Everyone loves a hero. They are needed to fulfil our fantasies and if one isn’t around, we reach to our past, or invent them.
Billy Bishop Goes to War, opening at the Citadel Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 23, is a classic Canadian musical that follows the exploits of a ne’er-do-well cavalry officer who becomes the nation’s most decorated flying ace during the First World War.
Originally written by John McLachlan Gray and Eric Peterson in 1978 as a starring vehicle for the latter, it’s a great story told well even if it’s no longer considered cutting-edge theatre.
Last year Gray and Peterson made a few revisions to the script, extending the timeline, and director James MacDonald has seized the opportunity to reintroduce this two-hander to a new generation.
John Ullyatt (Drowsy Chaperone, Sweeney Todd) stars as Billy, a fighter pilot whose exploits became the stuff of legend.
“It’s ironic. I’m almost the same age, but he looked about 60. This man dealt with the war by being a bon vivant, a bit of a rogue, a great storyteller,” says Ullyatt.
“He was a rogue, a clown. He had been through hell and found a way to have a good laugh in an absurd and deadly situation. It must have been a hell of journey. To cope, those pilots must have drunk themselves stupid,” says Ullyatt, telling stories of how the fighter pilots used to tap-dance on the bar and pour champagne into the piano.
As Ullyatt follows the arc of Billy’s life from school dropout to reluctant national hero, he plays 18 characters, a challenge for even the most polished actor. “I just have to take my time and not barrel through everything. Generally I run at high speed. I just have to slow down and be specific.”
To give Billy some humanity apart from the rollercoaster ride of carnage and sadness, Ullyatt has given his mythic hero a back-story.
“My version is that there’s this guy who had no intention of going to war. He didn’t want to be a hero. He was an unscrupulous cad and his father would have probably disowned him, and by hook or by crook other people foisted the hero label on him.”
Accompanying Ullyatt is former St. Albert Children’s Theatre musical director Ryan Sigurdson (Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret) as support singer, pianist and narrator.
Closely attuned to the music, Sigurdson describes the score as “a mix of Victorian parlour ballads, Scottish hymns, Kurt Weill, ragtime, Randy Newman and the silent movies. There are songs that evoke the World War I era and the Randy Newman sound comes from the ‘70s and ‘80s when the show was written,” Sigurdson explains.
Even though the music has a frothy feel, the story deals with serious issues such as the heavy hand of colonialism, war and deception.
“It’s very entertaining and John Ullyatt is amazing. The show runs on an emotional rollercoaster that John navigates expertly. It’s a significant piece of Canadian theatre that hasn’t been seen in a long time and there are very few Canadian musicals with this longevity.”
