Fringe Review: Ghostbusters One Man a spooky good love-letter to 1984 masterpiece
5 stars out of 5
Stage 4 — Grindstone Theatre (10019 81 Ave.) Never mind the scene in post-apocalyptic Reign of Fire where Christian Bale is re-enacting Star Wars to an audience of ragged children, there's also that scene in Return of the Jedi where C-3P0 is in front of the Ewoks acting out The Empire Strikes Back.
Point being, meta theatrical karaoke has a certain enduring power, which any of the original players of Shakespeare might tell you if they hadn't all died in filth 400 years ago.
It should be no surprise then that while 'real' Alberta Ghostbuster Sean Bedard's high-price cosplay proton pack and 1:1 scale ghost trap adds a certain legitimacy, it's his utter and absolute love for the 1984 cinematic masterpiece that make this a must-see.
Aside from a couple clever instances of recontextualized monsters — you should see where he drops in JD Vance — the adherence to the source material is jaw-dropping. Dana is sultry as hell, Lewis perfectly nerdy, and that little upward whine in Dan Akyroyd's voice as perfectly snapped together as a LEGO ECTO-1.
And when he gets extra creative with DIY SPFX is an extra treat, looking at you pool-noodle proton streams on mic stands and super especially his whirling ribbon dance to represent the rising ghosts after Peck force-dumps the containment unit.
And man, just all that insane dialogue, even the lesser lines like Venkman's 'I'd call that a big yes' to the librarian's history of mental illness or Egon's robotic 'Print is dead.'
I laughed so hard when Winston said, 'I have seen shit that'll turn you white' — and you just wait to see how Bedard handles all the melted marshmallow in the climax.
To paraphrase the film's last line: 'I love this play!'
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