By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
This one’s for the history buffs: retro miniskirts, Edwardian black satin with silver embroidery, ermine-lined Revolution-era cloaks, it’s all there. On Thursday, February 26, 2026, Burlington’s theatregoers packed into Drury Lane Theatre to partake in a wacky and outrageously hilarious time-travelling experience in support of the Aspects of Dance performance academy, as well as a longstanding city tradition of local comedy entertainment. It was the yearly Music Hall.
It’s a lineup of historically themed hits. A kooky English king and his servant vie for the spotlight as a colony threatens to secede from the empire. Gossipy ladies in a 1960s-style salon lament about their past loves with their hair all rolled up in curlers. A group of frustrated 1950s housewives compete with the TV baseball season for their utterly absorbed husbands’ attention. And the Disney Renaissance of the 1990s reigns once again with its iconic villains bragging about their evil exploits in the fashion of Chicago with “The Spell Block Tango,” a clever subversion of “The Cell Block Tango.”
These are the vignettes that make up Drury Lane Theatre’s 45th Annual Music Hall, subtitled “Everything Old is New Again,” which premiered on February 13, 2026. On February 26, however, the theatre was still bursting at the seams with bodies, laughter, hooting, and ceaseless chatter as if it were opening night. That’s how popular and beloved the Music Hall is.
February 26’s performance was down two actors due to illness — ‘tis the season — but the rest of the cast heroically carried on in their stead. Caroline Clarke and Shelley Rennick tag-teamed to direct and choreograph this extravaganza, while Joanne Warren and Sharron Clerk shared the essential responsibility of being the producers. Costume coordinator Mary Buzzelli dolled up the cast appropriately for their respective zig-zagging time periods with the help of the sewing and costuming team consisting of Carrie Mines, Alex Coates, and Marlene McMahon. And Michael Belton, who starred in last year’s Cinderella pantomime as a wicked stepsister, was enthusiastically welcomed back to the stage as the returning host and chairman. Armed with his trademark repertoire of delightfully cheesy jokes, Belton led the night with charisma and expertise, keeping the audience entertained during scene/costume changes.
There is one significant difference from last year’s Music Hall. The directorial approach of this year’s Music Hall trustingly relies exclusively on ensemble performance. Every scene is a carefully coordinated group effort, and there are no solo acts at all, unlike last year’s Music Hall, which had a few standout performances from solo performers. This year, no actor is expected to carry a song alone on the stage. The performers are instead arranged to consistently work together in sync and utilize the chemistry between their ever-changing characters to convey each scene’s strand of humour. For the most part, this works.
The directors appeared to have succeeded in assigning the right roles to the right performers for many of the skits. Longtime Drury Lane performer Sheila Flis, who also appeared in last year’s Music Hall, is absolutely hysterical as the well-meaning but in-over-her-head psychiatrist leading a therapeutic group session for people with invisible companions in “Imaginary Friends Anonymous Support Group.” Claire Campbell’s crass, high-spirited character in “City of Strangers” leads a crowd of grouchy bus stop loiterers in singing Solomon Linda’s easily recognizable “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” with ulterior motives besides bringing together the community for a bit of spontaneous fun. There is also a tender interlude between all of the silliness, where May Farquhar and Paul Schlatman pay tribute to all of the members of the Drury Lane Theatre family who have passed on in recent years by singing Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable.”
However, there is the occasional instance where an actor’s talents are somewhat underutilized. Greg Porter’s impressive singing voice gets a little sidelined in Hamilton’s “You’ll Be Back” in the role of the mentally deteriorating King George III, though Melody Rasmussen shines as George’s vain servant, who usurps his power and carries most of the song instead of him. “You’ll Be Back” is a widely renowned solo in the original Hamilton musical and, admittedly, comes across as a bit awkward and crowded as a duet, despite the actors’ skills. Perhaps that’s the reason why the skit is listed as “You’ll Be Back, Miscast,” on the program. For February 26’s performance, the pared-down cast came together magnificently near the end to have the audience howling their heads off during “If I Were Not Upon the Stage,” a chaotic power struggle between a set of peculiar characters singing about their odd professions and tickling each other with their props like rowdy, unsupervised schoolchildren. This bit, which was also included in last year’s show with different characters, was undoubtedly the highlight of the night and seems to be an unshakeable Music Hall staple. This is what a Music Hall is truly about: making the audience laugh until they shed tears, and momentarily forget their everyday worries.
Drury Lane’s 45th Annual Music Hall will be holding five more performances of the show from March 1, 2026, to March 8, 2026. Tickets can still be bought here. However, when the Music Hall closes, Drury Lane Theatre’s adventures into past timelines won’t be ending. On May 8, 2026, the theatre will be premiering its highly anticipated production of the fabulously glam musical Nice Work If You Can Get It. This musical will transport audiences back to the Prohibition era of the 1920s, where sequined flapper girls liked their skirts short, their jazz loud, and their gin strong. It’s set to be a wild ride, so it would be best to secure tickets as early as possible. Tickets can be bought on the Drury Lane website as well.
