Badlands Books / Stepping Out into Space - Renie Gross
(retrieved from the Internet Archive)
Having closely observed Paul's career from its beginnings, I think the thing I most admire about him is his professional courage. When he was much younger, as a mother I couldn't help but feel some anxiety about this quality-- fear for the attacks he suffered from critics who sometimes deemed he overreached himself and deservedly fell from grace. As an audience for the rewards of his daring to push out from a safe place, I have, like others, relished his creative gifts. I could point to a number of different things he has done that exhibit what I am referring to but perhaps his rock musical, Thunder, Perfect Mind, serves as one of the best examples.
When he began to talk about doing Thunder, Perfect Mind, I was by turns captivated and appalled. Jesus Christ could be a super star, as Broadway had proved. But something based loosely on Gnosticism? With Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Medea, St. John the Divine as important characters? Who but a few highbrows would have any idea what concepts the piece was exploring? But even at the young age of 25, Paul understood much better than I the maintenance of an interface between his message and the medium of entertainment. The music that he and his friends Laura Burton and Randy Waldie had been working on for a couple of years was planned as an elaboration of the thematic content of the play and as a way to make it easily accessible to a large audience.
Paul had worked closely with Guy Sprung, then artistic director of Toronto Free Theatre. In 1982, Sprung directed Paul's early play Dead of Winter which created a bit of a buzz in Toronto theatre circles. Sprung had also directed Paul as an actor, notably in a magical outdoor performance of Romeo and Juliet in Toronto's High Park ,for which Paul received a Dora nomination. It so happened that Guy Sprung and Tom Clarke, director of the now, sadly, defunct McLaughlin Planetarium, had been discussing the possibility of joining forces to produce a theatrical piece for the planetarium's Star Chamber. A couple of abortive attempts to come up with a workable draft had been made before Paul appeared on the scene, manuscript and demo tape in hand.
Given that the mythic struggle in Thunder, Perfect Mind takes place in a cosmic void, it was as though Paul had been writing with the planetarium in mind. This was not so but, loving to write expansively, he fell eagerly into collaboration with Sprung and Clarke to configure the play for the Star Chamber. Both Paul and Guy felt that theatre was lagging behind its potential to use technology for big effects. It was exciting to think that they were crossing the threshold into new territory.
Coordinating sound, incidental music, film clips and slides with live acting was a monumental task, one that stretched the creative experience for everyone involved. According to Paul, the collaboration between art and science was exhilarating. At the technical centre of the operation was the planetarium's massive Zeiss Star Projector, shown here in miniature, with about 70 more projectors stationed around the perimeter of the chamber. Programmed into the planetarium's computer were something like 3500 lighting cues (7 times as many as most theatre plays) and 1200 slides cued to the music
The story begins as the world ends. Sorting out what to do with all the souls suddenly thrust upon their heavenly desks becomes too much for the angels, who go into retreat to consider the problem. Without their divine presence, a struggle to dominate the universe breaks out between two groups of souls, one group representing Thought, the other Action. The challenge for each of them is to find an innocent soul to gain their ends. Jojo Rideout and Lake Dennison qualify. In the disorder, these two are swept into the outer void. During the course of their search for the way back to the Fortress of the Sublime, they fall in love, an example for the warring parties who eventually resolve their differences and unite. Jojo and Lake, played by Aggie Cekuta Elliot and Michael Riley, were the only flesh and blood actors. Paul sang the lead vocals on six of the nine songs finally chosen for the play. Salome Bey, the Angel of Mercy, sang the title song and two others were performed by the "live" actors.
The show opened in November of 1985. As might be expected from critics focused on traditional theatrical effects, reviews were mixed. One critic devoted several paragraphs to complaints about having a kink in his neck from looking overhead. After running for a few months, Thunder, Perfect Mind faded like a spent meteor from the heavenly dome of the McLaughlin Planetarium never to be sighted again. And no rising stars followed in the wake of its shower.
There was talk for a time that the show might travel but, in the end, the courage of Dr. Tom Clarke in undertaking the collaboration was emphasized by the fact that none of his counterparts in other planetaria moved on his lead. Such a shame.
As is his way, Paul was soon on to other things. But even now, 15 years later, I have regrets that so few people shared the excitement and fun of Thunder, Perfect Mind.
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