Evan Dowling, David Findlay, Mhairi Berg in Die Harsh The Christmas Musical, Grindstone Theatre. Photo by Adam Goudreau

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

Along with the fa-la-la-la’s, it’s villain redemption season. And nothing says Christmas like the Grinch, Ebenezer, and … Hans Gruber?

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It takes a certain insurrectionist appetite for comedy that sings and dances on the dark side to think that Die Hard, the iconic action thriller, was crying out to be a holiday musical. That was the inspiration of Die Harsh, returning for a second Yuletide season in a bigger, snazzier incarnation Thursday. And creating a new Christmas tradition by marrying Die Hard to A Christmas Carol? That was the bright comic idea of Grindstone Theatre’s Byron Martin and Simon Abbott. Which only goes to demonstrate that (a) showbiz works in mysterious ways, and (b) some musical comedy partnerships are inevitable, especially if they share an all-time favourite Christmas movie, and it’s Die Hard.

“We hang out quite a bit,” says Martin, the affable company artistic director and Die Harsh director, of his composer/musical director counterpart Abbott. “We’ve argued so much about the show, and not in a bad way; we’ve circled the arguments. One week I’m arguing one side;, the next week we reverse,” he says of the process of mixing “two unlikely narratives together in a clever way.”

The artistic director and the musical whiz kid have struck before, on a couple of original musical satire hits, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer and thunderCATS. “We had four or five ideas for a Christmas show. And this one struck us as the funniest, and the most fun to create.”

Die Harsh started small last year, at Grindstone’s home theatre, where squeezing an action thriller onto the tiny stage is a kind of Christmas miracle in itself. It sold out every performance, two shows a night. And Martin added 16 performances before the run even started. It’s expanded magically in the off-season. Die Harsh returns this year on a larger stage, the 200-seat Varscona Theatre, with two acts, a three-piece live band led by Abbott (“and playing all sorts of instruments”), a full set design, sound and light, two new songs, re-written scenes, and even more characters — so more and re-built costumes, more costume changes, and more frantic backstage choreography for the cast of five.

“I’m guessing 20 characters, with four of the five actors playing at least five each,” says Martin, who admits he’s already thinking of adding two more characters next year. Two of the five actors (David Findlay and Mhairi Berg) are new to the show. All of them are flat-out busy. “It’s a really great energy!”

Die Hard is ripe for plundering by a couple of quick-witted Grindstone satirists with parody on their minds. The Alan Rickman villain Hans Gruber, with his beady eye on a cache of bonds, leads a gang of international terrorists to seize an office tower during a Christmas party, and take hostages. And the Bruce Willis cop character John McClane, there to meet his estranged wife, is their only hope. Why am I telling you this? You already know it.

Mhairi Berg and Evan Dowling in Die Harsh The Christmas Musical, Grindstone Theatre. Photo by Adam Goudreau

Anyhow, Die Hard-meets-Christmas Carol has John McWayne (Evan Dowling) up against Hans Schmuber (David Findlay channelling Alan Rickman). And the story gets told through Schmuber’s eyes. It will give you some idea of the Martin-Abbott muse and concept to know that the FBI agents have a tap-dance number.

“The music plays with a lot of genres,” says Martin. “Simon has built the show on two major themes, the Die Harsh action movie theme, and the Christmas Carol theme…. And you get everything from German folk-dancing to ‘80s love ballads and Les Mis musical theatre anthems. We do love to take the piss out of musicals.”

“The opening theme is Jame Bond-ish. But we also have a rap number, and reference (Run-DMC’s) Christmas in Hollis as well.”

Does Martin like A Christmas Carol, Die Hard‘s new holiday mate? “It’s so well told, emotionally affecting. It’s great, and I’ve seen it a hundred times…. I like Christmas stories! But you can get a bit of Scrooge fatigue.”

He’s hopeful that with this new and bigger version of Die Harsh Grindstone is en route to another sold-out hit show, the right dimensions to play mainstage spaces. Three weeks ago, over 60 per cent of the tickets were already sold. “It’s a good sign,” says Martin, mildly. “It’s the kind of show where you have to see it again, every year. You don’t get that kind of response in theatre except with a Christmas show.”

PREVIEW

Die Harsh: The Christmas Musical

Theatre: Grindstone Theatre

Created by: Byron Martin and Simon Abbott

Directed by: Byron Martin

Starring: David Findlay, Evan Dowling, Mhairi Berg, Paul-Ford Manguelle, Mark Sinongco

Where: Varscona Theatre, 10329 83 Ave.

Running: Thursday through Dec. 23

Tickets: grindstonetheatre.ca