Zachary Creatchman woos and weds a superheroine in the widely anticipated return of Captain Aurora: A Superhero Musical.
The 75-minute romp written, produced and directed by Trevor Barrette made its debut at the 2015 St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival last June to sold-out houses and was selected by Centaur Theatre for its winter Wildside Festival.
Running for five performances from Jan. 8 to 17 on a roster with six other shows from Montreal, Brooklyn, Ottawa and Vancouver, Captain Aurora follows the adventures of Dawn (Eva Petris). She’s a mild-mannered banker during office hours and a baddie-buster by night.
When Dawn learns of an impending alien invasion with the help of her intelligent but awkward, alien-savvy boyfriend Ben (played by Creatchman), her karate skills come to the fore.
Barrette ensures that both heroes and villains have stirring songs like Ben’s love ballad The Proposal and intergalactic choreography exemplified by the superbly villainous Jonathan Patterson, whose evil tap dancing triggers earthquakes.
Captain Aurora: A Superhero Musical (2015) In Rehearsal from KaleidoscopeMTL on Vimeo.
“Along the way, we encounter evil that’s over the top, crazy presidents for the Republic of Earth, and all kinds of comic-book-like fun,” Creatchman says.
A cast of 12 keeps things big, and the elaborate makeup even involves prosthetics for some characters. The simplified set counts three tables and nine chairs that morph into different locales, including a spaceship.
“It’s a fun adventure for anyone who loves superheroes and musicals,” the actor says.
For Creatchman, this musical has happy connections to his past work and demonstrates the nucleus of talent in his generation. “I’ve done three musicals since I graduated from John Abbott’s professional theatre program in 2011: Godspell for Beautiful City Theatre, Spring Awakening for Persephone Productions playing Melchior, and now Captain Aurora for Kaleidoscope Theatre, and all of them were musically directed by David Terriault. Kaleidoscope was founded by Trevor Barrette, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have been cast in three of their plays including the role of Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Jonathan [Patterson] has been my voice teacher over the last couple of years,” Creatchman says.
“For a long time, I thought I was a baritone until he helped me discover that I have all sorts of upper register, so now I call myself a bari-tenor.”
The singer-actor inherited the genes for a beautiful voice. His maternal grandfather, Danny Silverman, was a cantor at the Shaar Shalom Synagogue in Chomedey for a while, “so I believe I got the voice from him. And my father [Jeff] writes songs and plays guitar and so does my brother, Jesse. We used to have a duo. The first time I ever sang onstage was with Jesse,” says Creatchman, who added acting to his repertoire in high school.
Thematically his Jewish roles have been Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at John Abbott and Holocaust survivor Max in Martha Blum’s The Walnut Tree for Persephone Productions. One of the most important roles of his life is as real-life husband to wife Vanessa, whom the 24-year-old married in September.
“She doesn’t mind me rehearsing long hours because we make time for each other,” he says.
In his spare time, when he is not onstage or helping make ends meet with a retail job, he’s begun to write film scripts. A 10-minute suspense thriller titled Home, co-written and produced with Michael Treder, is about a frightened couple involuntarily hosting a needy home invader.
“The film is in the editing phase and I hope to pitch it around to festivals. But in the end, I want to be an actor and make that my career,” Creatchman says.
After he helps save the world in Captain Aurora, he will surely be able to do anything he sets his mind to.
For tickets, call the Centaur box office at 514-288-3161.