Performer, songwriter, producer, playwright, and set, costume and projection designer, Toronto’s Kelly Clipperton wears many hats at different moments, as the saying goes. Kelly both writes and performs in a new show Let’s Assume I Know Nothing And Move Forward From There, A One Man Lady Cabaret Show.
Naomi Campbell directs the show which opens at the Factory Theatre from March 4 to 16.
We spoke to Kelly and Naomi about the show.
Let’s Assume I Know Nothing And Move Forward From There, A One Man Lady Cabaret Show: The Interview
Active in both the performing and visual arts fields, Kelly has been a Toronto fixture for four decades. With a BFA from York University’s theatre program, he’s branched into production, songwriting, playwriting, designing, photography, filmmaking, and more. His work as a costume designer netted a Dora nomination in 2013.
“I was in the theatre program,” Clipperton says. “I originally showed up there thinking I wanted to be an actor.” For the last few years, he’s been focused on production, costume design, and other things that have kept him off stage.
Music would be a detour in and out of theatre. “I grew up in a musical family,” he recalls. “My dad was an incredible musician.” At extended family gatherings, Happy Birthday would be sung in four-part harmony. It sent a message. “Music was something you did because you enjoyed it.”
In university, he wrote, produced and acted in 3 plays: Trash, Brotherhood, and Cruelty. Writing and production carried him through several years. “But, I took a stab at writing something much shorter — a pop song,” he says. “It rolled from there.”
His band Kelly & The Kellygirls toured North America and the UK, and had singles from their seven recordings on the indie charts between 2004 and 2014. In total, he devoted about two decades to music, with ten albums to show for it.
“It’s still part of my world.” He says he’s working on his first album in about ten years. “I didn’t see myself doing theatre anymore, either,” he adds wryly.
The new show aims to hit both funny and poignant notes, with reflections on grief and aging alongside an entertaining performance and a high octane 5-piece band for live accompaniment. The show is presented cabaret style, and originally presented in workshop form last May. The two workshops were sold out successes.
Kelly is responsible for everything from costume design to the projections that will display during the performance. “Naomi and I have designed everything together,” he says. “I really like doing things with my hands.” That extends to tasks like video editing and post-production work.
Working both on and off stage creates an acute awareness of the various aspects of your own personality. “There’s a push and pull,” he says.
“I really love creating.”
The Show
“When you walk into the room, it will feel like a cabaret,” explains director Naomi Campbell. She describes it as a cabaret with vintage style.
Campbell is a performing arts professional with a specialty in new Canadian theatre. She served as Artistic Director of Luminato Festival Toronto from 2018 to 2023.
“It’s a one man show, but it’s not a one man show.” The five-piece band adds to the ambience, and interaction is part of the show. “They have little bits, props,” Naomi says. “They’re very much a part of the show. It’s a real combination of song and story.”
The show begins with an old school welcome message to the audience. It later incorporates focused monologues and song, delivered in Clipperton’s trademark high energy style. He’ll be singing a combination of his own songs and relevant covers, and even appears as his own father in a different era in a moment of theatre magic.
“It’s funny, and it’s high energy, but it also tells a story of grief and loss,” she says. Clipperton’s father dealt with vascular dementia, and it’s part of his story. “It’s relevant, it’s not just pure entertainment. It tells a beautiful story.”
Throughout, he goes back to his family’s music. “The music of the family is really clear throughout the whole piece. It’s also just purely entertaining.”
She describes the workshops last May at Monarch Tavern as having a shoulder to shoulder audience.
“Kind of scary, actually,” adds Kelly.
The show has since been developed with more sophisticated production, and choreography by Shane McKinnon. Clipperton made not only his own costumes, but those for the band as well.
“It’s a good time of the year for a real shot in the arm show,” Naomi says.
What does Kelly hope people will get from Let’s Assume I Know Nothing…?
“We’ve had a lot of conversations about that,” Clipperton says. “Reach out and touch someone.” The old Bell commercial adage was his first thought. “The way the technology has shifted over the last 20 years has been a struggle for me,” he adds. It’s changed the way people interact, as he points out.
“I think that our constant barrage of information […] doesn’t hold the sincerity that I think we used to communicate with.”
His message, in the end, is quite simple.
“Be kinder to each other, and all that.”
- Find show details and tickets [HERE].
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