Steam Whistle’s 2012 Art Show Series (Submission Deadline Nov. 15, 2011)
Steam Whistle Brewing is looking for group exhibitions by emerging artists to showcase in their unique gallery space. The historic John St. Roundhouse provides a great backdrop for art shows in the city.
The gallery features: commission-free and rent-free space for a month long show, your opening night reception, hosted with the brewery providing food, music and bar service (250 person capacity), assistance with Art Show promotion: website event calendar listing, e-news/Twitter/Facebook mention, press release sent to media.
In return, one piece of work from the exhibition is added to Steam Whistle’s permanent collection and displayed for the 100,000 annual visitors to see. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2011. Visit www.steamwhistle.ca for detailed information.
Canadian Premiere of the Broadway & International Musical Sensation FELA!
DAVID MIRVISH is thrilled to announce the Canadian premiere of the hit musical FELA! A three-time Tony Award®-winning musical, FELA! enjoyed a sensation run on Broadway, played sold-out seasons at London’s National Theatre and Sadler’s Wells, and toured internationally. FELA! is produced by SHAWN “JAY-Z” CARTER, WILL & JADA PINKETT SMITH and RUTH & STEPHEN HENDEL, in association with the National Theatre of Great Britain. FELA! will play the Canon Theatre in Toronto for a strictly limited engagement, from October 25 – November 6, 2011. Tickets go on sale Monday, September 19.
FELA! is the true story of the legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose soulful Afrobeat rhythms ignited a generation. Inspired by his mother, a civil rights champion, he defied a corrupt and oppressive military government and devoted his life and music to the struggle for freedom and human dignity. FELA! is a triumphant tale of courage, passion and love, featuring Fela Kuti’s captivating music and the visionary direction and choreography of BILL T. JONES.
For tickets visit mirvish.com or call TicketKing at 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333.
Soulpepper’s 2011 Summer & Fall Season News
Eric Peterson in Billy Bishop Goes to War. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.
Soulpepper Theatre Company opens three shows this fall to conclude its 2011 season, The Odd Couple, Ghosts and Parfumerie. Soulpepper’s fall season runs from September 22 to December 31 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Continuing summer season productions include: Exit the King until September 9; Billy Bishop Goes to War until September 17; and White Biting Dog until October 21. Eric Peterson and John Gray’s classic production of Billy Bishop Goes to War also makes its cinematic debut this month at the Toronto International Film Festival, with public screenings at TIFF on September 15 and 18.
The Odd Couple
A hit at Soulpepper in 2008, The Odd Couple returns to the stage with the original cast in leading roles. Neil Simon’s legendary exploration of the relationship between fastidious Felix and his sloppy roommate Oscar is one of the most iconic and enduring pieces of twentieth century American comedy. This production features Diego Matamoros as Felix and Albert Schultz as Oscar with Derek Boyes, Kevin Bundy, Oliver Dennis, Raquel Duffy, Michael Hanrahan and Michelle Monteith. The Odd Couple is directed by Stuart Hughes.
Runs from September 22 – November 19. Opening night is September 23.
Production sponsor: Herzig Eye Institute
Ghosts
With its frank discussion of relationships, morality, and family values, Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece caused a sensation on its debut in 1882. In Morris Panych’s vital new translation, the ghosts that haunt the lives of a family’s shattered glory are as haunting and provocative as ever. Ghosts is directed by Morris Panych and features three Founding Members, Diego Matamoros, Nancy Palk and Joseph Ziegler, with Michelle Monteith and Gregory Prest.
Runs from October 10 – November 18. Opening night is October 14.
Production sponsor: CIBC
Parfumerie
Another Soulpepper favourite returns for the holidays. Adam Pettle and Brenda Robins’ adaptation about two clerks in a Budapest perfume shop who feud by day and unknowingly exchange anonymous love letters by night is one of the world’s most beloved stories. Soulpepper’s Parfumerie received the 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Production. Parfumerie is directed by Morris Panych and features Maev Beaty, Stacey Bulmer, Kevin Bundy, Oliver Dennis, Patricia Fagan, Jeff Lillico, Miranda Mulholland, Brenda Robins, Mike Ross, Michael Simpson, Kristina Uranowski, William Webster and Joseph Ziegler.
Runs from December 8 – December 31. Opening night is December 8.
Production sponsor: National Bank Financial Group
Jesus Christ Superstar to move to La Jolla Playhouse
Paul Nolan as Jesus (centre) with members of the company in Jesus Christ Superstar. Photography by David Hou.
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is delighted to announce that its hit production of Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Artistic Director Des McAnuff, is moving to La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego this November.
Lyricist Tim Rice and Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber both gave the production high praise after seeing it earlier this month and the production received glowing reviews across the board. The Globe and Mail raved, “This production is an absolute miracle,” while the Toronto Star called it “the best show you’ll see this year.” “A sparkling production literally pulsing with life,” wrote the Toronto Sun; and Variety enthused, “McAnuff has managed to come up with a vision that is faithful to the original but manages to make it seem fresh to an audience in 2011.”
“Given my long, happy and fruitful history with La Jolla Playhouse, I am naturally thrilled by the prospect of this collaboration between our two great theatres,” says Mr. McAnuff. “The pride I take in the magnificent work being done by our Festival artists in Jesus Christ Superstar is matched by my deep appreciation to La Jolla for giving us this wonderful opportunity to showcase that work to an audience of which I am very fond – an audience that, like Stratford’s, is accustomed to enjoying some of the finest theatre in the world.”
“We are absolutely delighted that we will be able to share this production with La Jolla Playhouse audiences,” says General Director Antoni Cimolino. “Jesus Christ Superstar has created a huge buzz in the media and the show has become one of our hottest tickets. It’s a pleasure to work with our colleagues in La Jolla to take this ‘Superstar’ on the road.”
“We are absolutely overjoyed to showcase the Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s stunning revival of Jesus Christ Superstar on our stage,” says Christopher Ashley, the Artistic Director for La Jolla Playhouse. “We have been looking for an opportunity to bring Des back home to the Playhouse, and this project was perfect in every way. I can’t wait to share this critically acclaimed production of this classic rock musical with our audiences.”
Set as an epic rock concert, this sensational new production of the ground-breaking rock opera features Paul Nolan as Jesus, Chilina Kennedy as Mary Magdalene, Josh Young as Judas Iscariot, Tony Award winner Brent Carver as Pontius Pilate, Bruce Dow as King Herod and Mike Nadajewski as Peter.
Harbourfront Centre Fresh Ground new works commission
makes UK premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Described as part theatre, part contest and part social experiment, Dance Marathon is an interactive performance piece by Toronto’s award-winning experimental theatre collective, bluemouth inc. Created through Harbourfront Centre’s Fresh Ground new works national commissioning programme, Dance Marathon had its world premiere at Toronto’s Enwave Theatre as part of the 08:09 World Stage season. Recently wowing audiences in New York, Melbourne and Tasmania, this unique contemporary theatre piece now makes its UK premiere at the world’s largest arts festival, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as a Harbourfront Centre co-production presented in association with Traverse Theatre and Royal Lyceum Theatre.
Dance Marathon is an interactive, duration-based performance event inspired by the desperately competitive and physically grueling spectator sports of Depression-Era North America, with a nod to today’s cult of celebrity and more than a little hint of reality TV. Audience members participate and dance-off with bluemouth inc. members under the direction of floor judges and the merciless movement of the clock to help shape the theatrical experience, or they can sit back and enjoy the fancy footwork. Performances integrate movement, text, live music, video and, of course, competitive audience interaction. With only nine performances (Aug. 3-14) and a number of special guest star appearances scheduled, Dance Marathon is considered one of the “hot tickets” at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The 2011 Toronto Fringe—Bursting at the Seams!
The 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival kicked off to record crowds on July 6th at its headquarters, the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s. There were over 200 people in attendance for the opening ceremonies and poster sprint; the poster wall filled up completely within three minutes. The opening ceremonies also saw another record breaker—the largest individual donation in Fringe history. Former Mayor David Miller made a $10,000 matching donation to the Fringe Creation Lab.
The McAuslan Beer Tent this year was a mecca of activity with afternoon professional development talks, daily open mic music, late night cabarets and the innovative marketing efforts by hundreds of companies. The Fringe tent had record-breaking crowds every-night, with the lowest attendance from 2011 matching the highest attendance of 2010. The sales at the bar were a 50% increase from 2010. Attendance at free programming events this year jumped astronomically.
2011 ticket sales increased 7% from last year, meaning the Toronto Fringe sold 57,282 tickets to this year’s festival. This means that the Toronto Fringe returned $409,879 to artists. This total brings the Toronto Fringe to over $5.5 million returned to artists since its inception in 1989. In addition to the amazing overall sales, this year saw a production sell out the fastest in Fringe history; the Patron’s Pick Performance of Kim’s Convenience sold out in 25 minutes.
The 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival had 143 shows featuring artists from Toronto and around the world. The inaugural Visual Fringe was a huge success, with artists selling work and making great long-term connections. The Toronto Fringe is excited to use the success and momentum from this year’s Festival to push forward with the opening of their Creation Lab this fall. With so many productions finding life beyond the festival, the Creation Lab will soon be in full swing, and the Toronto Fringe will be the home for independent theatre year-round.
Festival to present Christopher Plummer with Lifetime Achievement Award at gala celebration
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival will pay tribute to legendary Canadian stage and screen actor Christopher Plummer at a gala celebration at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel this fall. A newly created award, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, will be presented to Mr. Plummer on this occasion. The Festival’s General Director, Antoni Cimolino, and Artistic Director Des McAnuff will salute their good friend Mr. Plummer, whom Mr. McAnuff has directed in such memorable productions as Caesar and Cleopatra and The Tempest. Mr. Cimolino produced the world première of Mr. Plummer’s Barrymore at Stratford (in collaboration with Livent), which toured North America and played on Broadway, as well as King Lear, which moved from Stratford to New York’s Lincoln Center Theater.
“Christopher Plummer is a national treasure,” says Mr. McAnuff. “He got his start at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and has been a faithful supporter over the almost 60 years of its history. We’re very proud and honoured to be hosting this gala in celebration of one of the most distinguished actors of our time.”
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Mr. Plummer by acclaimed Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent, who was in the Festival company with Mr. Plummer in the early 1960s. Key members of the Festival’s company will present a number of dazzling musical and dramatic tributes to Mr. Plummer.
Proceeds from the gala will support the Festival’s key initiatives – classical and contemporary programming, educational opportunities for teachers and students, and training for the next generation of Canada’s actors and directors. The gala will be held at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel on September 26 at 7 p.m. To reserve your place at this once-in-a-lifetime event, please contact Rachel Smith Spencer, the Festival’s Director of Advancement, at 1-800-561-1233 ext. 2402.
Princess Productions Presents Dance: Made in Canada / Fait au Canada
Princess Productions‘ Artistic Director Yvonne Ng, with guest curators Peggy Baker and James Kudelka, is proud to present the 2011 dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d:mic/fac) festival from Thursday August 11 to Sunday August 14 at Toronto’s Betty Oliphant Theatre.
The ninth edition of this highly anticipated biennial festival of contemporary Canadian dance provides a broad spectrum of cutting edge work in three separate MainStage Series programs as well as a first-time Late-night Series (August 12 & 13) and Arts Encounters that include pre- and post-show chats with the artists, Canadian dance film screenings, and visual arts exhibitions (Kristy Kennedy photos, Seth Ruggles Hile/Michael Caldwell installation). The d:mic/fac MainStage Series features seven pieces and twelve artists from Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. There are two world premieres (Ash Unravel and kanan – kiri) four Toronto premieres (Tools for Cutting, Soupe du Jour, Self Less and Excerpts from a Wet Summer) and one merited remount (La Lourdeur des Cendres).
Tickets available by calling 416-504-7529 or online at princessproductions.ca.
Shadowland Theatre presents HANSEL AND GRETEL – A CASE STUDY
The acclaimed Shadowland Theatre returns to the Toronto Islands with an outdoor, all-ages, processional cabaret performance of Hansel and Gretel – A Case Study, a darkly humorous take on the legendary coming-of-age German fairy tale from the Grimm Brothers. Combining live music from Brecht and Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, Shadowland’s theatre of spectacle, song and site-specific performance reveals the deeper meaning in the Hansel and Gretel rite of passage tale – with the help of none other than Sigmund Freud for a triple deutsch black forest treat! With creatively masked characters, shadow puppetry, music, song, 15 stilt-dancing children and wild, visual humour, Shadowland casts a light on the façade of our sugar-coated civilization and reveals that it is only as thick as a gingerbread wall. At the finale, when the truth comes out and the adults get their just desserts, the audience is guided back to Ward’s Island ferry dock with a celebratory parade for their return from their summer night’s odyssey to the city, which they will assuredly see in a new light.
Hansel and Gretel – A Case Study is written by Shadowland Theatre Co-Artistic Directors Anne Barber and Brad Harley in collaboration with performers Marion Lewis, Angela Loft, Lorraine Pelletier, Arber Makri, musical director Chris Wilson, costume designer Angela Thomas and a host of community participants. Hansel and Gretel – A Case Study weaves through Ward’s Island August 9 to August 14, taking audiences into the deep, dark forests of their imagination. For reservations and information, call 416-203-0946 or visit shadowlandtheatre.ca.
Patron’s Picks and Best of Fringe Uptown — your chance to see what Fringe audiences have been raving about!
Advance tickets have been selling like hot-cakes for this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival; and to many disappointed general ticket buyers the results of the Patron’s Picks won’t be a surprise. Check the website for more details. For the Patron’s Pick, 100% of tickets can be sold in advance, so make sure to buy your tickets early.
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace is Tiki Bikini Beach Paradise Party A-Go-Go and the Extra Space is When Harry Met Harry. Bathurst Street Theatre is Kim’s Convenience, Annex Theatre is Infinitum, and the Solo Room is Every Woman I Ever Slept with Before I Met You. George Ignatieff Theatre goes to The Giant’s Garden, St. Vladimir’s Theatre is Breaking News and Helen Gardiner Phelan is Misprint (1st Issue).
Tyumen, Then takes the Robert Gill Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace goes to Queer Bathroom Monologues and the Backspace is Sex, Religion & Other Hang-Ups. Factory Theatre Mainspace is Swoon, while the studio goes to Saved.
Also announced today were the companies in the Best Of Fringe Uptown, produced by The Toronto Center for the Arts. The shows selected are: ELLAmentary, Uncalled For Presents: Hypnogogic Logic, Kim’s Convenience, Living With Henry, Love Virtually, Mickey & Judy, Pitch Blond, Remember Maggy?, The Soaps, Tiki Bikini Beach Paradise A-Go-Go, The Travelling Salesman & His Magical Suitcase of Desires. A full production schedule can be found at tocentre.com.
Rocky Horror Revives Cult Musical Tradition at Toronto’s Bathurst Street Theatre
It’s been 22 years since Dr. Frank N. Furter last threw a party on the Bathurst Street Theatre stage. The doctor is due to strut his way back into the historic theatre this July in a production of Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show. The production features the Randolph Academy College Program’s Class of 2011 under the direction of Thomas Morgan Jones (The Winter’s Tale, Stratford Festival), with musical direction by Jeannie Wyse (The Sound of Music, Mirvish) and choreography by Kerry Gage (Triple Sensation, Camelot, Stratford Festival). The Randolph Academy production is the first live performance of Rocky Horror on the Bathurst stage since 1989, when a Dora-nominated production directed by Ron Ulrich and featuring Gail Hakala took the stage. The theatre itself is no stranger to cult musicals, having featured productions of Evil Dead the Musical, Bat Boy, and Hedwig and The Angry Inch. The Annex neighborhood itself is often associated with the Rocky Horror phenom; steps away, the Bloor Cinema has a long-standing tradition of showing a shadowcast version of the film itself.
For tickets visit ticketmaster.ca or call 416-872-1111.
Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival presents The 4th Annual Sketch Com-Ageddon
The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival has officially opened submissions for the 4th Annual Sketch Com-Ageddon. The event will bring together 48 of comedy’s most daring and hilarious sketch troupes for five nights of madness and mayhem at the Comedy Bar from June 14 – 18, 2011. Last year’s Sketch Com-Ageddon champs, Smells Like the 80s, blew past competition and went on to perform a sold-out show at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival last November. This year, 48 troupes will attempt to do just that in nine whirlwind rounds of sketch comedy. Over five nights of absurdity, competing troupes have mere minutes to prove to the SketchFest Panel and audience voters that they deserve to be named the 2011 Sketch Com-Ageddon champions. Over nine rounds 48 troupes are blasted down to four and those four will vie for the championship. In the Preliminary Rounds, 48 troupes have only five minutes to impress; the 12 troupes moving into the Semi-Finals will have ten minutes to triumph then the last four troupes will have fifteen minutes to prove that they deserve the coveted Sketch Com-Ageddon title. The winner will receive a guaranteed spot in November’s Seventh Annual Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival a cash prize and complete sketch comedy supremacy. Sketch troupes of all levels are invited to submit to Sketch Com-Ageddon until Monday, May 30 at torontosketchfest.com.
The Red Light District Announces 2011 Season
The Red Light District is thrilled to announce the launch of its first full season of programming. The company, led by artistic directors Ted Witzel and Catherine Dunn and producer Kerry Freek, has been operating in Toronto since 2006, and is known for recent successes such as The Witch of Edmonton in Trinity Bellwoods Park (SummerWorks 2010) and The Misanthrope at the Drake Hotel (2009). The 2011 season, titled “Civilization and its Discontents”, has nothing to do with Freud, and everything to do with being citizens of a multicultural metropolis and a globalized world. The season opens with a production of Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 play, …La ronde … in a new translation created by Witzel, who also directs. The play is structured as a daisy chain of sexual encounters, and will be staged at Club Wicked, the Queen West hedonist club. Featuring a stellar cast of red light regulars and fresh faces, including rising drag star Tyson James, … La Ronde … runs May 19 to June 4. A collectively adapted production of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is The Red Light District’s second site-specific entry to the SummerWorks Festival, running from August 4 to 14, 2011. The piece will be staged in Toronto’s “Graffiti Alley”, and will be designed by Toronto intervention artist, The Snowy Owl. Brave New World explores Toronto’s relationship to public art and performance, a timely discussion for bike-riding pinkos to hold while the city’s new mayor declares open war on graffiti. For the third show of the season, powerhouse German director Johanna Schall returns to Toronto to direct a Red Light cast in Goethe’s ur-Faust, The angry, vulgar, youthful rough draft of the play that would become a masterpiece of western theatre. The ur-FAUST rages against the apathy our generation, and this athletic performance is not to be missed and will run September 18 to october 8, 2011. Rounding out the season, The Red Light District is thrilled to announce Lauren Gillis’ directing debut with a provocative production of max frisch’s The Fire Raisers, a “morality tale without a moral” about arson and politeness. Featuring a greek-style chorus of firemen and a large goose dinner, The Fire Raisers asks important questions about the limits of political correctness. The Fire Raisers will run in late November 2011.
For more info visit theredlightdistrict.ca. Tickets for … La Ronde … are onsale now at T.O. TIX.
It’s More Than Just a Theatre Festival: Toronto Fringe Launches Creation Lab!
Toronto Fringe executive director Gideon Arthurs announced an exciting new development to Toronto’s theatre scene — The Fringe Creation Lab at the Centre for Social Innovation Annex. The Fringe Creation Lab features over 3,000 square feet of creation space and a quickly growing list of resources that will accmmodate rehearsals, workshops, readings, seminars and intimate special events for Toronto’s theatre and dance community. The Fringe Creation Lab stems from the Fringe Festival’s founding values of access to creative opportunity.
Arthurs explains, “The Toronto Fringe has been a launching pad for Canada’s most successful theatrical ventures, but too often independent ‘Fringe’ artists aren’t given access to resources they need to have their creative endeavours succeed.” The Fringe Creation Lab was born out of roundtable conversations that identified problems facing the independent theatre community. While much of the community’s immediate response was a lack of funding, the Fringe identified common needs and is offering the Fringe Creation Lab as a pooled resource for stage artists in the GTA.
Arthurs continues, “The Fringe Creation Lab will be a home base for independent artists, thinkers and arts enthusiasts to foster their creative spirit and entrepreneurship. By creating a hub for this diverse community, we can elevate our craft, share resources, and reach new heights together.” The Fringe Creation Lab is an extension of the Fringe Festival’s founding values of access to opportunity and is available to artists at pro-bono and subsidized rates on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration to book space will be announced in the fall.
CSI Executive Director Tonya Surman says, “We are absolutely thrilled having the Toronto Fringe as an anchor tenant at CSI Annex. The Toronto Fringe — and the Creation Lab – are precisely what the Centre for Social Innovation is all about: creativity, opportunity, and community driven solutions that strengthen our future.” The Centre for Social Innovation is a social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation in Toronto and around the world. Operating two sites in downtown Toronto CSI provides a home to over 300 social change organizations. The Fringe Creation Lab will be CSI’s largest space dedicated to one tenant, however it will be shared by hundreds of theatre artists each year. CSI creates community workspaces, incubates emerging enterprises, and develops new models and methods with world-changing potential.
‘Da Kink In My Hair is one of the biggest success stories to start at the Toronto Fringe. The show was picked up by David Mirvish and went on to tour the world and later be developed into a show for Global Television. Trey Anthony, the show’s creator, joined today’s celebration announcing the launch of a new award to recognize and promote culturally diverse Fringe artists. To whom much is given…. ‘Da Kink award will give $500 to two shows at this year’s festival that are written by a person of colour or a cast featuring people of colour.
Today’s announcement also marked the launch of a new partnership for the Toronto Fringe with Toronto’s NOW Magazine — Canada’s leading alternative news and entertainment weekly since its inaugural issue in 1981. Alice Klein, NOW’s Editor and CEO, says “We are so delighted to be working with the Toronto Fringe as it settles into a new home and takes its last step in a transformation from annual event to a truly year-round arts organization. Looking forward to this summer’s Toronto Fringe Festival, NOW’s passionate theatre-adoring readers and the Fringe’s surprise-filled excitement are as natural a combo as “love” and “first sight.” This year’s Fringe Festival will run July 6 – 17.
Individuals looking to donate to the Fringe Creation Lab can visit www.fringetoronto.com or call 416-966-1062.
Creation Lab Media Contact: Adam Kirkham, Development & Communications Manager, development@fringetoronto.com, 416.966.1062.
Toronto Fringe Festival Media Contact: Heather Ervin, festival publicist, media@fringetoronto.com, 416.966.1062.
Announcing the 21st Annual SummerWorks Theatre Festival
Canada’s largest juried theatre festival returns this August to bring us the most provocative and powerful theatre in the country. The 21 edition, running from August 4 to 14 , features over 40 plays, the Music Series, SummerWalks, Performance Bar, workshops, and a host of free programming.
“We were overwhelmed by the quality of the submissions for this year’s festival,” says artistic producer, Michael Rubenfeld, “With nearly 200 submissions, this was easily our most competitive year to date.”
Theatrical highlights include: The team that brought us The Russian Play re-connects this year with Little One, by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Natasha Mytnowych and starring Michelle Monteith. Volcano Theatre’s presentation of Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit.
New plays by Richard Sanger, Nicolas Billon, Matthew Mackenzie, Christopher Stanton and Clifford Cardinal. New work directed by Judith Thompson, Adam Pettle, Kate Lushington, Jovanni Sy, Michael Wheeler, and Layne Coleman.
The festival features exciting new creations by our exceptional theatre talents including: Combat by Claire Calnan and Allison Cummings (tinybird); Flight by Steven McCarthy, Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, and Monica Dottor (Company Blonde); and Barbershop by Theatre de Soleil’s Jeremy James (Paris) and Phillip Mckee.
SummerWorks will see the Toronto premier of Euridyce by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Kristina Nicoll, and Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle and starring David Storch.
Notable production companies, Alameda Theatre Comany, Praxis, Birdtown and Swanville, Workman Arts and the red light district bring the festival their unique offerings.
SummerWorks will also present two remounts of the world class productions of Susanna Hood’s, Shudder, directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones and Small Wooden Shoe’s, Perhaps in a Hundred Years by Jacob Zimmer, Ame Henderson and Chad Dembski.
For more information visit www.summerworks.ca.
Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company Announces 2011-2012 Season
David Eisner and Avery Saltzman, co-artistic directors of the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company (HGJTC), Toronto’s only professional theatre company established to celebrate, illuminate and share Jewish culture, today announced the company’s fifth, and by far most ambitious, season.
MAMALOSHEN * Two performances only!
Saturday, September 17, 8PM and Sunday, September 18, 2PM
Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East.
CIRCUMCISE ME * Written & performed by Yisrael Campbell. Directed by Sam Gold.
October 25 – November 6, 2011. Opening night: October 26, 8PM.
Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East
THE CHILDREN’S REPUBLIC * By Hannah Moscovitch. Directed by Alisa Palmer. Starring Peter Hutt. November 8 – December 18, 2011. Opening night: November 16, 8PM. A co-production with Tarragon Theatre. Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave.
VISITING MR. GREEN * By Jeff Baron. Directed by Christopher Newton. Starring Theodore Bikel. January 28 – February 18, 2012. Opening night: January 31, 8PM
Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East.
LOST IN YONKERS * By Neil Simon. Directed by Jim Warren. Starring Marion Ross.
May 12 – June 10, 2012. Opening night: May 17, 8PM. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East.
CONVERSATIONS ON THE GREEN (takes place at the Jane Mallett Theatre).
Guests include:
Monday October 24, 2011 — EUGENE LEVY
Monday November 28, 2011 — PAUL GODFREY
Monday February 27, 2012 — STEPHEN LEWIS
Monday May 14, 2012 — MARION ROSS
Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company subscriptions are now on sale and are available
by calling 416.366.7723, toll-free at 1.800.708.6754 or online at www.hgjewishtheatre.com. Subscriptions range from $199.00 — $396.00. Single tickets go on sale August 1, 2011. For group rates please call 416.932.9995, x 224.
The 6th Annual InspiraTO Theatre Festival
Photo courtesy of www.inspiratofestival.ca
Canada’s biggest ten-minute play festival is back for a 6th year and it’s bigger than ever! Featuring 16 exciting new plays by a diverse array of playwrights, this festival is Toronto’s only chance to experience the thrilling genre of the ten-minute play. The InspiraTO Theatre Festival kicks of June 2nd, 2011 at the Alumnae Theatre for a limited run. The ten-minute play is original, relevant and edgy. Some call it the haiku of theatre; short, thought-provoking plays. Audiences experience a range of perspectives in a single sitting – from the serious to the absurd and everything between. It’s like speed dating only with real drama substance. Each year, the InspiraTO showcases the best ten-minute plays, as selected by an experienced jury, based on a theme of the senses. Out of the 327 plays submitted for this year’s topic of sound, 16 plays have been selected with Elephant by Jordan Davis taking first prize. The 16 plays are grouped into one of two groups and will be performed on alternate evenings. The blueSound plays with sounds that float or drift and the redSound plays deal with sounds that disturb or awaken. They will each receive five performances over the course of the two weeks. For more information visit inspiratofestival.ca. Tickets are available through uofttix.ca.
DATES ANNOUNCED FOR 12th ANNUAL SCOTIABANK BUSKERFEST: AUGUST 25-28, 2011
Scotiabank BuskerFest, Toronto’s wildly successful international street performers festival, returns for its 12th outlandish year. Produced by Epilepsy Toronto, this year’s event will run from Thursday, August 25 to Sunday, August 28, 2011 throughout the historic St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Spontaneous, colourful and bursting with the unexpected, this year’s Scotiabank BuskerFest features some of the most unique pogo-sticking, hula-hooping, fire-breathing, artistic juggling, body-contorting, whip-cracking, plate-spinning, rollerskate-breakdancing, unicycle-lassoing performances in the world! As well as the buskers, children can also enjoy Scotiabank BuskerPlay, an area featuring face painting, balloon-twisting, free workshops and more family fun. North America’s largest busker festival, Scotiabank BuskerFest is to receive $70,000 from the Province of Ontario’s “Celebrate Ontario” program and was once again named one of the Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario for 2011 by Festivals & Events Ontario, a not-for-profit organization representing the Ontario festivals and events industry. The Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario designation is presented each year to a select few out of more than 2,000 that occur annually within the province. A full list of the 2011 winners can be found on the association’s website, festivalsandeventsontario.ca.
Soulpepper presents a Double Bill: (re)Birth: E. E. Cummings in Song & Window on Toronto
Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, has announced that the company’s Double Bill (re)Birth: E. E. Cummings in Song & Window on Toronto will preview on April 30, 2011 and open on May 9, 2011 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, featuring the multi-talented artists of the Soulpepper Academy. The Soulpepper Academy has garnered a reputation of creating innovative and explorative theatre in the Toronto arts scene and nowhere is this best demonstrated than in the Double Bill, which offers a rare opportunity to see two of the Academy’s most popular and vital works back to back – (re)Birth: E. E. Cummings in Song and Window on Toronto. Both had limited, sold-out engagements in the Tank House theatre and will be the final two collective creation productions the 2009/2010 Academy will present.
(re)Birth: E. E. Cummings in Song premiered at the 2009 Canwest Cabaret Festival. Based on the legendary American poet, essayist, painter, playwright E.E. Cummings, this breathtaking and compelling musical exploration of Cummings’ extensive canon is an ode to the depth and imagination of his work and shows off the multi-talented Academy who, under the musical direction of Mike Ross, offer up an innovative, humourous and highly theatrical perspective on one of the pre-eminent voices of 20th century.
Window on Toronto first premiered in 2010 as part of Soulpepper’s Lab Series and is an irreverant, whimsical poem to the city of Toronto in which a vibrant, multicultural and often hilarious city is seen through the course of four seasons from the perspective of a hot dog vendor at Nathan Phillips Square. The Academy members, under the direction of master director László Marton, shift from character to character, playing over 100 roles reflecting the people and rhythm of Toronto in a new theatrical form – a mix of improvisation and documentary theatre.
Double Bill previews April 30, 2011 and opens May 9, 2011. Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca.
Tarragon Theatre presents English World Premiere of Wajdi Mouawad’s Forests
When Aimée (Jan Alexandra Smith) learns that she has a brain tumour, she has to decide whether to abort her pregnancy or risk her life to have her child. Although she knows she will have to pay the ultimate price, she chooses her child. At the age of sixteen, her daughter Loup (Vivien Endicott-Douglas) reluctantly begins a quest to discover the origin of her mother’s mysterious illness, an illness that brought on unsettling visions and prophecies before it finally claimed her life. Loup turns to her grandparents and then looks to wartime Europe before the story leads us to Loup’s ancestors and the forest where they lived – and where Loup begins to unearth her family’s darkest secrets. In the third play of a four play cycle that includes Tideline and Scorched, Wajdi Mouawad takes us on a quest that spans six generations and two continents where the bonds of family are tested, stretched, broken and, finally, redeemed by love.
Forests previews in Tarragon’s Mainspace from Tuesday, April 19; opens Wednesday, April 27 and runs until Sunday, May 29, 2011. For info and tickets visit tarragontheatre.com.
Casting Announced for Disney’s THE LION KING
The Tree of Life from THE LION KING National Tour. ©Disney Photo Credit: Joan Marcus.
Toronto’s most eagerly awaited stage production ever will leap onto the Princess of Wales Theatre stage April 19 to June 12, 2011. The multi-award-winning, record-breaking musical returns to the city where it had its Canadian premiere in April 2000 and played 1,560 performances (closing in January 2004). On stage, Director Julie Taymor’s creative vision blends elements of African art and Broadway artisanship to depict anthropomorphic animal characters. The sardonic and deviously cunning “Scar” is played by J. Anthony Crane. Dionne Randolph is “Mufasa,” the great warrior and ruler of the Pridelands. Brenda Mhlongo is the wise baboon shaman “Rafiki.” Tony Freeman portrays the prim and proper hornbilled bird “Zazu.” Ben Lipitz is the carefree warthog “Pumbaa” and Nick Cordileone is the wisecracking meerkat “Timon.” Mufasa’s son, “Simba,” the lion prince born to be king, is played by Adam Jacobs and Syndee Winters is the loyal lioness “Nala.” The three evil hyenas are played by Omari Tau (“Banzai”), Monica L. Patton (“Shenzi”) and Ben Roseberry (“Ed”). The role of “Young Simba” is alternated between Dusan Brown and Jerome Stephens, Jr. and the role of “Young Nala” is alternated between Monique Lee and Madai Monica Williams. For tickets and more info, visit mirvish.com/shows/thelionking.
HATCH 2011 Season Concludes with UnSpun Theatre
Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH 2011 season concludes with One Block, by Toronto’s UnSpun Theatre. Created by an ensemble of artists who are diverse in their artistic practices and approaches, One Block will explore how we are each shaped by our physical environments and by the histories that swell under our feet. Focusing on a selection of Toronto streets on which the artists have lived, One Block will feature local histories, video projection, and artefacts that will highlight how every inch of this city is full of stories that are waiting to be mined. UnSpun Theatre sent letters to over 500 of the current residents of the streets requesting an “artefact” that expresses their relationship to their street; the performance will include some of the objects, photographs and letters received from these residents. The audience will hear about Nobel Prize-winning insulin inventor Frederick Banting’s ghost dogs, the poetry found etched in sidewalks, and how neighbours come together after fires, floods and storms. UnSpun Theatre’s One Block runs on April 16, 8:00 p.m., at Harbourfront Centre’s Studio Theatre. For tickets and more info visit harbourfrontcentre.com.
Canadian Stage announces 2011 Dream in High Park cast
Canadian Stage has announced the full cast for the 2011 Dream in High Park production of The Winter’s Tale presented at the High Park Amphitheatre from June 28 to September 4, 2011. Directed by Estelle Shook, the production will feature a well-known and diverse cast of established Canadian actors, up-and-coming talent and quadruple-threat performers who can act, dance, sing and play a variety of instruments. The cast includes George Masswohl (Sweeney Todd at Canadian Stage), Nicole Robert (Mamma Mia, Mother Courage and Her Children with Caravan Farm Theatre), David Jansen (The Cosmonaut’s Last Message at Canadian Stage) Sanjay Talwar (Stratford), Kelly McIntosh (National Arts Centre, Caravan Farm Theatre), and John Blackwood, Sean Dixon, Jasmine Chen, Charlotte Gowdy, Meille Ng, Thomas Olajide and Jovanni Sy. Set and costumes will be designed by Denyse Karn.
In The Winter’s Tale, the fairytale worlds of Bohemia and Sicilia will come to life in one of Shakespeare’s classic tales filled with kings and queens, shipwrecks and a bear in an enchanting, high-energy and celebratory story for the whole family to enjoy. The 2011 Dream in High Park production will be performed al fresco by a cast of twelve actors and musicians, with original music composed by local artist John Millard. One of Toronto’s favourite summer traditions for 29 years, the Dream in High Park is the oldest annual outdoor theatre event in the country with an estimated total attendance of 1.3 million people. For more information visit canadianstage.com.
Mirvish Reveals the CALENDAR GIRLS
Left - right: Fiona Highet, Teri Cherniak, Brigitte Robinson, Fiona Reid, Barbara Gordon, Jane Spence. Seated Kathryn Akin. CALENDAR GIRLS - photo of the original Canadian cast by GRAJEWSKI FOTOGRAPH INC.
David Mirvish and the Manitoba Theatre Centre, by arrangement with David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, present the North American premiere production of Calendar Girls by Tim Firth (based on the Miramax motion picture Calendar Girls, written by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi). Calendar Girls will play at the Royal Alexandra Theatre for a strictly limited engagement, April 15 – May 28, 2011. A rich and rewarding comedy based on a true story (which was made into an acclaimed and smash-hit film), Calendar Girls quickly makes one realize that it takes one good idea – and a whole lot of guts – to make a world of difference. The North American premiere production stars a who’s who of Canada’s top actresses. Fiona Highet stars as Annie, and Fiona Reid stars as Annie’s best friend, Chris. This brave and skilled cast also includes Kathryn Akin as Cora, Terri Cherniack as Ruth, Barbara Gordon as Jessie, Kyra Harper as Brenda/Lady Cravenshire, Kimberley Rampersad as Elaine, Brigitte Robinson as Marie, and Jane Spence as Celia. Three lucky actors share the stage with these talented actresses — Dan Lett stars as John, Sweeney MacArthur as Rod, and Gordon Tanner stars as Lawrence/Liam. Tickets and info are available at at mirvish.com or by phone 416.872.1212.
Tarragon Announces the 2011-2012 season of New, Global and Classic Canadian Plays
Artistic Director Richard Rose and General Manager Camilla Holland are pleased to announce Tarragon’s 2011-12 season of plays – the beginning to their fifth decade. 2011-12 at the Tarragon is a season of stories that speak directly to the lives of Toronto residents; featuring international visionaries, warped fairy tales, cultural clashes, the advent of electricity, family dysfunction, a Canadian classic, the Second Commandment, and an occasional cooking class. The season features the best contemporary international and Canadian writers: premieres by André Alexis, Ravi and Asha Jain, Daniel MacIvor, Hannah Moscovitch, and d’bi.young anitafrika; English-language adaptations of two of Quebec’s best-known playwrights Carole Fréchette and Michel Tremblay (in translations by John Murrell, and John Van Burek and Tarragon founder Bill Glassco), and international successes by Germany’s Roland Schimmelpfennig and American Sarah Ruhl. Subscription and single tickets are now on sale. Tickets and info are available at at tarragontheatre.com or by phone 416-531-1827.
FACTORY THEATRE’S 2011/12 Season Welcomes New and Returning Artists & Audiences
“Factory’s 42nd Season promises to be one of our most exciting ever,” says Artistic Director Ken Gass as he and Managing Director Sara Meurling announce Factory Theatre’s 2011/12 Season. “We have an exceptional line up of theatrical Canadian productions and artists from coast to coast that opens with two Daniel Brooks/Rick Miller collaborations, Bigger Than Jesus and HARDSELL, as well as the long-running hit, MacHomer, to complete the trio of solo performances by Rick Miller. Other season highlights include a major revival of Tomson Highway’s Canadian classic, The Rez Sisters, with a culturally-diverse cast directed by Ken Gass; critically-acclaimed puppeteer Ronnie Burkett’s extraordinary new creation, Penny Plain; Vancouver novelist/playwright Anosh Irani’s hilarious comedy, My Granny the Goldfish, and the latest theatrical event from Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland’s Jillian Keiley and Robert Chafe, Oil and Water, featuring a cast of ten performers and gospel music by Andrew Craig. Gass concludes, “I’m thrilled to announce a season that combines high entertainment value with the vivid theatrical imaginations of some of Canada’s most innovative theatre artists.” BMO Financial Group is Factory Theatre’s 2011/12 Season Sponsor.
Subscriptions to Factory’s five-play season provide savings, range from $85 – $175 and are available as of March 31, 2011. Single tickets range from $20 – $55 and go on sale mid-July, 2011. Subscriptions purchased before June 30th include a bonus Factory Theatre Season 2011/12 ticket. For sales or information, call the box office at 416-504-9971 or online at factorytheatre.ca.
Driftwood Theatre Announces 2011 Bard’s Bus Tour Production!
Photo by Lindsay Ann Black
Driftwood Theatre, Ontario’s most exciting and accessible theatre company, held their annual play-creation festival and fundraising gala, Trafalgar 24, on Friday, March 11, 2011 to overwhelming success. Hosted at Whitby’s historic 19th century Trafalgar Castle, the event ended with the thrilling announcement of the 2011 Bard’s Bus Tour production, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the bloody tale of a ruthless and ambitious Scottish soldier who seizes power with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches. Driftwood Theatre alumnus Peter van Gestel (Twelfth Night, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, Driftwood Theatre; Lord of the Rings, Mirvish Productions; 3 seasons, Stratford Festival) will be playing Macbeth and Dora Award-nominee Janick Hebert (A Toi, Pour Toujours, Ta Marie-Lou, Théâtre Français de Toronto; Scorched, Tarragon Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare in Action) will be taking on the role of Lady Macbeth. The cast will also star Andrew Pogson, Madeleine Donohue, Tim Machin, Justin Goodhand, Lana Sugarman and Shawn Ahmed. Driftwood Theatre’s founder and Artistic Director D. Jeremy Smith will be directing Macbeth. Rounding out the creative team will be dramaturgy by Toby Malone (Dramaturge, Soulpepper Theatre), costume design by Michelle Bailey (Dora-nominated; The Red Queen Effect, Seventh Stage; two seasons, Driftwood Theatre), set and props design by Lindsay Anne Black (Dora-nominated; Birnham Wood, Theatre Rusticle; My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish-Wiccan Wedding, Mirvish Productions), sound design by Chris Stanton (Ruined, Obsidian/Nightwood Theatres) and movement and fight direction by Richard Lee (Black Medea, Obsidian Theatre; Anthony & Cleopatra, Shakespeare in the Rough). Sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, The Bard’s Bus Tour will kick of July 7th, 2011, and tour Southern Ontario with PWYC performances until August 14th, 2011.
Nightwood Theatre is thrilled to announce Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad as part of its 2011/12 Season
Nightwood Theatre is thrilled to announce Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad as part of its 2011-2012 Season. The play will open January 12 and run until January 29, 2012 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Nightwood has had The Penelopiad in its sights since its exciting Director’s Masterclass presentation during the company’s 30th anniversary season. Nightwood is delighted to bring this powerful and important myth of our times to the Toronto stage. The Penelopiad is Atwood’s uncompromising response to Homer’s The Odyssey following Penelope through the 20 year absence of her husband Odysseus who’s fighting in the Trojan War. Left to raise an unruly son, fend off hundreds of opportunistic suitors and maintain composure amidst scandalous rumours, Penelope enlists her maids in a ruse to protect her good name. But when Odysseus massacres the suitors and brutally hangs the 12 maids upon his return, all eyes look to Penelope in her culpability. “Now that I’m dead I know everything” are the first lines uttered as she returns from the underworld, Hades, to set the record straight. But in Atwood’s clever hands, Penelope is haunted by the twelve handmaidens who’ve fallen victim in her deceptive ploy. Laced with wisdom and a razor sharp wit, the play weaves classical tragedy, Victorian melodrama, campy burlesque and rollicking song.
World Stage to Host the Return of Louise Lecavalier
Louise Lecavalier and Keir Knight in A Few Minutes of Lock. Photo by Massimo Chiarradia.
Harbourfront Centre’s highly praised World Stage 2010-11 season continues with the return of legendary dance artist Louise Lecavalier and the Toronto debut of her new company, Fou Glorieux. Lecavalier brings a moving program of duets to the Fleck Dance Theatre, April 13 through April 16, her first performance on a Toronto stage since 1999. Lecavalier is well known for her years as principal dancer in Édouard Lock’s company La La La Human Steps, from 1981 through 1999. After leaving La La La Human Steps, Lecavalier founded her own company, Fou Glorieux, in 2006 as a means to work with artists who share an artistic vision congruent with her own. In this Toronto debut, Lecavalier performs the heartfelt 2009 piece Children, from notorious British choreographer Nigel Charnock, and revisits three duets from her final years with Lock and La La La Human Steps. In her 19-year career with La La La Human Steps as Lock’s award-winning muse and collaborator, Lecavalier established herself as an icon of Canadian contemporary dance with her extraordinary technical prowess and passionate exploration of the limits of physical expression. At over 50 years of age, she has lost none of those faculties which have made her one of the most recognizable names in dance around the world. Tickets and other information for Children & A Few Minutes of Lock are available by phone at 416-973-4000 or online at harbourfrontcentre.com.
LOUISE PITRE in LA VIE EN ROUGE – One Special Night Only!
Courtesy of www.louisepitre.com. Photo by David Leyes.
On June 1, for one special night only, Canada’s own award-winning chansonnière Louise Pitre will heat up Toronto with La Vie En Rouge, an evening of songs from her red-hot heart! Louise will perform in English et en français for this one-night only concert, which will also be recorded live for an upcoming album. The song list includes such classics “La Vie En Rose,” “Ne me quitte pas,” “The Man That Got Away,” “Hymne A L’amour,” and “Thank You For The Music/A La Guerre Comme A La Guerre (The Winner Takes it All)”. Canada’s first lady of musical theatre, Louise catapulted to national fame in 1992 when she portrayed legendary French singer Edith Piaf, in three different productions of Piaf, which followed her star turn as Fantine in the Toronto production of Les Misérables. Then, Louise created the iconic role of Donna Sheridan in the Canadian production of Mamma Mia and went on to star in the Broadway premiere, earning her a Tony Award nomination. Most recently Louise won her fourth Dora Award for her role in The Toxic Avenger Musical as Mayor/Ma Ferd. She also earned rave reviews for leading roles in Love, Loss and What I Wore, A Year with Frog and Toad; Annie Get Your Gun; Song & Dance; I Love you, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Blood Brothers; Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Sweeney Todd and many more.
To purchase tickets call 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 or book online at stlc.com. For more information visit louisepitre.com.
TPM presents Kitchener company that toured Mideast with The Last 15 Seconds
Theatre Passe Muraille is thrilled to host The MT Space and to be their home-away-from-Kitchener as the culmination of their Spring 2011 Canadian tour across the west. The Last 15 Seconds is a meeting of the minds, so to speak, between a suicide bomber and the man he killed, during a wedding. Using movement, dance, video, vocals and text, this project explores the topic of terrorism. It starts from the tragic death of Syrian-American filmmaker Mustapha Akkad and his daughter Rima in a series of coordinated attacks that hit three prominent hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman in 2005. The work constructs an imagined physical and verbal dialogue between Mustapha Akkad and Rawad Jassem Mohammad Abed, the suicide bomber who carried out the explosion. The play also looks at the imagined lives and memories of both the victim and his killer, as they revisit each other’s lives after their fatal encounter. The Last 15 Seconds is fresh off its Middle-Eastern tour, where it created a great deal of buzz in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Most significantly, it played on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that hit Amman, Jordan in November 2005, the tragic event that inspired this play. The play was presented as part of the Jordan International Theatre Festival at the Royal Cultural Centre, located less than two kilometers from the location of the attacks, before it continued its tour to Damascus and Beirut. The Last 15 Seconds became an important cultural export, with the MT Space’s artists becoming artistic ambassadors to the Middle East, bringing forth important work, which addressed the difficult subject of terrorism. In Damascus, the Syrian Minister of Culture, the Canadian Ambassador in Syria and a large number of dignitaries, artists, academics and journalists attended the performance. After the show, the audience led by the Syrian Minister stormed into the actors’ dressing rooms to congratulate them on their creative work. The Last 15 Seconds is an original production of The MT Space featuring Alan K. Sapp, Nada Homsi (Syrian Born), Trevor Copp, Pam Patel, and Anne Marie Donovan. The text was created by Gary Kirkham, set designed by Bill Chesney and Sheree Tams, and with original music composed by Nick Storring.
The Last 15 Seconds runs from April 6 to April 16, 2011 at Theatre Passe Muraille. Tickets are available by calling the Arts Box Office 416-504-7529 or by visiting passemuraille.on.ca.
Scarborough Music Theatre closes season with Guys and Dolls
Poster Photography by Raph Nogal www.raphnogal.com.
After enthusiastic audience responses to Annie and The Full Monty, Scarborough Music Theatre is betting on the classic Broadway tale of gamblers and their dolls to close the 2010-2011 season. Guys and Dolls has been a favourite of musical theatre audiences from its debut on Broadway in 1950, through the 1955 movie musical starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, and many revivals including the 2009 Broadway revival. There are high rollers on Broadway and Nathan Detroit needs money to secure a location for his floating craps game. Sky Masterson has the money, if only Nathan can find a way to win it from him. When Sky says that he could take any doll of Nathan’s choosing to Havana, Nathan makes it a bet and promptly names Sister Sarah Brown of the Save-A-Soul Mission. But love has a way of defying the odds, even for the most experienced gambler, and neither Nathan nor Sky are immune to the fickle whims of Lady Luck. Guys and Dolls runs from April 28 through May 16, Thursday through Sunday. Tickets are on sale through the Theatre Scarborough box office and can be ordered by phone 416-267-9292 or online at theatrescarborough.com.
Night is Factory Theatre’s Headliner of the Performance Spring Festival
The presentation of groundbreaking works from the national scene is an annual event at Factory Theatre. The Performance Spring Festival is made possible by the generous support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Canadian Arts Presentation Fund. For more information about the Festival’s theatrically-imaginative performances of dance, drama and readings, see factorytheatre.ca/performancespring.html.
- Photo credit: Abbie Ootova. Photo by Andree Lanthier.
In Night, the lives of a Toronto anthropologist and 16-year old Inuk girl intersect powerfully during 24 hours of darkness in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. A cross-cultural theatre creation by Human Cargo written and directed by Christopher Morris (also director of The Grand Theatre’s Mary’s Wedding, and Preface Theatre /AGO’s The Bear), is a poetic and dramatic exploration of the clash between Inuit and southern Canadian culture. Night is presented in Inuktitut and English, with English surtitles, likely the first time both languages have been used so extensively in a professional play on a Toronto stage. The show was developed over three years during four four-week creation workshops in the arctic darkness of Pond Inlet, Nunavut and Akureyri, Iceland, and premiered in January 2010 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Night stars Reneltta Arluk, Tiffany Ayalik, Jonathan Fisher and Linnea Swan. Night plays Tuesday – Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 2 p.m., in the Mainspace Theatre, April 13 – 24, 2011. Tickets are available at factorytheatre.ca or by calling 416-504-9971.
Soulpepper reprises its Dora Award-Winning production of Our Town
Albert Schultz in Our Town. Photo by Sandy Nicholson.
Soulpepper’s beloved version of Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece Our Town not only won the Dora for Best Production in 2006 but was the first play to be performed in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and seems only fitting it be a part of Soulpepper’s largest season to date. Our Town reminds us to make the most of life’s every blessing through the lives, loves and losses of the Gibbs and Webb families. Wilder’s gentle, humorous and poetic theatrical meditation takes us to the community of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, where the simplest acts can leave the greatest impressions. Our Town had its New York City debut at the Henry Miller’s Theatre in 1938 the same year Wilder won the Pulitzer Prize for this poignant play.
Founding member Joseph Ziegler directs a stellar cast that includes Douglas John Alan, Diana Bentley, Derek Boyes, Kevin Bundy, Owen Cumming, Oliver Dennis, John Jarvis, Jeff Lillico, Trish Lindström, Toby Malone, Diego Matamoros, Dominique Matamoros, Nancy Palk, Krystin Pellerin, Brenda Robins, Albert Schultz, Michael Simpson, Jane Spidell, Charles Vandervaart & William Webster.
Our Town previews April 7, 2011 and opens April 13, 2011 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca.
Confirmed Show Choirs Announced for Show Choir Canada’s National Championships
The entries are closed. The teams are finalized. The judges are ready. Tickets are on sale. Show Choir Canada (SCC) is gleek-ed out to announce the confirmed choirs, celebrity host and esteemed judging panel for the first-ever Show Choir Canada National Championships.
Confirmed high school show choirs ready to demonstrate their best vocals, dance moves, and musicianship for the inaugural competition are: CNSC, Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School (Stoney Creek, ON); Splash, Etobicoke School of the Arts; Vocal Thunder, J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate (Ajax, ON); The Gleediators, John Fraser Secondary School (Mississauga, ON); Adrenaline, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute (Toronto, ON); Vocal Fusion, Richmond Hill High School; SPSC, St. Peter Catholic High School (Ottawa, ON); UHS GLEE, Unionville High School; Wexford Glee, Wexford School of the Arts; and Cheat Notes, York Mills Collegiate Institute. In addition, Show Choir Canada will showcase two community choirs, KW Glee and The Niagara Star Singers, out of competition but will receive valuable feedback from the judging panel. Confirmed Judges include experts from across the industry: Emmy award-winning Director/Choreographer David Connolly, Canadian Children’s Opera Company Director/Conductor Ann Cooper Gay and So You Think You Can Dance Canada Choreographer and Guest Judge Melissa Williams. Host Elena Juatco is a Canadian Idol finalist and rising musical theatre star. More than just a competition, Show Choir Canada also offers an opportunity for high school singers and dancers from across Canada to participate in workshops and professional development seminars run by Canada’s leading industry professionals. The Show Choir Canada National Championship is an open division competition for high school glee clubs, and all choirs, regardless of their configuration. Choirs that place 1st – 6th will be awarded trophies, with cash prizes for the top three. The competition will also award scholarships to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts for outstanding individual performers.
Show Choir Canada National Championship will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Friday, April 8 & Saturday, April 9, 2011. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-855-985-5000. For more information visit showchoircanada.com or call 1-877-90GLEEK.
Emerging Artist takes on identity in one person show
Cassandra "Cassy" Walker in I. Photo by Felicia Byron.
Young storyteller, poet, producer and jack of all trades, Cassy Walker, presents “i”, directed by Virgilia Griffith. In “i”, Walker presents an honest, poetic, multi layered story about the search for identity. 17 year old Ivy has a lot of questions. Is she queer? Intersexed? Black? African? And what do all these labels mean anyway? “i” takes the audience on a journey which questions some of society’s most controversial classifications in world that wants to put everyone in a box. “i” developed out of a 10 month residency with acclaimed dub poet and storyteller, d’bi young anitafrika. It has been performed three times in workshop format which allowed Walker to refine and develop the piece with audience feedback and support from other creators. This is Walker’s first one person show. No stranger to the stage, she has benefitted from some of Toronto’s most promising youth programs including da urban griots of t-dot’s jinch malrex, The AMY Project (both as performer and production intern with leading artists Clare Calnan and Weyni Mengesha), b current’s Wise.Woman (directed by ahdri zhina mandiela) and various solo poetry performances all over the city. She is directed by soon to graduate, Ryerson theatre student, Virgilia Griffith making her directorial debut. “i” is stage managed by Erik Noesgaard, set design by Sharon Norwood and lighting design by Travis Lahay.
“i” runs from March 30 – April 2 at 7:30pm and a Saturday, April 2 matinee at 2pm at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. There will be a talkback following each show. For tickets, visit artsboxoffice.ca or call 416 504 7529. For more info and facebook links, go to seamwalker.com.
Dance Immersion Presents Baby Boyz Dance Group in an Urban Dance Story
Dance Immersion presents its 2011 Annual Showcase featuring Baby Boyz Dance Group in an urban dance story: Three Boyz, Three Countries & One Dream. The world premiere runs March 24-26, 2011 at Enwave Theatre as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps, choreographed by Kevin A. Ormsby and Trevor Brown, written by Joseph Jomo Pierre and directed by Dian Marie Bridge with artistic consultation by Weyni Mengesha. Three Boyz, Three Countries & One Dream delves into the lives of three young men from different cultures – Africa, Jamaica and Canada – as they find a shared sense of worth and purpose through dance. None could guess where their dreams would lead – or how their aspirations would impact their lives and the lives of those around them. A tapestry of dance and theatre, the story in Three Boyz, Three Countries & One Dream is revealed through a diverse range of urban dance forms blended with text and highlights the artistry in dancehall and hip-hop, progressively connecting both genres to dances of African and contemporary influences. Tickets are available by calling the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000 or online at tickets.harbourfrontcentre.com.
Kate Cayley’s After Akhmatova Premieres in Tarragon’s Extra Space
It is 1968. Young academic Alan (Paul Dunn) travels to Leningrad to interview an almost unknown Soviet historian, Lev Gumilyov (Eric Goulem). Lev’s late mother was no ordinary woman: she was Anna Akhmatova (Sarah Orenstein), a poet who composed one of her greatest poems, “Requiem”, at the height of Stalin’s terror. Alan believes writing “Requiem” was the ultimate act of defiance, but Lev’s long stint in the gulag has taught him otherwise. Can art stand against ruthless tyranny? Alan sets out to prove that it can in this testament to love, legacy and resistance.
Kate Cayley is a writer based in Toronto. She is the artistic director of Stranger Theatre, and has co-created, written and directed eight plays with the company, most recently The Hanging of Francoise Laurent (SummerWorks 2010.) Alan Dilworth (If We Were Birds) directs a terrific cast with Claire Calnan (The Clockmaker), Paul Dunn (East of Berlin), Caroline Gillis (Communion), Eric Goulem (Democracy), Richard McMillan (Molière) and Sarah Orenstein (Wild Mouth). The creative team for After Akhmatova includes set and costume designer Jung-Hye Kim, lighting designer Kimberly Purtell, sound design by Thomas Ryder Payne, and stage manager Kristen Kitcher. After Akhmatova previews in Tarragon’s Extra Space on Tuesday, March 22, opens Wednesday, March 30 and runs until Sunday, May 1, 2011. Tickets are available online at tickets.tarragontheatre.com or by calling the box office 416-531-1827.
Canadian Stage Announces 2011/2012 Season: Essential Theatre of our Times
Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic & General Director. Photo by George Pimentel.
Canadian Stage has announced the people and productions being featured in their 2011/2012 theatre season. Under the artistic leadership of Matthew Jocelyn, the upcoming season will continue to build on the company’s mandate to present contemporary work from Canada and around the world that pushes boundaries and provides exciting entertainment for audiences.
The season will be brought to life by artists with distinct and current voices from across the country and will blend traditional theatre with dance, film, music and visual art. Featuring 11 dynamic productions, the season boasts an impressive list of directors, choreographers and artistic collectives at the helm of each show at Canadian Stage’s three venues, the Bluma Appel Theatre, the Berkeley Street Theatre and the High Park Amphitheatre.
On stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre, directors will bring old stories to life with new significance: Academy Award-nominated Canadian film director Atom Egoyan will return to directing for the stage with a production of Martin Crimp’s Cruel and Tender starring Arsinée Khanjian. Internationally renowned Québécois choreographer Marie Chouinard tells the familiar myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through modern dance. Canadian Stage’s Matthew Jocelyn will direct a new translation of an 18th-century romantic comedy, The Game of Love and Chance, by French playwright Marivaux. Contemporary stories will be explored as well: Kim Collier, 2010 Siminovitch Prize-winner and Canadian Stage Associate Artist will direct the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Play, Red. Ross Manson and Liesl Tommy will revisit their Luminato hit, Another Africa: Plays from Volcano Theatre’s The Africa Trilogy and dynamic west coast choreographer Crystal Pite will share her latest production, The You Show.
Dienye Waboso in Another Africa. Photo by by John Lauener.
At the Berkeley Street Theatre, the work of exciting artistic collectives and Canadian Stage Berkeley Street Project partner companies will be showcased. Art of Time Ensemble, one of Canada’s most innovative and artistically accomplished music ensembles, will stage an exploration of music, text and dance with choreography by James Kudelka in I Send You This Cadmium Red, directed by Daniel Brooks. Queen of Puddings Music Theatre with artistic directors Dáirine Ní Mheadhra and John Hess put their signature twist on classic opera through a production featuring the texts of Samuel Beckett and the music he inspired in Beckett: Feck it!. Studio 180 Theatre will present the Canadian premiere of Clybourne Park, a satirical look at demographics, history, home and heart inspired by A Raisin in the Sun. The Company Theatre will bring a dark comedy to life in the English-language premiere of The Test, directed by Jason Byrne and starring Eric Peterson, Liisa Repo-Martell and Philip Riccio.
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the TD Dream in High Park, 2007. Photo by Tony Makepeace.
In High Park, renowned outdoor theatre director Estelle Shook, formerly of British Columbia’s Caravan Farm Theatre, will re-imagine William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Winter’s Tale for the annual Dream in High Park production. 2011/2012 subscriptions may be purchased by phone at 416-368-3110, in person at Canadian Stage’s Bluma Appel Theatre or Berkeley Street Theatre, or online at canadianstage.com. Single tickets will be available for sale from September 5, 2011.
The Driftwood Theatre Group announces Jury and Artists for TRAFALGAR 24
With Trafalgar 24, the highly anticipated play-creation festival, fast approaching, The Driftwood Theatre Group is thrilled to announce the jury and artists taking part in this year’s revamped gala. On March 11, 2011, 24 artists will take over the historic 19th century Trafalgar Castle in Whitby, Ontario, to create, rehearse and perform six new Canadian plays in only 24 hours! As previously announced, this year’s festival will be a juried event, and a fantastic panel of well known theatre and community personalities has been assembled. Taking part in the inaugural Trafalgar 24 jury are award-winning theatre producer C. Derrick Chua, 107.7 FM radio host Terry Johnston, Soulpepper Theatre dramaturge and actor Dr. Toby Malone, theatre reviewer and commentator Lynn Slotkin, and one of Canada’s most accomplished film, television and stage actors R.H. Thomson. Rounding out the jury is Driftwood Theatre Group’s founder and Artistic Director D. Jeremy Smith. Charged with writing the new, original Canadian plays that will be competing in the festival are Whitby resident and three-time winner of the Muskoka Novel Marathon Kevin Craig, Steven Gallagher, whose play All Out was part of the 2010 Toronto Fringe Festival, Shannon Kitchings, Brad Lepp and Graeme Stewart. Toronto-based actor and playwright Claire Burns will be writing her first Trafalgar 24 work this year. For more information please visit driftwoodtheatre.com or call 905-576-2396.
Art of Time Ensemble presents in association with Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage The War of the Worlds
The acclaimed Art of Time Ensemble, in association with Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage, proudly presents The War of the Worlds, a celebration of the music of Academy Award-winning film composer Bernard Herrmann to mark the centenary of his birth. This staging of Orson Welles’ notorious 1938 radio drama adaptation of the 1898 novel of the same name by H.G. Wells features a powerhouse cast – Nicholas Campbell, Don McKellar and Marc Bendavid – a live 5-piece band and sound effects by foley artist John Gzowski. Art of Time Ensemble Artistic Director Andrew Burashko directs as well as conducts. Herrmann was the musical director on Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds, originally broadcast on October 30, 1938. Aired as a hoax, it famously caused widespread panic as its news bulletin format led many listeners to believe a Martian invasion was actually happening in real time. Art of Time is using the same script. Featuring some of Canada’s most outstanding artistic talents, The War of the Worlds runs Thursday, March 31 through Sunday, April 3, 2011 at Enwave Theatre. Tickets are available by phone: 416-973-4000 or online: artoftimeensemble.com.
Stars Announced for Seventh Annual SCRABBLE® WITH THE STARS
Want to have words with a celebrity? There’ll be a celebrity at every table at the elegant Arcadian Court on Monday, April 4 when fashion/lifestyle reporter Jeanne Beker and actor Barry Flatman again host the seventh annual Scrabble® With The Stars in aid of Performing Arts Lodges (PAL) Toronto. This is a chance to get your words in edge-wise with more than forty of Canada’s most eminent celebrities who will dine and play Scrabble® with sponsors and guests in support of PAL Place, a unique residential complex in downtown Toronto that many of Canada’s esteemed artists call home. Attendees of this fun-filled wordsmithing evening dine, mingle and compete against some of Canada’s finest celeb scrabblers including Dinah Christie, Jayne Eastwood, Graham Greene, Deb McGrath, Colin Mochrie, Gordon Pinsent, “Sharon, Lois & Bram,” and R.H. Thomson, who have all participated since the event’s inception. Tickets are available online at scrabblewiththestars.ca or by phone at 1-800-838-3006.
Stuart Hughes and Joseph Ziegler reprise their Dora Award-Winning roles in The Time of Your Life
Stuart Hughes & Joseph Ziegler in Time of Your Life. Photo: Sandy Nicholson.
William Saroyan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Time of Your Life returns to the Soulpepper stage with Stuart Hughes and Joseph Ziegler reprising their 2008 Dora Award-winning roles. As well, celebrated Canadian jazz pianist and vocalist Denzal Sinclaire will play the role of Wesley and score the show live. A nostalgic and open-eyed love letter to an America-that-might-have-been set in a late-1930s San Francisco honkytonk saloon, Saroyan mixes an intoxicating cocktail of redemption and hope. Soulpepper Founding Artistic Director Albert Schultz, once again, directs Soulpepper Founding Members Stuart Hughes as Kit and Joseph Ziegler as Joe. The Time of Your Life previews March 16, 2011 and opens March 18, 2011 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca.
Aluna Theatre presents the world premiere of Nohayquiensepa (No one knows)
Nohayquiensepa. Photo courtesy of Aluna Theatre.
Exclusive Savings Offer From Dancap Productions!
Dying to see the Dancap’s critically acclaimed production of South Pacific? Check out this great deal! Visit DancapTickets.com and enter the promo code: “BENEFITS” to save up to $24 per ticket. Enjoy!
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company presents ZERO HOUR
Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel in Zero Hour. Photo credit: Michael Lamont.
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company (David Eisner and Avery Saltzman, co-Artistic Directors) will present the Canadian debut of the award winning, off-Broadway smash Zero Hour at the Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue. With a virtuoso performance by Jim Brochu and direction by the three-time Oscar-nominated actress Piper Laurie, Zero Hour is a one-man show about the iconic Jewish star Zero Mostel. From his scarred youth to his triumphs in Rhinoceros, Fiddler on the Roof and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, to being blacklisted during the McCarthy era, Zero Mostel was a three time Tony Award-winning star and one of the more colourful characters in the American theatre. Set in theatre legend Zero Mostel’s painting studio on West 28th Street, a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile artist, prompting an explosion of memory, humour, outrage and juicy backstage lore. Mostel is remembered for his comedic genius and his definitive roles, but in the 1950′s he was equally known for his place on the infamous Hollywood blacklist.
Zero Hour begins previews March 26, opens March 28, at 8pm and continues until April 16, 2011. For tickets, call 416-366-7723 or online at stlc.com. For more information, visit hgjewishtheatre.com or visit the official site zerohourshow.com.
HATCH 2011 Season to open with Passages from Looking Sea Collective
Looking Sea Collective. Photo by Lisa Narduzzi.
Emerging from two of Ontario’s most creative hubs – Toronto and Hamilton – the newly formed Looking Sea Collective will kick-off Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH 2011 season March 12. Passages is the new multi-faceted piece by Looking Sea Collective’s four artists who draw on the worlds of film, dance and music; inspired by stories harvested from family correspondence. Passages will immerse the audience in the magical space between interior and exterior worlds using choreography, video and live soundscapes while weaving together myths, legacies and buried collective memories. HATCH’s unique development and residency programme offers the public an exclusive first look at this work before Passages’ debut this summer. For more information about Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH 2011 season and to purchase tickets, visit harbourfrontcentre.com/hatch or call 416-973-4000.
About Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH:
Entering its eighth year, HATCH is a key initiative in Harbourfront Centre’s mission to develop local artists and their unique practices. The HATCH mentorship provides resources and professional assistance to engaging and innovative contemporary artists looking to explore a new element of their practice. By giving the space and time for this to happen, Harbourfront Centre hopes to develop and grow the best new work coming out of Toronto.
Shakespeare in Action presents The Diary of Anne Frank
Shakespeare in Action, Canada’s leading classical company for young audiences that recently launched a Virtual Lab on its website that could revolutionize teaching Shakespeare in schools, brings a new production of The Diary of Anne Frank to the stage. The Wendy Kesselman adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank opens March 1 and runs to March 13 at Central Commerce Theatre (with school performances beginning February 23). Rising star Sascha Cole (The Apology for The Next Stage Festival, Factory Theatre’s Bethune Imagined, and CanStage’s Rock’n'Roll) plays the title role. Few stories have captured the horror and cruelty of the Holocaust quite like the compelling story of Anne Frank. As her family hides from Nazi tyranny, a young woman’s account of courage, love and human resilience transcends the chaos, and continues to inspire young people across the globe. Shakespeare in Action brings this uplifting and important story to the Toronto stage for a new generation, featuring a first-rate cast of professional actors that includes, along with Cole, Chris Karczmar and Alexis Koetting as Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Bruce Beaton and Catherine McNally as Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan. Cindy Block, Joe Bucci, Shaun Clark, Kaitlin Janisse and Dan Karpenchuk round out the ensemble. For tickets, call the box office at: 416-703-4881. Reservations are essential. For more information: shakespeareinaction.org.
Angelwalk Theatre Announces the Cast & Creative Team for Songs for a New World
Angelwalk Theatre, the producers of the Dora-nominated Toronto premiere of Altar Boyz and the critically acclaimed hilarious musical [title of show], announced today the cast and creative team for its spring production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. The company will be producing the Tony Award nominated show at the Toronto Centre for the Arts starting March 30 and running until Aril 23, 2011. Stepping into the iconic roles are Erica Peck (We Will Rock You and The Boys in the Photograph, Mirvish Productions; The Wedding Singer, Stage West) as Woman 1, Denise Oucharek (Sound of Music and Mamma Mia!, Mirvish Productions; The Anna Russell Story, Theatre Aquarius) as Woman 2, Stewart Adam McKensey (Hairspray and The Producers, Mirvish Productions; My One and Only, Stratford Festival) as Man 1 and Justin Bott ([title of show], Angelwalk Theatre; Joseph and The Wedding Singer, Stage West) as Man 2. Leading this stellar cast is Director Andrew Lamb, the Artistic Director of Theatre Awakening and the Director of Education and Outreach at Tarragon Theatre, who is making his Angelwalk Theatre debut. [title of show]’s musical director Anthony Bastianon returns to Angelwalk Theatre for Songs for a New World. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at angelwalk.ca, through The Toronto Centre for the Arts box office at 5040 Yonge Street or by phone at 416-872-1111.
David Mirvish Presents The 2011-12 Mirvish Subscription Theatre Season “Practically Perfect In Every Way”
David Mirvish is delighted to announce the 2011-12 Mirvish Subscription Theatre Season. The subscription season consists of seven shows that will be performed in four different downtown Toronto theatres. In addition, there are four shows off-subscription and many other shows at the Sony Centre that will be available to Mirvish subscribers on a priority basis and/or at special prices. The 2011-12 subscription shows include:
North American Premiere THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
Prior to Broadway, Kim Cattrall in PRIVATE LIVES
Prior to London West End CHESS, THE MUSICAL
Canadian Premiere MARY POPPINS
Toronto Premiere THE BLUE DRAGON
Canadian Premiere WAR HORSE
Direct from Broadway HAIR
The Original National Tour Company of MARY POPPINS performs “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” ©Disney/CML. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Every season Mirvish offers their subscribers extra attractions that are not part of the Subscription Package. But subscribers have the best access to tickets at the best prices! Bonus shows include: Ghost Stories, Two Pianos Four Hands, Good Mourning Mrs Brown and Women Fully Clothed: Older and Hotter. Also, Tickets to Sony Centre shows are made available to Mirvish subscribers at special prices and, when available, on a priority basis. 2011-12 Mirvish Subscriptions are now on sale. The seven-show package is priced at only $125 to $599. For more info and to purchase subscription packages call 416-593-4225/1-800-771-3933 or visit mirvish.com.
TEATRON Theatre presents The World Premiere of A HAMBURGER IN A PITA
The Liebermans are typical Canadian secular Jews. The Noys are typical Israeli secular Jews-and now, neighbours to the Liebermans. Differences of mentality and mannerism lead to tensions, but when their children fall in love with each other and with Judaism, the parents find that they have much more in common than they thought. TEATRON Theatre has assembled a great cast for A Hamburger in a Pita. The cast of eight includes returning actors: Ron Boyd (The Dybbuk, Bluish, Kosher Lutherans), Barb Granek-Gutstein (The Dybbuk), Richard Hoffman (Kosher Lutherans) and Menachem Sifen (Conversations With My Father, The Dybbuk), as well as Nikki Hogan, Sabrina Kolbegger, Ivana Stojanovic and Brandon Wickens who are making their début appearances with TEATRON Theatre after working with other theatres in the past. Directed by Ari Weisberg, Artistic Director and founder of TEATRON Theatre, A Hamburger in a Pita closes TEATRON Theatre’s eighth season of fine Jewish-themed plays. Runs from March 2 – 13, 2011 at the the Toronto Centre for the Arts – Studio Theatre. For more info and tickets, call 416-781-5527 or visit teatrontheatre.com.
The Specials Present Made In China
Precious Chong and Sandra Battaglini. Photo courtesy of The Specials.
Toronto’s foremost satirists – The Specials – return to the Bread & Circus with their absurd and irreverent take on world affairs, pop culture and human idiocy. Made in China is The Specials fourth sketch comedy revue that combines musical theatre, clown, bouffon and video to create a provocative presentation of outrageous proportions. Adam Lazarus (Lupe, Zdenka Now!) directs this character driven, brash comedic mashup that takes a no-holds-barred approach to comedy. Featuring Sandra Battaglini, Precious Chong, Phil Luzi and Christopher Sawchyn with guest star Cleopatra Williams.
DreamWorks Theatrical and Broadway Across America Bring Madagascar Live to Toronto
Cast of Madagascar Live! Photo credit Carol Rosegg.
DreamWorks Theatricals’ first-ever live family touring show, will play the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts from May 25-29, 2011. The production is expected to visit over 70 cities across the United States beginning in January 2011. All of your favorite crack-a-lackin’ friends from Madagascar are out of the zoo and on the stage in MADAGASCAR LIVE – a WILD New Musical Adventure based on the blockbuster DreamWorks film. Join Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and of course, those hilarious, plotting penguins as they escape from their home at New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. This celebration of friendship is brought vividly to life by imaginative sets and costumes, action-packed adventure and spectacular new songs that will inspire you to MOVE IT MOVE IT in the aisles. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Sony Centre box office, by calling 416.872.2262 or online at sonycentre.ca.
Monkeyman Productions proudly presents The Simian Showcase
In November 2010, Toronto’s geekiest theatre company put out a call for short plays containing themes of geek/fanatic/pop culture. Playwrights from around the world submitted over 175 scripts, eager for the opportunity presented by a geek-friendly stage. After a challenging selection process, four scripts emerged victorious to take their place in Monkeyman’s The Simian Showcase, a smorgasbord of theatre, music, and merriment this April. Runs April 8-16, 2011 at The Imperial Pub. For schedule and tickets visit monkeymanproductions.com.
Since 2008, Monkeyman Productions has created postmodern theatre with real relevancy to a culture informed by comic books, monster movies, and video games. We speak in the language of an audience that has most truly found its voice in the meme-ridden YouTube-obsessed depths of the Internet. We draw from popular culture in the way that Shakespeare drew from the common culture of his day – these are our mythologies, our tales of comedy and tragedy. Through the development and performance of work which examines our obsessions and preoccupations in the 21st Century, we hope to discover the ways in which we truly have changed, for better or worse, and the ways in which we remain the same – with a definite eye toward the absurd, but also a corresponding empathy for a subject matter that, in the end, encompasses all of us.
Theatre Columbus and Tarragon Theatre present the sequel to The Attic, The Pearls & 3 Fine Girls
More Fine Girls is a new work written by Jennifer Brewin, Leah Cherniak, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer and Martha Ross. They have come together to reprise their roles to create a new play based on characters from The Attic, the Pearls & 3 Fine Girls. The group have gathered to improvise the lives of three sisters – Jayne (Ann-Marie MacDonald), Jojo (Martha Ross) and Jelly (Leah Cherniak) – ten years after the party that drove them apart. This time, the sisters go into the basement. They convene for a family crisis: Jayne and Jojo will do anything to rescue Jelly, but in the process they inadvertently rescue themselves instead. Their parents have passed on, and the sisters must discover each other. It is an intimate and comic look at sisters and the surprising truths of middle age. The creative collective is back after their success with The Attic, the Pearls & 3 Fine Girls which garnered five Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. More Fine Girls is consummately performed by Leah Cherniak, Ann-Marie MacDonald and Martha Ross. Alisa Palmer also returns to direct More Fine Girls. The creative team for the production includes set and costume designer Judith Bowden, lighting designer Andrea Lundy, sound design and music composition by John Gzowski, and stage manager Laura Baxter. Previews from February 22 – March 1, opens March 2 and runs until Sunday, April 3, 2011. Tickets are available online: tarragontheatre.com/tickets or by calling: 416- 531-1827.
Justin Rutledge nominated for Juno – featured in Necessary Angel’s Divisadero
Justin Rutledge‘s newest album, The Early Widows (from Six Shooter*Warner), has been nominated for a 2011 Juno Award in the Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Solo category. The Toronto-based singer-songwriter makes his theatrical debut February 8-20 in Necessary Angel‘s Divisadero: a performance at Theatre Passe Muraille. The songs that appear on The Early Widows were inspired by Michael Ondaatje‘s Governor General’s Award-winning novel Divisadero and Rutledge performs “Jack of Diamonds” from it in Divisadero: a performance, along with several other of his songs including “I’m Gonna Die (One Sunny Day)” from the album The Devil On A Bench In Stanley Park and “Lay Me Down Sweet Jesus” from No Never Alone. Performing with Rutledge in Divisadero: a performance are Liane Balaban, Maggie Huculak, Tom McCamus, Aviva Philipp-Muller and Amy Rutherford. Necessary Angel Artistic Director Daniel Brooks directs. Performances February 8-20, 2011 at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace. For tickets and more information, visit necessaryangel.com or call Theatre Passe Muraille Arts Box Office at 416-504-7529.
Virtual Lab to revolutionize Shakespeare education
Shakespeare in Action, Canada’s leading Shakespeare company for young audiences, is revolutionizing Shakespeare education in Canadian schools with it’s new Virtual Lab, launching on the world wide web on February 3, 2011 at shakespeareinaction.org. Artistic Director Michael Kelly founded Shakespeare in Action over 23 years ago to make Shakespeare accessible to young people, and the Lab is the next step forward. In development for over five years, the Virtual Lab is being offered to teachers, their students and the general public for free by the not-for-profit, professional theatre company. Over 130 teachers and students across the country have already signed up, with users registered in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Halifax and all over Ontario. The Virtual Lab site includes instructional videos with first-rate actors, lesson plans and innovative new activities such as Shakespeare Karaoke to get students ‘hooked on Shakespeare.’ The Virtual Lab is part of a broader strategy to make Shakespeare accessible for youth across Canada. The site is being launched in concert with The National Shakespeare Youth Festival, a landmark new program that fosters artistry, innovation and the leaders of tomorrow. Through the festival, students from across Canada perform, act, dance and design their favourite Shakespeare plays, under the mentorship of professional actors. The Lab makes it possible for them to connect with their mentors and with one another, making it easier for students across the country to participate, particularly those in regional or rural communities.
World Stage to host Welsh company Hoipolloi and the fantastical tale Floating
Photo by John Baucher
After applauded performances across the globe, Edinburgh Fringe favourite Hugh Hughes brings his award-winning and much-loved Floating to Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage, February 15-19. The first in a series of Hoipolloi shows developed with Hughes as the comedic creator, Floating is the imaginative story of the day when the Isle of Anglesey broke off and floated away from mainland Wales. Created and performed by Hughes and Sioned Rowlands, Floating won the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Total Theatre Award and the M-ie Best Live Theatre Award. The story takes audience members on a whimsical adventure with lo-fi technology and charming humour. Wrapped up in this comedic tale are heartfelt and simple memories of a life left behind that pluck at the heartstrings and emphasize the importance of one’s origins. For tickets call the box office: 416 973-4000 or visit: harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage.
Canadian Stage announces 2011 Dream in High Park: Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
Canadian Stage presents William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Winter’s Tale as the 2011 Dream in High Park. The fairytale worlds of Bohemia and Sicilia will come to life under the direction of Estelle Shook, former artistic director of British Columbia’s renowned outdoor theatre company Caravan Farm Theatre. Performances will be held from June 28 to September 4, 2011 at the High Park Amphitheatre, from Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. In keeping with annual tradition, admission will be pay-what-you-can and Canadian Stage will offer a series of free, all-ages and family-friendly activities and events. The 2011 Dream in High Park production will be performed al fresco by a cast of ten actors and musicians, with original music composed by local artist John Millard. One of Toronto’s favourite summer traditions for 29 years, the Dream in High Park is the oldest annual outdoor theatre event in the country with an estimated total attendance of 1.3 million people. In 2010, more than 27,000 audience members attended the Dream in High Park. For information on the Dream in High Park, please contact 416-367-1652 or canadianstage.com.
TheatreRUN in association with Théâtre Français de Toronto present Artaud: un portrait en décomposition
TheatreRUN is very proud to announce its latest creation, based on the writings of Antonin Artaud, Artaud: un portrait en décomposition. The show is the new collaboration between Adam Paolozza (Artistic Director of TheatreRUN) and Michele Smith (from Theatre Smith-Gilmour), half of the team behind the hit show Spent, which was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore awards and won for Best Performance. Through his poems and letters and through the memories of his closest friends, Artaud: un portrait en décomposition presents an unflinching theatrical portrait of Antonin Artaud. Surrealist, poet, visionary of the theatre – Artaud’s poetry takes us to the frontiers of madness. Artaud: un portrait en décomposition is a visceral incarnation of his tumultuous life and work. An exciting combination of searing poetry, haunting images and verbatim theatre, the show runs from February 16-26, Wednesday through Saturday at Théâtre Français Centre for Creation (21 College Street. Office #610 on the 6th floor). Performance in French. For more information or to reserve tickets contact theatrerun.ensemble@gmail.com or visit theatrerun.wordpress.com.
Nightwood announces FemCab 2011 Line-Up
Nightwood Theatre, Canada’s national women’s theatre, is thrilled to announce Judy Rebick as this year’s Keynote Speaker of FemCab, Nightwood’s annual celebration of International Women’s Day. Judy Rebick is a well-known social justice activist, writer, educator and speaker. Her latest book is Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political. Her other books include Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution (Penguin 2005). One of Canada’s best-known feminists, Rebick is the former President of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. Joining Rebick and Nightwood in will be: comedian-host Sandra Battaglini (Hard Headed Woman); award-winning playwright Judith Thompson; blues singer Shakura S’Aida; guitar queen Donna Grantis with the Electric Band; multi-genre singer Alejandra Ribera; spoken word artist Lara Bozabalian; dancer/choreographer Julia Aplin, 2010 Canadian comedy award-winner Chelsea Manders and the diva of Afro-Brazilian music Guiomar Campbell leading the evening’s House Band. FemCab 2011 will take place Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 8:00 p.m at the Brigantine Room at the Harbourfront Centre. Tickets are available in advance by calling Nightwood Theatre at 416.944.1740 ext. 5 or by emailing hilary@nightwoodtheatre.net.
Call for Submissions: In the Beginning: A Jewish Playwrights Festival
Now in its second year, In the Beginning aims to open the door for Jewish voices that offer fresh perspectives on Jewish history, heritage, and experience. Taking place from June 13-16, 2011 at the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto, four playwrights will have the chance to workshop their scripts with professional actors and directors and receive one public staged reading. All script submissions must be received by 5:00pm, March 15, 2011. The chosen participants will be contacted by the end of April 2011. The primary goal is to engage with Jewish Canadian artists, develop pieces from In the Beginning and potentially move them forward to a future production at the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company (HGJTC). Now in their fourth season, HGJTC is thrilled to present the 2nd annual In the Beginning, in partnership with the Miles Nadal JCC and the Koffler Centre of the Arts. For more information please contact inthebeginning@hgjewishtheatre.com or visit hgjewishtheatre.com.
Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival – Best of the Fest Encore Show
Photo courtesy of Deadpan Powerpoint
The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival (SketchFest) is back to show off the best of the 2010 Festival, which ran November 2-7, 2010, with the Best of the Fest Encore Show. Festival founders Paul and Julianne Snepsts have announced the Best of the Fest Award winners — three award-winning troupes who will return for the annual Best of the Fest Encore Show on March 11, 2011 at The Second City; a not-to-be-missed evening of killer sketch comedy. After a week full of top-notch performances, parties and professional development activities, Falcon Powder (Jim Annan, Scott Montgomery and Kurt Smeaton) emerged victorious as the 2010 Second City Best of the Fest Award winners, the first hometown troupe to win this award. The SketchFest jury was impressed with their meticulously written and performed show, featuring the perfect mix of jokes and story, absurdity and logic and hilarious one-liners. At the end of each SketchFest showcase audience members voted for their favourite troupes. Deadpan Powerpoint won their hearts and have been named the EYE WEEKLY Audience Choice Award winner! Comic duo Mike Kiss and Ted Sutton’s educational Powerpoint presentations included ludicrous subject matter, expert timing and ridiculous slides that consistently had audience members in stitches. The Steam Whistle Brewing Producers’ Pick Award went to super troupe Reverse Oreo consisting of previous SketchFest award winners Adam McNamara (Statutory Jape, Producer’s Pick 2008) and Olivia Coburn and Jonathan Langdon (Kathleen Turner Overdrive, Audience Choice 2007). Their high energy and riotously funny Tuesday night show had jurors rolling in the aisles. These three unique personalities also brought new life to professional development and networking events throughout the week. For more information about SketchFest Awards, please visit: torontosketchfest.com/awards. Tickets are available through The Second City: 416-343-0011 www.secondcity.com or TOTix: www.totix.ca.
The Railway Children Begins May 3, 2011 at Toronto’s Newest Theatrical Venue – The Roundhouse Theatre
Original London Company. Photo by Simon Annand
The City of Toronto will get a spanking new theatrical venue for the North American premiere of a London smash-hit play. The Roundhouse Theatre, a state-of-the-art, site-specific 1,000-seat venue located adjacent to the historic Roundhouse in downtown Toronto, will be custom built for The Railway Children, beginning performances on May 3, 2011. Presented in Toronto by Matthew Gale and Jenny King for The Touring Consortium (RC) International, and Robert Richardson for Marquis Entertainment, this York Theatre Royal Production of The Railway Children is an acclaimed stage adaptation of the classic novel by Edith Nesbit. Set in the early Edwardian era, The Railway Children tells the story of Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis, three children who are reduced to poverty after their father is unjustly imprisoned and they are forced to move from a large comfortable house in London to a poor cottage in rural Yorkshire adjacent to the railroad tracks. The children befriend the local railway porter and embark on a magical journey of discovery, friendship and adventure. This show is a breathtaking theatrical event that “stars” a 66-ton vintage steam locomotive. The Roundhouse Theatre, a new 1,000-seat venue will be located at Roundhouse Park, Bremner Blvd. and Lower Simcoe Street—steps from the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, and within walking distance of the restaurants and attraction of Toronto’s Entertainment District. Roundhouse Park brings back the thrilling sights and sounds of Toronto’s colourful railroading past, making it the perfect place to stage The Railway Children.
The Toronto production of The Railway Children will feature an all-Canadian cast, which will be announced at a later date. Single tickets will be available as of April 4, 2011, through TicketKing or 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333.
Anusree Roy’s Brothel #9 has world premiere at Factory Theatre
“Brothel #9 is Anusree Roy’s most mature and provocative work to date,” says Factory Theatre Artistic Director Ken Gass, “The story of Rekha, a young South Asian woman who travels from her village to Calcutta to take a job making light bulbs only to discover she has been sold to a brothel is powerful and riveting drama. Factory Theatre commissioned Brothel #9 and we are thrilled to work with Roy in encouraging her to expand the scale of her playwriting endeavors.” Under the direction of Factory Theatre Associate Artist Nigel Shawn Williams, Anusree Roy (Roshni and Letters to my Grandma, Theatre Passe Muraille; 9 Parts Desire, Seventh Stage) performs in Brothel #9 as Jamuna, Pamela Sinha (Home Free, SummerWorks; Possible Worlds, Neptune Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille) as Rehka, Sanjay Talwar (Peter Pan and Dangerous Liaisons, Stratford Festival; Bombay Black, Cahoots/Arts Club; Helen’s Necklace, Tarragon and Pi Theatre) as Salaudin and Ash Knight (Romeo and Juliet, Old Rep Theatre – Birmingham; Same Time, Next Year, Blue Heron – NYC; ) as Birbal. The set and costume design is by Shawn Kerwin, lighting design is by Bonnie Beecher, and sound design is by John Gzowski. Brothel # 9 is stage managed by Joanna Barrotta with apprentice stage manager Neha Ross. Brothel #9 previews February 26 – March 2, opens on March 3, and closes March 27, 2011. For more info and tickets visit factorytheatre.ca or call 416-504-9971.
Project: Humanity’s The Middle Place lands at the Berkeley Street Theatre
Cast of The Middle Place. Photo credit Aviva Armour Ostroff.
Following a successful run in 2010 at Theatre Passe Muraille, Canadian Stage is pleased to present the premiere of Project: Humanity’s The Middle Place. This gripping piece of verbatim theatre was crafted from interviews with residents and employees of a youth shelter. In 2007, Andrew Kushnir, a young, white, middle-class playwright and performer, ventured into Rexdale, one of Toronto’s roughest neighbourhoods, with a video camera to interview youth and employees at Youth Without Shelter (YWS) about their lives and experiences there. Commissioned by Project: Humanity, Kushnir culled striking moments from 450-pages of transcripts and orchestrated the creation of a compelling 50-page script. The play underwent further development through a series of performances last fall. The Middle Place met with critical acclaim during the 2009 Summerworks Theatre Festival and in 2010 was presented by Theatre Passe Muraille in collaboration with Canadian Stage. In support of Project: Humanity’s groundbreaking work, Canadian Stage and Theatre Passe Muraille have partnered to establish a “rolling opening”, combining their resources to allow the diverse audiences of both companies to experience the production within a single theatre season. Previews begin February 14, opening night is February 17 and the show runs until March 12 in the Berkeley Street Theatre. Tickets are available at 416-368-3110 or canadianstage.com.
NextSteps Season Continues through May 2011 at Harbourfront Centre
The fifth season of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps dance series will continue through May 2011. Since 2005 NextSteps has been Toronto’s unrivalled contemporary dance series, a showcase of the depth and energy of established and emerging companies from Toronto and across Canada. Toronto’s dance critics continue to recognize NextSteps as offering the best and brightest performances in the city. Each company creates inspired choreography and artistry with techniques and styles informed by wide-ranging international traditions and philosophies, a reflection of Toronto’s myriad cultural communities. With performances that range from cutting-edge contemporary to time-honored traditional dance, NextSteps offers something for every dance enthusiast, regardless of age, background or experience level. For information on ticket prices and full 2010/2011 remaining season line up, call 416-973-4000 or visit harbourfrontcentre.com/nextsteps.
Tarragon Theatre together with RBC Foundation Announces 3rd Annual National Playwriting Competition
As part of Tarragon Theatre’s mandate to seek out and nurture new and vital voices, Tarragon
Theatre, with the generous support of RBC Foundation, is pleased to announce the third annual RBC Tarragon Emerging Playwrights’ Competition. The purpose of this competition is to offer emerging Canadian playwrights the opportunity to receive financial support to further develop their plays, benefit from working with artists skilled in new play development, and gain national recognition for their writing. Now in its third year, the competition has been substantially expanded. Unlike the previous two years, there is no age limit associated with this competition: it is geared towards emerging playwrights, regardless of age, with less than five years professional theatrical writing experience. Also, a new component has been added to the prize: the winner of this competition will still receive a cash award of $3000 and the opportunity to showcase their play in Tarragon Theatre’s Play Reading Week. In addition to this, the winner will receive a year’s worth of dramaturgical support from Tarragon Theatre through regular meetings, in person or by phone, with Tarragon’s literary manager. Tarragon will consider original full-length plays (minimum 80 minutes) written in English by Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Deadline for submissions is Friday, April 29, 2011 at 5:00 pm. For complete submission guidelines, visit Tarragon’s website at: tarragontheatre.com/playwrights/playwrightscompetition
Billy Elliot The Musical Canadian Premiere Production Cast Announced
Left to right: J.P. Viernes, Marcus Pei, Myles Erlick, Cesar Corrales. Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann.
Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment are delighted to announce the cast for the Canadian premiere production Billy Elliot The Musical. About The Cast: Cesar Corrales, Myles Erlick, Marcus Pei and J.P. Viernes will rotate in the title role in the Canadian production of Billy Elliot The Musical. Cesar Corrales, who hails from Montreal, Myles Erlick a native of Burlington, Ontario, and Marcus Pei have all studied at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto. Also starring are Canada’s own Kate Hennig as Mrs. Wilkinson, Armand Schultz as Dad, Cynthia Darlow as Grandma, Patrick Mulvey as Tony, Jack Broderick and Dillon Stevens rotate in the role of Michael, Maria Connelly as Debbie, Will Mann as Mr. Braithwaite, Jim Ortlieb as George, Samuel Pergande as Older Billy, Mitch Poulos as Big Davey, and Anne Tolpegin as Mum. The other Canadians among the cast include Jordan Cable, Jonathan Cullen, Emma Easton, David Light, Megann McCandless, Claire Swift, Shawna Van Omme and Gabriel Varga-Watt. Rounding out the cast are Matt Allen, Madison Barnes, Cindy Benson, Sara Brians, Job Christenson, Nicholas Daum, Christine DeFilippo, Faith Fetscher, Susan Haefner, Ryan Kasprzak, Kent M. Lewis, Kate Marilley, Joel Newsome, Brittany Nicholas, Emily Richardson, Annelise Ritacca, Mason Roberts, Jaclyn Taylor Ruggiero, Nicholas Torres and Brionna Trilling. Rehearsals are now underway in Toronto. Performances begin on Tuesday February 1, 2011 at the Canon Theatre. For more info and tickets visit mirvish.com.
Driftwood Theatre Group Weekend Getaway
With the holiday season over, The Driftwood Theatre Group is here to help you fill the long dreary days of winter. For the first time in the history of Trafalgar 24, they will be offering Trafalgar 24 Getaway Packages for their annual and highly anticipated play-creation festival at the Trafalgar Castle in Whitby Ontario. The event takes place on March 11, 2011 and combined with the Getaway Packages is the ideal weekend mini-break – the perfect start to your March break. Whether you are travelling from afar or would just like to make a night of it, Driftwood Theatre is very pleased to be partnering with two excellent Durham businesses to provide audiences with a complete Trafalgar 24 experience. Attendees are encouraged to take advantage special discounts at Travelodge Oshawa and Nice Bistro. Trafalgar 24 is Ontario’s most ambitious juried play creation festival. Trafalgar Castle plays host to the event which begins with a wine reception where guests bid on a charming selection of silent auction items. The audience will then head out to experience all six of the plays taking place in and among the grounds of the charming and celebrated castle. Guests can catch a breath during intermission and increase their bids on favourite items. Following the final performance will be the ever popular and tantalizing dessert reception. Tickets can be purchased online through the Driftwood website driftwoodtheartre.com or at totix.com.
Soulpepper presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream
In one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it’s love in a forest complicated by meddling fairies, a hapless troupe of amateur actors, the Athenian court and love itself.
Rick Roberts, an accomplished playwright, actor and director (4:48 Psychosis, Fish/Wife, Kite) makes his Soulpepper directorial debut with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Roberts will direct an outstanding cast that includes Trish Lindström as Titania & Hippolyta, Gregory Prest as Puck, Abena Malika as Hermia, Brendan Wall as Demetrius, Mike Ross as Lysander, Karen Rae as Helena, Oliver Dennis as Bottom, Founding members William Webster as Snug and Michael Hanrahan as Quince, Derek Boyes as Starveling, Michael Simpson as Flute, John Jarvis as Snout, Ins Choi as Oberon & Theseus, Jason Patrick Rothery as Philostrate, Tatjana Cornij as First Fairy as well as Ken Mackenzie and Douglas John Alan. The set and costume design is by Ken Mackenzie, the lighting design by Lorenzo Savoini and music direction by Mike Ross. A Midsummer Night’s Dream previews February 17, 2011 and opens February 23, 2011 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, located at 55 Mill Street. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca.
Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show – Exposing life at the ground level of the tar sands
Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show is an honest, humorous and insightful portrayal of the relationships in the transient town of Fort McMurray. The show follows the journey of two roommates working in the oil industry and a local woman wanting nothing more than to leave Fort McMurray. The production manages the rare achievement of blending the personal and the political without commenting on either. What results is a touching tale of life in a transient city where everyone is either arriving or leaving and all are trying to balance love, money, oil and politics. Georgina Beaty and Jonathan Seinen formed Architect Theatre in 2008 because they wanted to make a play about being Albertan. Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show began as a way to return home, a way to talk about this unique region of Canada, and a way to ask the question, “What is life like on the front lines of the oil sands, the world’s largest energy project?” Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show previews on February 3, opens February 8 and runs to February 26, 2011 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue. For tickets and information, contact 416-504-7529 or visit artsboxoffice.ca.
Tracey Erin Smith unveils new Soul-O Theatre® programs
Acclaimed actress, writer and educator Tracey Erin Smith – creator of the popular one-woman Off-Off Broadway and Toronto Fringe Festival hit show The Burning Bush! – offers two new Soul-O Theatre personal storytelling performance courses. Developed by Tracey Erin Smith at Ryerson University’s ACT II Studio, Soul-O Theatre is an innovative, interactive program designed to help people create, write, direct and star in their own one-person show by transforming raw material from their life-stories into creative solo performances. Smith’s process turns personal experience into compelling and entertaining theatre, with no prior acting experience necessary. Participants take part in writing and theatre exercises to explore their lives, gaining insight into their trials and triumphs, as well as their wisdom earned; and share a ten-minute performance with an audience of friends and family at the end of the course. Some graduates take the class again and again because they discover there is no end to the stories they have within them. And some graduates have gone on to perform full-length solo shows.
The ten-week courses begin February 22 at the First Unitarian Congregation and February 24 at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in Toronto. To register for either course, and for more information: email tbb.productions@gmail.com or call 416-909-0680.
Casting Announced for the Toronto return of South Pacific
Dancap Productions Inc., has announced casting for the return of the celebrated Lincoln Center Theater Production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein‘s prize-winning musical South Pacific. Lauded with unprecedented rave reviews and nightly standing ovations last summer, the show will play the Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street, from February 15 – April 10, 2011.
David Pittsinger as Emile de Becque and Carmen Cusack as Nellie Forbush. Photo by Craig Schwartz.
Renowned bass-baritone David Pittsinger will play the role of Emile de Becque from February 15 – March 6. Best known in the world’s major opera houses, David Pittsinger played the role on Broadway (replacing Tony Award-winner Paulo Szot) and continued the role on tour. Toronto-based Jason Howard, currently in Germany performing Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca at Oper Frankfurt, will return home and play Emile de Becque from March 8 – April 10, 2011. The acclaimed Carmen Cusack returns as Ensign Nellie Forbush. The National Post glowed “Carmen Cusack gives a performance of Nellie that I doubt Mary Martin herself could have equaled and on which I cannot believe that anyone could improve.” Also returning to Toronto are Jodi Kimura (Bloody Mary), Gerry Becker (Capt. Brackett), Peter Rini (Cmdr. Harbison), Sumie Maeda (Liat), Rusty Ross (Professor) and Genson Blimline (Stewpot, original 2008 Broadway cast member). New to Toronto are Timothy Gulan (Luther Billis), Troi Zee (Ngana) and Luka Kain (Jerome). The role of Lt. Joseph Cable will be announced at a later date. Order online at DancapTickets.com or call 416-644-3665.
Assassins Extends Until February 13th
Birdland Theatre with Talk Is Free Theatre is pleased to announce Sondheim’s Assassins, the winner of the 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical, will continue at The Theatre Centre with tickets now on sale for performances through February 13th, 2011. The production will take a one week hiatus as of January 24th and will return January 31st. Tickets are available through Arts Box Office by phone at 416-504-7529 or online at artsboxoffice.ca.
Pliérs, Portés and Pratfalls! Show One Presents Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo
It has been three long years since Toronto last experienced the infamous sui generis that is Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo. For nearly 40 years The Trocks have performed their spellbinding display of classical and contemporary ballet, in parody form and en travesti, for audiences around the world. Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo is a company of professional male dancers who perform a full repertoire of ballet and modern dance, including classical and original works, in faithful renditions of the manners and conceits of each particular dance style. The comedy is achieved by incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents, and underlying incongruities of serious dance, to the delight and amusement of the most knowledgeable, and novice, audiences. For three performances only from February 10 – 12, Show One proudly presents the triumphant return of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo in Toronto, at the historic Winter Garden Theatre. For more information visit ShowOneProductions.ca. To purchase tickets visit ticketmaster.ca or call 416-872-5555.
Cara Ricketts joins cast of Anton Piatigorsky’s Eternal Hydra
Cara Ricketts, identified as “One to Watch in 2011” and “amazing” by Toronto media, joins original cast members—theatre veterans David Ferry, Liisa Repo-Martell and Sam Malkin—in Crow’s Theatre’s multi award-winning production of Anton Piatigorsky’s Eternal Hydra. The hit 2009 play is being remounted, in association with Factory Theatre. Playing in Factory’s Mainspace Theatre, Eternal Hydra previews January 22 – 26, opens on January 27 and runs until February 13, 2011. The multiple Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning production of Anton Piatigorsky’s Eternal Hydra is a rich theatrical experience about identity politics, sex and the myth of genius – a thrilling look at the making of a modern masterpiece. For more information and tickets visit crowstheatre.com and factorytheatre.ca/hydra. Click here to watch a video about the show.
National Circus School Deadline January 15 for Next Year
Montreal’s National Circus School (NCS) is taking to the road again, this time for its official Entrance Examinations. The move is a follow-up to the recent and highly successful trans-Canada tour to pre-select talented young people. The young circus artists of tomorrow that the school selects receive a general academic education recognized by the Ministry of Education and world-calibre circus arts training. They are then ready to pursue a career that will take them to the four corners of the planet as part of the ensembles of leading circus companies. A candidate who wishes to experience this adventure of a lifetime must submit an application on or before midnight January 15, 2011 and pass an Entrance Examination (audition) during the month of February in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. For a full description of the audition process, to obtain application forms or for all further information, see nationalcircusschool.ca, or email: info@enc.qc.ca or call 1-800-267-0859.
Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company Presents The Nephesh Theatre Production of One of A Kind
Created by writer/director Yossi Vassa, writer/director Shai Ben Attar, and Canadian-born producer/translator Howard Rypp, One of A Kind stars Yossi Vassa and tells the courageous tale of a ten-year-old Ethiopian Jewish boy and his family as they travel 430 miles on foot from northern Ethiopia to a refugee camp in Sudan before flying to their ultimate destination: Jerusalem. From Nephesh Theatre in Israel. Only two performances on February 24 at 1:15pm and 7:30pm, at Toronto’s Jane Mallett Theatre. Tickets can be purchased by calling 416.366.7723 or online at stlc.com.
Show Choir Canada Announces National Championship
Calling all Gleeks! Show Choir Canada is gleeming with excitement to announce the first-ever Show Choir Canada National Championship where high school students will vie for the coveted crown of Canada’s top show choir. Due to the hugely popular and highly successful TV show, Glee, student interest in show choirs (aka glee clubs) is growing faster than one can say Sue Sylvester! While the extra-curricular activity has been a long-standing practice in the U.S., its Canadian roots are starting to sprout at an increasingly rapid pace. Deadline for registration is February 1, 2011. The Show Choir Canada National Championship will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, April 8 & 9, 2011. Show Choir Canada’s mission is to play a vital role in the development and support of show choirs in Canada by creating opportunities that inspire, challenge, and encourage its youth participants. For more information and to download a registration form, visit showchoircanada.com or call 1-877-90GLEEK.
Cirque du Soleil returns to Toronto this summer with TOTEM
Cirque du Soleil returns to Toronto this summer with TOTEM, its latest Big Top production, proudly presented by the Desjardins Group. Written and directed by Robert Lepage, the critically acclaimed TOTEM has been charming audiences since April 2010 when it premiered in Montreal. TOTEM traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly—represented by the thunderbird at the top of the totem pole. The characters evolve on a stage which evokes a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations. Inspired by a variety of founding myths, TOTEM illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the promise of all species. Somewhere between science and legend, TOTEM explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential. TOTEM will run from August 11 to September 4, 2011 under the Blue-and-Yellow Grand Chapiteau located at the Port Lands on Cherry Street. Tickets are available online at cirquedusoleil.com/totem or by phone at 1-800-450-1480.
Theatre Passe Muraille Presents BUZZ
Created by Andy McKim, Artistic Director, Theatre Passe Muraille, Buzz opens a two-way conversation between artists and their biggest ally, the audience. Each artist writes a series of specific questions about the piece they present. After their presentation, the audience gets time to answer the playwright’s questions. But the evening isn’t strictly about the audience’s answers on a questionnaire, but rather the beginning of a dialogue with the audience that will take place over the course of the show’s development. Each night there are several hosts who welcome the audience when they arrive and introduce them to the feedback concept; these hosts also mingle post-show, answer questions, pose questions and facilitate dialogue between artist and audience. Every evening of Buzz features local musicians who weave in between each act, creating a seamless evening of art. Don’t miss your opportunity to be a part of the process. Buzz is free and runs December 13 to December 16, 2010.
Tickets for Disney’s The Lion King On Sale Now
The multi-award-winning, record-breaking musical comes back to the city where it had its Canadian premiere in April 2000 and played 1,560 performances (closing in January 2004). Opening night at the Princess of Wales Theatre, the same venue where the Toronto production was originally housed, is April 20, 2011 and the show will play a limited, eight-week engagement through June 12, 2011. The North American touring production of The Lion King has been seen by over 12.7 million theatergoers and grossed over $834 million to date. Having already played more than 60 cities across North America, The Lion King now proudly returns to Toronto. For tickets visit mirvish.com or call 416-872-1212.
Nightwood News:
2009 Pulitzer prize winning play Ruined soon on stage!
Lynn Nottage’s award-winning show directed by Philip Akin will open at The Berkeley Street Theatre on January 20, 2011. Ruined was originally commissioned by the Goodman Theater in Chicago in co-production with the Manhattan Theatre Club. Obsidian Theatre Company in association with Nightwood is bringing it to the Berkeley for its Toronto premiere. Set in a present-day small mining town in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lynn Nottage’s Ruined (2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) follows a young woman’s nightmarish path to Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who, in the midst of a complex civil war, both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds. At once heartbreaking and captivating, Ruined pays homage to the courageous and resilient women who must piece themselves together after the ruin. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 416-368-3110 or by ordering online canadianstage.com/online/calendar.asp
Give the Gift of FEMCAB this Holiday Season!
FemCab 2011 tickets are now on sale! Nightwood Theatre‘s International Women’s Day celebration will take place March 1, 2011 at the Harbourfront Centre. This sell-out event is now in its 28th year. The only cabaret in town where performers of every discipline come together in an irreverent and boisterous celebration of women! This year it will be hosted by Sandra Battaglini, Canadian comedy award winner for her show, Hard Headed Woman. The lineup will be announced in the new year and will feature 10 extraordinary performers (music, comedy, dance, film, theatre and more) showing their wares. For tickets call 416-944-1740 x 5 or email hilary@nightwoodtheatre.net
Mirvish Productions and Sony Centre Form Partnership to Co-Promote & Program Canada’s Largest Civic Performing Arts Venue
Mirvish Productions, Canada’s largest commercial theatrical producing company, and the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts, Toronto’s largest theatre, will together co-promote the Sony Centre’s visionary programming to the city’s diverse communities, including its special outreach programs to children and youth. “Our mandate is to find the best programming from around the world that speaks to as many of Toronto’s 232 cultures as possible,” said Dan Brambilla, CEO of the Sony Centre. “At the same time, we are fostering cross-cultural understanding by encouraging all of our diverse citizens to experience performances from outside their culture. To succeed at this enormous task, we are excited to be able to add the marketing strength of the Mirvish organization.”
David Mirvish explains, “We admire and wholeheartedly endorse the work of Dan and everyone at the Sony Centre. The Centre has a long history and has served many purposes over its 50 years. It is exciting to see it continue to serve the citizens of Toronto by reflecting the changing face of the city. It is facility that is well located and well designed to showcase the best of the city’s diverse communities. We are thrilled to play a role in helping the Sony Centre promote its unique shows to a wider audience. Tickets to Sony Centre shows will be made available to Mirvish subscribers at special prices and, when available, on a priority basis. This is a valuable new benefit for subscribing to the Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season, which I’m happy to report continues to be the most popular subscription in Canada. We are also excited to be able to co-present shows at the Centre and to have access to program shows appropriate to the venue. The performing arts are all about collaboration, and we are very happy to be entering into what promises to be a great and productive collaboration with the Sony Centre.”
Brambilla adds, “We are thankful that the Mirvish organization supports not only our undertaking to present diverse programming, but also our outreach to the youth of Toronto, which of course crosses over all of our wonderful cultures. I am so looking forward to being able to increase our efforts, now that David has put the strength of his organization behind this vision.”
Go Green with the Grinch! Video Contest
The Mayor of Whoville has announced the Go Green with the Grinch! Video Contest. Toronto area residents of all ages are invited to make a one-minute video to show how they’re greening their holidays for a chance to win prizes including a hotel stay, tickets to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical at the Sony Centre, and Live Green Toronto and Toronto Hydro prize packs. The contest is open to all Toronto area residents. For the Grinch’s Green Holiday Tips and full contest/prize details, visit gogreenwiththegrinch.ca. Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical plays Toronto’s Sony Centre For The Performing Arts from December 17, 2010 to January 2, 2011.
VideoCabaret announces Closing Date of December 5 for The Great War
After wowing sold-out crowds and leaving critics united in praise, VideoCabaret is announcing that the closing date of its remount of The Great War, the latest re-imagining of playwright Michael Hollingsworth’s acclaimed The History of the Small Huts cycle, will be December 5, 2010. The magical black box style and razor sharp wit of this latest installment have captured audiences and reviewers since this remount first took to the stage on October 26. In two fast-paced 55-minute acts, seven actors transform into over 40 characters — from the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to the infantry grunts long forgotten in history textbooks — to recreate the tragedies and triumphs of Canada’s soldiers. Now playing until December 5, 2010 at the Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West (one block west of Spadina). For tickets call 416-703-1725 or visit videocab.com.
Soulpepper’s Holiday Classic A Christmas Carol Returns
Soulpepper founding member Joseph Ziegler will reprise his role as Ebenezer Scrooge in the critically acclaimed production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol adapted and directed by Michael Shamata. The show opens December 6, 2010 and runs until December 30, at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Also featured in the cast are
Kevin Bundy, Oliver Dennis, Deborah Drakeford, Matthew Edison, Maggie Huculak, John Jarvis, Stephen Guy-McGrath, Daniel Chapman Smith, Sarah Wilson as well as Charlotte Dennis, Alyson MacFarlane, Elliot Waugh and Owen Cumming as Tiny Tim in their Soulpepper debuts. A Christmas Carol played to sold out houses in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008 and is one of the company’s most beloved productions. Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416-866-8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca. Also, $22 tickets (includes 13% HST) are available for 21-30 year-olds at stageplay.ca. You can also check out the Family Package which includes four tickets from $149.
Randolph Academy Graduating Class Takes Big Step With Little Women
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbles Jo March in Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel Little Women. So this Christmas, the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts (RAPA) has a present for Toronto families: Little Women: The Broadway Musical. Featuring graduating students from RAPA’s college program, the musical runs from November 30 to December 4, 2010 at the Bathurst Street Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street, Toronto. A special fundraiser performance on December 2, 2010 will jointly benefit Sunnybrook Foundation and the Randolph Academy. Tickets: $22 (except Dec. 2). 416.872.1111 or www.ticketmaster.ca. NOTE: Dec 2 performance is a fundraiser to benefit Sunnybrook Foundation — tickets $75.
Art of Time Ensemble Presents Shakespeare: If Music Be…
Highlighting several of Shakespeare’s most famous scenes, along with dance and music inspired by them, the acclaimed Art of Time Ensemble presents Shakespeare: If Music Be… a sumptuous multi-disciplinary ode to the greatest English-language playwright ever to put pen to paper. Artistic Director Andrew Burashko brings together some of Canada’s most outstanding artistic talents for this one-of-a-kind event that runs Thursday December 9 to Saturday December 11 at 8 pm at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre. The evening is anchored in music inspired by Shakespeare’s work, variously performed by Kevin Fox (singer/cello), Erika Raum (violin), and Andrew Burashko (who performs on piano in all of the music and dance pieces). The brilliantly inventive program incorporates the following elements: Kevin Fox performs two sonnets by Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Interspersed through these is a colourful collection of readings about Shakespeare from writers and thinkers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Virginia Woolf, among others. Award-winning director David Ferry takes the theatrical reins to direct veteran actors Ted Dykstra and Lucy Peacock as well as up-and-comers Cara Ricketts and Marc Bendavid as they interpret some of the Bard’s most famous works in addition to the above mentioned readings. This beautiful evening culminates in Canadian dance legend’s James Kudelka’s Romeo and Juliet Before Parting, set to Sergei Prokofiev’s work of the same name performed by dancers Tanya Howard and Patrick Lavoie, both first soloists with The National Ballet of Canada. Tickets: $25-$59. Box Office: 416-973-4000. Information: artoftimeensemble.com
Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo Returns to Toronto Winter Garden Theatre
For nearly 40 years, Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo, affectionately known as The Trocks, have wowed audiences across the globe with playful, entertaining and flawless executions of traditional, classic ballet in parody form and en travesti. From February 10 to 12, 2011, Show One proudly presents the triumphant return of Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo in Toronto, at the historic Winter Garden Theatre.
What began as a creative outlet for a few male ballet enthusiasts performing for small crowds in late-night shows in Off-Off Broadway lofts, grew to become one of the most noteworthy chapters the ballet world has ever written. Today, The Trocks have an international following spanning the globe. Their critical acclaim has led to awards for best classical repertoire from the prestigious Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards (2007) (UK), the Theatrical Managers Award (2006) (UK) and the 2007 Positano Award (Italy) for excellence in dance. To purchase tickets visit ticketmaster.ca.
Albert Schultz Announces Dance at the Young Centre
Albert Schultz, General Director of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, has announced the return of Dance at the Young this December featuring the world premiere of Young Centre Resident Artist Andrea Nann’s Beside Each Other, the Collisions Dance Festival and the critically acclaimed Full Bloom which played to sold-out houses this past January. Beside Each Other runs December 2 to 9, 2010, the Collisions Dance Festival runs December 10 to 12, 2010 and Full Bloom choreographed and performed by contemporary dance masters Robert Glumbek, Kevin O’Day and Luches Huddleston Jr., runs December 14 to 18, 2010.
Dancer and choreographer Andrea Nann presents the world premiere of Beside Each Other performed by Andrea Nann and Brendan Wyatt featuring the music and poetry of Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip) from his solo projects Coke Machine Glow and Battle of the Nudes. Comprised of a series of short duets, Beside Each Other explores the private landscape between a man and a woman as they tread through deep intimacy, heartache and separation to harmonious love.
The Collisions Dance Festival is a weekend of dance programming involving multidisciplinary performances, spontaneous creations, interviews, and social dances in a format that allows audience members to experience up to five shows of their choice.
After its world premiere at the Ballett Mannheim in Germany and sold-out run in January 2010, three of the world’s most dynamic and exciting male dancers return to the Young Centre in Full Bloom. Robert Glumbek is a dancer and choreographer of international acclaim, formerly of The Great Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Warsaw. Kevin O’Day is Artistic Director of the Ballett Mannheim at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in Germany, Luches Huddleston Jr. is a renowned choreographer and former dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Full Bloom is the personal and intimate journey of three men through the joys of fatherhood, the demands of manhood, and the challenges imposed by physical age.
Tickets are available by calling the Young Centre box office at 416.866.8666 or online at youngcentre.ca.
Necessary Angel Announces Ambitious 2010-2011 Season
Founded in 1978, and based in Toronto, Necessary Angel has been an influential and original presence on the national and international theatre scene for over 30 years. Having produced over 50 productions, including 27 world premieres and 10 North American premieres, the company is considered to be one of English Canada’s most important original creation and touring organizations.
The 2010-2011 Necessary Angel season is the company’s most ambitious to date. The season offers two shows premiering in June 2011 at Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity; a new multi-disciplinary collaboration between two seminal Canadian artists; a tour to Ottawa; and the debut of Michael Ondaatje’s first play in over two decades. Some of the productions include: Divisadero: a performance, a new collaboration between Daniel Brooks and Michael Ondaatje (February 8 to 20, 2011, opening date to be determined at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto). For tickets call 416-504-7529.
Are You Okay, created and performed by Peggy Baker and Michael Healey, and directed by Daniel Brooks. Previews March 1 to 3, 2011, opens March 4, 2011, and runs until March 13, 2011 at the Factory Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street. For tickets call 416-504-9971.
Graham McLaren will direct a daring new adaptation of Jean Racine’s Andromache, written by Canadian poet and novelist Evie Christie. Previews June 10, 2011, opens June 11, 2011, and runs until June 19, 2011 at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West. Ticket info to be announced.
Brigitte Haentjens brings to Toronto the English-language premiere of her acclaimed creation Tout Comme Elle, featuring a diverse cast of 50 women. Previews June 13, 2011, opens June 14, 2011, and runs until June 18, 2011 at the Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East. Ticket info to be announced.
Completing the season is a tour of Daniel MacIvor and Daniel Brooks’ This Is What Happens Next to Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company in May/June, 2011, where it will be part of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Previews May 24, 2011, opens May 26, 2011, runs until June 12, 2011 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, 1233 Wellington Street West, Ottawa. To purchase tickets, call 1-613-236-5196.
World Stage Presents Boca del Lupo’s World Premiere of PHOTOG
J Dodge, PHOTOG. Photo: Sherry J. Yoon.
The Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2010-11 will host the Vancouver-based multidisciplinary performance group Boca del Lupo and their latest creation — a recollection of the life of a war photographer as seen through his eyes and through his lens. Drawn from the real life accounts and interviews Boca del Lupo conducted with top conflict photographers Tim Heatherington, Michael Kamber and Farah Nosh, PHOTOG: an imaginary look at the uncompromising life of Thomas Smith examines the juxtapositions and internal struggles that many photographers experience between foreign soil and home turf; between privilege and suffering; between disconnect and belonging; between war and peace. Thomas Smith is an amalgam of these award-winning international photojournalists and Boca del Lupo fuses the unfolding of his imagined life with dazzling computer animation, real-time video, startling images and physical theatre. PHOTOG runs from November 17 to November 20, 2010 at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre.
To purchase tickets call 416 973-4000 or visit harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage1011.
The Cure For Everything produced by Theatre Passe Muraille
As one of Canada’s premier artists, Maja Ardal has been creating theatre for decades using her signature style — one that both educates and entertains. Drawing on her training with George Luscombe, Ardal develops political, transformative and entertaining shows that are unique in their ability to engage audiences of any age or social background. In this sequel to her critically acclaimed You Fancy Yourself, Ardal plays Elsa, now a teenage girl on the verge of becoming a woman, with urges, dreams and desires to fulfill. It seems that nothing can get in Elsa’s way, except maybe the world blowing up. The Cure for Everything represents the meeting of young and old, naivety and maturity. Ardal brings all the experience of a life well lived into her portrayal of a 14 year-old girl, and the show is all the better for it. Maja Ardal won a Dora Award for her portrayal of Elsa in You Fancy Yourself. Director Mary Francis Moore has spent several seasons as the associate director at Magnus Theatre and was nominated for a Dora Award for her direction of You Fancy Yourself. The Cure For Everything previews on November 10, opens November 16 and runs to December 4, 2010 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue. For tickets and information, contact 416-504-7529 or visit artsboxoffice.ca.
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical
The Grinch arrives at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on December 17, 2010, as part of a North American tour. The critically acclaimed, record-breaking Broadway production will run from December 17, 2010 to January 2, 2011. Icelandic film and stage actor Stefán Karl stars as the Christmas-hating Grinch. With book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mel Marvin, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical retains the hit songs from the original 1966 animated television special “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas” with lyrics by the legendary Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel and music by Tony Award-winning composer Albert Hague (“Redhead”), plus eight new songs written specifically for this production. Featuring magnificent sets by John Lee Beatty and costumes by Robert Morgan inspired by Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations, this 2010 tour is under the supervision of three-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O’Brien with direction by Matt August and choreography by Bob Richard based on the original choreography by John DeLuca. To purchase tickets call 416-872-2262 or online at sonycentre.ca.
The Merchants of Bollywood at the Sony Centre
Toronto will soon experience the first authentic Indian dance-music spectacle of its kind with the Canadian premiere of The Merchants of Bollywood from November 4 to 14, 2010 at the The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts. The Merchants of Bollywood stars Carol Furtado as Ayesha Merchant and Arif Zakaria as Shantilal Merchant, under the direction of writer/director Toby Gough. This opulent production travels with a cast of 30 performers, 3,800 lavish costumes and 2,000 pieces of jewelery worth in excess of one million dollars. The show tells the true story of the Merchant family, prominent players in the Hindi film industry since the late 1920s. Through its story of families, dynasties and dreams, The Merchants of Bollywood has mesmerized more than two million patrons in over 850 performances worldwide, showcasing the glitz and glamour and the iconic song and dance that defines Bollywood.
Soulpepper Unveils The 2011 Season With 17 Productions
Albert Shultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company announced the company’s 2011 season on Oct. 19, 2010: 17 plays from eight different countries and spanning four centuries will be presented. The season will include 12 original Soulpepper productions and a return of five of the most celebrated productions of Soulpepper’s past: William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, John Gray and Eric Peterson’s Billy Bishop Goes to War, Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple and Miklós László’s Parfumerie (adapted by Adam Pettle & Brenda Robins).
Original productions include 16th to 20th Century American and European classics by Henrik Ibsen, Eugene Ionesco, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt, William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams. The 2011 season will continue to showcase Canadian playwrights with productions of Judith Thompson’s White Biting Dog and Guillermo Verdecchia’s Fronteras Americanas, as well as Morris Panych’s adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghosts.
The season will also feature a special Double Bill of works created by Soulpepper artists: (re)birth: e.e.cummings in song and Window on Toronto, both of which were developed with the support of the Garland/Schultz Artistic Development Fund.
New this season will be two special solo One Act presentations, both adaptations of short stories by international masters. Argentine master Jorge Luis Borges’ The Aleph is adapted by Soulpepper founding member Diego Matamoros and associate artist Daniel Brooks, performed by Matamoros and designed by Michael Levine. The Kreutzer Sonata by Russian master Leo Tolstoy is adapted and performed by founding member Ted Dykstra.
Current Soulpepper subscribers can renew their subscriptions beginning October 18, 2010. New subscriptions are available as of November 2, 2010, and single tickets are available as of November 23, 2010, by calling the Young Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office at 416-866-8666 or visiting soulpepper.ca.
TEATRON Toronto Jewish Theatre Presents The Canadian Premiere of Kosher Lutherans
Kosher Lutherans open’s Teatron’s eighth season of fine Jewish-themed plays. The comedy by William Missouri Downs will be directed by Ari Weisberg and will feature returning actors Ron Boyd and Melissa Battey-Pratt as well as Jada Rifkin, Richard Hoffman and Veronika Brylinska. Hanna and Franklyn are a perfect Jewish couple who desperately want to have a child of their own, but can’t. A young woman from Iowa, pregnant and God-fearing, offers them her baby for adoption. Just before the adoption papers are signed, the couple realizes that she doesn’t know they’re Jewish. Fearing that this may put the adoption in jeopardy, they decide to pose as Lutherans — but how far are they willing to go to have a family? Tickets are available in person at the tocentre.com, 5040 Yonge Street or by phone: Season Subscriptions 416-733-0545, group and single shows: 416-781-5527 or online at teatrontheatre.com
Seana McKenna Returns to the Tarragon Stage in Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking
Under the direction of Belfry Theatre (Victoria) Artistic Director Michael Shamata, one of this country’s finest actors, Seana McKenna, will star in the Toronto premiere of Joan Didion’s play, The Year of Magical Thinking. The play, a searing account of Didion’s journey through grief, is based on her best-selling memoir of the same name, and was published to widespread acclaim and received the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005. In The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion captures the compassion, humour and bewilderment of a fiercely intelligent woman whose world lurches suddenly from the ordinary to the unimaginable. Previews in Tarragon’s Mainspace November 2-7, opens November 9 and runs until December 12. Tickets are available online at tickets.tarragontheatre.com or by calling 416-531-1827. Prices start at $23. Seniors’ and students’ prices are available. Friday night and Sunday matinee rush are $10.
Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival Presents Sassy Gay Friend Live
The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival (SketchFest) is proud to present Sassy Gay Friend Live, the viral internet sensation with over 10 million views on YouTube created by acclaimed comedian Brian Gallivan, on November 4 and 5 at The Second City. The Sassy Gay Friend helps classic literary heroines get a handle on their love lives through hilarious interventions, features a live adaptation of the most popular videos and some sassy gay help for audience members! For more info visit: thesecondcitynetwork.com/sassygayfriend. Advance tickets available online at totix.ca or in person at TO TIX Booth at Yonge-Dundas Square, day-of tickets available at all venue box offices.
Bette Midler Joins Producing Team of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical
“The Divine Miss M” Bette Midler joined the producing team of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical on the eve of it’s North American premiere in Toronto. The musical began its pre-Broadway engagement yesterday, Tuesday, October 12, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto prior to beginning performances at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in New York City on February 28, and opening March 20, 2011. Bette Midler said, “A new star on Broadway and her name is PRISCILLA! So much fun, it’s practically illegal! In fact, it IS illegal in four states!!”
Dancap Productions Announces 2011 Subscription Series
Next to Normal Broadway
Dancap‘s 2011 Subscription Series features the Canadian premiere of five new musicals direct from Broadway, and the return of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific (February 15 to April 10, 2011). In addition, Dancap’s 2011 season includes: 9 to 5: The Musical (June 29 to July 10, 2011) based on the hit film with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton; Next To Normal (July 19 to 31, 2011) winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama and three 2009 Tony Awards® and starring Best Actress winner Alice Ripley; Come Fly Away (August 16 to 28, 2011)Twyla Tharp’s electrifying celebration of the music of Frank Sinatra; The Adams Family (November 16 to 27, 2011) the creepy, kooky musical; and Memphis (December 6 to 24, 2011) winner of the most awards in the 2009-2010 Broadway season including the 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical. Click here for more information.
Socratic Theatre Collective Presents Hamlet
The Socratic Theatre Collective is a brand-new, non-professional company dedicated to producing “theatre that creates a dialogue.” The company is proud to present its inaugural production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This gender-bending production features a complete reversal of the original characters: all the originally male roles are now women, while the originally female roles are men. In exploring this concept, director Liz Bragg (founder and Artistic Director of Socratic Theatre Collective) is attempting to look at Hamlet in a different way. Her production asks the questions “What are the assumptions we have made about these characters? What changes when the genders change, and what stays the same?” Performing in the beautiful Hungarian Reformed Evangelical Church, the production creates a contemporary, yet timeless setting that brings the actors’ performances to the forefront. Bragg says, “Despite the gender reversal, we have tried to be very faithful to the text. Whether Hamlet is a man or a woman, the central themes remain the same. For us, this is a play about the moment between adolescence and adulthood, when taking responsibility seems like the most terrifying thing in the world.”
The 2010/2011 season is the first produced by the company. Entitled “Women, Power and Tragedy”, it will continue in May 2011 with the Canadian premiere of Jeremy Menekseoglu’s Ismene, as part of The Ismene Project, an international initiative to raise funds for breast cancer research. Hamlet runs from October 27 to November 6, 2010. For tickets, email reservations@socratictheatre.com, or contact Liz Bragg at 416-998-9772.
Canada’s Royal Winnepeg Ballet Presents Moulin Rouge — The Ballet
Moulin Rouge — The Ballet, a new full-length story ballet choreographed by Jorden Morris, will mark the return of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) to Southern Ontario for the first time in eight years. Commissioned for RWB’s 70th anniversary season, the six-city tour will launch at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, in Toronto, on Thursday, February 10, 2011. The tour will also visit Hamilton (February 13), Mississauga (February 14), Kitchener-Waterloo (February 15), and London (February 16). Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet is the first North American ballet company to receive the legendary Montmartre cabaret’s stamp of approval, granting them official use of the Moulin Rouge® trademark. Visit rwb.org for more information and to buy tickets.
Mirvish News
The Canadian Premiere of Wishful Drinking Starring Carrie Fisher
Direct from Broadway, Carrie Fisher will perform her award-winning show under the direction of Tony Taccone from July 12 to August 21, 2011, at the Princess of Wales Theatre. In Wishful Drinking, she recounts the true and intoxicating tale of her life as a Hollywood legend, told with the same wry wit she poured into bestsellers like Postcards from the Edge. Fisher become a cultural icon when she starred as Princess Leia in the first of the Star Wars trilogy at 19 years old. Forever changed, her life did not stay picture perfect. Fisher is the life of the party in this uproarious and sobering look at her Hollywood hangover. Created and performed by Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking won the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance and has received rave reviews on Broadway.
The show is part of the 2010-11 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season. Subscriptions are now on sale, single tickets will go on sale at a later date. The show will replace the previously announced Sweet Charity, a Menier Chocolate Factory production, which was to have travelled to Toronto from London; that production is no longer available.
A Tribute to Johnny Cash The Man In Black Starring Shawn Barker
David Mirvish and LCQ Productions are delighted to present the Toronto premiere of The Man In Black, a unique show that pays tribute to the musical genius of Johnny Cash from February 15 to 27, 2011, at the Panasonic Theatre. The Man In Black, written and directed by Kurt Brown, presents all of Cash’s famous music in a frozen moment of his life, taking the audience on a rollercoaster musical ride. Cash is presented at the height of his career — a slim, trim, energetic performer with a polished voice. All the great songs are here, from his early, groundbreaking hits to his duets with June Carter to his last recorded song “Hurt” all performed as the younger Cash would have interpreted them. Backing Barker is a band of accomplished musicians who do the music proud. Barker has performed the show across the United States, winning acclaim everywhere he has played. He was especially touched by the words of praise he received from many of Cash’s friends and musicians. They were all shocked by Barker’s uncanny ability to recreate not only the distinctive and rich sound of the famous man, but also his unique stage presence. They found Barker’s portrayal stunningly accurate and remarkably authentic. Tickets are now on sale online at mirvish.com or call TicketKing at 416-872-1212.
André-Philippe Gagnon returns to Toronto with his new show The One-Man Hit Parade
Known as the man of 400 voices, famed impressionist/comedian André-Philippe Gagnon is bringing his new show to Toronto for five performances only, from December 1 to 5, 2010 at the Canon Theatre. For the One-Man Hit Parade, Gagnon has teamed up with his long-time collaborator Stéphane Laporte and some of the best Canadian comedy writers, including Gord Holtam and Rick Olsen (Royal Canadian Air Farce) and George Reinblatt (Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, Just for Laughs), and with Moment Factory, the multimedia firm behind the last Nine Inch Nails tour and some of the Cirque du Soleil creations. The result is a combination of music, comedy, technology and creativity — and Gagnon’s most personal show ever. He brings together artists who have never appeared on the same stage before — everyone from Elvis, Barry White, Guns N’ Roses, Justin Timberlake and even Susan Boyle. Tickets are now on sale online at mirvish.com or call TicketKing at 416-872-1212.
Announcing the winner of the Second Annual RBC Tarragon Under 30 National Playwriting Competition
Tarragon Theatre and RBC Foundation are pleased to announce the winner of the second annual RBC Tarragon Under 30 National Playwriting Competition: I Drag My Coffin Through The Lonesome North by Matthew Heiti (selected as the winner from a shortlist of seven plays). The play follows an RCMP constable as he tracks his elusive prey: a mysterious trapper who murdered a fellow officer, and fled over the frozen tundra. The play was highly praised by the competition’s prestigious panel of jurors: Katrina Dunn, Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre (Vancouver), Yvette Nolan, Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto) and Roy Surette, Artistic Director of Centaur Theatre (Montreal).
Matthew Heiti will receive a cash prize of $3,000 as well as a timeslot to showcase his play in Tarragon Theatre’s annual Play Reading Week in November 2010. Matthew is one of the founding members of the Sudbury-based Unweeded Garden Theatre Company, dedicated to producing work by Northern writers and he is also the co-writer of the film Son of the Sunshine, which debuted at Slamdance and will be playing in Canadian cinemas this fall. His plays have been workshopped with Playwrights Theatre Centre (Vancouver), Lunchbox Theatre (Calgary), and NotaBle Acts (Fredericton). His folk musical, The Nick Drake Project, was produced by Picture Box Theatre at the Summerworks Festival last year.
The RBC Tarragon Under 30 National Playwriting Competition is generously supported by the RBC Foundation. The RBC Emerging Artists Support Project helps young artists, such as dancers, painters, writers, musicians and singers bridge the gap from the academic to the professional world.
Rogue and Peasant Theatre Company Presents Private Eyes
The Toronto premiere of Steven Dietz’s Private Eyes will run from November 11 to 21, 2010 at the Lower Ossington Theatre. Private Eyes is a comedy of suspicion where nothing is ever quite what it seems. Matthew’s wife, Lisa, is having an affair with her British theatre director Adrian. Or is the affair part of the play they are rehearsing? Or has Matthew just imagined the whole thing in order to have something to report to Frank, his therapist. And then there is Cory, the mysterious woman who seems to shadow the others. The audience will be playing the role of detective in this hilarious play about love, lust and the power of deception that will engage your heart and mind.
This production of Private Eyes will be directed by Rogue and Peasant Theatre Company‘s founding Artistic Director, Mark Ingram and will feature several established Canadian actors including Christel Bartelse (ONEymoon, Chaotica), Sharon McFarlane (One Thousand Cranes, As You Like It), David Rosser (US and Canadian tour of Mamma Mia!, The Music Man), and Nora Sheehan (The Perfect Pitch, A Man of No Importance, Private Lives and numerous TV and film credits).
Tickets are available through the Lower Ossington Theatre by phone at 416-915-6747 x222, online at lowerossingtontheatre.com, in person or at the door. For more information please visit roguetheatre.org
World Stage Presents urbanvessel’s World Premiere of Voice-Box, a Competitive Concert in a Boxing Ring
From November 10 to 14, 2010, the Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2010-11 is proud to host urbanvessel (the team behind the critically acclaimed Stitch) and the world premiere of their genre-crossing, interactive performance. Voice-Box brings together the science of boxing and the power of the singing voice to create a knock-out performance, uniting the talents of choreographer Julia Aplin, writer Anna Chatterton and composer Juliet Palmer. The creators step into the ring with the feisty quartet of Vilma Vitols (opera, cabaret, new music singer and accomplished boxer), Neema Bickersteth (actor and opera singer), Savoy Howe (comedian and boxing coach) and Christine Duncan (improviser, jazz and gospel singer). Voice-Box unveils women’s power to withstand blows and go beyond expectations. For more info and tickets, call 416-973-4000 or visit harbourfrontcentre.com.
Sony Centre For The Performing Arts presents Stars of The 21st Century, A Koffler Centre of the Arts Gala
For one night only, on Thursday October 14, the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts will present Stars of The 21st Century, an evening of dance, that brings together six world-renowned ballet companies and their principal dancers. With original choreography by artistic director Veselova-Tencer, the show will feature some of the most accomplished classical and contemporary dance stars in the world. Founded in Toronto by Solomon Tencer and Nadia Veselova-Tencer, the annual gala has since gone on to grace renowned stages in Paris, Cannes, Panama City, Moscow, Bucharest and New York. Canadian dance will be well represented in the 2010 edition when the stunning Bridgett Zehr and Zdenek Konvalina from The National Ballet of Canada perform the Coppelia pas de deux and Rubies pas de deux from Jewels.
As for international talent, the show will feature Ashley Bouder and Amar Ramasar from New York City Ballet with choreography by Balanchine and Dorothée Gilbert, and Alessio Carbone from Paris Opera Ballet; Anastasia Matvienko and Denis Matvienko from Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet; Elisa Carillo Cabrera and Mikhail Kaniskin from the Berlin Opera Company; Daniil Simkin from American Ballet Theatre; Iana Salenko from Berlin Opera Ballet.
A portion of the proceeds from Stars of The 21st Century will benefit cultural programming and scholarships at the Koffler Centre of the Arts, a Toronto-based contemporary Jewish arts and cultural institution with a broad mandate to serve all Canadians through a global lens.
Gala tickets can only be purchased through the Koffler Centre at 416-638-1881 x 4271 or email gala@kofflerarts.org.
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company presents Lenin’s Embalmers
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company will be launching their 2010/2011 season with the Canadian premiere of Lenin’s Embalmers by Governor General Award-winning playwright Vern Thiessen. The dark comedy is about two scientists who were chosen by “The Committee for Immortalization” to embalm Vladimir Lenin after his death in 1924. The play was well received by the critics at the world premiere at New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre in March, 2010. A co-production with the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, this production will be directed by Geoffrey Brumlick. Lenin’s Embalmers previews start October 30, 2010, and the show will run from November 2 to 21, 2010 at the Al Green Theatre in the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. To purchase tickets call 416-366-7723 or visit www.stlc.com.
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company’s 2010/11 season will also include the off-Broadway comedy Zero Hour written by and starring Jim Brochu and directed by Piper Laurie; and a new Canadian musical revue To Life, directed by Avery Saltzman and choreographed by Tim French. Subscriptions are now on sale and are available by calling 416-366-7723, 1-800-708-6754 or online at www.hgjewishtheatre.com.
BirdLand Theatre with Talk Is Free Theatre Presents Assassins
Winner of the 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical, Assassins will return to Toronto from January 6 to 23, 2011 at The Theatre Centre. The Tony Award-winning show with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is a dark and contoversial look at the lives of nine individuals who assassinated, or tried to assassinate, various presidents of the United States. Under the direction of Adam Brazier, the star-studded cast will include the return of Dora-nominated Paul McQuillan as John Wilkes Booth and Trish Lindstrom as Squeaky Fromme. Tickets are now on sale through Arts Box Office by phone at 416-504-7529 or online at artsboxoffice.ca.
Scott Thompson to star in Ross Petty Productions’
Beauty and the Beast, The Savagely Silly Family Musical
Kids in the Hall‘s Scott Thompson has been cast in the role of The Dame in Ross Petty Productions‘ Beauty and the Beast, The Savagely Silly Family Musical at the Elgin Theatre. The production is not the Disney version, but a reinterpretation of the famous fairy tale based on the book by Lorna Wright. Directed by Ted Dykstra and
choreographed by Tracey Flye, the musical also stars Degrassi The Next Generation‘s Jake Epstein, Canadian Idol winner Melissa O’Neil, Eddie Glen, Ross Petty and Jake Simons. The show runs from November 25, 2010 to January 2, 2011 (opening night is December 2, 2010). Click here for more information and to buy tickets online.
Rock of Ages Extended Until December 19, 2010
Due to high demand and audiences’ continued desire to rock out, Rock of Ages is extending its stay in Toronto once again. A new block of tickets is now on sale through December 19. Check out our review of this awesome show — 5 stars! Visit mirvish.com to buy tickets. Don’t miss it.
An Evening With Stephen Sondheim
On Monday December 6, 2010, the Princess of Wales Theatre will host an onstage conversation between the legendary composer and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim and National Post’s theatre critic, Robert Cushman. The evening will also feature an introduction by Des McAnuff, Artistic Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
The candid dialogue will include subject matter such as Mr. Sondheim’s career, his predecessors, the state of the musical theatre, the differences between film and theatre and much more. Regular tickets are $22 to $69 and premium seats are available for $99. For more information visit mirvish.com
Godot Art Productions Presents Homeland
Godot Arts Productions presents the world premiere of an original multi-disciplinary work by Setareh Delzendeh. A blend of theatre, dance, live music and film, Homeland runs from October 28 – Nov 6, 2010 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. For tickets and information, contact 416-504-7529 or artsboxoffice.ca.
Dream Of The Red Chamber at The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts October 12 to 13, 2010
In celebration of 40 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and China, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts and BMO (Bank of Montreal) present the Toronto debut of the acclaimed Beijing Friendship Dance Company, in their award-winning interpretation of China’s most revered work of literature, Dream Of The Red Chamber. Blending classical ballet and traditional Chinese dance, the lavish full-length dance drama features 80 highly trained dancers and 800 costumes. Two performances only! For more information visit sonycentre.ca
Amy Sky Kicks off HGJTC’S 2010/11 Season
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company (HGJTC) kicks off their 2010/11 season with the return of the celebrated Conversations on the Greenseries. Hosted by Canadian radio personality Ralph Benmergui, Conversations on the Green features one-on-one chats with notables from the world of theatre, art, literature and politics speaking on how Jewish culture has influenced their life and chosen profession.
The series launches on Monday, September 20 at 7:30PM with singer-songwriter Amy Sky and continues with director and producer Norman Jewison (October 4), lawyer and author Edward Greenspan (Dec. 6), theatre producer David Mirvish (April 11, 2011) and television personality, author and newspaper columnist Jeanne Beker (May 16, 2011). For more information on the HGJTC’s 2010/11 season visit hgjewishtheatre.com
The Theatre Centre Launches “F.A.B.” Package
The Theatre Centre launches a unique season package: For $50 choose any four shows in the season (September 2010 to March 2011) or ask artistic director Franco A. Boni (F.A.B.) to select one, two, three or all four shows. Every season booker will also receive an invite to a mystery cultural event taking place somewhere in the city. Chosen by Franco, this could be anything from a singing lesson to a tour of an artist’s studio. The Theatre Centre F.A.B. Package features nine new works. Click here for more information.
Sharon B. Moore’s The Great Farini Project
September 22 to 25 at the Enwave Theatre
Critically acclaimed choreographer, and 2010 Dora Award Nominee, Sharon B. Moore presents The Great Farini Project, inspired by the life of Canadian William Hunt (1838-1929). Known the world over as The Great Farini, Hunt was one of the most famous hi-wire walkers of the Victorian era. The Great Blondin, a French hi-wire walker of the same era was the first person to cross the Niagara Gorge in 1859. Farini soon followed in his steps, and his crossing resulted in an intense, decade-long rivalry between the two men, even though they never met in real life. In The Great Farini Project, they do meet and what follows is an all-out pursuit for excellence in the world of Victorian circus. The production stars Brian Solomon as The Great Farini and Brendan Wyatt as The Great Blondin — four performances only! Click here to book tickets online. For more information visit farini.org.
Hairspray Returns to Toronto this Fall
Producer Jonathan Randall is pleased to announce that a brand new stage production of Hairspray, the Broadway musical comedy that wowed Toronto for 33 weeks in 2004 (and inspired a major motion picture) is returning to Toronto’s Bathurst Street Theatre for five performances only — September 30 to October 3, 2010. This fun family musical won eight 2003 Tony Awards including Best Musical and ran for over six sold-out years and 2,642 performances on Broadway. Tickets for the production are available at randallentertainment.com
Complete Casting Announced: Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical — North American Premiere
Complete casting has been announced for the pre-Broadway North American company of Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical, written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott and directed by Simon Phillips. Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon (Bernadette), Tony Award nominee Will Swenson (Tick/Mitzi) and Nick Adams (Adam/Felicia) star as the trio of friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback. Ashley Spencer(Diva), Mike McGowan (Frank), Christopher Gurr, Ellyn Marie Marsh and Jeff Metzler complete the cast of the spectacular new stage musical that will begin performances at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto for a 12-week only, pre-Broadway engagement beginning October 12, 2010. Visit mirvish.com to buy tickets online.
Kate Hennig Returns to Toronto in the Role of Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot The Musical
Torontonian Kate Hennig, currently starring as Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot The Musical on Broadway, will return to her home town to launch the Toronto engagement of Billy Elliot, which begins performances at the Canon Theatre on January 28, 2011. Kate Hennig is acclaimed for her stage work in Toronto and across Canada. She created the role of Agnete in the world premiere of The Danish Play (for Nightwood Theatre) for which she received a Dora Award nomination. Other roles include Martha in the stage musical adaptation of White Christmasand Eurycleia in The Penelopiad (in England for the Royal Shakespeare Company and for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa). Across Canada, she has starred as Sally in Cabaret, Rose in Gypsy, Amanda in Private Lives and Hamlet in Hamlet. She also received a Genie Award nomination for the acclaimed film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould. We can’t wait to see her!
