Teatro Live! Closes their Season with a very funny production of The Odd Couple!

Marc J Chalifoux Photography 

Summer is really such a great time for theatre for me! I love it when you leave the theatre and it's still a little light out. Even better when the show is a comedy, like Teatro Live's production of The Odd Couple, which I took in on Friday night. If you are around my age (and even younger since there was a reboot in recent history) you are no doubt familiar with Oscar Madison and Felix Unger (played in this production by Alexander Ariate and Andrew MacDonald-Smith), the mismatched roommates from Neil Simon's play. The two are physical foils, which ups the ante on their character's personality conflicts, and this production puts their physicality to good use, particularly with MacDonald-Smith's height and long legs making seemingly inhuman movements around the furniture and Ariate's flopping on couches. The physical humour alone makes this show tremendously entertaining!

Marc J Chalifoux Photography 

But it's the scenes with the accidental roommate's poker buddies and the Pigeon Sisters that had me the most entertained. Not surprising when you consider the group of assembles artists - all of whom could (and most have) anchor a Teatro show themselves! The poker buddies (Garrett Ross, Matt Busby, Bernardo Pacheco, and Oscar Derkx) give more depth to the recognition of the disparity of personalities between Oscar and Felix, and their banter is very fun to watch and listen to - particularly the contrast between the old (Oscar's toxic waste level of cleanliness) and the new (Felix's immaculate and antiseptic environment). From their reactions, you understand that neither extreme is particularly healthy. 

Marc J Chalifoux Photography 

The Pigeon Sisters, Cecily (Kristin Johnston) and Gwendolyn (Jenny McKillop), add for another level of tension between Oscar and Felix. Oscar is looking for a wingman, but Felix's impending divorce is too new to make him a suitable one. Johnston and McKillop are hysterical as the British girls from upstairs with backcombed hair and synced responses. I was very glad to see them return in the third act! 

There's a lot to laugh about and for those who were fans of the movie and the TV shows, I think it's well worth the nostalgic trip to the theatre. It's a nice reflection on friendship and compromise, but above all makes for a laughter-filled night of theatre on a summer evening! 

The Odd Couple runs until July 27, 2025 at the Varscona Theatre. Tickets range from $25-42 and there are also special event nights, like Pay-What-You-Can on Tuesdays. Tickets can be purchased here. 

A Week of Edmonton Theatre - Three Terrific New Works! Anahita's Republic (Autash), Subscribe and Like (WWPT) and Listen, Listen (Teatro Live!)

I've just come home from seeing the third of three new works on Edmonton stages this week! There's nothing my theatre heart loves more than new Canadian works and all three were also written by Albertan playwrights, so that's even better! There was also a great deal of variety in the pieces so it was a but of a rollercoaster of theatrical offerings!

Anahita's Republic by Hengameh E. Rice (Autash Productions)

Now running at the Backstage Theatre (Fringe Theatre Adventures), Anahita's Republic is a play I have been long invested in. It's set in Iran, in a compound where the strong willed and sharply intelligent Anahita (Roya Yazdanmehr) is able to live her life the way she wants to. She's safe to reject the hijab and run the family business, using her brother Cyrus (Yassine El Fassi El Fihri) as her public face. All the while she works to challenge the regime and gain freedoms for women. The play shines a light on a part of the world we may speculate about but not really know. Yazdanmehr gives a passionate and invested performance, and when it looks like she may lose control of her carefully curated world, you can hear the desperation in her anguished pleas. Anahita's Republic is a play that makes you think when you both watch it and in the days that follow seeing it. It makes you think about what you have and what you might do if it were taken away from you. It also makes you reflect on what it might be like to live in a world where all you want is to have the same things that your brother has - the things he takes for granted and even casually rejects - but you can't have them because you are a woman. The cast is rounded out by Omid (Jennie George), a young women whose arrival upsets the balance of Anahita's life, and Omid's father Masood (played wonderfully by Michael Peng) who further complicates the situation with wants of his own. The show is nicely paced and the stakes stack up imperceptibly until things reach a breaking point. It's a tight 90 minute show directed with subtlety by Brian Dooley. 

Anahita's Republic runs to June 4th at the Backstage Theatre.
Tickets are $44 but there are Pay-What-You-Can tickets available for every show. You can buy your tickets here. 

Subscribe or Like by Liam Salmon (Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre)

So... this was an unexpected show for me. I knew it likely had something to do with social media, because of the title, and I speculated there was a romantic/relationship angle because of the casting and the images I had seen online prior to seeing the show, but that's about all I knew going in. It was both funny and sad. It was also terrifying and inevitable. It's a memory play about Rachel and Miles who start a YouTube channel and travel down the path of needing the likes and views and subscribers to validate what they are doing. Their need to generate those reactions becomes obsessive for one of them, and ultimately destructive for the relationship. This show had me unable to look away even though part of my brain was saying I can't watch. Gabby Bernard and Geoffrey Simon Brown have real onstage chemistry that makes you believe why they are together as well as why they pull apart from each other. He is puppy-dog-like, which is adorable, but hey, he also eats your shoes. She is thoughtful and deep and caring, but over-invested and drained, and it's hard to be the not-fun one. It's a complicated interplay, but believable. 

As someone who spends a lot of time on social media, I totally got this show. I have over the last few years reevaluated my online role and needs. I know what it is like to track your likes and views so I understand the obsession. After seeing the show, my friends and I spent a half hour discussing it and how we related and I have come back to it several times today. I imagine it will haunt me for a little while longer. It's completely relevant in our world today and as a cautionary tale, it suggests that even if you aren't thinking about the impacts of social media on our psyches, you probably should be. 

Subscribe or Like runs to June 11th at the Geateway Theatre. 
Tickets are $27 - $43. Tuesdays are 2-for-1 at the Door. 
You can Purchase your tickets here. 

Listen, Listen by Elyne Quan (Teatro Live!)

It was so much fun to laugh at this show tonight! The premise was simple, but what started out a something simple (a customer's request) snowballs quickly into the world of the absurd. Led onstage by the physically elastic Farren Timoteo, the cast of four (Nadien Chu, Alexander Ariate and Nikki Hulowski) are delightful to watch. I think they were having as much fun as we were in the audience!

It's quick paced (kudos to director Belinda Cornish) and moves so smoothly that I was surprised that the first act was an hour. It literally flew by! The soundtrack is terrific (I would like a mixed tape of it, please!) and the music, costumes (Leona Brausen) and set (Chantel Fortin)  transported me and everyone else to the 80s (the best decade) for a super silly story pitting customer against service worker! It's a show that you can't help but enjoy and laugh at. Everyone onstage is excellent. As to Timoteo, my companion for the evening speculated the role was written for him as his physical comedy was perfection. The rest of the cast all have their moments too - Chu's slow-motion fight scene is hilarious; Ariate's three wildly different characters have their moments; and Hulowski not only plays the smartest cute girl at the mall food court, but she also channels the entire secretarial pool from the movie Working Girl (sorry, Executive Assistants). So much fun and absolutely perfect for a summer evening! 

Listen, Listen runs until June 11th at the Varscona Theatre. 
Tickets are $30 - $42. Tuesdays are Pay-What-You-Can at the door. 
You can purchase your tickets here. 

Nobody Does it Better... Evelyn Strange at Teatro La Quindicina

 

I had the absolute pleasure of taking in the Opening Night of  Evelyn Strange at the Varscona Theatre as part of the 40th Anniversary Season for Teatro la Quindicina. Before the show I was lamenting to my friend the challenge of another company doing a Lemoine play in Edmonton, because even though the scripts were so good, any other company was unlikely to do it as well as Teatro would, and then this production (directed by Shannon Blanchet) proved my point brilliantly. 

Everything about the production was on point, from the costumes to the style of the acting, to the music and the lighting. It's perfectly cast with Gianna Vacirca as the mysterious title amnesiac Evelyn Strange; Oscar Derkx as her rescuer Perry Spangler who works to help her figure out who she is; Belinda Cornish as the glamourous wife of Perry's boss; and Jesse Gervais as Perry's co-worker and rumored lothario. The four of them are funny, invested, and tangled in a truly unusual way (no spoilers!) that delighted the audience as it unraveled. 

It was the kind of show that had us speculating on possibilities during the intermission (the group behind us recorded theirs on paper and we heard them checking them off after the show). Like Perry, we wanted to know the answers! We were right about some of it and wrong about other things and we simply didn't mind! 

If you want to see an engaging mystery that's a lot of fun with terrific performances and an exceedingly well-constructed script, I would definitely check this out. You will laugh and be surprised! I know I was!

Evelyn Strange runs to June 12th at the Varscona Theatre. 
Tickets range from $25-$42 depending on the performance with a Pay-What-You-Can on Wednesday, June 1st. You can purchase tickets in advance here. 

Photo Credit: Marc J. Photography

 

A Pick-Me-Up Kind of a Show! Caribbean Muskrat at Teatro La Quindicina

I must admit, going to the theatre is starting to feel closer to normal... sure, there's the masks and if you're lucky a little bit of spacing, but in the past month and a half in addition to rehearsing the show I am directing, I have been able to catch 3 plays and my first ever evening of Die Nasty! Not quite my pre-pandemic pace, but a huge upswing and it really feels good. 

Photo Credit: Epic Photography; featuring Rochelle Laplante, Rachel Bowron & Jackson Card

It certainly helps that two of the shows (along with Die Nasty) have been comedies! Most recently I caught the Opening Night of Teatro La Quindicina's first offering in their 40th Anniversary season, Caribbean Muskrat, penned by Josh Dean and Stewart Lemoine. Lemoine also directed. I took in the show with Ephemeral Pleasures and we both delighted in the lightness of the humour created by coincidence, taboo attractions, sleep disorders and a very unusual prize (the titular Caribbean Muskrat) being held by a too-diligent Customs Agent. 

The cast of three, Cynthia Lodgepole (A driven Café hostess charmingly played by Rachel Bowron), her well-managed boyfriend Hadrien Burch (newcomer Jackson Card who is believable as the sleep disorder doctor who goes with the flow of whatever is asked of him), and the aforementioned Customs Agent, Bess Wesley (Rochelle Laplante, seen previously in Freewill's Macbeth and the Citadel's Peter Pan Gone Wrong). The three of them become entangled in attraction and friendship as the fate of the Carribean Muskrat is determined. Hopefully you can tell from this description that the show has a wonderful sense of silliness. It's situationally funny and the excellent banter of the trio carries the piece. 

The show has many of the trademarks of a Teatro show - quick dialogue, a terrific food and wine aesthetic, a sense of place (Kelowna, now or in the near future), complicating coincidences and an inevitable, yet still a little surprising, unravelling of complications. There's also a very clever and terrifically funny section where Bowron has a Bluetooth conversation with the Café staff while having brunch with the other two characters. The whole show is like the bubbles in a cold glass of prosecco - sparkling and fresh!

It's a wonderful show in it's lightness of topic after the heaviness of the last two years. There are no grand social issues being argued or weighed and that's okay. I know I left the theatre feeling a little weight lifted off my shoulders in the way that guiltfree laughter can do. 

Tickets are $37-$42 and are available here: https://tickets.teatroq.com/purchase/tickets 

There are also Pay-What-You-Can performances and you can find the information here

Oh and for your reference, here is a Caribbean muskrat:

Vidalia at Teatro la Quinicina! Onions that can make you laugh instead of cry!

I had a hoot of a time at Vidalia, the most recent production offered from Teatro la Quindicina at the Varscona Theatre. As promised in its promotional materials, it's a "ricochet romp, which ratchets things up further with three identical briefcases and a scintillating cast." The events begin in a coffee shop, where Girl in the Red Jacket (a playful and quirky Helen Belay) overhears Woman in Glasses (Belinda Cornish looking very severe - but that changes) on the phone. Spotting Man in Suit (the befuddled and confused Chris Pereira), the Girl makes contact and sets off a chain of events when Man in Trench Coat (an amused and focused Andrew MacDonald-Smith) enters the scene.

The plot involves 3 identical briefcases that go through a myriad of switches in an effort to get them to the right person. There's a threat of danger - never specifically outlined, but it's there. There's a budding romance, or two. There's much changing of clothes and hiding of identities and of course, there are onions! It's very silly and the cast runs full-tilt with the ridiculousness of it all. Belay is particularly charming as the unflappable Girl who seems to like to both create and solve problems. Pereira is similarly fun to watch, as he is like a pinball being bounced around with her every suggestion, many of which he is unsure of and much of which he is terrified by! Cornish is super fun, starting severe, shifting to sexy, and always underscored with insecurity, as she tries to solve her problem and maybe meet a nice guy in the process. MacDonald-Smith is the straight man in this cast - debonair and charming, with an underlying threat of violence (but only if necessary).

I don't want to give away too much of the plot because it's best that you just go in a see where it goes. It's silly and fun and full of laughs, and perfect to warm you up as we move into a chilly October!

Vidalia runs until October 12th at the Varscona Theatre
Click here for tickets!


Photo Credit:
Andrew MacDonald-Smith, Chris Pereira, Helen Belay, Belinda Cornish in Vidalia, Teatro La Quindicina. Photo by Mat Busby

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!

Teatro la Quindicina presents one of my FAVOURITES! The Importance of Being Earnest!

When I first started teaching high school drama years and years ago I knew that one of the first plays I would do with the kids would be Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. It had long been one of my favourite plays and it was one that made me laugh aloud many times when I read it. I also had a great group of students who were up to the challenge and style of Oscar Wilde. I had so many that I double-cast the show. That was about 18-19 years ago but it still lives in my memory as one of my favourite theatre adventures.

So... when Teatro la Quindicino announced they were presenting The Importance of Being Earnest I was ever so excited! The show did not disappoint. It is wonderfully cast, with great chemistry between the four lovers. There are moments of magic between Jack (Mark Meer) and Algernon (Ron Pederson) and between Cecily (Shannon Blanchet) and Gwendolyn (Louise Lambert), and when they are in their various configurations. Miss Prism (Cathy Derkach) and Rev. Chausable (Julien Arnold) are delightful in their intellectual flirting, and Leona Brausen is an imperious Lady Bracknell. The production will please any aficionado of Wilde from the opening cucumber sandwiches, to the buttonhole to muffins and a handbag! It's quick-paced and light and although there were a few opening night fumbles, it's well worth a night out on a summer evening! Indeed, I think as this cast runs with the show I will only get better and better... perhaps I will have to go back for a second viewing!

The Importance of Being Earnest runs to July 28, 2018 at the Varscona Theatre.
Click here for tickets.

Witnessing a Conga and a Trio of Bittergirls...

The theatre season has begun! I can tell because my calendar is getting busier over the next few weeks. This makes me happy. 

In the heyday of kicking off the season officially at the Citadel, I still managed to squeeze in Witness to a Conga at the Varscona (Teatro La Quindicina). I had seen this show in it's original presentation several years ago at the Fringe. I liked it then, but was puzzled by it as I wasn't sure what it was trying to say. The current production, however, was simply wonderful. Sometimes a play needs to marinate a bit, I guess. The design helped considerably but also the show itself seemed more gelled. It was touching and funny and Andrew MacDonald-Smith's journey through his life to his wedding is full of depth. It runs until October 15th so you can still catch it! It makes for a delightful yet meaningful evening of theatre.  

We've opened two shows at the Citadel so far this season! The first (Curious Incident) closed yesterday, but Bittergirl - the musical opened last week to a standing ovation! It opened on my birthday so I got an extra special treat seeing the show that night. I laughed so hard. Sadly and hilariously there were moments that I could related to, though I am well past my dating years. The 3 bittergirls (Rebecca Auerbach, Amanda LeBlanc and Tara Jackson) don't hold back on the humour and emotional investment. They are also amazing singers. Individually or on their own, the music is simply terrific! Jay Davis, playing The Guy, is also a treat in the show. He's great to look at, fabulous to hear sing and he plays the Magic Man, the Coward and the Mountie with such humour and self-deprecation it's so much fun to watch. Bittergirl - the musical runs in The Club until November 6th. This is a great space for the show and highly conducive to a girl's night out (you can bring your wine in!). I'm happy to be seeing the show again later this month with a couple of girls and my husband (I am sure he will enjoy it too!). It's worth it just for the music, so the fact that it's hilarious on top of that is icing on the cake! 

This week I am gearing up for Red at Walterdale (my husband is in it so I am seeing it a couple of times) and 10 out of 12 at the Roxy on Gateway (Wildside) which I think will be fascinating since I have lived through many a Q2Q both on and off headset. 

Teatro closes their season with warmth and humour in The Hot House Prince

I never know quite what to expect with Teatro la Quindicina.  That's a good thing.  I've learned to go into their shows with a spirit of "let's see what happens" because you never quite know what their show will be about.  The Hot House Prince was certainly that for me.  With references to Three Sisters (all played by the delightful and multi-faceted Kendra O'Connor) the play takes us to Russia during the revolution and a young Prince Dmitri Romanov-Orsk (Luc Tellier) must find a way to survive by fleeing the country.  It's a cautionary tale about entitlement and how that doesn't prepare us for the real world, but it tells it's story in a charming, humour-filled way. What saves Dmitri is his irrepressible hope and willingness to adapt and work hard.  The Hot House Prince left me feeling all warm inside!  The cast is terrific, led by the charming Tellier. I found the cast refreshing and engaging, and highlights for me were Jayce MacKenzie as Dmitri's doomed sister, and Evan Hall and Mari Chartier as the funny-speaking Canadians. Overall though, the cast was a tight ensemble that deftly created the crazy world that Dmitri must negotiate.

The Hot House Prince runs until October 17th at the Backstage Theatre.

Double Header Saturday - Saint Albert and Calvin Berger!

On a day like today, it was quite delightful to spent the afternoon and the evening in air conditioned theatres, particularly since my van's AC has crapped out (great timing...).  Anyhow, it's even better when the theatrical fare is entertaining and well done!

I took in Teatro la Quindicina's newest offering, Saint Albert, in the afternoon.  A last minute cancellation of my original date combined with great timing on behalf of my husband meant for a surprise afternoon date.  He'd never seen a Teatro show before so it was nice to finally introduce him. He had fun and I think he'd go again. The show is a bit hard to describe without spoilers, but provided quite a few laughs especially from Jeff Haslam as the mysterious Magnus.  There's also a terrific song, Onion Bun, evidence of the Europop success of Desi played by the bright and perky Rachel Bowron. I am hoping that we might be able to download it eventually.  It was super-catchy in the spirit of ABBA and Aqua! Following the show, my husband and I had a terrific chat about various historic Alberts and we felt a sequel with Albert Einstein could be a lot of fun! Saint Albert runs until July 4th at the Backstage Theatre. 

Then we went home, had a great steak dinner off the BBQ and gathered the boys and took them to see Threeform Theatre's Calvin Berger, a modernized musical version of Cyrano set in high school. The boys are getting to the age where real children's theatre is too young for them and I was pleased to take them to this.  They both had a great time and Oliver in particular found it hilarious.  He's almost 14 so the activities and emotions of high school students was particularly compelling.  All four of the actors (Matt Graham, Mackenzie Reurink, Sydney Williams and Kirkland Doiron) in this show were terrific. The score demands big, competent voices that soar and there was no problem with that.  We really have some talent in this city.  These are young up and comers that I expect we'll see more of in years to come.  They were also quite funny and worked well as an ensemble.  It closed tonight, but keep an eye out for more Threeform Theatre work as I have been impressed with everything of theirs that I have seen. 

Tomorrow I am back at rehearsal for both my Fringe shows, SHOUT! and Double Double.  I'm pretty sure that part of me will be wishing I was back in an air conditioned theatre, but the rehearsing is going very well and I get  bit of a break from Canada Day through the weekend. It's summer folks! 

Busy Doing... Too Busy to Write!

Sometimes you get yourself so busy seeing things and doing things that you don't have time to write your blog.  That's what the last two weeks have been like for me.

I have caught a couple shows that were well done and great examples of the variety of theatre that you can see in Edmonton.  A week and a half ago I took in Happy Toes by Stewart Lemoine at Teatro La Quindicina.  It was a lovely piece which caught me off guard.  I didn't really know what it was about and my presumption that the happy toes were dancing was totally incorrect.  It was more about friendship, relationships and how our expectation and anticipations affect our personal happiness.  It was a subtle piece, set in familiar places and subtly brought to life by a quintet of actors: Ron Pederson, Jeff Haslam, Julien Arnold, Cathy Derkach and Davina Stewart. It's closed now, but the Varscona is moving into the Shadow Theatre season and there are some great shows on the horizons there!

Last week I hit two shows.  The first was Ronnie Burkett and The Daisy Theatre at the Citadel.  I saw this show three times last year, I loved it so much.  It has the wonderful quality of no show being the same as there is an element of improvisation and audience participation. This time I took a Ronnie Burkett newbie and it was wonderful to see her react to his mastery of the marionettes.  After the first 'number' she leaned to me and said, "This is amazing!". It took me back to my first Ronnie show where I was just totally blown away by how you completely get absorbed by the characters on the stage, not the man up above.  It's truly magic! Now, it's on the wrong side of ribald, so be prepared and at this point there are less than 250 seats left for the rest of the run so you're going to want to buy fast to get to see it.  There are great seats left on this Sunday night, so I would hope on the phone and pick those up if you want to catch it. It runs to November 2 and plays in The Club.

The second show I saw last week was Theatre No. 6's Proud by Michael Healey - the fictionalization of what might have happened after the 2011 election if the Conservatives won all the Quebec seats instead of the NDP.  It took liberties, as it was a fictionalization, so although the Prime Minister in question is named Harper, it is very clearly an interpretation.  It is also a comedy so there is a lot of play at hand.  It's not the most perfect script - there's a character in it that you're not quite sure why they are there - and the arc is not really clear, but it was excellently acted by it's cast of four: Brian Dooley, Melissa Thingelstad, Dave Horak and Richard Lee Hsi. What I really liked about it was the explanation of politics - the tactics and the strategies - the speculation on why some things were done. Some of what is in the play (in generalities) I know to be true.  The way a party will only woo the sway-able middle and they will not waste their time on those they know they can never win over - that's totally true. There was also some political theory that literally gave me some 'aha!' moments! It also had one of the funniest sex scenes I have ever seen. Proud closed this past weekend, but I look forward to what Theatre No. 6 will bring next.  It's an exciting mix of artists who have kicked off with a very interesting piece!

Tonight I am heading out to catch the first show in the Walterdale season, And Then, The Lights Went Out by Alberta playwright Andy Garland.  It's a play on Film Noir and Detective Fiction.  I had a very small hand in helping to paint the floor but I know a lot of people involved and they are all very talented, so I am looking forward to seeing what they have done with it!

A Couple of Shows... Feels like a while since I've seen anything!

This past weekend I took in two fun shows after what feels like forever... I think that's because I have been in rehearsal and busy getting other things done, but also the theatre season slows down a bit in Edmonton in June because seasons wind down and a lot of theatre artists start getting ready for Fringe. There are a few festivals on their way between now and Fringe though, so there are a few things to see!

Friday night, I took in the Opening Night of Teatro La Quindicina's Lucy and Mr. Plate.  It's a sequel to a 2001 production called Citizen Plate (which I did not see as I was living elsewhere at the time).  Ned Plate is played by Jeff Haslam and is delightful.  He's a bit tell it like it is, with a plainspokenness that is both charming and small-town Alberta (Mundare - the town of origin).  While on holiday in Hawaii, Ned meets Lucy (played by Jana O'Connor), a free spirit from his youth in Mundare.  As her relationships tumble and turn, Ned steps in as new best friend and confident and helps her through it all .  It's a light and funny show that is never hard to engage with.  Ned Plate's turn of phrase and view of the world is entertaining and Haslam plays him with an authenticity that charms us all. The show has some meta-theatre moments as Haslam plays Ned playing all of Lucy's ill-suited suitors.  It's the kind of play where we, the audience, are just as much a part of the show, where Haslam, as Ned,can make a comment to us about the over-loud Turkish music playing from Gazebo Park across the street and it works and is hilarious. O'Connor is luminous and the perfect counter point in her try-anything attitude to the more reticent Ned Plate. There are no earthquakes or deep reveals in this show, but it is delightfully fun and these are two characters I am glad I got to meet.

On Saturday night I caught Two One Way Tickets To Broadway's La Cage Aux Folles at La Cite.  La Cage Aux Folles is the musical that inspired the movie The Birdcage that starred Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Based on the 1973 French play of the same name by Jean Poiret, it focuses on a gay couple: Georges, (Morgan Smith) the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin (Ron Long), his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that ensue when George's son, Jean-Michel (Andrew Boyd), brings home his fiancee's ultra-conservative parents to meet them. At the core of the play is really the relationship between Albin and Georges who, at a time when it was not legal nor publicly accepted, really have a true marriage.  Long and Smith do a really nice job with this relationship in both book and musical scenes. Long's rendition of I Am What I Am is particularly strong, as is their duet Song on the Sand. However, there are elements of the script that feel a bit dated, and I wish the time had been played up a bit more to really highlight the attitudes of the time period more as I think things that shocked in the 80's don't necessarily shock anymore, at least not to the same degree... or maybe I know too many drag performers...  I have seen The Birdcage more than once, so the big finale wasn't as surprising as I wanted it to be.  I think for someone not familiar with the plot twists it might be more compelling.  The people in the row in front of me were much more surprised so I think they didn't know what was going to happen.  This is a piece that works best with no spoilers. There is some wonderful singing and choreography and this company attacks it with gusto, but for me, this show is all about Albin and Georges.

Jazz and Babies! The Jazz Mother at Teatro La Quindicina

I had a fun time this past Thursday at the Varscona for Opening Night of The Jazz Mother presented by Teatro La Quindicina. We were greeted in the lobby by a server with champagne flutes and what followed was a laughter-filled evening.  My date, @stuporstar, was the perfect choice.  She confessed to me that the first play she had ever seen was a Teatro Show (Fall Down Go Boom! A Skater's Tragedy in 1996) and she was so excited to be there.  She has also requested  a remount of said show as it was the beginning of a love-affair with theatre for her. After seeing The Jazz Mother, I can see how Teatro is the perfect first introduction to theatre.  It's witty, clever, and quirky with just the right amount of ridiculous. Each of the three actors (Jocelyn Ahlf, Mat Busby, and Kristi Hansen) bring charm, excellent comic-timing, and likability to the stage.  Busby is endearing as the owner of the boarding house, hopelessly in love with his tenant Enid. Hansen, as the nurse Enid, is hilarious.  Her delivery of the line "I'm trash." almost killed me. And it's hard to imagine anyone but Ahlf being able to pull off Bobby Romayne, the titular character.  Her audition/monologue is simply brilliant.  Don't expect anything too deep here - this is a show to just relax and have fun with! Have a glass of champagne and enjoy the singing, the romance, and the ridiculousness that ensues!