Top Gun! The Musical

Meghan Barron and Stephen Cullen in Top Gun! The Musical. Photo by Iain Laird.

How does one fashion a musical stage production from an action-packed, high-flying 1986 Tom Cruise movie? Members of the audience were asking themselves this very question as they filtered into the small studio, the familiar opening strains of the Top Gun soundtrack playing from the speakers. The scene was set for Top Gun! The Musical, now on stage at the Lower Ossington Theatre (exactly 10 years after it premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival). A backstage musical, Top Gun chronicles the comedic chaos of a theatre troupe as they pour their heart and soul into adapting the action flick for the stage. Top Gun! The Musical's opening scene is a perfect introduction for what's to come. Clad in matching jumpsuits and helmets, Maverick (Stephen Cullen) and Goose (Meghan Barron) are in a plane. Or, rather, they are in chairs strapped to a plank of wood on wheels. The pair “Got a Plane to Catch," and Cullen's serious, eager face and strong singing voice allow the audience to forget, for a few moments at least, that this is a production within a production—that is until Billy (Liam Volke) yells, “cut!" With opening night merely weeks away, directors Billy and Wendy (Michelle Jedrzejewski) are working tirelessly on adapting Top Gun for the stage. Wendy is struggling with romantic feelings for Billy, as she explains longingly in the emotionally charged “Waiting in the Wings." During rehearsals, Charlie (Alicia Coelho), who plays the “bombshell," and Iceman (Jay Mitchell), whose sexuality is much more clear-cut than the ambiguously gay character of Iceman in the movie, are impatient with the script and the production, which is visible and audible in their performances. During one romantic scene between Charlie and Maverick, Billy reveals that he could not obtain the rights to the Righteous Brothers' “You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling," which was played in the film during a poignant scene, causing Charlie to roll her eyes at what she deems to be amateur hour. The cast seeks insight from the General (played to perfection by Michael Lambert), who resembles a fast-talking film tycoon from the 1940s in a sharply tailored suit and suspenders. He is brought into the studio to see how the production is progressing, and his comments, and the song, “Put the Asses in the Seats (And You Can't Go Wrong)” demonstrate to the audience that he clearly values quantity over quality. The Lower Ossington Theatre has two studios in which to showcase their performances, and the intimate setting allows the audience to be up close to the performers. However, due to the tiny size of the second floor studio and the lamps placed directly over the actors, the lighting during the production created large shadows on the walls, which ultimately distracted from the performances at numerous times during the show. A major highlight of the production is a performance by Maverick and Goose, performed with gusto to impress the General. The audience was in stiches as Meghan Barron's Goose dies in Maverick's arms, and he launches into a song about “Goose being cooked” that eventually has her dancing around him, ending in a lift reminiscent of Patrick Swayze's in Dirty Dancing. Cullen is truly the star of Top Gun! The Musical, maintaining his composure, and strong singing voice, while facing an audience roaring with laughter. Top Gun! The Musical cannot and does not take itself too seriously, with a series of expletives appearing in the script and Jay Mitchell's Iceman peppering various scenes with outrageously funny, flamboyant comments. Top Gun! The Musical runs until June 29th at the Lower Ossington Theatre. Visit lowerossingtontheatre.com for more information and to buy tickets.