A Couple of Shows! Cyrano de Bergerac at the Citadel and Autumn at Shadow Theatre!

Over the last week I saw a couple of shows in town and depending on what you like, you might want to check out one or both of them. There are always lots of good shows on in Edmonton which is one of the reasons I like living here!

Photo by Nanc Price

Anyhow, most recently, I saw Cyrano de Bergerac at the Citadel Theatre. It was the show to wrap up the season (my mother and I have season tickets) and it was simply a terrific end to the theatre year! Adapted from Rostand's script by local playwright, Jessy Ardern, Cyrano de Bergerac is clever and fast paced with many humorous moments and a few sad ones! The cast attacked the script with vigour and commitment and it made for a wonderful afternoon of theatre. Usually when I see sword-fighting shows I wish for less sword-fights, but the sword fight in this one was staged so brilliantly that I actually wished for more! Leading the cast was the tremendous Scott Shpeley as Cyrano. He was incredible! I wish we saw him more on our stages! Not many could handle the tricky word play and the physical and emotional demands of this role, but it feels effortless coming from Shpeley (I'm sure it was not - but he made it seem so easy!). He's surrounded by a great ensemble and you get the feeling they all know they are doing something really special on that stage. Catch this one if you can. You won't regret it! 

Cyrano de Bergerac runs to May 24th at the Citadel in the Shoctor Theatre. Tickets run from $74-$139 and can be purchased here. 

Photo by Marc J Chalifoux

Last week I also caught Autumn by Peter Quilter at Shadow Theatre. The story is about two middle aged sisters with not much in common who have come together to throw a wedding for the daughter of one of them. This is a play for sisters, particularly those who love each other but who recognize that they are very different and those differences often lead to tensions. While I wasn't a great fan of the script as I found it a bit repetitive and predictable, the performances of the two actresses (Karen Johnson Diamond and Cathy Derkach) make the most of what is on the page. There are quite a few laughs and a satisfying resolution and it did make for an enjoyable afternoon. 

Autumn runs to May 24 at Shadow Theatre at the Varscona. Tickets are $25-$40 and can be purchased here. 

A Special Guest Review of The Mountaintop at the Citadel Theatre!

 I was unable to use my ticket to The Mountaintop at the Citadel this past weekend (Easter plans) and having seen the show before I passed along my ticket to my thoughtful friend, John Anderson, who had wanted to see the show. So, here is a "Special Guest Review" Post for the show!

Similar to the play itself, the Citadel’s new production of Katori Hall’s play, The Mountaintop, is deceptively simple at first glance. The story is a fictional reimagining of how Martin Luther King spent his last night alive, right after he returns from delivering his famous final sermon, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop. At his room in Lorraine Motel, King encounters an eccentric and mysterious room service attendant, Camae. With her company, MLK experiences his final moments of privacy in life.

John C. Dinning’s Set Design combines realism and abstract to tell its story. The motel room is entirely what one would expect from a real life motel room, but the borders of the stage present something else… Like all famous people, MLK was surrounded and trapped by fame. Even alone in his room, he is never allowed to be alone. All along the edges of the Maclab Theatre stage, there are strewn newspapers, letters, documents, communications, facts, opinions, and destiny. Upstage from the room, there are clouds that Jeff Osterlin’s lights dance across to effectively make it seem as though the clouds are really moving. Occasionally, Dave Clarke’s thunder booms and roars to remind MLK of the danger his life is in.

Ray Strachan is tremendous as King. His physical and vocal control seem effortlessly natural, despite clearly intentional choices in every moment. With all MLK’s fame and renown, it would be easy to fall for the wrong choice and portray King with an inhuman level of gravitas. Thankfully, the script, direction, and performance all draw the character in a more human and therefore compelling light. Once Patricia Cerra enters the motel room as the enthralling Camae, the two actors own the stage thanks to their talents, but also thanks to very strong direction from Patricia Darbasie. She has done wonders with her cast. King and Camae’s chemistry as channeled through the actors is delightfully engaging, especially when the conversations take unexpected turns.

In the finale of the play, there is a repeated phrase about contribution and progression: “The baton passes on”. With their production of The Mountaintop, Patricia Darbasie and her team have successfully passed it along to Edmonton audiences.

- John Anderson – April 1st, 2024

The Mountaintop runs to April 21st at The Citadel Theatre. Tickets range from $35.00 to $125.00 and can be purchased here. 

My thanks to John for the awesome review! I hope you all get to catch the show while it's here!

Little Shop of Horrors gets me in the mood for Hallowe'en!

I spent a fun afternoon out at The Citadel Theatre watching Little Shop of Horrors. I’ve never seen it onstage before and while some things were different than what I was expecting (having only the move for reference) I had a great time! I forgot how it ended, so that was a surprise! Ha ha ha! I loved hearing Suddenly Seymour and Somewhere that's Green (two of my favourite musical theatre songs) and both were delivered excellently! Tenaj Williams was a terrific Seymour, and John Ullyatt was hilarious in his many identities! Great to groove to the doo-wop! Audrey Two was also a hi-light (both the vocals and the puppetry!)! Only drawbacks were that the band was occasionally too loud and it was hard to hear lyrics in some of the bigger energy songs, and some of the lighting was oddly dark and even though I was in row B, I had trouble seeing all of the production numbers when there was a spotlight on a featured singer.

I guess Hallowe’en is a “come in costume” night. Definitely the right show for this time of year!

Little Shop of Horrors runs until November 19th in the Shoctor Theatre at the Citadel. Tickets range from $40-130 and are available here. 

A few good shows in the road ahead...

It's a good problem to have - good for me, good for the city - a whole bunch of theatre to see!

This Friday I will finally get to see Jersey Boys with Broadway Across Canada. I've heard the show is awesome so I am looking forward to it. I have prepared myself to hear a lot of swearing and some great music!

I'm also very, very, very excited about Hadestown which starts this weekend at the Citadel. We've been working so hard on it, and hearing snippets of the live music and imagining what the mind-blowing cast we have will do with it (several are Broadway Alums and the ones I have seen previously in Canada are seriously amazing performers). Every day I peek in the theatre and the set looks incredible and I just can't wait. I'll be there on Opening but I am thinking I might not wait until then so I'm looking to see if I can go on Saturday or Sunday night. I will likely take Gibson as our current joint-obsession with Hamilton tells me he will probably really like the show.

Next week I am also taking in John Ware: Reimagined presented by Workshop West Playwright's Theatre. It's a new work, which always appeals to my playwright heart, and about a real Albertan historical figure and it promises to shed light on parts of our history many of us might not know much about.

After the Opening Night of Hadestown on Thursday, I will end the week with Jabberwocky at Theatre Network. It's the World Premiere of a new work by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop. I've previously seen Ignorance and Famous Puppet Death Scenes and really like their work, so I am looking forward to seeing a new work from them.

Other than that, I am trying to figure out how I can squeeze in Little Women: The Musical by Foote in the Door Productions. I'm hoping to shuffle a few meetings to make that work as there are a lot of great people working on that show. Hopefully I can get things sorted out fast because I understand they are selling really well and I might be out of luck for tickets if I don't figure it out quickly!

Anyhow, it's a good problem to have... so much theatre to see!

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. 

Friday was One of Those "I LOVE MY JOB!" Days!

Sometimes I feel like I am unusual, because I generally wake up very happy to go to my job.  It's a terrific fit for me.  I work at the Citadel Theatre in the Marketing Department, so right off the bat you have me working in a theatre, and I love that. It's also a theatre that produces a wide variety of work and at a very high level so that's a super double bonus.  For the actual work I do, it's a great fit for me in that it uses my organization skills, my people skills, my problem-solving skills and I get to work with a lot of fun people.  It's also busy, and while some people are not as fond of that, I do like a fast pace, and there are periodic lulls to recharge when you need to.

Anyhow, I really like my job, but on Friday I had one of those I LOVE MY JOB days.  We had a photo shoot for the upcoming ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS which stars John Ullyatt and for a couple of hours in the afternoon we were entertained my his antics in front of the camera.  He kept us giggling the whole time with his contortions, ad-libs and improvising with the various props.  I was there to take behind the scenes shots and it was the most fun couple of hours anyone ever got paid for!

The Citadel Theatre - Off to a Great Start this Season with A Few Good Men...

This weekend was a great weekend for using my Vue Weekly Ticket prize pack.  I sent Oliver and Mark off to see Joel Plaskett at The Arden on Saturday night and then I took my mother to see A Few Good Men at The Citadel Theatre on Sunday night. The boys quite enjoyed their night of music, buying CDs and getting them autographed and the boys have been listening to the opening act, Mo Kenney, as we drive home from school each day.  They each have a favorite song and we bounce back and forth between track 3 and 8 as many times as we can before we reach home.

Both my mother and I were quite impressed with A Few Good Men.  It was a tightly run ship - quickly paced, which I love and which I felt the script calls for, and committed performances.  I found the direction the outstanding part of the show.  The script, with it's quick cuts and film like dialogue, is not easy to stage but Director James MacDonald keeps it moving and the use of the revolve is clean and sharp.  I really liked the use of the marching chants to move from scene to scene.  It kept you in the world of the military - the world of the one-mind/following orders/doing duty. I felt the piece was very strong for it's sense of ensemble and this too supported the over-arching theme of the play - If there is one weak link the whole thing would crumble, but there isn't - it is military precision with each unit following their orders without fail. It's hard to attack a play like this where 90% of your audience has seen the film and knows the lines (You can't handle the truth!) and there is the inevitable comparison.  I was happy that I was able to immerse myself in this particular telling of the story.  Sure, I had moments where I was thinking: "Who played that character? Oh, yeah, Kevin Bacon.  Oh yeah, Kiefer Sutherland.", but it was more of my brain being jogged by memory than being separated from the show.  In fact, seeing these different actors speak the words in their own voices made me understand the weight of what was going on even better.  There are a few tiny missteps - one sound cue that made everyone between the ages of 40 and 50 giggle, and a titch too much yelling when you wished for some subtlety, but the latter served the masculine nature of the subject and the former happens at a moment where no major damage is done. The key moment of realization at the end brought tears to my eyes and the authenticity of that moment was perfect.

Afterwards my mother and I talked for quite some time about the nature of living in that military world and how it must be to live in a world where you must follow orders without question.  It was thought provoking even though both of us had seen the film many times before.  Still relevant today - perhaps even more so.

First Day of Drama Class...

And I want to buy straight jackets. The classes went fine. Both boys seemed to enjoy their classes and when I only had one of them with me it was all good. It was the hour and a half in between the classes that drove me mad. We are wandering around Edmonton Centre Mall and neither kid can keep his hands to himself. They both were picking at each other and acting like 'those bratty kids' that everyone glares at. I am working on an elaborate plan for next week involving leaving one of them with Mark at the store and my getting the other using the LRT in between the classes. That would work, I think. I don't know. I was just so unimpressed with them. We might also spend the hour and a half at the Library. I could try that. There is enough there to occupy the both of them, as long as I can keep them from picking at each other. Gah!

In good news... Anna, the lovely Annelle from Steel Magnolias, is one of Gibson's teachers and Amy from last year is one of Oliver's teachers. I totally trust both of them and know they do good work. Amy also knows Oliver so she is well aware of his high jinks and has never had trouble keeping him in line. I can relax...

Two Plays in One Day - Lucky Me!

Yesterday I got to go to two theatrical events. It was a good day. It wasn't stressful. It wasn't even pre-planned, so that was really nice.

First I went to a workshop of Hwy63: the Fort Mac Play. I will tell you honestly, as a long-time resident of Fort McMurray there is no way I would ever be completely objective about this piece. I did try very hard to be so. It was also a workshop, so it is still in development so I think it hasn't quite found it's groove or purpose. Right now the whole environmental thing is very prominent in the script. An oft repeated phrase, "What's your agenda?" (something the playwrights were asked frequently when they went up there) was interesting, because I certainly found an agenda in the script. I was also disappointed when I recognized people I knew and I felt they were slightly mocking in their portrayal of them. Now, I did stick around and talk to one of the playwrights and she was very interested in what I had to say. I felt she was sincere in her response to me and she respected where I was coming from and she also said she was glad I shared my comments with her. I am glad for that. I do not want to dictate what someone else's play will be, but this is a topic close to my heart and I felt I should say something.

I also went to Doubt at the Citadel. The Production value was up the wazoo. Gorgeous set, costumes, lighting, etc... all you would except from the Citadel for decoration and atmosphere. I was very Impressed with Karen Robinson (the boy's mother, Mrs. Muller). She was a stand out. Lally Cadeaux (Sr. Aloysius) was very good, and John Ullyat (Fr. Flynn) was also quite good although he is so charismatic and charming that it is hard to truly doubt him. The weak link in the show was Clarice Eckford (Sr. James). I just found her performance to be flat and pre-planned. Nothing seemed organic with her performance and her voice was so one-dimensional. I have talked to others about this show and they seem to agree with me on it. I enjoyed the show overall, but I felt it could be better. The script also has a few false notes, but you are pretty much stuck with that.

Sex, Religion and Rock and Roll... and a night at the theatre...

Last night Mark and I went to FIRE at the Citadel. I was a fictionalized version of Jerry Lee Lewis and Jerry Falwell (real-life cousins, but brothers in this story) and how one of them went the rock and roll route and the other became a TV Evangelist. There's a love interest thrown in between them, a complicated relationship with their father and a political agenda as well. It was really good. I even stood up (early) because it was done so well. There are parts when the script is a tiny bit repetitive, but the cast made it work and kept it moving and alive. The music is perfect. All of the Jerry Lee Lewis stuff is note perfect and the gospel stuff is gorgeous. I highly recommend this.

Half-Life and APN

Last night I went to an APN function of sorts. Brian Dooley is the new Edmonton Liaison and he and a number of other APN folks were at the Rice Theatre lobby to meet with members and discuss what the needs of Edmonton members were. Other than "official APN people" there were only 3 members in attendance. One of these was a former APN Board member. Anyhow, it was nice to get a chance to tell what I felt I needed, although I got the distinct impression that they had an idea of their own and much of the meeting was spent brain-storming about that. Although the idea itself was not abhorrent to me, it really didn't address my personal needs. I got the impression they were targeting those playwrights who were already established at a certain level and I really am not there yet. I need help to get there.

After the "meeting" APN had arranged special tickets with The Citadel to see Half-Life. It was an hour and a half with no intermission which felt weird, especially with the 7:30 start. We were out by 9:10! Weird. Anyhow, about the show... It was well-done, however, I had some major issues with it. 90% of the show was staged with people just sitting in chairs talking to each other and having deep conversations. With regards to these conversations, many of them felt very unnatural despite being staged as a realistic and naturalistic play. The older generation was great. Their dialogue worked and was delivered wonderfully. The nurses were also very good in that respect. The adult children and the minister, however, never felt real to me. They were stilted and the words they were given seemed like no dialogue you would ever hear someone say. It really bugged me. It was also in the Shoctor and I have learned not to trust that theatre. There is a moat between the stage and the audience in that space that really damages any connection between the show and the audience. I know that part of this is because I am spoiled by Keyano. I have yet to find a large proscenium with the same intimacy here in Edmonton and area.

Overcoat - Overblown?

I went to see The Overcoat at the Citadel today with my Mom and AM. I had heard a lot of good things about it so I was really looking forward to it, but I was a little underwhelmed by it. It was done really well, and it was a really cool concept (no talking) but to me was not much more than a ballet. Like I said, it was really well done, but.... hmmm... Okay, maybe if I sort out what I didn't like:

• The first act was too long and too repetitive. With a show like this everyone was really focused in the audience. We didn't need to see "the man" get bullied twice at the office to get the idea. Several other bits were too long and needed a good editing. AM postulated that perhaps it was to accommodate the music since it was apparently a specific choice.
• I didn't like that "the man" doesn't get the overcoat until so late in the show. It makes its appearance in the last moment of Act I. Although the making of the coat was one of the coolest sections of the play, I think if they had taken out the second "bullying" section at the office they would've gotten to the coat sooner and had a little more time with the coat. Then the first Act would've ended even more positively, which bring us to the next point...
• The guy has the coat for far too short a time. He doesn't have it long enough to really make it a part of himself, so it is gone too quickly. He needs to fall farther and from a higher height. It was too rushed a rise and descent.
• Finally, the end just happens - poof! The music doesn't support the end so the audience as a whole was kind of confused.
• Oh yeah, I hated the words on the scrim crap at the beginning. We all had programs - we didn't need the movie credits!

Yeah, it is hard to think about this one. I was disappointed, but I don't know if it is because I had high expectations. It was very well-done. There were just things that I felt were wrong with it.