The Wounds of Love and Other Gifts
Lovely and faithful re-telling of Wilde's Happy Prince done in a light operatic style with some accompanying dance.
Lyrical, musical, and well acted and performed, but for those who already know the fable, this ended up feeling like it dragged on. The promised full-play (of which this was stated to be a half-length piece made of excerpts) could be more intriguing since it implies providing a framing narrative and commentary on Wilde's short story and how fairy tales can reveal deeper truths.
Excellent performances all-round from the cast and an interesting conceit to portray the swallow with two different actors -- one providing the singing and voice, the other the physicality and dancing. Good use of minimalist staging and props to keep focus on performances. Musicians were excellent but never intrusive.
Very curious to see the full show when it's ready!
A great show. Music, choreography and story are all aligned to make an amazing show. Left me wondering about the meaning behind all the fairy tales we heard growing up when we were too young to understand their meaning. An entertaining and thought provoking evening/afernoon!
this is a beautiful musical. seamless story telling shared with 5 people. the soprano is a bit screechy. The bird dancer along with the voice of the bird move so well together. the choreography is absolutely fabulous. I would say the volume is a bit loud but live instruments are so wonderful. simple set was perfect to what was happening in the piece . a must see. so touching and heartfelt I cried. the characters are VERY well developed and all the actors are very very strong. well done!
I found this hauntingly beautiful. The music was exquisite, and I found the whole experience very moving. I was particularly enamoured of the duo portraying the swallow in dance and song. This was a lovely device that was so expressive!
Stephen Low's NNNN review of The Wounds of Love and Other Gifts from NEXT Magazine.
Once we're past the rather clunky intro framing, & into Oscar Wilde's story of The Happy Prince, the orchestration, ensemble singing, & Erinn Bekkers' dance solos are all truly beautiful, in Bruce Dow's musical adaptation of this fable.
This magical musical takes us into the world of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. Beautiful performances and a great score. I can't wait to see what's next for this piece!
You can read my full review below!
The first time I saw Bruce Dow perform,Stratford was mounting Guys and Dolls during the years where Cynthia Dale was the default female lead, and despite what she did, Bruce’s “Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat” stole the whole show. It was phenomenal. Well, that’s how it’s done, I still think to myself. A few years later, he was Herod in their outstanding production of Jesus Christ Superstar, that eventually went to Broadway. Herod has such a famous number, and I can only imagine he slayed it as much on the Great White Way as he did at Stratford.
It was with great interest that I saw he was mounting the premiere of his work The Wounds of Love and Other Gifts at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Bruce is an outstanding artist, and an expressive singer and I was curious about this different avenue of creative output.
“How long have you been working on this piece?” I asked him after the show.
“Over thirty years.” He said. And I can only imagine the work has had quite a journey from his heart to the stage. The opportunity for him to experience his own work must have deep meaning. “This is the first half of a larger work,” he explained. A piece he is still working through.
I was excited to discover that story was based on Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince. One of my favourite fairytales, it is a story with which I am extremely familiar. Five performers tell the story, with a dancer physicalizing the swallow, while a singer delivered the vocal lines. I was delighted to see that Bruce had composed it for legitimate voices - there was no belting to be had! The strongest performances came from Priya Khatri, whose warm, expressive soprano proved most compelling, as well as Braeden Soltys, who had an excellent presence and acting was most moving. I know that these young performers get next to nothing for their work, and their cut likely wouldn’t even pay for a tank to gas. Kudos to all.
Bravo, Bruce.