Ghost Quartet

Beau Dixon, Andrew Penner, Kira Guloien and Hailey Gillis in Ghost Quartet.

Murder ballads, doo-wop, jazz and raucous drinking songs collide in the Canadian premiere of Dave Malloy's Ghost Quartet, a hypnotizing chamber musical now playing at Streetcar Crowsnest as part of Crow's Theatre's current season. 

Featuring four outstanding performers—Beau Dixon, Andrew Penner, Kira Guloien and Hailey Gillis—the haunting song cycle interweaves narratives spanning seven centuries: a warped fairy tale about two sisters, a treehouse astronomer and a lazy evil bear; a retelling of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher; a purgatorial intermezzo about Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights and the ghost of Thelonius Munk; and a contemporary fable about a subway murder.

Structured as a four-sided record, Malloy's eerie, evocative and entertaining musical captivates the audience and leads us through a lyrical labyrinth so dense it can feel as if we'll never find our way out again. Yet, one is happily lost in this macabre maze of music and storytelling.

With Dixon on piano, Penner on percussion and Guloien and Gillis starring as lead vocalists (and playing a few select instruments throughout), Eclipse Theatre's production is theatrical magic at its best. Don't miss the chance to see this exquisite piece before it closes—it's the perfect way to spend a fall evening.

Ghost Quartet runs until November 10, 2019. Visit crowstheatre.com for more information and to buy tickets.