Streetsville Native Celebrates His Roots in a Stunning Solo Performance
/
Streetsville native and Renaissance Man Kelly Clipperton debuts his one-man-lady-cabaret-show: a wildly entertaining evening of personal stories embedded in songs from Kelly’s catalogue and popular favourites from the past.
Shaped by Toronto theatre veteran Naomi Campbell and accompanied by a hot 5-piece-band, Let’s Assume I Know Nothing… tells the fabulous and colourful story of this out and proud 55-year-old, tempered by the loss of his father, the legendary community leader and award-winning musician Gary Clipperton, through vascular dementia in 2023.
We connected with Kelly to learn about the process.
1. Describe the creative process in assembling “Let's Assume…” once you knew it would be a reality
the workshop we did last may came together pretty effortlessly. i knew i wanted to do it in a club, not a theatre as i wanted the full band on stage with me. i asked my first 5 choices and lucky for me they said yes. janet whiteway who is my musical director worked really hard in a short period of time to help me pull the sound and flow together. when naomi and i realized how the show was resonating with the audience that came to see the workshop we went full tilt on designing the look that will be on stage in march. i've designed and built the costumes and the projections, alongside a great support crew, and the evolution of the script has involved several longtime collaborators who with naomi and i have built and rebuilt the script to where we feel truly proud of it.
2. What was the most rewarding part of the entire process?
just doing it really! i have been encouraged to tackle this format for a long time, so I guess I'd say it was rewarding for myself to see what my community around me has been pushing me to do for quite some time. the evolution of the script has developed to include more about my dad. the piece isn't necessarily about him, or about he and i, but it's been so gratifying expanding these stories and feeling him in the whole piece more.
3. Was there an aspect of the performance that took more time to organize than others?
i'm dancing a lot more than i did in the workshop version... where i pretty much stood on stage and told these stories and sang these songs. the physicality of it all has been really exciting to embrace. i'm doing the whole show in a sturdy edwardian heel and that has been a workout. killer. by the time we are up they'll feel like second skin i'm sure.
