Theatre Aquarius’ newest musical weaves a family tapestry out of stories and songs
iPhoto caption: The team behind The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham poses for a photo. Photo courtesy of Theatre Aquarius.
In the intense environment of a rehearsal process, it’s not unusual to hear artists compare one another to family — but the creators of The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham are the real deal.
Police officer Ross Fordham’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the talents behind the production, which opens on January 10 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton. A tapestry of songs and stories, Nine Lives pays homage to Fordham, who was born in 1927 and passed away in his 90s in 2020. In between, he lived an extraordinary — and often perilous — life.
“It’s nine stories interwoven of how he evaded death,” said Brandon McGibbon, Fordham’s grandson and one of the creators of the show, in an interview. An actor-musician, Brandon has a long history with Theatre Aquarius, appearing most recently in the world premiere of Tom Wilson and Shaun Smyth’s new musical Beautiful Scars. He shared that Fordham’s close calls included “missing a flight [that] crashed, trying to sneak into the war underage and being caught at the last minute by his older brother,” plus “a high speed car chase” as a police officer in mid-century Toronto. Despite the high stakes of these situations, most of the stories “are actually quite funny in hindsight,” he said.
Fordham “was alive for quite a bit of my life,” said Liam McGibbon, Fordham’s great-grandson and another co-creator of Nine Lives, in the same interview. Liam remembered his great-grandfather “as this old man sitting in the background. He was always there, but didn’t talk hardly at all, just always sat and always laughed.” One reason that “writing this show has been an incredible experience,” he continued, is that it’s allowed him to combine “this human being that I’ve seen all my life… with these incredible stories. It’s funny — I don’t think I put those two together until we started writing the show, and I started thinking of them as the same human being.”
Brandon and his brother, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jason McGibbon, initially conceived Nine Lives as an album, which they released in March 2024. The music, an eclectic blend of genres, incorporates elements of folk, rock, and swing.
“Our family is very much a family of musicians,” said Brandon. “Music is at the core of the whole family. When we recorded the music, we [even had] family who live in Texas who played for us.” Jason’s children, Liam and actor-musician T.J. McGibbon (who appeared in X-Men: Apocalypse), collaborated with the brothers on the album. For the stage production, even more family members have joined the team. Brandon’s children, young actors Casper and Milo Toriel-McGibbon, perform in the piece. His partner, director and actor Nathalie Toriel, helms the production.
“The irony is that Ross, who we’re doing the show about, feels like the least artistic person in the world,” Brandon said, laughing. “He [was] a pretty hard cop.” He also wasn’t a storyteller. “Most of the stories that we’ll tell are not stories that would come from him,” said Brandon. He added that when the collaborators started to ask other family members for more information, the stories “never ended.”
“Every single thing unearthed something new,” confirmed Liam.
Though he joked about his grandfather’s hard exterior, Brandon was quick to note that Fordham had a softer side. “He was such an amazing piano player, and he actually was an incredibly artistic spirit,” said Brandon. “I just don’t think he had the chance. So we took the chance.”
For the McGibbons, that chance also involved committing to Nine Lives as a family affair. “I’ve never done [a project like this] with the family before,” said Brandon. “It can make certain things happen a lot faster, because you can just say anything in the way that a family does.”
“I’ve worked a lot with my dad, songwriting,” said Liam, “and so it felt natural. I had never worked with [Brandon], but [he’s] the reason I became an actor. To come in and work with my dad, which I love doing, and then to work with [Brandon] — it’s like a dream come true.”
Although this production is a labour of love for Fordham’s family, the family is by no means its only audience. For Brandon, The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham “comes down to this idea that everybody can have an unbelievable story, and every family has these stories. All you have to do is share them.”
The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham runs January 10 to 19 in Theatre Aquarius’ studio theatre. Tickets are available here.
Nathaniel Hanula-James
Nathaniel Hanula-James is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who has worked across Canada as a dramaturg, playwright, performer, and administrator.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: Photos courtesy of Lighthouse Festival.
Lighthouse Festival shines a light on Canadian comedies this summer
“When you laugh with a character, you connect with their story,” says artistic director Jane Spence. “You have more empathy and compassion for whatever their journey is. I believe that humour opens us up to each other’s life experiences. It’s what connects us.”
iPhoto caption: Kamyar Pazandeh and Julia McLellan in 'Waitress.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Ahead of the musical’s upcoming run at Hamilton’s Theatre Aquarius, I spoke with the production’s props and scenic design department to find out how they’re making the pie magic happen.
iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of York University.
“I think the fundamental issue is that the foundation of inequity is still intact,” says co-curator Mariló Nuñez. “If you think about when Canadian theatre was first established, the theatre we were watching and learning about was Eurocentric, Western theatre… We place everything against that [perceived] ideal. Until that changes, I don’t think we can really make a change.”
iPhoto caption: Photo by Szymon Lazewski.
“We are all coming from somewhere, and we all have ancestors, and we all have this profound connection with not just where we come from but who we come from,” says playwright-performer Martha Knight. “That’s really connected me to the piece and connected me with everybody I’ve worked with on this show.”
iPhoto caption: Promotional still for Citizen Pochsy (2003). Photo by Gary Mulcahey.
Pochsy’s back! At VideoCabaret, a Canadian underground theatre icon returns to Toronto
“There are opposites at play at all times — in the show, in the writing, in the performance,” says playwright-performer Karen Hines. “When something gets dark, Pochsy might be super light in the delivery of it. When she’s being facetious or giggly, it might even be as she’s destroying a species."
iPhoto caption: Photo by Colton Curtis Photography.
Genny Sermonia sweetens the pot as choreographer of Waitress
When Genny mentions that her brother Julius is part of the ensemble, I smell a story cooking — so I attend a rehearsal at the Grand Theatre to watch the duo in action.
iPhoto caption: Photos courtesy of Lighthouse Festival.
Lighthouse Festival shines a light on Canadian comedies this summer
“When you laugh with a character, you connect with their story,” says artistic director Jane Spence. “You have more empathy and compassion for whatever their journey is. I believe that humour opens us up to each other’s life experiences. It’s what connects us.”
iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of York University.
“I think the fundamental issue is that the foundation of inequity is still intact,” says co-curator Mariló Nuñez. “If you think about when Canadian theatre was first established, the theatre we were watching and learning about was Eurocentric, Western theatre… We place everything against that [perceived] ideal. Until that changes, I don’t think we can really make a change.”
iPhoto caption: Photo of Ada Aguilar by Dahlia Katz.
Speaking in Draft: Ada Aguilar
“I'm really passionate about the role of stage management as social activism, and as a way to provide safety and support for a production and its people,” says Aguilar. “We put everything of ourselves into these productions, but we also have to be good to ourselves.”
iPhoto caption: Miriam Fernandes as the Storyteller, with Anaka Maharaj-Sandhu as Arjuna and Neil D'Souza as Krishna in Why Not Theatre’s Mahabharata (Shaw Festival, 2023). Photo by David Cooper. Set design by Lorenzo Savoini, costume design by Gillian Gallow, lighting design by Kevin Lamotte, projection design by Hana S. Kim.
For the creators of Why Not Theatre’s Mahabharata, nothing is more contemporary than an ancient epic
“I’ve been [telling] the company to embrace time as a collaborator,” says director Ravi Jain ahead of the show’s April run at Canadian Stage.
iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of the CBC.
As the trade war rages on, CBC’s PlayME stays true to its mandate of platforming Canadian writers
“I think all five of these shows really help us plant a stake in saying who we are as Canadians,” says PlayME co-creator Chris Tolley.
Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro promise to hold nothing back in thoughtful but naughty cabaret
“Cabaret is like a smorgasbord,” says Cumming ahead of the show's engagement at The Rose in Brampton. “You can turn on a sixpence. [It’s about] shocking you with the extremes of what might happen. I think we certainly live up to that.”
Comments