All Rested Up From Fringe... So It's Time For the 2019-2020 Theatre Season to Start!

I'll be kicking off my 2019-2020 Theatre Season next week starting on Tuesday night, when I take in The Color Purple at the Citadel Theatre. It's the musical adaptation of Alice Walker's 1982 novel of the same name which was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985 starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. I'm excited to see this, as I am a great fan of the book, having read it shortly after it was published and similarly loved the movie. As I am a musical theatre fan, I think I will have hit the trifecta! There are a lot of new-to-Edmonton artists involved in the production, but it also stars Tara Jackson as Celie. Jackson was previously seen in Edmonton at the Citadel in Hadestown, Bittergirl: The Musical and Mamma Mia! and at the Mayfield in Jesus Christ Superstar. She's one of my husband and my favourite local musical theatre performers and I can't wait to see her onstage in this show. I'm seeing the show early in the run, because I seriously and thinking it will be one that I want to see again! Right now, my only issue is that I have a really hard time with the American spelling of color... but that's just habit!

The Color Purple runs from September 21 to October 13 in the Shoctor Theatre. You can purchase tickets here. 

I'll also be taking in the final offering of the season from Teatro la Quindicina next week. Vidalia by Stewart Lemoine opens on Friday, September 27th at the Varscona Theatre. I'm excited to see the fabulous Belinda Cornish onstage with the always funny Andrew MacDonald-Smith as they lead the cast in this show billed as a contemporary spin on the classic screwball form. There's also a promise of 3 identical briefcases, haberdashery, and industrial espionage, which suggests intrigue, oh and there's onions!

Vidalia runs from September 27 to October 12 at the Varscona Theatre. You can purchase tickets here.

Also this month - The Play the Fool Festival - running from Sept 26-29. Play the Fool is Edmonton’s festival of clown-theatre and physical comedy. Held in historic Old Strathcona at the ATB Financial Arts Barns, the home of The Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. Now entering their fourth year, this festival brings together seasoned and emerging local, national, and international clown and physical theatre artists for four days of performances that embrace risk, exploration, and play. Click here for the line-up and to find out how to get tickets to this laugh-filled festival. 
If you like Rock and Roll, especially the classics, you can also check out Million Dollar Quartet now playing at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. It runs until October 27. It's a great show with so many songs you love from Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.  You'd also get to have the always delicious buffet while you watch the show! Click here for tickets. 
It's a great looking September. I'm also excited about October, but I will get to that later! One month at a time!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUMMER READING! #yegbookclub

Image
On May 26th we had a lively chat on twitter with author Thomas Trofmiuk about Waiting for Columbu s .  It was wonderful to be able to ask questions about the characters and their possible paths and has the author answer them.  It was very clear that they all continued to live outside the book.  We begged for a Consuela sequel as she was a favorite of many of us readers. It was also great to learnt hat there is a Waiting for Columbus movie in the works.  When I read the book I was struck by how cinematic it was and, like The English Patient , I thought it would lend itself to film. Following the discussion I indicated that there would be some Summer Reading Choice(s) for the next #yegbookclub.  I don't know about you, but I am always hard to pin down for the summer.  With holidays and day camps for the kids and, for this year, directing two Fringe Shows I thought we could have 2 selections to read over the summer and then in September we could take two evenings to chat about th
Read more

Fringe #42 - Sat, Aug 19 - Three Great Musicals and More WORD OF MOUTH Recommendations!

Image
I saw three great musicals on Saturday. They were very different, but enjoyable in their own ways! First I took in Morningside Road , a new musical by Mhairi Berg and Simon Abbott. It was so beautiful. having written a play about a similar topic I thought the way that the story was told was very well done. The music is lovely and sung very well - tight harmonies and gorgeous voices. At the end, I estimate 50% of the audience (if not more) was in tears and there was an instant standing ovation. This is a terrific pick!  Next up was The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes which in the spirit Schmigadoon, the lead character Howard wakes up to find himself living in a a musical and wanting to get out of it. It was a super fun ride of a show. It hit on so any musical theatre tropes and references what feels like a thousand specific shows. The Musical Theatre afficionado should not miss this show! I loved how they really leaned into all the ridiculousness because that's the only way this k
Read more

Bringing The Color Purple to the Stage with Joyous Song and Truthful Storytelling!

Image
Sometimes when you are very excited for something, it fails to live up to your expectations. This is NOT the case with The Color Purple currently running at the Citadel Theatre . As I wrote earlier, I loved Alice Walker's novel and I am happy to report that the production is everything and more than I could have hoped for. From the first few seconds of the show, when Celie (Tara Jackson) and Nettie (Allison Edwards-Crewe) sing a child's rhyme together, you know that musically you are going to be treated to something magnificent. This grows as the full cast joins them onstage and the world of Celie is created. The power and beauty of this cast in their vocals is majestic. It's the kind of music sung so well that it makes you want to lift from your seat. The Citadel has done an incredible job of bringing together this cast which has no weak links, each voice expressive, joyful and strong. Kudos to the cast and to Music Director Floydd Ricketts for creating such amazing sou
Read more