Beau – 25 June 2025

Beau is a one act rock musical exploring adolescent Ace Baker (Matt Rodin)’s journey of finding himself through coming to understand his estranged grandfather, Beau (Chris Blisset). Bookended by Ace courageously performing music he wrote about his queer identity journey, the story is told partially through flashbacks that show the deterioration of Ace’s family’s love and trust. Though in Beau’s generation this highlights homosexuality as secret and shameful, the homophobia also deteriorates as Ace’s mother, Raven (Amelia Cormack) has time to reflect on the lost relationship with her father and actively choose not to lose her love of her son.

The experience of the show was simply delightful. The characters were relatable and pulled at our heartstrings. The story was easy to follow and easy to engage with. The language was forceful, particularly around use of expletives to pack a punch and powerfully advance the plot. The music was impactful and the vocalists, particularly Rodin and Cormack, displayed exceptional talent and nuance. Though the story had several false endings, the experience was almost cinematic in how it wrapped up loose ends and reassured the audience that everything would be alright.

Stylistically, the show was masterful. The transitions were seamless and the lighting (Adam Honoré) was gorgeous, impactful, artistic, and practical— a genuine tour d’force. The sound design (Jordana Abrenica) supported lighting in creating the striking clarity of the shifts in time. The show was perfectly mixed and let the orchestrations shine through. Vocal clarity was impeccable. I heard every word without straining, which made it easy to enjoy the show. Beau is incredibly polished, and ready for a bigger venue, though director Josh Rhodes and scenic designer Daniel Allen certainly used every inch of space they had effectively.

I hope that this show has a bright future— and I’d definitely listen to a cast album. Thematic content showed hope despite shame, and a way to break through pain in song. It was beautiful, evocative, and powerful to watch young Ace develop confidence and pride where his grandfather could not. I was deeply enamored with this story and the beautiful web of music it wove throughout. I was also incredibly impressed by the ease with which the performers transferred between being actors and being musicians while keeping the story moving as they all fulfilled every role necessary with impressive competence and confidence. Beau is a big musical with big heart, and I hope to see the next iteration in a bigger space with a bigger audience.

I attended this performance on a press pass from The Press Room.