A sobering surprise

Players while sober is both original and fun

Like a Disney cast themselves
Image by: Tyler Ball
Like a Disney cast themselves

As a fourth-year student, I’ve been to my fair share of Queen’s Players shows. However, I’ve never been to a Queen’s Players show sober—I doubt many people have. Although it may sound awful, being sober at a Players show is a surprisingly enlightening experience. I noticed things I hadn’t before and I’ll actually remember the experience.

Here are some things I learned about Queen’s Players while sober: there’s choreography, the Queen’s Players band is phenomenal and there’s actually a lot of thought that goes into those sketches between songs.

Miley…Why So Cyrus?? takes on a “summer Players” style of show, where there isn’t an overall narrative to the performance, which makes sense to me as most people have trouble following that narrative in the first place. Instead all of the characters, sketches and songs fall under one pretense: in the future, MTV and Disney have joined forces to run the world. My instincts tell me that MTV and Disney are probably already ruled by the same corporation and it often feels like those two forces already control too many aspects of our lives.

This scenario is interesting and, dare I say, thought-provoking. Going to Players sober might just allow you to see some of the social critique these kids are getting at. Who knew?

Miley…Why So Cyrus?? welcomes many bright new faces to the Queen’s Players elite, which is refreshing. It’s nice to see new people at Players, as the ritual can often feel exclusive. This year it’s hard to deny how adorable and hard-working the cast is. Although they mock the Disney world, they’re all about as earnest and loveable as the cast of High School Musical, even though they do engage in some rather raunchy dance moves—but wait; doesn’t Miley Cyrus do that too?

The show had many highlights. Brianne Pickrell was the only returning Players alum and her performance as a tripped-out coke-head Alice in Wonderland was hilarious. Lukas Duchaine’s rendition of “Sex On Fire” had girls fawning and clawing for a piece. The a cappella medley opener after the intermission was another highlight—being sober I could actually hear the harmonies. My favourite and the most painfully realistic sketch was the “Brovention” vignette in which a gaggle of guys ranging from Winnie the Pooh to Clay Aiken had me and every other girl in the place giggling uncontrollably.

The large group scenes were also great. The cast has a palpable chemistry and share in a collective sense of humour. Each member of the cast has different strengths and no matter what their skill level, everyone’s committed with the same amount of confidence and ease.

However, being sober at a Players show wasn’t completely easy. I had to watch my drunk counterpart down free beer, participate in a “chug-off” and my tolerance for drunken yelling was put to the test. But at the end of the night, as corny as it sounds, I had a huge smile on my face. The energy and sincerity of the cast was infectious and combined with the unbelievably tight band you’re sure to have a good time—drunk or sober.

Last year Queen’s Players rose over $27,000 for charity and something tells me they’ll have no problem meeting that quota with these new faces on their side.

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