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rfmcdonaldLast night, I went to see a musical: The Legend of the Dumbells. My sister works for the Confederation Centre and was able to get me a free comp ticket on last night, the last performance of the musical for the season.
The Legend of the Dumbells is a musical--one that had played at the Centre in the late 1970's--which was based on the misadventures of a troupe of entertainers taken from the ranks of Canadian soldiers fighting in the Western Front in the First World War. These entertainers did quite well, entertaining the men before they went off to die in any one of an near-infinite number of nasty ways, and ended up touring Broadway and Canada in the early 1920's.
I'm not normally a fan of musicals, perhaps contrary to stereotype. I did enjoy it, though; the jokes and songs were good, the performances were excellent, and it worked. No matter that it didn't live up to the unity of time; The Legend of the Dumbells served its purpose wonderfully. (Too, there was a cute guy whom I've had the fortune to meet in the cast; 'twas nice to watch.)
There's only one problem with The Legend of the Dumbells, I think, and it's far more of a moral than an artistic one. The First World War--irregardless of who you believe, even if you believe silly Niall Ferguson--was an immense human catastrophe. There's something, I think, about the ethics of finding such a war-related comedy funny without any immediate sense of connection to the War, to the suffering or its immorality or anything, that disturbs me.
(Which also raises the question: What if the First World War or its equivalent was inflicted on we modern satiated Canadians of the early 21st century? One thing about the progress of gay rights is that I won't have the fortune to claim my bisexuality as a way to avoid getting drafted.)
The Legend of the Dumbells is a musical--one that had played at the Centre in the late 1970's--which was based on the misadventures of a troupe of entertainers taken from the ranks of Canadian soldiers fighting in the Western Front in the First World War. These entertainers did quite well, entertaining the men before they went off to die in any one of an near-infinite number of nasty ways, and ended up touring Broadway and Canada in the early 1920's.
I'm not normally a fan of musicals, perhaps contrary to stereotype. I did enjoy it, though; the jokes and songs were good, the performances were excellent, and it worked. No matter that it didn't live up to the unity of time; The Legend of the Dumbells served its purpose wonderfully. (Too, there was a cute guy whom I've had the fortune to meet in the cast; 'twas nice to watch.)
There's only one problem with The Legend of the Dumbells, I think, and it's far more of a moral than an artistic one. The First World War--irregardless of who you believe, even if you believe silly Niall Ferguson--was an immense human catastrophe. There's something, I think, about the ethics of finding such a war-related comedy funny without any immediate sense of connection to the War, to the suffering or its immorality or anything, that disturbs me.
(Which also raises the question: What if the First World War or its equivalent was inflicted on we modern satiated Canadians of the early 21st century? One thing about the progress of gay rights is that I won't have the fortune to claim my bisexuality as a way to avoid getting drafted.)
