BWW Reviews: Short North Stage Shoots, Scores With THE GREAT ONE

The audience for the Jan. 21 premiere of THE GREAT ONE looked decidedly different than most of the opening night spectators at the Short North Stage. About 40 percent of the viewers for the one-act musical, written by Scott Hunt and J.J. Tiemeyer, came to the downtown theater donning hockey sweaters and sweatshirts and even broke into a chant of "Let's Go Jackets" before the beginning of the play.

This made Hunt, who directed the show, Tiemeyer and James Higgins, who wrote the music and the lyrics, very happy. The reason for the audience's attire may have been directly related to the show's theme. THE GREAT ONE deals with the aftermath of the Edmonton Oilers' trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in Aug. 9, 1988.

"It's the seminal moment in hockey history. It's simply known as 'The Trade,'" said Hunt, who was wearing a Jackets sweater himself. "It helped raise hockey awareness on the west coast."

Short North Stage decided to pursue a musical tribute to hockey after one of its board members, Joseph Petrelli, brought up the fact Columbus was hosting the NHL All-Star on Jan. 24. Hunt, a devoted hockey fan, leapt at the idea of creating an original musical.

The subject matter may have raised a few eyebrows when the show was announced. (How does one work the word Zamboni into a lyric?) However THE GREAT ONE is more about life than it is about hockey or sports.

We wanted to make something that hockey fans and theater fans will universally enjoy," Hunt said. "So we decided to make it about fans and the reactions of people in this bar in Edmonton."

The one act, 90-minute show centers on The Slick, a crumbling sports bar in Edmonton on the day after Gretzky's announcement. Inside, barflies Lucas (Randy Benge) and Phil (Matt Welsh) commiserate with the bar's piano player Rene (James Higgins) and co-owners Marty (Linda Kinnison Roth) and Rusty (Jason Bobb) about what The Trade means to their city. The show follows them through the stages of fan grief - Drinking, Blaming Someone Else, Self-pity, Drinking, Anger, Feelings of Betrayal and Abandonment and finally, Acceptance (followed by drinking).

"It seems like it was yesterday," Welsh sings while looking longingly at Gretzky's sweater encased glass above the bar.

"That's because it was just yesterday," Benge deadpans.

Cleveland sports fans, who suffered through LeBron's Decision and the Cleveland Browns' departure, might be able to empathize with the let-down customers at The Slick. Gretzky's departure was the tipping point for the recently divorced, recently fired Phil.

"I used to think we had it all. We had each other, a house, a good job, a dog and the Great One," Welsh says. "Then she got the house, I got fired, the dog died and now he's leaving."

Welsh's smooth delivery blends in perfectly with Roth, Benge, Bobb and Higgins, who also provides the piano accompaniment for the show. Roth and Benge provide a voice of reason for Phil and Rusty, who sees Gretzky as just another person that left him and just another thing that has let him down.

Roth provides high energy as a bartender, who likes Gretzky but truly pines for former Boston Bruin great Bobby Orr. In the song MY HEART BELONGS TO BOBBY ORR, Roth belts out lines like "We'll start the evening with some necking and follow up with some cross-checking."

Benge comes across as a sage veteran supporter of the Oilers, who was a fan before Gretzky came and will continue to be one after The Great One is gone. He delivers one of the show's surprisingly moving moments when he talks about watching one last hockey game with his cancer-stricken wife.

At the beginning of the show, Marty tries to convince Phil and Lucas that "it's only just a game." But by the end of the show, the audience is convinced The Slick's clientele's relationship with Gretzky and the Oilers goes far deeper than that.

THE GREAT ONE will be performed in the Green Room at the Garden Theater (1145 North High Street) 3 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Jan. 24 at 3 p.m., and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Jan. 25. Tickets are $20.

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