From June 20 – June 22 Halifax welcomes Donald Trump to the city. Okay, well maybe not the real Donald Trump (thank goodness). Neptune Theatre will play host to Trummp The Musical, written by two friends Peter MacDonald and Spencer FitzGerald who decided to take their anger and frustration with recent politics and cram it into a nineteen song musical.
The musical opens with Peter MacDonald and his sister Miranda playing the part of two newly hired interns Suzy and Max Free-Star in the White House. The scene takes an all too familiar turn when they announced that Trummp (Taylor Aucoin) is president – too bad we can’t call this #fakenews.
Suzy and Max get an eye opener when they see what is really happening in the Oval Office. As they start to realize what a mess the government is, we get introduced to many members of the cabinet including Secretary of defence (Peter MacDonald Sr.), Press Secretary Nelly Anne Bumblebee (Amy Wilson), National Security Advisor (Kurtis Butt) and Vice President Phence (Nick Mandville).
We follow along as Suzy and Max bring together all the interns in hopes of stopping the many crazy ideas of Trummp, including the oh so famous “wall” and a plot to start a nuclear war. What they did not know was that one intern Lucy Whiteman (Emma MacDonald) would go behind their backs to tell Trummp their plan to stop him.
The acting was great, you could tell that Taylor Aucoin must have studied the mannerisms of Donald Trump right from the scowl all the way down to his voice. Peter and Miranda MacDonald do an amazing job portraying sibling interns; it felt as though it helped that they are actually brother and sister in real life. The choreography was executed beautifully and some routines added a touch of humour to get the audience laughing and keep them engaged.
The musical number “Walls Can’t Keep Us Apart” was a standout performance. The song was hilarious and the addition of a dance ensemble wearing brick wall costumes surrounding Trummp made it that much better.
On a more sombre note, Max’s solo about his time spent in the military brings us back to reality as we are reminded that Trummp has ordered all transgender people to be discharged of their service which Max will not stand for.
Each actor deserves to be noted but standouts include, Peter MacDonald with his powerhouse vocals taking over the theatre along with his stage presence, Amy Wilson’s portrayal of the press secretary was spot on and Nick Mandville as VP Phence had everyone laughing as well as Taylor Aucoin as Trummp of course. The use of projected tweets from Donald Trump on a screen behind them really completed the picture.
Even if you are not into politics this musical has something for everyone; humour, great choreography, well written songs and, of course, a multitude of jokes about Trummp’s intelligence (or lack thereof). The cast never fell out of character and continued with high energy throughout the entire 90 minute performance.
Trummp The Musical will run until Saturday June 22nd in Fountain Hall at the Neptune Theatre.