It's hardly Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. No dancing orphans are in sight. No chandeliers crash to the floor. No helicopters whirl skyward. This is a musical about brain surgery. It takes place largely in a hospital room where Gordon Michael Schwinn fights for his life.

Risky? Well, I guess.

"Everything about theatre is risky," shrugs Jason Dick, a tall man with broad shoulders. He settles into a cafeteria chair and talks about personal passion.

On the edge of 30, Dick's launching a new theatre company in Hamilton. After a couple of stabs last season, his Hammer Entertainment is set to produce four shows this year. Beginning with William Finn's semi-autobiographical off-Broadway musical A New Brain, this little company plans to offer alternative-style musical theatre.

Not that Hamilton hasn't seen a Finn show before. Falsettos, Finn's musical about gay lovers, AIDS and a love that survives a number of physical and emotional shocks created a stir at the Hamilton Players' Guild about 10 years ago.

Tell that to Dick and he smiles a benign sort of grin.

"It's rare we get to see Finn or Stephen Sondheim in Hamilton. Groups such as Hamilton Theatre Inc. and Drury Lane tend to play things safe for the most part. They take a chance every four or five years, then go right back to the tried and true.

"Well, audiences may be small for these sorts of shows, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have life in pocket-sized productions."

Dick says his intention is to always take risks.

Certainly that's the case with Finn's startling A New Brain.

Even in sophisticated New York, audiences walked out. Others stayed the course but admitted they didn't really like Finn's story about a man struggling with his muse, his gay lover and cranial surgery.

"I worked in a couple of shows in Toronto -- well, Brampton actually -- and I liked the diversity there. You know there's a huge talent pool here in Hamilton. And not just for the same old musicals. There are young people in high schools and at McMaster who would like to be in something challenging. They don't want to take chorus roles in something like My Fair Lady."

Dick admits the company he's starting is not a professional theatre, but a group working toward producing professional-looking shows.

"I taught vocal music in Hamilton for a number of years for Ray Lyell's Academy (of the Arts) so I am able to handle vocal direction for a musical.

"The orchestra will be recorded because there isn't space for a live band at the Staircase Theatre. And we can't really afford live musicians every night.

"We're frankly hoping to attract the McMaster crowd. Theatre here has to start appealing to a wider range of ages.

"Mostly it's been supported by a middle-aged to older crowd. We mustn't under-estimate the pull and draw of university and high-school audiences."

Dick and his associates have raised funds to produce A New Brain through concerts and public donations.

Dick estimates the show will cost about $2,500, which is very low for a musical.

"If I have to I'll go door-to-door stuffing notices in mailboxes. I've got to make this work," Dick says.

The rest of Hammer Entertainment's proposed series includes a play by Dick, a musical revue of Broadway songs and a show by Sondheim.

Dick's day job is at a tech-support call centre. His nights are filled with music.

Gary Smith has written on theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years.

Showtime

Who: Hammer Entertainment

What: A New Brain

Where: Staircase Theatre, 27 Dundurn St. N.

When: Oct. 10, 17 at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 , 18 at 2 and 8 p.m.

Tickets: At the door