Review: (Toronto / Theatre) Burn This

(Photo by Angela Besharah) 

Intimate take on Wilson’s play is busy, noisy, and kind of numbing.
by Christian Baines

Anna (Ashleigh Rains) has been living for three years with her Gay (uncoupled) roommates Robbie and Larry (Jason Stroud). When Robbie is killed in a boating accident, his brother Pale (Kyle Labine) arrives on Anna’s doorstep. Pale is angry and unpredictable, but with her friend and longtime collaborator gone, could he be just what Anna needs?

This intriguing setup leads to what’s ultimately a very safe, straightforward play masquerading as a dangerous one. Burn This is full of shouting (Pale), angsty-hand-wringing (Anna), and familiar Gay tropes (Larry). Some of those tropes would have been ground-breaking when Lanford Wilson’s play debuted in 1987, but they now come across as something of a ‘Queer Eye’ era museum piece – undoubtedly beyond their original era, but never quite contemporary either.

Review: (Toronto / Theatre) Cock

(photo by Kari North)

Ringside seats a must-have for Studio 180’s cockfight
by Christian Baines

To label Cock with the cliché of ‘thought-provoking’ would be selling it short. Writer Mike Bartlett tackles the perennial question of fluid sexual identity, as John (Andrew Kushnir) leaves his boyfriend of seven years (Jeff Miller) for a woman (Jessica Greenberg), then returns to him soon after, all while continuing his newfound heterosexual affair on the side… or not. Is this a simple question of liking both (‘Yes, but not at the same time, John!’ his unnamed boyfriend chides), or is John’s sexuality too complex for the comfortable labels of a post-Stonewall world?

Review: (Toronto / Theatre) 50 Shades! The Musical!

(photo by Clifford Rhodes)

Where 10 Shades of Gross Meets 40 Shades of ‘Meh’
by Christian Baines

Parody is dead.

No, really. I’m convinced this once noble comic form passed away with the great Leslie Nielsen and I sincerely doubt we’ll see talent on par with the Zucker brothers ever again. What did these guys understand that today’s spoofsters don’t? Perhaps that writing good parody is hard work. Hell, it may even be harder than writing your own material.

Even hit musicals like Spamalot and Evil Dead start to wobble under their own self-awareness in the second act (particularly Evil Dead). Still, both these shows demonstrate enough genuine commitment, inspiration and most importantly, love for their source material to carry them home. They also firmly ground their laughs in what made their subjects so great in the first place. 

Review: (Toronto / Theatre) Major Tom (World Stage)

(credit: Liquid Photo)

A (Show) Dog's Life

Victoria Melody’s one-woman dog show never quite leaves ground control.

by Christian Baines

@XtianBaines

There’s an eerie foreshadowing when Victoria Melody starts telling us of the numerous Z-list British celebrities that her dog, Major Tom has charmed on his daily walks. Could Melody be giving us a glimpse of what she would eventually become? That’s certainly the question lurking at the back of Major Tom, the 70 minute monologue Melody delivers based on her experience, first on the UK dog show circuit, then as a mature age beauty queen herself.

Melody imbues her story with a delightful everywoman-out-of-her-depth quality. It’s endearing in no small thanks to her resilience in the face of repeated failure. The biggest applause is naturally reserved for the eponymous pooch, an adorable basset hound guaranteed to earn his share of laughs and awwws from the audience.

Review: (Toronto) Cabaret

(photo: Seanna Kennedy)

Kander and Ebb classic is a wilkommen addition to the LOT’s repertoire.
Occasionally misplaced excess won’t spoil your evening at this Cabaret.
by Christian Baines

Full disclosure before we begin. I really can’t overstate my personal affection for Cabaret, which has been my favourite musical for almost as long as I’ve loved the form. Kander and Ebb’s songs are timeless, Christopher Isherwood’s unforgettable characters engage us immediately, and the plot’s modular structure (based as it is on a collection of short stories) allows plenty of room for a unique take on it every time. 

Those qualities have secured Cabaret an enduring popularity with young audiences fascinated by Isherwood’s Berlin. If the energy of this production at Lower Ossington Theatre (LOT) is any indication, Cabaret has many more long and happy years ahead of it.

Review: (Toronto) Manon, Sandra and the Virgin Mary

(photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)

Icons, idols and disillusionment permeate the space at Buddies.
by Christian Baines

Intertwining sexuality with religion is a well-worn concept, but Michel Tremblay forges a particularly thought-provoking and perhaps even literal connection between their acolytes. The pious Manon has spent her adult life in servitude to Catholicism, her beloved rosary and every virtue she holds dear. Transvestite Sandra wants to fuck, embracing his gracefully un-aging cock, the one organ he can rely on in the face of an increasingly cruel mirror.

Review: (Toronto) The Tin Drum

(photo by Keith Barker)

Wartime Europe through the eyes of an innocent – or not
by Christian Baines

How does the first half of Europe’s 20th century appear through the eyes of a child? In particular, a man who remains a child by force of will, and perhaps through the magic of his treasured toy drum? The world of Gunter Grass’s novel is one in which the forces of fantasy, tragedy and whimsy converge against the backdrop of turbulent politics and a Continent on the brink of monumental change.

Oskar (Jesse Aaron Dwyre) is three years old when he discovers the wonders of his drum and resolves never to grow up. One household accident later, Oskar is granted his wish, albeit counterbalanced with a rapidly advancing intellect. To the outside world however, he is slow and ill-developed, much to the grief of his mother Agnes (Margaret Evans). Agnes has been splitting her life between her husband Matzerath (Gordon Bolan) and lover (among other things) Jan (Cyrus Lane), whose wife Hedwig (Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster) meanwhile has taken quite a shine to Oskar. The unravelling of this unhappily functional family is just the first in a string of calamities centred around the boy/man as he begins to grow old, but not up. Is he the cause? Or just witness to the destruction others bring unto themselves?

Review: (Toronto) Evil Dead the Musical

Daniel Williston (photo by David Hou)

Deliciously Goofy Gore-soaked Fun
Toronto favourite still has its weak spots, but there’s no denying it’s a fun night out.
by Christian Baines

It seems pretty redundant to assess the strengths of Evil Dead’s writing as a musical now. The semi-original Canadian camp-fest has been touring with incredible success since 2003. If audience enthusiasm at the Randolph Theatre on Tuesday night is any indication, there’s still quite a bit to come. That’s not to give the show a free pass, but understand that at this stage of its life, Evil Dead is as much a raucous cult experience as it is a musical.

It belongs to that most difficult, yet persistent genre, the bloody B-grader – though if you’re going in expecting another Little Shop of Horrors, Bat Boy, or even Reefer Madness, it may be time to adjust your expectations. Evil Dead has a few well publicized tricks up its sleeve that these shows don’t, but its book and score don’t aim for anywhere near say, Bat Boy’s level of character development or sophisticated snark. The score doesn’t particularly grasp for originality and the lyrics contain as many forced moments as they do inspired ones. Henry Winkler? Yeah... even Ash (Ryan Ward) calls them out – in character – on that one.

But damn if the end result isn’t bloody good fun!

Review: (Toronto) Shrek

Passable Shrek Misses the Point
Visually splendid show pitches firmly to kids, selling its assets woefully short
by Christian Baines
@XtianBaines

Shrek is one of those movie-turned-musical concepts that really makes sense. A big, brash, funny and self-aware take on traditional fairy tales, balanced by just the right sense of lyrical whimsy. But does a musical treatment do anything to enhance the story of Shrek?

Review: (Toronto) Tick, Tick...Boom!

Ken Chamberland, Parris Greaves (photo: Vincent Perri)

Tick, Tick... Boom! goes off... eventually.
Jonathan Larson’s ‘other’ musical delivers on modest ambitions, even if it takes its time getting started.
by Christian Baines

There are few real-life musical theatre stories more tragic than Jonathan Larson’s. At least... stories about successful composers. His breakout hit Rent spoke to a generation of theatregoers – and in later years, let’s face it, hipsters. Though it proved Broadway musicals could both be critical darlings and box office gold, even in the 90’s, Larson would not live to enjoy its success, tragically passing away the night before Rent’s first Off-Broadway performance.

The show’s success however did open a crack in the window of opportunity for Larson’s other, lesser known musical, Tick, Tick... Boom!, which in a masterstroke of inventiveness follows a young musical theatre composer named Jon (Parris Greaves), who is turning 30 and still not self-sustaining in his artistic career.

Write what you know, they say.

Review: (Toronto) Pig

l-r Blair Williams, Bruce Dow, Paul Dunn (photo: Jeremy Mimnagh)

Buddies’ Pig Serves Up Nothing but Slops
The only thing butchered in this slaughterhouse is goodwill.
by Christian Baines

Pig has all the ingredients of a yet another quality Buddies production in 2013, including committed, well defined performances and a clever director’s hand. These elements occasionally earn it a good laugh – even the odd twinge of fear. It’s too bad the play itself is a steaming pile of slop.

Imagine for a moment that Eli Roth has just stumbled upon the world of gay BDSM and thought ‘Hey, isn’t this just the coolest shit ever? This’ll shock the kids!’ He then starts waving it around, expecting praise for how cutting edge he is without paying the slightest attention to character or plot development. So it is with the script of Pig. There’s never a glimpse of the motivation driving either the sadists or the masochists in Tim Luscombe’s indecisive and irredeemably anti-erotic tale. 

Review: (Toronto) Angels in America Part I and II

Raquel Duffy and Damien Atkins

The Gay Fantasia takes flight at Soulpepper

Epic theatre that delivers on its promises

by Christian Baines

(photos by Cylla von Tiedemann)

It’s 1985, and Prior, a young gay man afflicted with AIDS has just begun to show visible symptoms. His lover Louis must decide if that ordeal is more than he’s prepared to face. Meanwhile, up-and-coming Mormon legal clerk Joe is caught between his deeply unhappy pill-popping wife Harper, his sociopathic conservative attorney mentor Roy Cohn, his distraught, yet no-nonsense mother Hannah, and the lure of other men’s beds. All while Prior is receiving strange visitations from an angel, calling upon him to stop humanity’s perpetual and seeming destructive march towards progress and change.

All told over two plays, running a total of just over six hours, and it changed the way theatregoers and theatre makers thought about gay stories, AIDS stories and depictions of America forever. What kind of a mind produces such a work? Tony Kushner, who subtitled his phenomenal play “A Gay Fantasia on National Themes”. Applied to any other work, it might seem pretentious. Here, it seems an only fair description.

Sunday Feature: Angels in America, an appreciation by Christian Baines

Raquel Duffy and Damien Atkins; photo by Cylla von Tiedemann

CELESTIAL PLAYWRITING
Why over 20 years on, Angels still has wings.
by Christian Baines

Angels in America seems to have become the go-to play in talking about so many benchmarks. A turning point for Gay theatre. A turning point for the way the AIDS epidemic could be depicted in entertainment. 

Not forgetting the endless cracks about the show’s sheer length. No, really. When considering taking in Angels, “I’m not doing anything that weekend” had better mean “I’m not doing ANYTHING that weekend.” Saturday for the 6+ hour play, and Sunday to recover.

Its tagline ‘A Gay Fantasia on National Themes’ speaks not only to Tony Kushner’s love of long, needlessly drawn out titles (Anyone try to spit out ‘The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures’ at TKTS?), but to the incredible scope of the work itself. Gay theatre, even addressing AIDS, was nothing new to Broadway audiences in 1991 – La Cage aux Folles and Falsettos had both come before, collecting a nice fistful of Tony Awards between them. 

Review: (Toronto) Entertaining Mr. Sloane

David Beazeley and Fiona Reid (photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)

Entertainment in Excess
Soulpepper’s Sloane a dark and campy treat
by Christian Baines

There’s a fine line in Joe Orton’s plays, somewhere between British farce and the blackest of black comedies. Productions that find it are rare, but golden, and Brendan Healy’s take on Entertaining Mr Sloane is among them. Gleefully embracing camp excess, but always with one eye on Orton’s darker observations and the morally ambiguous nature of its characters, this Sloane is brisk, acerbic and very, very funny.

Review: (Toronto) God is a Scottish Drag Queen (Fringe)

Where drag meets divinity

A chat with God about whatever lifts your kilt

by Christian Baines

@XtianBaines

God is a Scottish drag queen. In an 80’s floral power suit, no less. I had always suspected it, but it’s nice to have one’s preconceived theological notions validated.

Mike Delamont dons the shoulder-padded eyesore for a joyously irreverent hour of commentary on all topics from Canada to pop music to ‘how is this pop?’ music to how to build a city out of clouds. To reveal specifics would spoil much of the fun, but Delamont keeps his tone conversational and loose, never beating the deity in a dress gag too hard.

Review: (Toronto) Adventure (Fringe)

Derring-do with a hint of bloodlust

Yet what’s it all trying to do?

by Christian Baines

@XtianBaines

Any play bearing the tagline ‘Trumpets! Knights! Tigers! Holy shit!’ probably isn’t going to be the most thematically cohesive of evenings, so with that in mind, we sign on for Adventure!, brought to us by our ‘Good Friends’ Matthew Gorman and Gillian Lewis.

This profane and violent little tale carries the tone of what one might stumble onto while channel-surfing at 3am. Chivalry and silliness, interspersed with moments of ‘Mother of God!’ Or it might be a group of friends who abandon adult self-consciousness, yet retain adult desires, selfishness, cruelty and depravity as they raid the medieval costume box in an attic that probably should have stayed locked.

Review: (Toronto) The Musical of Musicals: The Musical (Fringe)

Aspects of Absurdity
A little complex strictly for the converted
by Christian Baines
@XtianBaines

How well do you know your musicals? And whose musicals do you know? A good way to answer these questions might be to get down to Factory Theatre and check out Musical of Musicals: The Musical! The same story, told five times in the style of five well known musical theatre composers/teams, this spoof is shaping up to be a sell-out of the Fringe – revealing, if nothing else, that the festival does tend to attract more the theatre faithful than casual fans.

Review: (Toronto) Kill Sister Kill (Fringe)

The Loaded Nun

Singing, stabbing and sanctity come together in new musical

by Christian Baines

@XtianBaines

A gory, melodic throwback to the revenge porn flicks of the 1980’s, Kill Sister Kill is a musical that aims above its campy pitch to deliver a show that’s funny, lyrically nimble and jarring in just the right measure.

Lily (Stefne Mercedes) has taken off the habit for one night of sleazy celebration with her sister, Kitty (Nicola Atkinson). In the tradition of great revenge clichés, they are intercepted on the way home by the vicious, oversexed Dagger (Luke Slade) and his reluctant younger brother turned wingman, Ronnie (Jamison Child). Brutality ensues, and (word of warning) Child, also serving as director, does not shy away from this important aspect of the show.

Review: (Toronto) Spoon (Fringe)

Queer as cutlery
Psycho-sexual chills abound in romantic thriller
by Christian Baines
@XtianBaine

One of the most intriguing and challenging works of this year’s Fringe, Spoon is a play spawned from gender theory that attempts to find its voice in the language of psychological thrillers. If Polanski had written a Queer fourth instalment to his apartment trilogy, Spoon could very well qualify. Andrew and Charles have just moved in together, only to find their perceptions of their respective roles within the relationship aren’t quite what they seemed. 

Review: (Toronto) TRIP (Fringe)

A three-pronged trip into purgatory...
...particularly for the audience.
by Christian Baines
@XtianBaines

There’s nothing wrong with a good anthology. A perfectly presentable, even highly entertaining show can easily be forged by linking three disparate stories under a common theme and telling them with gusto, even if the stories are told purely via narration.

Provided of course they’re engaging stories. And this ‘trip’ is one way. Straight down.