Skip to main content

REVIEW: Boom X at Kidoons and WYRD Productions, in association with Crow’s Theatre, Theatre Calgary, and The 20K Collective

int(100627)
iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz
/By / May 17, 2023
SHARE

Nothing defines a generation like its music.

Someday, folks my age might reminisce about Taylor Swift or Lizzo. For the generation above me, it’s the Spice Girls, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears. With each new crop of humans comes a new batch of iconography, a sparkling collection of shared cultural references which shape a generation’s aesthetics and tastes.

For actor and architect Rick Miller, those references are everything, the day-glo legends of the ‘70s and ‘80s as well as the political events which catalyzed them: Jimi Hendrix, Queen, and Michael Jackson, and so many more.

To start off the night, Miller introduces us to the conceit of this show, the second in an existing trilogy about real people and the music that shapes them. Boom is about Miller’s parents, who are Baby Boomers (and one can assume it comes with a heavy dose of Elvis). Boom YZ, then, is about the generation of Miller’s daughters. Boom X falls right between the two and traces the trajectory of Miller’s life, both musically and personally, using interview fragments from close friends and family members to bolster the show’s sprawling narrative from the late 60s to mid-90s.

The good: Miller’s a compelling presence onstage, with a knack for impressions and evident musical talent. His set (which he designed, with help on projections from Nicolas Dostie and Irina Litvinenko) smartly incorporates projections and puppetry to build a sumptuous world of pop culture, from Star Wars-style opening credits to oh-so-quotable scenes from Gen X movies and TV shows. Miller has carefully curated a playlist of ‘80s bangers and ballads, and the night I attended, folks in the audience hummed along enthusiastically, calling out bands as they appeared and cheering Miller on in his nostalgic romp through a complex few decades in world history.

The more complicated: Miller, who grew up in Quebec with several European expat family members, has a very specific viewpoint of the world (as do we all). His oral history includes quite a few Quebec-specific history lessons and cultural allusions, and those portions of the play are fascinating and evidently close to Miller’s heart. When Miller attempts to generalize, expanding to include a much vaster portrait of the world in the ‘80s, the show occasionally loses focus — the most compelling portions circle around Miller and the people around him, and I often found myself itching to get back to a central narrative, rather than a cramped world history lesson strung together by power ballads.

That issue of focus also manifests itself in the show’s running time, a long two-and-a-bit hours including intermission. Boom X has moments of excellence and Miller’s a gifted performer, but the material seems better suited to a 60- or 70-minute one-act, with fewer songs and a more laser-focused narrative thrust.

If you grew up with the same music as Miller, this show’s sure to be a hoot — I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not this one’s intended audience. For me, there are obvious cuts that would lead to a tighter, more gripping dramatic narrative, but as the piece stands, it’s a low-stakes good time at the theatre — with sick guitar solos to match.


Boom X runs at Crow’s through May 28. Tickets are available here.


Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.

Aisling Murphy
WRITTEN BY

Aisling Murphy

Aisling is Intermission's former senior editor and the theatre reporter for the Globe and Mail. She likes British playwright Sarah Kane, most songs by Taylor Swift, and her cats, Fig and June. She was a 2024 fellow at the National Critics Institute in Waterford, CT.

LEARN MORE

Comments

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


/
Adam Francis Proulx, Elm Reyes, Kay-Ann Ward in a Toronto Fringe Festival promo photo by Joy Adeola. iPhoto caption: Adam Francis Proulx, Elm Reyes, Kay-Ann Ward in a Fringe promo photo by Joy Adeola.

REVIEWS: Toronto Fringe Festival 2025

This collection of Toronto Fringe Festival capsule reviews will be updated throughout the festival with writing from 20 different critics.

Masae Day, Landon Doak, Michelle Fisk in 'The Wind Coming Over the Sea.' iPhoto caption: Masae Day, Landon Doak, and Michelle Fisk in 'The Wind Coming Over the Sea.' Photo by Lyon Smith.

REVIEW: A new Emma Donoghue musical takes root at the Blyth Festival

As a resident of southwestern Ontario, what struck me most is how deeply rooted in the region The Wind Coming Over the Sea feels. It's a lively reminder of the cultural inheritances that continue to shape the area today.

By Deanne Kearney
The cast of 'Major Barbara.' iPhoto caption: The cast of 'Major Barbara.' Photo by David Cooper.

REVIEW: Shaw Festival’s metatheatrical Major Barbara is sharp and subversive

Director Peter Hinton-Davis draws on a light smattering of Brechtian techniques — acknowledgements of artifice that enrich and vivify Major Barbara’s clash of morals.

By Liam Donovan
The company of Talk is Free Theatre's 'The Frogs.' iPhoto caption: The company of 'The Frogs.' Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: In Barrie, Talk Is Free Theatre delivers well-crafted outdoor staging of rare Sondheim musical The Frogs

Staged inches from the audience by director Griffin Hewitt, the show commendably captures the free-wheeling, anarchic spirit of the text. It’s a toad-ally great opportunity to see this rarity in the froggy flesh.

By Ilana Lucas
Jeff Lillico as Ralph with Yoshie Bancroft as Mitsue in 'Forgiveness.' iPhoto caption: Jeff Lillico as Ralph with Yoshie Bancroft as Mitsue in 'Forgiveness.' Photo by David Hou.

REVIEW: Stratford Festival’s Forgiveness tells a deeply personal story on a sprawling scale

Presented in an increasingly tense political moment, Forgiveness resonates on a level that is part reflection, part warning.

By Charlotte Lilley
Promo photo for Tim Crouch's An Oak Tree. iPhoto caption: Photo courtesy of Luminato Festival.

REVIEW: Is Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree worth seeing twice at Luminato?

Crouch tests the limits of theatrical representation, improvisation, and authorship. While I’m usually a sucker for exactly those types of experiments, I ultimately found An Oak Tree a bit underwhelming.

By Ryan Borochovitz