Cody Porter in Amor de Cosmos: a delusional musical, Joe Clark Productions, Edmonton Fringe. Photo cupplied.

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

New musical theatre at the Fringe —  and there’s lots of it — has a certain wild but valiant improbability about it. So many bits and pieces, so little time. And it’s a big country.

This is the story of a one-person Fringe musical in which the sheer unlikeliness of the real-life character we meet — unlikely in life, unlikely for a musical — is matched by the sheer unlikeliness that we’d be seeing Amor de Cosmos: A Delusional Musical in Edmonton at all, a last-minute replacement at the continent’s biggest Fringe. Composer and singer-songwriter Lindsey Walker is on the phone to tell the tale.

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Amor de Cosmos chronicles the peculiar story of the nutbar 19th century Canadian politician who became B.C.’s own personal Father of Confederation, the province’s second premier — until he slid from leftie reformer mode to the reaches of the Right, and was declared legally insane. A cautionary tale for Alberta perhaps? Amor de Cosmos (the self-appointed moniker of William Alexander Smith) was an historical footnote, till writer Richard Kemick snatched his bizarre career from Canadian history obscurity. “There’s a lot of good and a lot of bad in him,” as Walker describes the character at the heart of their musical.

Musical theatre isn’t the usual showbiz terrain for either Walker or Kemick. The former is  is a busy folk-rocker singer-songwriter. The latter is a writer of short stories, poetry, non-fiction, not (until now) plays. They’d met and hit it off  working together at WordsWorth (a Calgary writing camp for young artists). And a phone call during the pandemic sealed the deal. They did what artists in experimental mode do: they decided to take their new creation to the Fringe.

They didn’t get into the Edmonton Fringe with their musical, but they got a Toronto Fringe slot. “We did a Canada-wide casting call,” says Walker, a singer-songwriter who entered the world of musical theatre last season with ren & the wake (book by Megan Dart). “We found a young Toronto actor (Anton Gillis-Adelman) who was en route to theatre school in the U.S.” And since he was in Toronto,  writer Remick was in Rossland, B.C. and Walker and director Cody Porter were in Edmonton, rehearsals were online.

“In the end, Toronto was a satisfying experience,” Walker says,. “A tricky sell there, though, even when you get good press and good reviews (which they did).” Toronto, after all, has a lot of big summer theatre options, including the Mirvish theatres, and the Shaw and Stratford Festivals.

“I wish we could go to Edmonton,” Walker remembers saying, wistfully. “And, lo and beyond, my wish was granted!” with Fringe director Murray Utas standing in for the fairy godmother.

A last-minute Edmonton slot opened up when Ruby Rocket Returns! dropped out. By then Amor de Cosmos was at the Hamilton Fringe, which ended July 30. “The set and costumes were with Richard there. The lead actor couldn’t do Edmonton. And I was on my way out of town, getting ready for concerts on the weekend.” Ah, and Amor de Cosmos was a 90 minute musical, squeezing into a 60-minute time slot.

Cody Porter in Amor de Cosmos: A Delusional Musical, Joe Clark Productions, Edmonton Fringe 2023. Photo supplied

Funny how theatre people, and not just improvisers, are apt to say ‘Yes’ instead of ‘what? you have GOT to be kidding’ to propositions from which the cautious among us would turn and run like hell. Walker said Yes to writing songs and lyrics for Kemick’s pandemic idea of a multi-character solo musical based on a bizarre 19th century politico. Then director Cody, a notable Edmonton actor who’s a different age from Gillis-Adelman, said Yes to the last-minute challenge of learning a big role that takes the lead character from early adulthood to twilight years — in a solo musical written entirely in iambic pentameter. Writer Kemick will be here to stage manage; he could hardly say No.   

And the team set about making Amor de Cosmos fit all the hour-long time slots at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre. Two weeks and a bit later, the musical is ready to open at the Edmonton Fringe. And Walker, who’d thought she’d be spending a relaxing August seeing shows and going to folk festivals, her natural musical habitat, has a certain sense of wonder about the whole crazy process.

“It’s been a bit of a blur. But a fun challenge to write through the voice of each character,” says Walker. “We’re telling the guy’s story, not celebrating him.”

Tickets: fringetheatre.ca.