-acclaimed
production “Don’t Read the Comments” will be remounted for a limited engagement
at the Segal Centre. It will run for five performances on March 6, 7, 9 and 10.
Written by and starring Sarah Segal-Lazar, “Don’t Read the Comments” is set in
a TV talk show, the play deals with such subject matters of sexual encounters
and consent, and is told via storytelling and the dark arts of clown and
bouffon.
