A Cruel Summer

I think this show could benefit from the tagline "Based On A True Story." For much of this show I was confused that this was a real thing. This happened. This was a theme park disaster unlike anything I'd heard of - and after seeing the show I walked away with the astonishment that such a thing could happen at all. 

Now as a musical, this project has extreme ambitions and a giant heart. This is a show that could be absolutely epic - but as a fringe show it is not without it's issues. 

I want to dive into my qualms first. First off, without having any frame of reference that this was real, the story is very confusing and hard to follow. It follows multiple protagonists - if any of them can truly be considered that. This show assumes that you know a lot of this story coming in- which for me and my associates who are not theme park insiders, did not. 

The story does feature many talented performers, and the show itself clearly has it's heart with the workers of theme parks - and as a love letter to them it clearly resonated with the crowd. The cast as a whole was thoroughly entertaining with fantastic singers, puppeteering and a set that clearly had grand aspirations. 

Now as someone who is not a "Swiftie," I don't feel it fair to judge the music choices here - but I found it pleasant enough. The song choices matched up well and conveyed the story - but this is my real issue with the show. 

There is a lot to like here - but the ability of the show to convey it's story is lacking - and not because any one part here is bad! This is a show that needs more time to breathe to be able to convey it's narrative properly - especially when so much is riding upon the performers and creators. No one can fault the script either because the book is competently written with scenes that are effective and work well- but it's sadly the lack of time and space to properly develop and communicate the different characters that holds this project back from being able to be understood. 

This is a great 2.5 hour show compressed into one hour that, much like the park it is based on, has huge ambitions that don't quite reach the levels of excellence it is clearly capable of. 

Matti McLean is presenting A CANADIAN EXPLAINS EUROVISION TO AMERICANS as a part of the Orlando Fringe. 

The Eurovision song I chose to pair with this show is Guilty Pleasure. Often called Croatia's Taylor Swift, Mia Dimsic represented for her country in 2022. 

https://youtu.be/4mTLfWMSNtw?si=YhxhG8a51OBwcgif