Sunday, April 27, 2025

Broadway Brunch is a musical theatre buffet

A mix of solo performances, duets and group numbers from a cross-section of Broadway shows keeps things interesting.

Beauty and the Beast. Gypsy. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Henry and Mudge. Annie. Chicago. City of Angels. Wicked. This is but a small sampling of the diverse Broadway shows that are the mainstay of the Broadway Brunch, a semi-regular rotating gathering of professional Halifax musical theatre artists at The Carleton.

Just off their sold-out April “Birthday Party Edition,” this show’s cast not only showed their substantial musical chops by performing from the songbooks of 22 different shows over the 90-minute performance, but their enthusiasm for the material was infectious.

In our recent Q&A with producer and performer Kyle Gillis about the company’s Valentine’s Day show, he promised a casual atmosphere with recognizable tunes and songs that audiences may not have heard before. The playlist and cast deliver on both fronts.

Accompanied on the piano by Sarah Richardson (with a few canned tracks thrown in the mix), this particular show featured Gillis alongside Laura Caswell, Ian Gilmore, Becca Guilderson and Margot Sampson.

A mix of solo performances, duets and group numbers keeps things interesting, and the banter between the talented sextet helps break things up nicely. There is even a good balance of silly and serious. Sampson’s mistaken “Bird Day” schtick keeps things light even as she ironically sings Tom Lehrer’s macabre Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.

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Of course, no brunch-titled show is complete without a selection of food and drink offerings from The Carleton kitchen.

With a new theme for each show, the next set of musical theatre artists will celebrate Mother’s Day at The Carleton on May 8 with songs from such shows as Hairspray, Mamma Mia, and more.

The group also returns to the downtown music venue in a non-Broadway concert on May 30 with an encore presentation of the Blue Monday Cabaret featuring the Songs of Joni Mitchell’s Blue Album.

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