Songs for Moby Dick from Ubuopera is more of a staged song cycle than an opera. There’s one singer/actor; Peter Thompson (who is also the composer), plus Erika Reiman on keyboards. The text is from the Melville novel and it’s used for a dozen or so songs and some short sections of linking narrative that condense the whole (very long!) novel into a concise 55 minutes.

The staging; directed by Adam Paolozza, is simple but effective with atmospheric lighting. Thompson creates effective characters. He’s especially good as Ahab. He’s also a very decent singer. The problem I have is with the music. There’s nothing objectionable about it. It’s tonal with the inevitable hints of minimalism in the piano part and a “conversational” vocal line. It serves the text but it’s just not very interesting. I have a pretty good grasp on the Canadian art song world and if I compare Thompson’s writing to, say, Jeffrey Ryan or Ian Cusson, let alone more experimental composers like Brian Current of Rebecca Gray, it seems rather flat. That, of course, is the perspective of someone who is quite heavily invested in contemporary art song and it may not bother the average Fringe goer much. In any event it’s refreshing to see someone create a Fringe show in a classical music vein.

Songs for Moby Dick continues at Theatre Passe Muraille, as part of the Fringe, until July 12th.

Photo credit: Sherry Liang