The Synch is a Christmas musical parody for the whole family
Set in Hickville, a town of plaid-wearing redneck women, this Emerson Arts production features plenty of sing-along music and a classic Grinch storyline.
Set to open this weekend, The Synch has weathered misfortune to bounce back with jingle bells on.
The Synch is fun, interactive, family friendly musical theatre in the spirit of the much-loved Christmas classic The Grinch. Instead of Whoville, the action takes place in Hickville, a town of twangy, all-girl rednecks. The Synch is a (what else?) green-as-grass Hickvillian who nonetheless feels like an outsider. Then she’s nominated to be Mayor of Hickville – for life! With faithful Maximillion the (talking) dog by her side, The Synch is tasked with reminding the townspeople of the meaning of Christmas, set to a soundtrack of familiar pop, rock and holiday songs.
The Synch is the work of Emerson Arts, a local independent theatre company founded in 2020 by best friends Emily Bolyea and Mason Micevski. Its founding coincided with the pandemic, a particularly difficult time for the artists and audiences of an especially social art form. As the website relates, “Emerson Arts adopted the slogan ‘Theatre Everywhere’ as we began to create opportunities for artists in a time when there were none!”
They began with an outdoor show on the grounds of Dundurn Castle, called Fright Night, designed to fit the then-requirement to keep within a limit of 25 mask-wearing people. Such was the reception to the show that Emerson Arts had to add on additional performances.
From that starting point, the theatre company has grown to four-show seasons “featuring completely original content.” Fright Night recently celebrated a successful fifth anniversary. Among Emerson Arts’ central aims is to foster “hope, community, and togetherness.”
That hope was put to the test last year, when The Synch was originally set to launch. Within hours of the opening curtain, five of eight cast members tested positive for COVID. The run had to be cancelled. With a plot so focused on the meaning of Christmas, no one would want to see it in January, Bolyea shrugged. The production had to be shelved with the hope that they could move forward this year.
And move forward they did. Originally conceived as a dinner theatre experience at another venue, this resurrected version of The Synch has a new “beautiful” and “versatile” space in Melrose United Church’s auditorium and a variety of snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are available at intermission of the two-act show.
Impressively, the production has also moved ahead with a majority of its original cast intact. Martha Christianson plays the unforgettably named Mindy Lu-Ann-Who-Ann-Su-Ann. Ironically, she’s the tallest and most mature cast member but is playing the youngest character, an opportunity which she has found “freeing” as her role allows her to be “extremely frank.” Christianson is an experienced performer with a reputation for the ability to jump into a production and make her mark. Mindy Lu is a key character; one cast member called her “the hub of the show,” for it is Mindy Lu above all whom The Synch must inspire.
The Synch also features an ensemble of dancers from Freedom Studios to add some serious pizzazz. With songs like “Islands in the Stream,” “Crazy,” “Celebration,” and, of course, “You’re A Mean One,” as well as artists like Madonna and Tom Jones, audiences are encouraged to sing along.
Behind Emerson Arts is co-founder Bolyea, a lifelong theatre performer and singer. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, she participated in “various music festivals, church choirs and (performed on stage) in numerous … lead roles.” She graduated with a degree in dramatic art and communications studies, and travelled abroad. While in South Korea teaching English, drama and music, Bolyea sang at events for expats, took part in a multi-CD children’s album series, was featured on TV in Seoul, and led an ’80s funk band.
These days, Bolyea performs in venues in Hamilton and across the Golden Horseshoe, specializing in musical theatre roles. This month, she’s none other than The Synch herself.
Meanwhile, her co-founder Micevski, is a proud Hamiltonian and a professional performer who “has danced with the National Ballet of Canada, worked for Warner Brothers Entertainment … and worked with tons of indie theatres from Niagara to Oshawa. Most recently he has worked with the Stirling Festival Theatre near Belleville. Micevski has studied classical voice, pop, rock, musical theatre, and opera, and recently graduated with a masters in community music, during which he “learned how to create, cultivate and support community development through arts and music.”
When I met with Bolyea as well as a few cast members of The Synch, they gushed about Micevski’s “superpower”: his remarkable talent for writing – in all formats – and his ability to create quality original content, “churned out at the living room table,” Bolyea said, all while keeping up with the conversations in the room. Micevski is co-director of The Synch, along with Katie Alcock.
Coming up in February, Emerson Arts will stage a one-night-only “reunion episode” version of The Real Housewives of Hamilton, and then in March, The Psychic Fair, an ’80s-themed musical cabaret (with duelling psychics) for which auditions are currently being scheduled.
In June, Emerson Arts will stage a project stemming from Micevski’s master’s thesis about the relationship between community musical theatre groups and their LGBTQIA+ members. He’s turned this into a musical called Community Musical Theatre: The Queer Experience, showcasing different perspectives and lived experiences in community theatre in Ontario.
Through Emerson Arts, Bolyea and Micevski aim to continue staging “a wide range of original content … with a focus on interactive, unique and innovative performance art.” The company’s core values centre local talent, representation, meaningful storytelling, and impactful change.
With an all-female cast, The Synch is full of subtext, double entendres, and tongue-in-cheek humour. Hickvillians wear a lot of plaid, and it’s a town entirely composed of women. At the same time, crazy hair is still an important element in this parody of The Grinch, and it retains the classic “villain versus hero” archetypes that children really respond to. The Synch is a high energy all-ages show with something for the grownups as well as the children.
Christianson is certain her young grandson will love it.
As Emerson Arts says: “Let this emerald-hued diva put you in the Christmas spirit, whether you like it or not!”
NEED TO KNOW
Emerson Arts’ The Synch
Auditorium at Melrose United Church
86 Homewood Ave., Hamilton
Dec. 6, 7, 13,14, 7 p.m.
Dec. 8 & 15, 2 p.m.
Doors open a half hour before show time
Tickets: $30 + fees
Tickets
Run time: approx. 120 mins
