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.
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