Summer Theatre Season rushes in with the Rain!

I'm a teacher, so Summer for me is a glorious time! I get to read - A LOT - and luckily for me, because I live in Edmonton (the unofficial theatre-capital of Canada) I usually get to rack up a few shows right off the hop! I'm going to go in reverse order for what I have seen - so far - and let you know there are some great shows on offer in the city right now! 

Photo by Kristen M. Finlay

Most recently I took in Once at Walterdale Theatre. I've seen this show several times before (I think 3 different other companies) but it's one of those shows that you can see multiple times and still be wowed. I was definitely wowed by this one. The company does a terrific job telling the story with the actors also playing all the instruments and singing and dancing while playing them. The musicianship blew my mind. It's also a lovely show to see in the intimacy of Walterdale. As an audience there were definitely times we were all holding our breath together. It's a show that's both funny and sad, but the music is wonderful. Leasing the cast are newcomer Mark O'Reilly, as Guy, and Miriam Veugelers, as Girl. As an almost-couple they are charming and their contrasts make us root for them so much. They are both excellent musicians and singers and there's a real connection between them. The show runs to Saturday, July 18th and Tickets are available here, but I encourage you to purchase them sooner rather than later as they have Sold Out many of their performances so far. 

I almost saw Cocktails at Pam's at Teatro Live! on it's Opening Night, but a freak storm shut down the power. I will be going to see it later this week. I never miss Cocktails at Pam's - It's such a terrific script - and the Teatro Company knows exactly how to do it (it's also directed by the playwright, Stewart Lemoine, so you KNOW he's aware of how it should be done). For all the times I've seen (and done it myself) I am always surprised and delighted by the mayhem that ensues. The first 15 minutes we managed to see before the power died were hilarious, so I can't wait to see the rest! It runs until July 26 at tickets can be purchased here. 

Photo by Nanc Price

Last Tuesday, I was at the Citadel for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Having directed the show before there was a lot of wonderful flashbacks in seeing it. But it was a long time ago, so I had totally forgotten who won and I was sooooo invested! This is one of those adorable musicals that are so fun to watch. Part of that comes from the fact that because the show requires audience participation (extra spellers are selected before the show starts) and they may or may not spell words correctly or incorrectly as anticipated, the cast has to be on top of it and roll with whatever happens! The 6 Spelling competitors are also very charming in their own way. We had an excellent audience speller the night I saw it who was just as surprised as the cast when they kept getting words right! Anyhow, the show is super fun and a terrific choice. Everyone on stage is excellent and I had a great time. I was particularly delighted to see Mark Sinongco in the show, as he was my Chip Tolentino 13 years ago when I directed the show for ELOPE. The show runs to August 2 and Tickets can be purchased here. 

I also saw two shows that have since closed... Sorry I was so busy I didn't have time to write about them earlier. 

Photo by Brianne Jang

I saw Much Ado About Nothing presented at the Freewill Shakespeare Festival. It was very funny and I had a great time. Jesse Gervais as Benedict was hilarious, as was Ron Pederson as Dogberry, but the whole company was in fine form. It was also so incredibly wonderful to be back in Hawrelak Park for the Festival. This was a great show for them to come back with, and a terrific company of players to present it. I do hope next year they return to two Shakespeare pieces in rep, but I applaud them for taking on Something Rotten this year.

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I also caught ELOPE's presentation of 42nd Street. It was such a cheerful show full of tap-dancing (like FULL OF tap-dancing!) and classic songs that are earworms that you cannot stop singing for at least a week afterwards. I knew a few of the performers but many were new to me. I was so delighted to see Madison Lalonde as ingénue Peggy Sawyer. I directed Madison last year and she is such a joy. That quality was evident onstage as she was simply wonderful. I also greatly enjoyed Katy Yachimec as the diva Dorothy Brock. So great to hear her belt some of those big songs.  The company was terrific and everyone in the theatre, both onstage and in the house, had a great time!

Next on my list is a second chance at Cocktails at Pam's and then I am seeing Once again. After that I am heading off to Ontario where I will take in a few shows at Stratford! And then... You know what's coming to Edmonton in August - The Fringe! 

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 

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. 

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. 

The Noon Witch at Teatro Live! Beware of Young Women with Baked Goods!!

Photo Credit: Marc J Chalifoux

This past Friday, I took in Opening Night of The Noon Witch written and directed by Stewart Lemoine and presented by Teatro Live! at the Varscona Theatre. It was a fun night of theatre warning of the dangers of young women met at midday with baked goods - you must be careful as they might actually be a witch, trying to fatten you up so you will sink to your death (lured to the water by nixies of some sort). It takes place in 1920s Hungary and we meet first Anatol (Aidan Laudersmith), who has just returned from a long trip exploring the country, and Joszef (Eli Yaschuk), who has quit his long-standing job at a bakery because he can't stop eating the goods. These two have wonderful chemistry together and Laudersmith handles the complex and witty dialogue wonderfully. Yaschuk is brilliant at playing the very quirky Joszef and he has a comedic subtlety that was very fun to watch! The two men have a friend, Sandor (Ethan Long), who they discover has been captivated by what they believe is a Noon Witch going by the name of Tinka (Nida Vanderham). Rescuing him from her clutches becomes paramount, while also avoiding falling into the witch's clutches themselves. There's also an assist in this task from Dr. Katalin Vac (Michelle Diaz) who Anatol happens upon in his journeys. 

Photo Credit: Marc J Chalifoux

It's a clever script and the company has risen to the challenge with set (Chantel Fortin - a pool onstage!) and costumes (Leona Brausen). I had not seen the original 1995 production so I was delighted to see how it all unwrapped. It was also great to see these new young actors on the Varscona stage. They were all recent graduates from various theatre programs. They handled the clever and ridiculous Lemoine dialogue handily and the moments of physical comedy were hysterical. Never will I look at a donut the same way again!  It was a great evening out for surprising and unexpected laughs! 

The Noon Witch plays until March 9, 2025 at the Varscona. Tickets range from $25-$42 and there are Pay-What-You-Can performances. They also have a variety of special event options including wine and cheese, and dinner and a show. You can purchase your tickets here. 

October Theatre - It's all about the Scare Factor... Isn't it?

This October has quite a few cool options for those of you who like your theatre to have a Scare Factor! I must say, the Edmonton theatre community has really risen to the challenge this year! I was happy to catch 2 of them last week!

First up is A Party to Murder at Walterdale Theatre. I quite enjoyed the unwrapping of this Agatha Christie inspired story. It's a layered story and things are not as they seem, and it channels elements of And Then There Were None, but with a more modern take.  I was reminded a bit of Knives Out in that not everyone is who they seem to be. The twists and turns really start coming in the second act and it appears that everyone has a motive for murder, but just who did it is the question. Lots of laughs in this show too, mostly from the deadpan delivery of Erwin Veugelers as former football player, Willy. The whole cast is tight and you can tell that everyone is keeping secrets. When the whole thing spills out you'll be replaying earlier moments to see what you missed!  There's some great stage violence and a bit of blood, for those who like that, and a real sense of 'what will happen next?' at the end. It runs from October 9-19 with tickets running between $20-$30.  The show is directed by Sarah Spicer and features a top-notch cast of 6! Tickets can be purchased here. 

Teatro Live! is presenting The Woman in Black running from October 10-27 with tickets running between $25-$42. In Edwardian London, a young actor helps a lawyer make sense of a long ago encounter with a mysterious apparition who invariably leaves death in her wake. Together the two men conjure the mysterious marshland of northeastern England and its population of haunted characters. The show features Julien Arnold and Geoffrey Simon Brown and is directed by Andrew Ritchie.  This show was excellently executed with jump scares eliciting screams from the audience. The woman in black appears suddenly and in a disturbing way more than once - the magic created by superb lighting.  Ritchie has directed a terrific piece of theatre  that moves (once you get past the first 15 minutes which set up the convention of telling the story). The world is created in a old empty theatre, but it is not hard to imagine that various locations from the busy London street, to the train ride, to the haunted house in question. Even the house itself is simply but powerfully created from a scrim and boxes and a door. A chest becomes a desk and through the power of expert storytelling, we believe it. The inevitability of the horrible ending creates an anguished anticipation and a hope that all will be well with our loved ones too! Tickets can be purchased here. 

There are other shows coming up with a high creepy factor too:

A new company, Putrid Brat, presents The Maids by Jean Genet. Two young women toiling in servitude escape into sensual fantasies of luxury, violence and revenge in Jean Genet’s masterpiece. Loosely based on the notorious and shocking case of the Papin sisters who murdered their employer’s wife and daughter, The Maids explores the line where fantasy and reality blur and the stories we weave become indistinguishable from the truth. The show runs October 24-Nov 3 and tickets are $21.69 with options for PWYC. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical is a hilarious ‘upside down’ take on the hit Netflix series – and all its campy 1980s glory. Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Dustin, and the whole Hawkins gang have a night of adventure, thrills, pubescent angst, heavy synth, poor parenting, convoluted love triangles, cheap effects, dancing monsters, and maybe, just maybe justice for everyone’s favorite missing ginger, Barb Holland. The show runs from October 18-26 at the Backstage Theatre. Tickets are $30-40 and can be purchased here. They are selling fast, so move quickly! 

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.