Chasing a frisbee into the street causes Frank to be killed on the very day that he proposes marriage to his girlfriend Edith.
As if that isn’t enough of a bummer, Frank soon discovers that he has a rather dubious choice to make in Against the Wall Theatre’s world premiere production of the full-length musical “about love, hate and insanity,” Dead Lover’s Day.
The original 10-actor rock opera, written by former Red Deer College student Alexandra Mihill, opens on Thursday at the Scott Block in downtown Red Deer.
Frank discovers he can either move on to wherever it is dead people go, or he can follow a mournful-looking lady named Laverna into the Land of Lost Lovers.
Dead lovers of all stripes hang out in this Tim Burton-esque land, waiting to be reunited with their loved ones after they also pass on.
Poor Frank opts to bide his time waiting for Edith — much to his later rage and sorrow. For Edith doesn’t spend the rest of her life mourning the life she might have had with him.
She moves on to a new romantic relationship with a guy named George — a development that Frank just didn’t see coming and that drives him, well, mad with jealousy.
This musical, created by Mihill, with some music by Dustin Clark, asks the timeless question: Can love really conquer all?
More importantly, director Jenna Goldade believes it asks how long are even hopeless romantics supposed to wait around for it? And when is it finally time to move on?
“Definitely there are people who cling onto things for years and years,” said Goldade — whether it’s the memory of a failed marriage or any relationship long after it’s over.
Think of Heathcliff’s obsessive longing for his dead soulmate Cathy in Wuthering Heights or, on an even scarier scale, Glenn Close’s fixation on Michael Douglas’s character in the movie Fatal Attraction.
“Some people never get over it,” said Goldade, whose two grandparents died within a year of each other after being married for 68 years.
Dead Lover’s Day started out as a one-hour musical that got a positive reception at the Calgary and Edmonton fringe festivals a couple of years ago.
Mihill recently decided to expand the production to a full two hours, adding six new songs and a couple of new characters.
Tunes such as Stop Lingering and After We Wait were so “fabulous” that Goldade, who directed the fringe production of Dead Lover’s Day, said she had to stage the extended two-hour version, which will involve both local actors and singers from Edmonton and Vancouver.
“This is a really entertaining musical that was created by people in Alberta — which is a really incredible feat,” said Goldade, who hopes Red Deer-area theatre-goers will come out in droves to support it.
“The music is incredible and it’s going to be a world premiere!”
What: Against the Wall Theatre presents the world premiere of Dead Lover’s Day, an original musical by Alexandra Mihill about love, hate and insanity
When: 8 p.m., March 31 to April 9
Where: Scott Block, Red Deer
Tickets: $18 ($15 students/seniors) at the door, or in advance through atwtickets@gmail.com
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com