A Nice Light Comedy to Keep You Warm - "I Meant What I Said" at Teatro Live

Teatro Live! is currently presenting a brand new play by Stewart Lemoine called I Meant What I Said. It's a bubbly little piece that demonstrates the power of the creation of story. Dinah (played cheerfully and optimistically by Bella King) is approaching her 30th birthday and is experiencing a period of reflection about her life and her purpose. As such, she starts to weave a story that comes to life in front of us. We meet a former friend and current acquaintance, Helen (Jayce McKenzie) who finds herself at a different turning point as her marriage appears to be ending. Dinah also observes Alex (Sam Free) who becomes her boyfriend in the story she creates (is he an actor? or an academic?), and Juris (Eli Yaschuk) a newcomer to the country seeking to converse in order to improve his English. In Dinah's story he also has a tragic past. Added to the mix is The Oddball (Nida Vanderham) who is actually several characters who fill in the world that Dinah creates. It's a very cool little story that roams from coffee shop to upscale hotel bar to academic classroom to wintry high mountaintops. Some is true, some is made-up, but I'm not sure we know entirely which is which. It's definitely about the journey! I had a very enjoyable time and as a playwright, I found the witnessing of the process of creation of story very interesting. I most enjoyed the interplay between King and Yaschuk, as he is such a natural comedian and King's reactions are so truthful. I also loved McKenzie's turn as the tightly wound Helen. This was a big shift from anything I have ever seen her in before and it was fun to watch. 

I also reflected on the five actors that were onstage, as it did not seem that long ago that I observed them as 'the young ones coming up', but now they are firmly established. It's a testament to the investment that the Edmonton theatre community has made to young artists that we can watch them evolve on stages over several years (and hopefully more to come). I certainly look forward to seeing these actors onstage in future projects and was glad to see them as an ensemble in this piece. As I said, it's a lovely comedy that will keep you warm this winter. Definitely worth checking out!

I Meant What I Said runs to March 8th at the Varscona. Tickets are $25-$42 and there are Pay-What-You-Can Nights and other special events. You can purchase those tickets here. 

Photo Credit:  Marc J Chalifoux Photography 

Sex Please, We're Sixty at St. Albert Dinner Theatre

This past weekend I took in the latest offering from St. Albert Dinner Theatre, Sex Please, We're Sixty! It was a laugh-filled evening, with a terrific dinner and great company at my table! Like any great farce, there are several doors and for much of the second act, you are never quite sure what will be coming out of what door! It's also chock full of big characters whose convergence leads to the requisite mix-ups and misfortunes. 

Set in a floral themed Bed and Breakfast, permanent resident Bud "the Stud" (Rob Beeston with the most absurd hairline and a ridiculous pelvis popping) is awaiting the return of a former guest with whom he had a liaison. The only problem is he can't remember who they are. Enter three possible candidates and off we go. There's also a very rigid and time obsessed B&B owner, Mrs Stancliffe (played by Myrna Ferris who has a delightful transformation in the finale of the show) and her fumbling but earnest suitor, Henry Mitchell (the charming and befuddled Dave McKay) who has been courting her for over a decade with no progression. He's a scientist who has developed a little blue pill for menopausal women to stimulate their libido called Venusia. When these get mixed up with Bud's Viagra, the hijinks abound! 

As mentioned, the show is full of larger than life characters. There's a nerdy scientist Hillary Hudson (Ursula Pattloch, with broken glasses and appropriate t-shirts) there to help Henry with the testing of of his magic medication; a romance writer Victoria Ambrose (Joanne Poplett), looking for a new and innovative way to end her latest novel; and Charmaine Beauregard, a southern vamp hoping to get some action with Bud (Christine Gold, who is an absolute hoot!) The folks at my table remarked of Gold, "She has the best lines!" and indeed, in the second act, every time she came onstage I was waiting to see what she would say next. I have been quoting some of them around my house all week. I don't want to give them away, so you will have to see for yourself! 

Like all good farces, the first act gets everyone in place and you can anticipate over intermission how they will all collide, and then the second act pays off with even more ridiculousness than you expect. The cast worked well together with everyone putting in 110% regardless of what silly thing the script asked of them. The laughs came hard and fast leading to a very enjoyable evening! 

Sex Please, We're Sixty runs to February 14th with shows on Thursday through Saturday at the St. Albert Dinner Theatre. Tickets are $70 and include a fantastic buffet supper. There's also a discount for groups of 10+. You can purchase your tickets here. 

The Mythology of War - An Iliad at Shadow Theatre

 Marc J. Chalifoux Photography

Last weekend I took in An Iliad at Shadow Theatre. The Iliad is an epic story from Greek Mythology recounting the battle of Troy. You've likely got some bits and pieces of it floating in your head, from Helen of Troy, to Achilles, to Odysseus, to The Trojan Horse. And of course, there's all those deities mixed up in it with vested interests: Athena, Apollo, Ares, and others. I'm very familiar, having directed The Penelopiad (the story of Odysseus' long suffering wife, Penelope) and having read Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles last year and just finished her more recent novel Circe. I felt a bit surrounded by the Myth, but familiarity does cultivate affection. 

At the centre of this production, is the poet, played masterfully by Michael Peng. Peng is an excellent story-teller and even injured and constrained in his movement he weaves a compelling tale about the Trojan War. I appreciated that this retelling does not pick sides but rather tells the tale from the perspective of both sides. We hear about Hector as well as Achilles. The poet sees and relates wrongs and triumphs of either side of the wall. He has been telling this story for centuries and we are getting the version that's a little under 2 hours. He tells us he's told versions that last several days. The weight of that underscores the shorter version we receive. 

 Marc J. Chalifoux Photography

You can't help but reflect beyond the mythology and think about the essential nature of war, in fact, Peng draws our attention to war in the world over our long human history up to today. The list feels endless and sadly incomplete. As we live in a world with increasing tensions, it is perhaps a kindness to reflect on war through the lens of an ancient mythological one. I certainly have thought a lot about war lately and how relatively safe we are in North America (and growing less so). There are many places in the world where war is first-hand and deadly, and while the play does not provide answers to humanity's ongoing conflicts, the recognition that both sides of any conflict are human is important. 

As I mentioned earlier, the story is well-told by Peng. He is also supported by the live score created by Erik Mortimer on a variety of instruments. The music and sound is thoughtful and supportive of the storytelling. Directed by John Hudson, the blocking is simple, yet effective, as it avoids distracting from the story. I guess with an uninjured narrator you could add more physical action to the story-telling, but I actually found it very engaging to focus on the images created by the words, and the emotion layered on Peng's face and in his voice. Set in a lonely bar (set design by Scott Peters), where all the best stories are told, the show relies on the best of story-telling, the testimony of "I was there, I saw this, and it was devastating." 

An Iliad is presented by Shadow Theatre and runs at the Varscona until February 8th. Tickets are $25-40 with several Pay-What-You-Can performances and they can be purchased here. 

Fun Fact: The crutches used in the show came from my garage! A call went out for wooden crutches and I happened to have 3 sets of wooden crutches hanging in there, as well as 2 sets of metal crutches... don't ask... 

Laughing at Present Laughter at Walterdale Theatre

Last night I took in the Noël Coward play, Present Laughter, at Walterdale Theatre. I'm pleased to say that it produced much in the way of present laughter. For those of you who love Coward's plays, you will absolutely adore this production. I'm not usually a fan of his, so I was quite delighted that many of the things I don't enjoy were not there, and that it focused on things that I did enjoy. What a weird way of saying that I liked it, huh? 

Anyhow, this is a fun show and I loved the momentum that built from the first to the second and culminated in the third act. Director John Anderson did an excellent job building the pace and creating the world for this wacky crew. The third act is a lot of ridiculous chaos! Note: there is only one intermission as the company has wisely split the action in the middle of the second act in a place that totally works. At the centre of the show is Garry Essendine (Randy Brososky) who is his time's most famous actor. As such, he is stalked by super fans and many young attractive women (and men) who want to be with him. He does not object and has many flirtations and dalliances which previously lead to an estrangement from his wife Liz (Angela James-Findlay). Things come to a head when one of these affairs strike a little too close to home. Garry has a team that protects him and who his work provides for, and this is the real marriage of his life. Maintaining that means that lines need to be drawn. 

I was thinking that it would be interesting to see this re-written in the modern age as the age of digital stalking and public ownership of our superstar actors and celebrities was certainly paralleled by Garry's hi-jinks. I think it would be a little darker if set today, however, and might not have the farcical elements that we see onstage in this production. 

The cast is well suited to their roles and they embraced the craziness of Garry's world. I absolutely loved the contrast of the sane and stoic wife Liz and much put-upon personal secretary Monica (Donna Call) with the more outrageous fans like the overly-romantic Daphne (Stephanie Swensrude) and entirely kooky Roland (Andréus Wallace). I cannot decide if my favourite moment was Roland's crawl over the couch or Daphne's over-the-top audition. I did chuckle at so many of Monica's dry asides, Donna Call played her quiet moments so perfectly. There's also a femme fatale, Joanna (Kate Power) who had a fierce barracuda-like energy. At the centre is Garry, and Brososky bounces around from choice to choice like a kid in a candy store, until it all explodes and it has to be shut down. That is very satisfying, I also wanted to mention a new young actor who plays the valet Fred (Drake Seipert) - although the role was not large, he impressed me with every choice he made. I'm really interested to see what he does next. 

Anyhow, I had a great time. I can't really talk about all of it as there should be some surprises, but it was certainly a lot of fun!

Present Laughter runs to December 13th at Walterdale Theatre. Tickets start at around $25 plus fees and there is a Pay-What-You-Can Night on Wednesday, December 10th. You can purchase tickets in advance here. 

Wrapping up my Theatre week! NLT, Grant MacEwan and Foote in the Door!

 I'm not kidding when I say the last week was jam-packed with theatre. I saw five shows (two of which I already wrote about) in 7 days! I combined that with my usual Trivia adventures, a visit from my sister, and chauffeuring my husband to and from his cataract surgery. A busy, busy week with a wide variety of theatre!

Brianne Jang BB Collective Photography

I mentioned a visit from my sister. We had a terrific time this week, mostly talking (but she did come to trivia with us and help secure our second place finish). On Thursday, the two of us went for dinner on Whyte at the newly opened Town 82 which was a lovely spot with great food and atmosphere. And we talked. Then we set off for Northern Light Theatre’s How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition. This show was simply delightful. About two women who are a little lonely who are participating in a Beginner Adult Tap Class for different reasons. After the instructor leaves her position, the rest of the class also departs leaving only Patty and Joanne. Patty (Jenny McKillop) is a tired mother of 5, seeking something for herself  in her busy life. For Joanne (Kendra Connor)  the tap class is her path to her love of musical theatre (she knows facts about classic musical theatre shows that she can list off at the drop of a hat), and memories of her now deceased parents. When they find themselves alone with no instructor they decide to create their own routine and enter the big Winter Dance Competition. Through the journey, they get to know each other and themselves better and create a magical tap number (Choreographer Jason Hardwick) that literally had me sobbing with joy! Perhaps I connected to this so strongly because, like Patty and Joanne, I too am at a point in my life where I am seeking something for me. I think many of us hit that point in our middle years and an artistic pursuit, no matter what your skill-level, can fill that. I have so many friends that have started taking up artistic hobbies that it made me really think about what is missing that art fills in our lives. I may not take up tap-dancing, but I know I have been seriously thinking about finally writing a novel! Look out world! If there's a Christmas Cup for novel writing I might be trying for it. Anyhow, this is a terrific little show. It's a tight 60 minutes that's funny and heart-warming, and certainly kicks off the Christmas season in a truly original way! Plus, it features the BEST Christmas song every written so there's that. No ghosts on this stage, but I'm good with that. The show runs until December 13th and there's plenty of different price points including Pay-What-You-Can and 2-For-1 Tickets. 

I also saw Grant MacEwan Theatre Program's Carrie. It has closed now but it was an excellently done show. However, it was not my kind of show. I think that there are certain people who love this show and shows like it. Based on the Stephen King book and movie it has a bit of a cult status. It was executed with great skill. Standouts were the actresses who played Carrie and her mother (I failed to grab a program and I can no longer find the online program - so if anyone knows who they were, feel free to comment). But the whole thing was pretty cool for concept and it was tight. I'm glad I saw it, even though it wasn't my kind of show, because there are some fabulous performers in the Grant MacEwan Theatre program! 

Finally, I saw Foote in the Door's Guys and Dolls. It has also closed as I saw it on it's closing weekend, but I had a great time. I went with friends from Amélie (ELOPE) and there were several members of the Amélie cast/team onstage and in the orchestra and production team. It was nice to see all them, as well as the Walterdale peeps! A very 'theatre-family' experience. Having done Guys and Dolls many, many years ago it was terrific to revisit it. My seat partner and I chair-danced and lip synced along to many of the songs and it was full of funny moments that we laughed at. It's easy to see why a company would produce this show. So many great songs and opportunities for humour and great dancing! This was a terrific ensemble and they put on a show that was a real audience pleaser! I'm glad I was able to fit it into my schedule! 

Getting in the Spirit of the Season with THEATRE! Castle Spectre and The Vinyl Cafe Kick it all off!

I've been super busy this week because I have my sister visiting from Ontario, but I did see a couple of show son the weekend that I think you should check out. 

The first was Castle Spectre, presented by Paper Crown Theatre at the Gateway Theatre. It's an adaptation of a gothic play from long ago. It's been edited for length and some characters have been trimmed to create a tighter piece more suitable for modern audiences. The story tells of a haunted castle with a history of treachery and a long lost daughter returns, not knowing who she really is. The story leans on gothic tropes, like ghosts and a mysterious prisoner in a dungeon, as well as an isolated heroine. There's a lot of humour, particularly from Father Philip (Andrew Mcready), Motley the fool (Christian Lundgren, who also plays the villian, Lord Osmond) and a delightfully Scottish housekeeper Alice (Samantha Beck). As the heroine Angela, Irene Poole has a lovely onstage presence and a beautiful voice. She sings duets with the ghost of her mother, Evelina, the equally talented Maggie Salopek. It's a lot of fun and worth checking out, particularly if you like stories of castles and long lost royal heirs and sword fighting! It's perfectly suitable for younger audiences, but only if they are able to handle the running time as it is a two act piece - so maybe not the really little ones.  It runs to November 30th at the Gateway Theatre and tickets can be purchased here. 

Photo: Nanc Price

I also saw The Vinyl Cafe at The Citadel. I'm a big fan of the CBC program, The Vinyl Cafe and have listened to a lot of them. I was both excited and apprehensive about seeing it because I love the show but I also wanted it to live up to my expectations. I needn't have been apprehensive, it was such a  lovely and fun show! It may not look or feel exactly how you imagine it (there's a wide distance between Stuart Maclean's voice and musical theatre), but the spirit and themes of the stories are spot-on. The bulk of the show is built around the classic story, "Dave Cooks the Turkey", but there are other bits and pieces from many of the recognizable favourites from the Vinyl Cafe. There will be moments that surprise you! The music is tuneful and fun and the entire cast is terrific. They are all wonderful singers and dancers committed to selling the story, so whether there's 2 or 3 or the full cast onstage, it's really well done! The central family of Dave, Morley, Stephanie and Sam were the emotional heart of the show, as they should be. I even teared up in the last number. I left the show feeling so good. It's a  wonderful holiday theatre adventure, and for me the theme of leaving behind petty disagreements to share in the joy of the season with your friends, family and neighbours is so very timely. The show has been held over a week and now runs to December 7th and tickets can be purchased here. 

I mentioned I've been busy - I also saw How Patty and Joann Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition  at Northern Light Theatre - which was hilarious and heartbreaking and I highly recommend, and about which I will write more about later; and Carrie presented by MacEwan University Theatre program, which while it is not my kind of musical, it was excellently done - I will write more later about this, as well. 

And now I am off to Guys and Dolls presented by Foote in the Door! It's been a very busy week!

Ridiculous Fun and a Surreal Personal Adventure - The 39 Steps at Teatro Live!

There's something very weird about going to a new production of a show that you have been in as an actor, or have directed in the past. This first happened to me 25 odd years ago when I saw Hello Dolly! at the Citadel a few years after having being in it. I remember being very disassociated from the show because of how close I had been to the material. I couldn't get into it. A decade or so later I went to a production of Steel Magnolias only a couple of years after having played M'Lynn, and the opposite thing happened as I found myself so immersed in the story that I was body-shaking sobbing at the end of it. So I wondered how seeing The 39 Steps at Teatro Live! would affect me. I hadn't been in the show, but I had directed it 4 years previously at Walterdale Theatre across the street. It was my first show coming out of the COVID shutdown and doing it actually woke me up from the low-key malaise I was experiencing after being in lockdown for so long. 

I'm pleased to say that, while surreal, the experience of seeing Teatro's production (directed by new Artistic Director, Farren Timoteo) was quite a lot of fun! It was really interesting to see what was done differently and what was pretty much the same, and of course, what surprised me (and there were a few of those moments). Of course, I have a deep emotional attachment to my own production but this is such a hilarious piece of theatre and the room the script gives to explore and try new things means that I would likely see it again done by another company because it offers that world of  "let's see how ridiculous we can make this!" to any cast and team!

The 39 Steps, Teatro Live!. Photo by Marc J Chalifoux

So, what's it all about? The show recreates Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, where Richard Hannay (Geoffrey Simon Brown - a youngish, and extremely flexible, Hannay with a somewhat pinched upper class accent) is swung into a spy plot by a chance encounter with femme fatale Annabella Schmidt (Priya Narine). After an unfortunate death, Hannay is forced to flee to the Scottish Highlands to evade a murder charge and hopefully foil spies (we know about as much as he does which at this point is not very much!). Along the way there are dozens of other characters played by 2 clowns, Katie Yoner and Michael Watt, and two other women of note also played by Narine. The multitude of different characters played by the 2 clowns leads to much hilarity as they swap hats and coats and accents and wigs with great fervour and often with nary a breath between one and another. This cast as a whole are obviously skilled improvisers as they had to deal with costume and hat and set malfunctions and did so with humour and quick thinking - a confession  about a moustache has likely never been so funny. This was much in the spirit of The Play that Goes Wrong - except I am not sure all or any of the mishaps were planned. There are a lot of moving parts and I did sometimes wish for a a tighter execution, perhaps thinking back to how many times I had rehearsed a particular hat, coat and wig swap when preparing my own production. It could be that this show will be a little looser and allow for those magic moments of live onstage problem-solving. Judging from the audience laughter it was certainly appreciated. 

I encourage you to check this show out - whether you've seen it or not - it's a wild ride and literally a laugh-a-minute! As we move into the colder winter days, you'll be grateful for the silliness! 

The 39 Steps runs until November 30, 2025 at the Varscona Theatre. Tickets run from $25-42 but there are also Pay-What-You-Can Tuesdays and a Free Wine and cheese Night. You can purchase your tickets Here.