Giant Killer Shark: The Musical Revised For Over The Top Festival

Since Giant Killer Shark: The Musical made big waves at last summer's Fringe Festival in Toronto, it's become something of a cult hit. While mixing sexy dance moves with fishing, break-dancing, autopsies and boozing, the show has evolved and now includes a new song, a new boat and, at times, some life endangerment.

"Originally the new song was going to be a montage scene," explains writer Sam Sutherland, who, despite just having sat down with the cast for beers on a patio after a sweaty rehearsal, is well-mannered and dry-witted. "We really wanted to break down theatrical boundaries.

"And then it ended up sounding like some Jock Jams mixed with David Copperfield special music. I would consider describing the new song as classic Vegas showmanship and magic alongside Fashion Television mixed with 'Whoomp! (There It Is).'"

As for the new boat, if you've seen the play you'd know that it used to look like something a six year old would spit at. But this past winter, Sutherland and a jolly crew of seamen attempted to reinforce the boat and fix it up. That almost worked.

"The very first show we did with it, everything was going fine until one of the shark attack scenes," Sutherland says. "We were all running around the boat, one of us hit it and it fell forward — the boat also has a mast — and it fell forward in such a way that it would have taken out the eye of anyone in the audience.

"Most people in the audience had to duck aside to keep from getting smashed in the face. We want to have an element of danger. We don't want people to feel safe when they see the play."

Flying masts of death aside, this is a ChartAttack article, so let's get back to the show's music. It includes punk, pop, ska, show tunes and more. Despite claiming a certain shark movie's score played no role in the creation of this musical ("This play is nothing like Jaws, I have no idea what you're talking about. I resent that insinuation, this interview is over," Sutherland jokingly proclaims when the subject is brought up), I had to ask if Jaws soundtrack creator John Williams inspired any of the compositions.

"The idea of not referencing that at all was really funny to me and, in the initial demos, I kind of played around with the (Sutherland attempts his best Jaws theme humming). And in some ways, it was way funnier to ignore it all together."

Giant Killer Shark: The Musical has a limited run as part of the Over The Top Festival. Here are the dates:

May 3 Toronto, ON @ Annex Theatre — 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. shows
May 4 Toronto, ON @ Annex Theatre — 9:30 p.m. show
May 5 Toronto, ON @ Annex Theatre — 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. shows