Manchild of the Year: Artistic Fraud’s musical about a middle-aged slacker

We went to see Man of the Year, the first-ever musical from the theatre company Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, on Wednesday evening.

Dom has been playing in a band for at least 30 years, but still dresses — and drinks, sleeps in and stumbles through life — like his 20-year-old self. He’s still wearing Doc Martens and a plaid shirt over an old tee, but his hair is grey.

His life is more than just a mess. His best friend is struggling to quit the band, if not the friendship, his upstairs neighbour is pregnant by him and can’t seem to get him to hear it, and his estranged daughter has been in therapy for more than a decade.

We also learn he’s a widower. I won’t say much more about the plot, so audiences can discover it for themselves.

Binding the whole show together are songs by Sean Panting, who’s still going strong in the St. John’s music scene. Not quite a jukebox musical — think Mamma Mia or Jersey Boys — Man of the Year weaves songs from Panting’s career to push the story.

In his notes for the show, playwright Robert Chafe says director and key Artistic Fraud collaborator Jillian Keiley got the idea while dancing to Panting’s band at the Ship Inn. (Not the first time that a bolt of inspiration, or what felt like it at the time, occurred at the Ship, I would wager.)

The show is strong, and moving in ways. Dom, who has been living off royalties from a ketchup jingle, exults in living a life of freedom and chaos. Everyone around him is waiting for him to finally grow up.

The performers are tremendous. Brandon McKibben came to create the role of Dom (Andrew O’Brien will be playing the character for two shows later this month in Corner Brook), which is a challenge: how do you make an unapologetic slacker appealing, and want the audience to cheer on his redemption? Julia Pulo impresses as Tasha, a talented singer who is back home (there are references throughout that we’re in St. John’s, although the show is written in a way that it could be staged anywhere), filled with musical talent and a deliriously suppressed rage.

There’s a ton of other talent on the stage. Phil Churchill and Geraldine Hollett of The Once play Barry, the bass-playing friend, and Caitlin, Dom’s deceased wife who appears in gut-punching flashbacks, respectively. The whole cast is affecting — including a four-member set of muses, who appear only to Dom, singing and dancing to match his mind.

There’s talent just behind the stage, too. The band is visible behind the bones of the set, with Panting himself playing guitars to songs he has written over the years.

Man of the Year continues at the Majestic Theatre on Duckworth Street until March 22. It plays March 27-28 at the Arts and Culture Centre in Corner Brook.

I hope it gets staged elsewhere later. It’s a fun show, and it packs a punch, too. The joy of the final moments is earned.