Video of The Week, June 5, 2013

A truly delightful video for Soulpepper's Barber of Seville - nicely shot, wonderfully edited and, especially, gorgeously scored (adapted from the Rossini opera). 

(In passing, we also like the way Soulpepper uses its logo at the beginning.)

Review Squared, June 4, 2013

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens…

by Valerie Cardinal

@vscardinal

While doing research for my column this week, I ran into quite a few reviews that I loved. So, this week (as some of you might have guessed by the title) is all about my favorite things and what makes me love love love a review. Forget the editorial styles and restrictions of publications – this is about the writing, and only the writing. 

First of all, I love it when the tone of a review perfectly emulates the tone of the production. That way, readers get a hint as to what they’re in for if they decide to see the show. This week, I thought The Coast’s Kate Watson did just that in her review of Reefer Madness. The language and style Watson uses conveys the campy comedy aspects of the production. Also notable is Watson’s response to a comment that she highly recommends to many shows, which I thought was well put and something I agree with: “I have also determined that the word count in a capsule review (which is what my job entails) is too small to allow for an in-depth accounting of the pros and cons of a production, so I consciously choose to emphasize the positive.”

After Dark, June 4, 2013

Going Over The Line

When critics should pause

by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

@gcharlebois

I began reviewing theatre when I was 15 and an apprentice at The Quebec City Chronicle Telegraph. 

I only occasionally look back at what I wrote then, or subsequently at the Mirror or Hour. I suspect I'd cringe if I read right through the hundreds of articles - an ocean of smart-assedness and pretension. But if anyone thinks I regret hollering, "This is shit!" at the end of one production they'd be wrong. (I am especially proud of the article I wrote explaining the shout.) Or people who think I am upset I despised a profoundly wrong-headed production of Shakespeare once, they'd be erring. I'm also not upset I pointed out the arrogance of a young actor who mounted a production around himself - a very bad production. (Oh! I earned a death threat from him for that one!) 

As I aged from those days at the Chronicle, I was more cautious, each year learning more and more about the humanity of artists. Two very important lessons were learned: one from my mentor Henry Woolf who told me, "In theatre, we must build, not tear down." I only partly agreed saying, "I think I want to renovate!" When I began to freelance for The Gazette, on my first review I was asked to tone it down because, my editor, Lucinda Chodan, said, "Here you have a big hammer, be careful how you use it."

News: (Toronto) Dora Award Nominations (Full LIst)

Big winner in noms: Arigato, Tokyo

Daniel MacIvor, Tyson James photo: Tanja-Tiziana

Dora Strong on Buddies, Roseneath, COC, Tarragon
by Beat Rice

Today the nominees for the 34th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards were announced by TAPA, The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. This year there are 13 new categories bringing the total number of awards to 48.

There are six Divisions: General Theatre, Independent Theatre, Dance, Musical Theatre, Opera, (some award categories for these two are combined) and Theatre for Young Audiences. There is also an Award for Outstanding Touring Production, which crosses the Divisions.

Highlights include 15 nominations for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for their productions of Obaaberima and Arigato, Tokyo, the Tarragon Theatre with 13 nominations, Roseneath Theatre with 8 nominations in the Theatre for Young Audiences Division, and for individual designers, several with more than one nomination for Outstanding Design in more than one division. It is clear that Toronto has some seriously talented designers.

Among the names of the people who have been around and been nominated previously are young emerging artists. It is wonderful that the jury recognize their talent and contribution to the arts.

The Question, June 3, 2013

Back by Popular Demand
by Estelle Rosen

Kieren MacMillan is one-half of the writing team of MacMillan and Hutton, whose three musicals ("Fairy Tale Ending", "ToboR the RoboT", and "Robin Hood: The Legendary Musical Comedy") are favourites of audiences and critics in Toronto and beyond. Kieren graduated from Rice University with his Master of Music in Composition, and since then has worked in Toronto as a composer, music director, and educator. In addition to his freelance work, Kieren is a faculty member at Toronto's Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.

CHARPO:  Although the original concept of Fairy Tale Ending was intended for youth theatre, the appeal of this production extends to adults as well. Are you able to pinpoint why adult audiences are attracted, and compare responses between young and adult audiences.

MACMILLAN: First, a quick history of "Fairy Tale Ending". Jeremy Hutton was a founding director of the Toronto Youth Theatre, and asked me to write a musical with him for the youth actors to perform. There were nine kids enrolled, so we wrote a show with a cast of nine. Those youth actors (some younger than 10) premiered "Fairy Tale Ending" at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, to wildly enthusiastic audiences. In 2010, we remounted the show at the Toronto Fringe (FringeKids!) Festival, using adult actors. We polished a few scenes, and beefed up some of the vocal parts (especially for "The Three", who act as the main chorus), but otherwise it's the same musical we wrote back in 2008. That FringeKids! production sold out, and went on to do quite well at the Best of Fringe and NextStage Theatre festivals. People have been begging to see it ever since — so you might say we're "back by popular demand".

Openings We're Tracking This Week, June 3-9

Review: (Stratford) Blithe Spirit

Michelle Giroux (photo by David Hou)

High Spirits!

Stratford’s opening week ends with a triumph

by Stuart Munro

@StuartMunroTO

My week at Stratford has come to an end, and what an ending! The festival’s new production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, directed by Brian Bedford, has all the fast-paced biting wit one would expect, and is presented with all the skill one hopes to see on stage at every outing.

In short, Blithe Spirit tells the story of Charles Condomine; his wife, Ruth; the psychic medium, Madame Arcati; and a seance gone horribly, horribly wrong. Over the three hours of the play, Charles must learn to deal with the unexpected result of that meeting and the following consequences.

Leading the company is festival perennial Ben Carlson. His dry wit, acerbic manner, and physical comedy make it clear that he is just as at home with Coward as he is with Schiller’s Mary Stuart – one would hardly recognize him between the two roles, so complete is the transformation. The same is true of Seana McKenna as the slightly-daft medium, Madame Arcati. The utter absurdity of her character is made completely believable by Ms. McKenna’s undeniable skill, and how anyone on stage with her manages to keep a straight face is utterly beyond me. As Ruth, Sara Topham took a little while to grow on me, but her hysterics in the second act completely won me over. Michelle Giroux’s Elvira was the picture of grace and sensibility (even in an impossible situation), and Susie Burnett’s Edith had the audience in stitches from the moment the curtain went up.