Review: GROW at the Segal Centre

If you want to see what will probably become Canada's next big hit musical on an intimate stage, you have only one more chance left to see Grow at the Segal Centre in Montreal. A quick hop from Ottawa, Montreal’s Segal Centre should be on Ottawa audiences’ radar, as the quality of the shows and its continued focus on presenting Canadian shows makes the trip more than worth it.

How can I make such a claim with any degree of confidence? Grow has all the key elements of a Broadway-bound musical: a heartwarming, but simultaneously funny book, a wholesome story with relatable characters, catchy songs with smart and sassy lyrics, clever staging allowing for quick transitions, and incredible cast performances. Plus, Grow is produced by Michael Rubinoff, who also produced Come From Away, and we all know how that turned outs.

In Grow, we first meet Hannah (Annelise Forbes) and her twin sister, Ruth (Julia Pulo), in their Amish village where the twins will soon have their Rumspringa, where they must choose whether to be baptized into the Amish faith or leave the community. Hannah is torn, while she does love Samuel (Jake Cohen), a sweet Amish boy who tries a little too hard, she wonders how she can commit to the Amish ways until the "End of Days" without ever having experienced the modern world. Hannah decides to go on a Rumspringa Break in order to experience life in the Big City. Her father (Daniel Williston) insists that she take Ruth along so that the girls can look out for one another, honouring a promise made to their late mother. Still, Ruth is reluctant to go; she has no interest in the modern world, preferring a simpler life where she can fully embrace the nature that surrounds her.

After the girls arrive in the city, neither gets what they expect from their adventure. They meet Skor (Seth Zosky), a weed dispensary owner on the verge of foreclosure, and Alexis (Jamie McRoberts), a high flying executive who shows the girls the glamour and independence that can come with power.

The original score by Colleen Dauncey and Akiva Romer-Segal drives the story forward with a wide range of styles, from folk and pop to anthemic rock and big, bombastic Broadway-style numbers. Tracey Flye’s understated choreography and Eric Champoux’s lighting complement the music, reflecting the cohesion of a show that has been in development for nearly a decade. Bruno-Pierre Houle’s versatile set design uses multipurpose props to enable swift scene changes while still immersing the audience in the characters’ world. The entire cast gives a fantastic performance and has great chemistry. I was a little underwhelmed by Hannah and Ruth’s “big city” hair and outfits. Sarah Balleux’s costume design accomplishes the goal of showing the girls in a completely different light, but I was expecting a bigger “Pretty Woman” type makeover. The show has excellent pacing; at 2 hours and 15 minutes, including intermission, it is the perfect length to tell the story without feeling drawn out.

The show’s premise is slightly skewed towards a younger audience; it has some laugh-out-loud moments and even has a couple of distinctly Canadian references that I hope will remain in the show even after it reaches global audiences.