Where feminism meets courthouse drama with a musical score: ‘Kelly v. Kelly’ at the Berkeley Street Theatre

Kelly v. Kelly

Book by Sara Farb, music and lyrics by Britta Johnson, directed by Tracey Flye. Until June 18 at Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St. canadianstage.com or 416-368-3110

I chuckle whenever I see Britta Johnson’s name in advertisements promoting her latest work. Because it’s almost always accompanied by this dated Toronto Star pull quote from 2017: “Britta Johnson is Canadian musical theatre’s next great hope.”

Make no mistake, the native of Stratford, Ont., whose shows have played across North America and are begging for Broadway runs, is no longer a “next great hope.” Time and again over the past six years, Johnson has consolidated her position as one of Canadian musical theatre’s preeminent voices.

But for a writer of her calibre, whose musicals continually challenge what is sonically and narratively possible in the genre, there’s also bound to be some disappointment. Case in point: “Kelly v. Kelly,” the beguiling courthouse drama by Johnson and Sara Farb. Ultimately, like so many other new musicals in development, this world premiere production brims with ambitious ideas but doesn’t quite live up to its full potential.

Johnson and Farb, a multi-talented performer and writer, rip their story from the sensationalist newspaper headlines of 1915 New York. It’s there where a real-life trial pitted mother against daughter, captivating a nation — one on the brink of societal upheaval as Victorian-era notions of femininity were challenged by a growing streak of progressive independence.

Eugenia Kelly (Eva Foote), a 19-year-old rebellious heiress, is representative of “the new woman.” Her single mother, meanwhile, the poised and conservative Helen Kelly (Jessica Sherman), is staunchly grounded in the past.

After Eugenia spends night after night on the town, returning home reeking of cigarettes and alcohol, Helen grows suspicious. Her daughter, it turns out, has been seduced by the suave tango dancer Al Davis (a charming Jeremy Walmsley, with a hauntingly silken voice).

Farb’s portrait of the parent-child generational divide is framed by the court trial instigated by Helen, who accuses her daughter of incorrigibility and has her arrested. Much of the musical takes place in court. As they testify, flashbacks reveal the simmering tension between mother and daughter, as the once modest and chaste Eugenia, now enamoured by the alluring lights of Broadway, grows ever distant from Helen.

Johnson and Farb are careful to paint neither Eugenia nor Helen as a villain. Instead, the characters are drawn in shades of grey, complex individuals conforming to (in Helen’s case) or surviving in (for Eugenia) a patriarchal society where personal agency is questioned and individuality is shunned. Foote and Sherman are both sterling actors delivering persuasive performances.

But by focusing so intently on these broader societal issues — Helen and Eugenia could be stand-ins for the women of that era clinging to the past and fighting for the future, respectively — Johnson and Farb spend little time on what is the heart of the story: the complicated relationship between mother and daughter, filled with fear, resentment and, most importantly, love. For a court drama, this musical needs to sharpen its arguments.

Surprisingly, the two characters are afforded little stage time together to establish that relationship. When they do, there’s an emotional and temporal detachment, as Farb structures many scenes as flashbacks, with mother or daughter replaying and narrating scenes to the trial judge (Mike Jackson), without directly interacting with each other.

Johnson, typically known for her breathtaking originality, has crafted a score that feels too safe. While there are some aching ballads, ingenious lyrics and bold uses of the Greek chorus (musicalizing the inner thoughts and doubts of the central characters, as Johnson did so beautifully in “Life After”), the music largely plods at odds with the story, an absurd tangled (tango) affair just begging for a few explosive high-octane numbers.

This musical, no doubt, is still a work in development, so it’s assuring to see Johnson and Farb have surrounded themselves with a solid team of collaborators, who accentuate the best qualities of the show.

It starts with director and choreographer Tracey Flye (best known in Toronto perhaps for helming many of Ross Petty’s annual holiday pantos), who is turning in some of her strongest work in recent memory. She stages scenes with vitality, clearly delineating where and when the action takes place.

Flye is aided by Lorenzo Savoini’s gorgeous set, featuring an industrial catwalk that extends above the stage. His lighting design, too, helps shrink the sometimes large and unwieldy Berkeley Theatre stage. And Alex Amini’s versatile period costumes help the seven-member ensemble seamlessly transition between their various roles. I must also mention the work of music supervisor Lynne Shankel, whose luscious orchestrations for the five-piece band elevate Johnson’s score.

So, while the jury is still out on this iteration of “Kelly v. Kelly,” admittedly still in a period of gestation, there’s no doubt Johnson and Farb have the building blocks of a potentially great musical: a compelling story, some bold themes and a winning team of collaborators. All they need is a bit more time to refine their focus.