SPLEENDID! the musical

Robert2020-06-09T23:55:13+00:00

SPLEENDID! the musical

A man, a woman, a spleen… their PASSION! A macabre and zany one-act musical about a doctor’s obsession with the spleen (that most under-appreciated of organs), and the jealous nurse who will stop at nothing to win the doctor’s love.

One act musical comedy, (4M, 1F)

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
1997 – St. Mary’s High School Production
1997 – Calgary’s Dramafest competition
1998 – Nickel and Dime, University of Calgary
2001 – Nickel and Dime, University of Calgary

This was my first musical, with an initial version written when I was still in High School (we took it to Drama Fest!) and two subsequent productions at the University of Calgary through the Nickel and Dime Theatre. I’ve put it on the shelf for years, though someday… who knows, you may see it in a fringe festival.

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The following quote is from one of my favourite articles that I have ever been interviewed for.

Read the full review by clicking here!

REVIEW:

“Only Grant Tilly can pull off a musical in which the plot revolves around the human spleen.”

KRISTIN NIKONETZ, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY GAUNTLET, (JULY 11, 2001)

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WHY YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT CLONING YOURSELF

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WHY YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT CLONING YOURSELF

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Robert2020-06-09T23:53:42+00:00

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LISTEN TO SHOW DEMOS:

CREDITS: Reyna Giroux as Yvette, accompanied by Dan Perrott on Piano.

WHY YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT CLONING YOURSELF

Hubert and Yvette are a happy young couple who have their future all mapped out; Hubert has a great job, they have a new house, and they’re all set to start a family. Yet when Hubert is tragically rendered infertile in a bizarre bicycle accident, their hopes of starting that family are crushed (literally). Not willing to give up on continuing their genetic legacy they turn to an eccentric Scottish scientist and the possibility of cloning to help make their dreams a reality. After raising their growth-accelerated genetic copy of Hubert in the attic, Yvette mates with him, but no one could have predicted that one day their daughter would make her way up to the attic and meet the strange bearded man who bears a striking resemblance to her father… and that’s where things get really weird.

One act dark musical comedy, (4F, 3M)

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
2001 – GroundZero’s Aftershocks Festival
2005 – Edmonton Fringe
2005 – Calgary Bird and Stone Theatre tour

What a strange, dark little musical this was! I was lucky to have a group of fellow recent graduates from theatre school who were ready and willing to take some chances. And though it’s an early work, I simply love Reyna Giroux’s take on the above song, “I am Human Too”. Interestingly enough, in the first production at GroundZero’s Aftershocks Festival, our lead actor had to leave with days before the first performance, so I stepped in under the pseudonym “Thomas Wilmut” (Wilmut being the surname of Ian Wilmut who led the team that cloned Dolly the Sheep), and got a review! Check it out…

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REVIEWS:

Read full reviews by clicking here

”The indisputable high point is Grant Tilly’s musical comedy Why You Should Think Twice About Cloning Yourself. Beginning with a gleefully cynical, Young Canadian-style tribute to the “sanitized, homogenized, Calgary Alberta dream,” it tells the tale of Hubert and Yvette, a pair of newly-weds for whom life isn’t complete without a baby… The team has created a gem that shouldn’t be missed- but you only have until June 2nd.”

Lori Montgomery, CALGARY’S FAST FORWARD WEEKLY (MAY 31, 2001)

“This energetic and politically incorrect musical is not what it seems- and that’s part of the fun… The performances are all terrific, especially Jenny Anderson as the seemingly innocent wife, Tilly playing two roles, Guilly Urra as the unscrupulous family doctor and Lyndsey Patterson as the evil cloning scientist.”

Mike Ross, EDMONTON SUN (FEB 12, 2005)

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LOVE NOTWITHSTANDING

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LOVE NOTWITHSTANDING

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Robert2020-06-10T14:08:10+00:00

LOVE NOTWITHSTANDING

Two young people, one an actor visiting Vancouver for the first time, the other a student looking for a little distraction from bigger concerns.

Full length play (1M, 1F)

PRODUCTION HISTORY:
2012 – Presented at the Red Sandcastle Theatre in Toronto, May 10 – 20.

This is one of those plays that you just have to get done before you move on to writing the next project, and I’m very grateful to the artists who jumped in with me. On director Rona Waddington’s suggestion I was actually in the production, and got to share the stage with Sarah English.

To request more information, click here.

Read the full review by clicking here

REVIEWS:

“Love Notwithstanding is a play about making authentic connections, making choices and sometimes having to make sacrifices. A consummate artist, Grant Tilly creates for us a sweet and endearing play.”

ADELINA FABIANO, MOONEY ON THEATRE (MAY 13, 2012)

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