[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of the Colony Theatre and Reel Red Entertainment’s The Civility of Albert Cashier, with book by Jay Paul Deratany, music by Coyote Joe Stevens and Keaton Wooden and lyrics by Stevens, Wooden and Deratany.
This powerful and highly entertaining brand-new musical revolves around a young soldier fighting in the Civil War who isn’t all he appears to be. He was born a woman.
After his honorable discharge when the war was won, he received a military pension, as did everyone who fought in the war. But as an older man, he was struck by a horseless carriage and taken to a local hospital where eventually his secret was revealed and he was then prosecuted for impersonating a soldier for the pension. Luckily he had formed loyal friends over the years and they supported him. After a story was written about the case in a newspaper, every one of his still surviving fellow soldiers in his company travelled across the country to appear in court to verify his claim that he was indeed Albert Cashier.
What an incredible story this is and it makes for a truly a wonderful musical. The Civility of Albert Cashier is a moving and beautifully written gift of a musical. The songs are absolutely stunning and the cast sublime. They really capture the mood of the moment they are in. Brothers in arms, creating bonds with each other, becoming men, fighting for the rights of all men to be equal, not knowing who was fighting alongside them, saving their lives and doing so with no hope of truly ever being one of them.
This cast…wow. They raise the rafters with their incredible voices and had me in tears many times with their touching, deeply felt performances. We skip back and forth between the trial with Albert as an older man and the war, where at 19 he creates a life for himself out of nothing. Rejected by his family, he searched for a place in a world not ready to truly meet him. Are we better at this now? One would hope we are. But then I suppose it depends on where in the world or even in the country you live.
This brilliant, Broadway bound new musical gives me hope though. And that’s the prevailing theme. Hope. Albert quietly changed the hearts and minds of his band of brothers and many more throughout his life. All he wanted was a place to call home and to be left in peace. I suppose for the most part that was exactly what he had. In the end, he passed away confined to an asylum and forced to wear a dress, which he tripped on and broke his body so badly he never recovered, which is a tragic outcome for someone who was clearly male in every true sense of the word.Â
LGBTQ issues are human issues. This story has more relevance now than ever before, when rights are being stripped away from our fellow citizens and care is being blocked from children when they most need it. This musical celebrates the bravery of a man who tried to live his truth in 1862. And of course he wasn’t alone because the tapestry of human life is ever constant and nothing changes our nature. I would love everyone to see this glorious musical and to feel honored to have known Albert Cashier, if only through his story. Bravo!!!!
I highly recommend The Civility of Albert Cashier, it’s only running at The Colony until September 22, so don’t dawdle!!
When:
September 7-22
Thursdays at 8:00 PM
Fridays at 8:00 PM
Saturdays at 8:00 PM (September 14th Matinee at 2:00 PM)
Sundays at 3:00 PM
Where:
The Colony Theatre
555 N 3rd St, Burbank