REVIEW
What: Onegin
When: Now through Nov. 12
Where: The Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Ave.
Tickets: $20 to $53
Stars: Four-and-a-half (out five)
Vodka shots in the lobby, a stage draped in velvet, books, candelabras and sexy R&B transported the audience at the opening of Onegin at the Belfry Theatre Thursday from the dreary world outside into a steamy modern take on a classic Russian love story.
Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille’s contemporary musical, based on Alexander Pushkin’s 19th-century verse novel, does for the dusty Russian love tale what the 1990s Broadway hit Rent did for La Bohème.
The Vancouver-based pair draw out the elements of the story that never get old — including the pain of young love, the allure of a bad boy and a lush esthetic. Throw in some rock ’n’ roll, a killer cast and seamless staging, and it’s clear why this production sold out in Vancouver when it premièred last year and swept up a string of Jessie awards.
It will likely do the same here, if the post-show buzz and social media raving are any indication. Confession: I nabbed tickets to see it again before even sitting down to write this.
The show opens with an unabashedly schmaltzy full cast number about love and a metatheatrical introduction to the story, replete with pop culture references, humour and playful audience interactions.
Alessandro Juliani is Evgeni Onegin, a brooding dandy who inherits his uncle’s country estate. He befriends a local poet who introduces him to two single sisters. A tangle of crushes and a tragic duel later, Onegin is cast adrift into the world until he encounters one of the sisters years later. Older and wiser, he decides he’s ready for love. But she, also older and wiser, will not betray her values.
Juliani perfectly embodies the smarmy bad boy that romantic girls have always wanted to die for, right down to his killer voice and dirty dancing moves.
His real-life wife, Meg Roe, shines as the book-loving dreamer Tatyana Larin whose passions are ignited by the arrival of the new guy in town.
Roe has one the best moments in the show when she sings Let Me Die, a tortured love ballad that climaxes with her rocking out on electric guitar.
If Juliani and Roe seem familiar it’s because they’re both busy B.C. actors on stage and screen. Juliani played Lt. Felix Gaeta on the series Battlestar Galactica as well as a recurring role on millennial sci-fi hit The 100.
Josh Epstein is enthralling as the poet Vladimir Lensky, namely for his gripping intensity and fantastic voice. He must have the only pop love song about a woman named Olga, who is charmingly played by Lauren Jackson.
Other highlights in the show include a roaring cabaret number by Andrew McNee that seemed straight out of the Eurovision Song Contest. McNee, Caitriona Murphy and Andrew Wheeler were all fantastic in several roles.
The house band, the Ungrateful Dead, played on stage and smoothly weaved Hille’s Russian-influenced musical theatre score with indie and pop rock vibes.
While every number was easy listening, a bonus for a show entirely sung, there was a lack of stand-out hits.
Onegin’s staging and movement were noticeably flawless, and deftly done with a cast that had major chemistry.