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Melanie Gall brings quirky Canadiana and musical tributes to the Winnipeg Fringe with “Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie”
The Winnipeg Fringe Festival is known for its eclectic mix of performances—and this year, singer, actor, and music historian Melanie Gall adds a distinctly Manitoban flavour to the lineup with her show Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie. Playing at Théâtre Cercle Molière, the one-woman production is a musical and comedic tribute to the province’s quirks, history, and homegrown icons.
From opera to one-woman shows
Gall’s journey to the Fringe stage began in the classical music world. “I grew up in St. Albert in Alberta...I went to the University of Alberta and at the time...there was no jazz program. There was no musical theatre program. It was only classical,” she explained. Her studies took her from Edmonton to New York and Salzburg, with stops at institutions like the Glenn Gould School, Brooklyn College, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mozarteum.
Though she enjoyed the rigour of classical training, Gall found herself yearning for more creative freedom. “I loved it. But I miss being creative and making my own thing. There’s not a lot of room for that in the classical music world,” she said. That creative itch led her to the world of Fringe festivals, where she’s now a seasoned performer and writer of several award-winning solo shows including My Pal Izzy, The Sparrow and the Mouse, and Piaf and Brel: The Impossible Concert.
Knitting, podcasts, and unexpected musicology
Gall’s multifaceted interests go well beyond music and theatre. One of her most unexpected specialties? Knitting music. “My sister is a crazy knitter...she said we should do a podcast...so we started doing that...I had to learn to knit,” she recalled. That podcast unexpectedly led her to discover a trove of historical songs about knitting—many from the World Wars. “I found almost 100 different knitting songs. I’ve recorded like 20 of them...and I’m actually doing that knitting show in Edinburgh in Scotland next week.”
These songs range from propaganda tunes encouraging women to knit for soldiers, to flirtatious numbers filled with double entendres. “Knitting is not just knitting,” Gall quipped. “There’s a lot.”
A love letter to Manitoba, with Slurpees and song
Though Gall originally created Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie for an Edmonton audience, the Winnipeg version is “basically a whole different play. Honestly. Same title, vaguely the same poster, different.”
Her research process for the Manitoba version was extensive and quirky. “I read old newspapers...try to guess at what keywords might lead to an interesting article...I wish it could be a longer show. I need another half an hour,” she said.
Among the oddities and gems she uncovered: the world’s largest mosquito statue in Komarno, the most people howling like wolves in Thompson, and Winnipeg’s infamous 1942 “If Day,” a simulated Nazi invasion staged to raise war bonds. “They had young men order costumes from Hollywood...and arrest the mayor,” she recounted, clearly delighted.
Then there’s the Gimli connection—home to the world’s largest population of Icelanders outside Iceland, the Gimli Glider, and the Canadian production site of Crown Royal. “I didn’t know it was even Canadian!” Gall admitted. “If I had a car, I would [go]. I very much want to go to Gimli now.”
Musical tributes to Manitoba legends
Music plays a major role in the show, including songs by Manitoba legends like Burton Cummings and Terry Jacks. “For Burton Cummings, it’s I Will Play a Rhapsody...growing up in Saint Albert, that song was on the loop of the mall for years. That was my first crush,” Gall confessed. “I saw him play...in New York. And he is just as sexy—I mean, good looking—as he ever was.”
Terry Jacks’ Seasons in the Sun also makes an appearance—though it may be trimmed from future performances for time. Gall noted the contrast between Jacks’ sentimental version and the much darker Jacques Brel original (Le Moribond), which she covers in her Piaf and Brel show.
The show also pays tribute to Winnipeg-born Deanna Durbin, a 1930s and 40s film star and soprano once considered Judy Garland’s biggest rival. “She was the pride of Winnipeg...she essentially saved the studio she worked with from bankruptcy through her success,” said Gall. Her book Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood was, she notes, her “COVID project.”
Fringe storytelling with heart and humour
While the musical numbers add polish and emotion, Gall keeps the show engaging with humour, improvisation, and interaction. “It’s not me acting in character. It’s me just telling some stories, singing some songs,” she explained. “There’s sometimes...unexpected back and forth. You know, I’ll tell the story and someone will be like, ‘I was there.’ I’ll be like, ‘Great. Please tell me more.’”
Audience contributions sometimes make their way into the show, which evolves over the run. “It grows every day,” she said. “It’s integrating people’s stories and what they tell me into the show.”
Ultimately, Gall hopes audiences walk away with a deeper appreciation of their home. “I want people to appreciate where they come from...The Prairie provinces are weird. It’s OK to have 188,000 Slurpees,” she said. “We’re a charming part of Canada...We have a lot of history.”
Catch the show
Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie is on at Théâtre Cercle Molière (340 Provencher Blvd) during the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. For performance times and ticket info, visit winnipegfringe.com.