A scene from Evangeline.David Cooper
Evangeline, Ted Dykstra's new epic musical based on the 1847 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem of the same name, was not crafted in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. And yet, Dykstra's adaptation and expansion of Longfellow's story about an Acadian woman deported from Nova Scotia along with 11,500 other Acadians by the British in 1755 could not feel more pertinent.
While the character of Evangeline may be a romanticized figure in Dykstra's telling, her expulsion, near-death experiences and her long, arduous journey to reunite with the man she loves nevertheless resonate deeply amid the horror stories coming out daily from the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and Europe.
Evangeline remains a moving symbol of the resilience of all displaced people – and Dykstra's show a reminder that the land we live in has not always been a place of refuge.
In development for a dozen years, Evangeline – described by the Citadel as " the largest original Canadian musical ever produced," with a cast of 35 and a 14-person orchestra – had its official world premiere at the Charlottetown Festival in 2013.
But composer/lyricist/book writer Dykstra – the talented actor and musician best known for his international hit 2 Pianos 4 Hands – has reworked the material for this production. And it's newly directed by Bob Baker, artistic director of the Citadel – where the show opened Thursday night as the centrepiece of the regional theatre's 50th anniversary season.
In Longfellow's poem, Acadia is a kind of Arcadia where simple, pacifist, French-speaking farmers live in houses without locked doors or barred windows, "open as day and the hearts of the owners."
It seems the same in the overly utopian opening scenes of Dykstra's musical – but he quickly complicates the plot and the people he's borrowed from the American poet. While Evangeline (Josée Boudreau) believes in forgiving rather than fighting the British, her betrothed, Gabriel (Jay Davis), only refrains from taking up arms against those oppressing their community at her request. When the redcoats begin to corral the men in town just hours after their wedding, however, Gabriel betrays his vow to his bride by delivering a well-aimed kick to the head of a nasty soldier named Hampson (Réjean Cournoyer).
The journey that Dykstra has crafted for Gabriel – entirely his own invention – is more dramatic than the one Longfellow did for Evangeline. He comes to believe he is responsible for his wife's (apparent) death and roams the continent in grief and guilt, becoming a coureur de bois named Lone Wolf and eventually joining a band of Minutemen in Boston planning for the revolution.
Evangeline, on the other hand, has no discernible flaws and never doubts her God or her mission. While Boudreau may sing powerfully of her love and yearning in a series of ballads as she searches for Gabriel, she essentially repeats the same emotion and action over and over, never changing.
Among the supporting characters, a few are more carefully carved amid many cardboard Acadian cutouts. Tony winner Brent Carver is fabulously fragile as Father Felician, who preaches non-violence but comes to question his belief in it. As British Colonel Winslow, Laurie Murdoch is saddled with a lot of narration – but is also compellingly torn between his conscience and his allegiance to the King.
Baker's production is a little too posed at first, but finds its stride soon enough during the expulsion. Evangeline and Gabriel's journeys are well conjured on an elegantly versatile set designed by Cory Sincennes and in front of painterly projections by Jamie Nesbitt. (Charlotte Dean's costumes are less inspired, however – with wigs that are hokey and ill-fitting.)
Longfellow wrote his poem in imitation of Greek and Latin classics – even using the heroic hexameter of Homer and Virgil. Modern critics have tended to agree with Margaret Fuller, a contemporary of the poet, that he was "artificial and imitative." "He borrows incessantly, and mixes what he borrows, so that it does not appear to the best advantage," Fuller wrote.
You could level similar criticisms at Dykstra. Both in the epic pop-rock score and the plot the Canadian has devised for Gabriel, there are echoes of 1985's Les Misérables. And 1964's Fiddler on the Roof comes to mind constantly as we are introduced a God-fearing small town facing persecution – even before Evangeline's father comes on stage dragging a cart behind him.
The throwback style is perhaps especially noticeable at a time when the buzziest musical on Broadway is Hamilton, another historical drama set in the 18th century but with a hip-hop score and diverse re-imagining of America's founding fathers.
For all Evangeline's craftsmanship, it doesn't feel fresh. But it has a hummable score, tells an important story clearly and left the opening-night audience with the sniffles. Like Longfellow, Dykstra may have to settle for populist appeal rather than critical approval with his big musical.
Evangeline continues to Nov. 22 (citadeltheatre.com).