NEVERMORE Preview
Star Pheonix

Two years ago, a brilliant and beautiful Frankenstein lumbered through Saskatoon as part of Persephone Theatre's 2008-09 season. Now, Catalyst Theatre is back with another Gothic fairytale, this time inspired by the life and work of a famously mysterious author.

Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, references the American Romantic era author in a wild, dreamlike night of musical theatre.

Co-creator and production designer Bretta Gerecke is a fan of Poe and said his writing style perfectly suits the kind of musical Catalyst creates.

"He's so full of imagery and he writes in such a haunting, magical, nightmarish way. We were quite fascinated by the idea of doing something that was scary in the theatre, because that doesn't happen very often," she said.

Nevermore, along with Frankenstein and Hunchback (all Catalyst productions) have been called a trilogy by some theatre-goers, not because they share a storyline but because they come with a signature style: Dark but childlike.

It's a tone both Gerecke and her Catalyst collaborator Jonathan Christenson are naturally drawn to.

"We are fascinated by transporting people and taking them on an adventure. We ask people to leave everything at the door and stay open to an experience that takes you somewhere."

Gerecke and Christenson used the idea of a child's bedtime story and the worlds created in the middle of the night, to arrive upon the play's unique Victorian-meets-Tim Burton look. While it's impossible to look at photos of Nevermore without thinking about the Corpse Bride creator, Gerecke says the influence for the piece is a complicated recipe.

"I'm highly flattered that people always mention Tim Burton with what we do. He's magnificent. But it's our own concoction. We throw it in the mix and see what happens," she said.

Of course, the biggest influence is Poe himself, a man whose life was undeniably odd.

"He was a great tale-teller. Even what he told people about who he was, there are many grey areas and things that don't add up. He was a mysterious guy, period, and his death was very mysterious. He had such a horrid life. That's probably why he wrote such ghastly stories."

Nevermore is semi-autobiographical, with 40 of Poe's pieces woven into the story. Though there are several individual songs within the play, Gerecke said the musical is one very large piece of music. Christenson, who created the music, has given an undercurrent of rhythm and melody to every moment in the production, including the text and movement.

It's a big challenge for the seven-person cast, who need to act, sing and move equally well. The complexity of the piece requires the performers to be "machines with great heart," said Gerecke.

Nevermore previewed in 2008 and officially premiered in June 2009. It has toured to Ottawa, Toronto and New York, to name a few places. One of the early audiences was made up of 2,000 teenagers.

"It was the most exquisite audience to have. There is no fear, they respond exactly how they want to respond and they're loud. You know when you're getting them. People were saying things out loud. It felt like a bit of a rock show. By the time we got to New York, we knew we had it figured out."

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