A Trip to Runyonland... ELOPE presents GUYS AND DOLLS at the Timm's Centre

I have a fond attachment to ELOPE Musical Theatre.  When I moved to Edmonton in 2005, the first how I auditioned for (and got in) was ELOPE's Fiddler on the Roof. There I met many good friends who remain part of the core of my friends today.  A few years later I was in Baby with ELOPE which added many more terrific people to my friends list and a few years later I directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which was an amazing experience.

This season, ELOPE is putting on the classic Guys and Dolls at the Timm's Centre.  It's a fun world of gansters, gamblers, showgirls and salvation army misionaries in New York in a time long past. The songs are highly recognizable from the cutsey A Bushell and a Peck, to Sue Me, to I'll Know, to the title song Guys and Dolls. This cast handled the music well, particularly the leads.  Christina O'Dell and Stephen Allred as the mismatched Salvation Army Missionary Sarah Brown and Gambler Sky Masterson both had sweeping voices well equipped to handle their soaring love ballads.  O'Dell handled the challenging If I Were a Bell terrifically with a full sounding soprano and Allred's Luck Be A Lady was similarly well delivered. James Toupin and Karin Thomas as the more comic couple Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide had a real chemistry.  They've appeared as a couple onstage previously (The Full Monty) and their ease with each other really worked onstage.  Thomas was a lot of fun and made some terrific character choices to great comic effect.  Toupin's Detroit was a great foil and always believable.  They were great onstage separately and even better when they shared the stage together. Another highlight for me was Joe Garreck as Nicely Nicely Johnson.  He did a fantastic job on the show stopper Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat.  

If I had one criticism, it would likely be to clip a few of the dance numbers both in length and in people onstage.  Sometimes in the big numbers like the Havana scene and Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat it got hard to know what to look at because there was just too much going on.  With a show this length some of the dances originally put in to cover scene changes could have been shortened to move it a long faster.  But that's me... I'm sure someone else has a different opinion on that.

It's a fun show and one you leave humming the songs.  A little birdie from Tix on the Square told me that it is selling really well, so this might be one to buy your tickets in advance for.  It was certainly a packed house last night!

#yegbookclub Two Books for Summer Reading!

Like last year, this summer will be crowded with Fringe for me, so I have picked two books to read over the summer months in preparation for 2 consecutive weeks of #yegbookclub.  Hopefully you'll be able to join me for one or both of them!  I will be reading more than two books.  Someone mocked me last year for 'only' having 2 books on the docket.  It's just that in September I only have 2 weeks for the #yegbookclub!

First up will be Thomas Wharton's Every Blade of Grass. Here's the synopsis:
A novel of letters. A book of wonders. A story of love, loss, and life on Earth. The story begins in the pre-internet age with a letter left at the front desk of a hotel in Iceland. The recipient, Martha Geddes, is a neophyte journalist from New York, the sender, James Weaver, a rebellious young ecologist from Vancouver. Despite the fact that their lives couldn’t be more different, they feel a mutual attraction, the problem being that they live on opposite sides of a continent and one of them happens to be married to someone else. 

Wharton is currently an associate professor of writing and English at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and head of the creative writing department.

We'll partake in the #yegbookclub for Every Blade of Grass on Monday, September 14, 2015 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Edmonton time on twitter! Hope to see you there.

The nest selection for the summer is Jennifer Quist's Love Letters of the Angels of Death.  Here's the synopsis: Love Letters of the Angels of Death begins as a young couple discover the remains of his mother in her mobile home. The rest of the family fall back, leaving them to reckon with the messy, unexpected death. By the time the burial is over, they understand this will always be their role: to liaise with death on behalf of people they love. They are living angels of death. All the major events in their lives – births, medical emergencies, a move to a northern boomtown, the theft of a veteran’s headstone – are viewed from this ambivalent angle. In this shadowy place, their lives unfold: fleeting moments, ordinary occasions, yet on the brink of otherworldliness.

Quist was born in northern mainland British Columbia and raised all over Maritime and western Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta and is now based in the Edmonton area. 

We'll partake in the #yegbookclub for Love Letters of the Angels of Death on Monday, September 21, 2015 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Edmonton time on twitter! Hope to see you there. 

So get reading everyone! 

#yegbookclub Update! Book 2 in Ehrich Weisz Chronicles released this week!

Tomorrow night, June 4 from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm playwright and author Marty Chan celebrates the launch of his 10th novel with a party. Infinity Coil is the second book of the Ehrich Weisz Chronicles, which features Harry Houdini (a.k.a. Ehrich Weisz) as the title character. The #yegbookclub discussed the first book in the series - Demon Gate - last fall and we are eagerly awaiting the second installment! This steampunk fantasy adventure follows the exploits of the soon-to-be great magician as he works alongside famous inventor Nikola Tesla to protect the citizens of New York from evil forces.

In honour of the series’ title character, magician extraordinaire Sheldon Casavant will take the stage to perform feats of wizardry and mentalism to delight the audiences before Marty unveils his latest novel.

Not only do you get a chance to see a live magician performing, but your ticket price also gets you a copy of Infinity Coil. Join in the celebrations as Marty Chan launches Infinity Coil.

Age restrictions - 5 & Up Only 

Price:
General – $24.15 (Includes Fees & GST)
Friends – $18.90 (Includes Fees & GST)

Doors Open at 7:00pm

To purchase tickets, click here. 

Meanwhile, I am about halfway through A Wake for the Dreamland which is our next #yegbookclub book.  We'll be discussing that one on twitter on June 10th!  Hope to see you then! 

A Steady Rain... fine, layered, complicated performances

I took in Blarney Productions' A Steady Rain last night, at C103.  It's a dark and gritty story of two cops, friends from kinnygarden, in Chicago.  The show explores the grey area morality of Joey (Jesse Gervais) and Denny (John Ullyatt) as they tumble through re-telling the events of a summer in Chicago where everything goes wrong and the rain never stops.

Both actors give layered performances as they take turns telling the events of their shared history.  As beat cops aiming for promotion to detective and getting overlooked each tries their own way to cope and try to get ahead. Denny (Ullyatt) is married with the perfect wife and two young children.  He's the alpha of this relationship but despite his perfect looking life he is also the more corrupt. Joey (Gervais) is the worrier and the peace-maker, he sees the the wrong in what Denny insists is right, but he is challenged by his own hesitancy and the pattern of their relationship to push for what is right. The tale is told back and forth, and interspersed with dialogue between the two. Narration is often a challenge, but both are born story-tellers and the twists of the story and it's horrible inevitability are handled deftly. It becomes particularly interesting when each presents the details of the same events.  There is significance in the differences.

Director Wayne Paquette has wisely cast the eminently likable Ullyatt to play the more reprehensible Denny - his natural charisma bleeds through in a way that makes you not hate him, and which makes you understand how he has gotten away with what he has.  Gervais' emotional connection is also quite wonderful when he is stuck in Joey's inertia and helplessness as some of the more horrible things play out.  Although on opening night some moments felt a touch under-rehearsed, overall it made for a compelling and engaging 90 minutes.  

A Look Into Different Worlds - The Photo and Tribes

I missed a lot of first weekends while I was away so I caught the final weekend's offerings last night and Friday.

Friday night, I finally got to see The Photo by Dana Rayment.  It was presented as a workshop reading at Skirt's AFire Festival 2 years ago, but was on a Saturday afternoon and my Mom-Duties prevented me from getting to it, so I was pleased to hear that it would be presented as a full production by Theatre of the New Heart at C103.  My lovely friend Lisa was in town from Calgary so I also got to share with her a little of the #yegtheatre I am so proud of. It's a piece that probably needs trigger warnings as it was about a couple (Elena Porter and Michael Peng) dealing with the immediate aftermath of an at home stillbirth.  Each deals with it differently, Gina (Porter) fragmenting into a defense mechanism of denial and fantasy as she tries to take the perfect photo of her child's imagined life.  Mark (Peng) is hip deep in grief and confusion about how to help his wife and how to deal with the physical realities of the situation, not knowing whether to pander to Gina's fantasies or shake her into facing the truth of what has happened.  The script is well-crafted, giving us a little mystery about what exactly has happened at the beginning and building with inevitability to the final acceptance of both Gina and Mark.

Last night I took in Closing night of Tribes presented by Studio Theatre at the Timm's Centre as the MFA Production of Directing Candidate Amanda Bergen. Tribes was a fascinating look into what it is to be deaf within a hearing family.  The family (Ashley Wright, Judy McFerran, Mathew Hulshof, and Zoe Glassman) is loud and argumentative and at times a little unbearable, and deaf son Billy (Connor Yuzwenko-Martin) is often left out of parts of discussions as they make little effort to ensure he is able to see their faces to read lips.  When he asks for clarification, they summarize or brush off the details as unimportant. They have also kept him from the Deaf Community, having him learn to read lips and learn to speak and not learn to sign.  When he meets Sylvia (Bobbi Goddard), a girl with deaf parents who can sign and who is also going deaf, he falls in love and also learns to sign himself and it opens up a world of communication for him.  He struggles then to make his family meet him half-way in communication by learning to sign as well. It was a fascinating night.  We also went, by chance, on one of the two interpreted nights where four interpreters dressed in black and purple graced the stage alongside the action and signed all the speaking parts. The audience was roughly 50-75% deaf or hearing impaired and it made for a fantastic experience. The places that drew laughs were different for those who were hearing and those who weren't, sometimes because of the signing and sometimes because of what things actually meant to someone who was hearing vs. someone who was deaf.  It seemed to me, particularly with the piece, that the additional layer of interpreters onstage made it richer. I worried it would be distracting, but it was not, it was enriched. It has made me think about how we make theatre accessible for everyone.  I am not sure how to tackle it myself, but costs and staging for each show is so unique, but it would be interesting to look into how theatres could make their shows more accessible even when the shows are not specifically related to deaf issues. Wouldn't it be cool to see Shakespeare signed? Just thinking...

As a companion piece I recommend this article by Curious Arts about Tribes and Accessibility. There's also a link to a fundraising page where you can help pay for the the many interpreters who worked on the project.

My Trip to the No-so-Far-East! Chocolate Tour of Toronto!

One of the really cool things my sister lined up for us while I was in Toronto was the Chocolate Tour. It involved visits to 5 bakeries with a focus on chocolate.  We walked around downtown Toronto from place to place and were treated to background information from our terrific tour guide, Kate, as well a a treat at each place.

First was Forno Cultura, an Italian bakery, where we had a two bite chocolate olive oil cake.  Each cake had at least one black olive in it.  It was a wonderful combination of salty and sweet.  I did not eat the olive, but as I ate closer to it, I could really see how it was a good mix of flavours.

Our second stop was Delysèes, a french bakery.  I think I could have spent all day in there.  We were treated to 2 macarons of our choosing.  I chose salted caramel and raspberry butter-cream.  Both were delicious and for those of us in Edmonton, they were of Duchess Bakery quality.  I also purchased one of their croissants which reputed to be the best in Toronto.  After having eaten it, I can certainly believe that! My sister bought one of their little sandwiches and it was also delicious.

Next was Dufflet.  Apparently they supply most of the restaurants in Toronto with cakes and you can see and taste why.  We were treated to the world's best chocolate brownie.  I saved my brownie for later because at this point my blood sugar level was already pretty high, but it was wonderful.  Not content with just a rich brownie with chocolate icing, there was a layer of chocolate flakes or bits in between the two giving it texture and even more chocolaty goodness.

Just a little ways away was our 4th stop, Dlish, named Toronto's Best Cupcake by NOW Magazine. This one had to be taken to go as well, but the Red Velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing I chose was well worth the wait! When I ate it later that evening I had planned to just eat half and save the other half for later but that proved to be impossible to do. So very yummy! If I lived in Toronto it might be hard not to go there on a weekly basis...



Our final stop was Nedège, another french bakery, but very different from the other.  Here we ended our trip with a lovely chocolate.  I chose raspberry again because I love raspberry with chocolate. The cakes in the display were little works of art, no doubt as delicious as they are beautiful.  I also bought a chocolate bar to bring home to the boys.  Gibson is wisely pacing himself in consuming his bar, but Oliver ate the whole thing the first day home...

A trip to the Not-So-Far East! Theatre at the Shaw Festival!

This past week I took a little vacation and visited my sister and brother-in-law in Toronto.  My sister and I also spent a little time in Niagara on the Lake for the Shaw Festival so there was theatre-going in abundance.  It was a lovely little adventure and a good break from the everyday!

I love living in Edmonton because of all the theatre, but it is nice to see what is going on elsewhere in the country too! At the Shaw Festival, we took in three shows.  The first was Peter and the Starcatcher which is a prequel to Peter Pan, kind of the 'how the lost boys became the lost boys' story. It is a lot of fun and great for audiences of all ages.  Performed by an ensemble of actors who trade narration duties and roles to create two very different crews for two very different ships as well as the strange inhabitants of the island they end up on.  There were many very cool things about how they create the world. It's a piece that calls for low-tech magic and it was nice to see them making their own choices different from the Broadway production (I saw that a couple of years ago). We saw the last Preview performance of the show, and I think that although they were generally very tight, they still have a little ways to go to make the ensemble seamless.  This is the kind of show that will just get better and better over the course of the run as the cast becomes a single machine telling the tale. My favorite performances were Charlie Gallant as Boy, Billy Lake as Fighting Prawn, and Martin Happer as the Black 'Stache. Gallant really shows a nice journey from untrusting & angry to joyous and adventurous.  Happer and Lake make the most of their outrageous characters to much comic appeal.

That evening we took in the Opening Night performance of You Never Can Tell.  We knew nothing about it going in, as it was the show we could fit in between the 2 we had selected.  A G.B. Shaw piece that neither of us were familiar with.  We both loved it! The set (Leslie Frankish) was whimsical and delightful and set the tone perfectly for the comedy about to happen.  It's always so fun when a show catches you off-guard! Telling the story of a mother of three children who return to England from away.  The children have no idea who their father is as their mother has refused to tell them and they are a bit unruly from being raised away in Madeira. So you know they are going to be reunited with their father, and they are.  Throw in a penniless dentist who falls in love instantly with the eldest child and a waiter to manage it all and it is really quite fun.  Director Jim Mezon has certainly gone for the whimsy in it, in any case, and it worked for us! I've got a new Fangirl Crush on Gray Powell who played the love-struck dentist.  He lit up the stage whenever he was on it.  Overall, the ensemble is quite tight which led to an enjoyable evening.  On occasion the twins were a little much, but I think that was the point. Shaw manages to make a few comments on marriage and parenting, but by keeping it so fun, it never comes off like a lecture, which I appreciated!

Our final show was the musical Sweet Charity.  This was also the final Preview performance of that show. I had never seen the show before so was very excited to see it onstage. I was familiar with only two of the songs, Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now, so it was nice to hear those as well as several new songs. The show was a lot of fun, a showcase for the fabulous taxi-dancers. Highlights for me were definitely Big Spender and The Rich Man's Frug which showcased Parker Esse's choreography as well as some terrific costumes (Charlotte Dean). My absolute favorite though, was Mark Uhre as Vittorio.  You have no idea how much I wished he was a character that would return in the second act (sigh...). With a gorgeous voice and a natural command of the stage, you hardly watched anyone else when he was there. It's a strange show in some ways with an unsatisfying ending which is not the fault of the production, but of the writing, I think. You just want Charity to get somewhere and she ends up exactly where she starts.  I wished for something more - a sign that things would be different/better the next time around. As Charity, Julie Martell has a great voice and commitment to the role. She can belt out the big numbers and hold the stage on her own. However, I found her Charity very pragmatic and I wanted a little more of the romantic in her portrayal, something that would contrast her more with fellow taxi-dancers Nickie (Kimberly Rampersad) and Helene (Melanie Phillipson) who are more jaded by what life has to offer them. The three of them are wonderful to see and hear in There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This which has been added to my list of Songs I Want To Sing With Friends. 

All in all, we had a terrific time.  It's been a long time since I have gone to the Shaw Festival and I am looking forward to going back again the next time I take a trip out East! We also spotted Canadian stars Colin Mochrie (Who's Line Is It Anyway), and Debra McGrath & Sheila McCarthy (Little Mosque on the Prairie).  We joked that they were stalking us as we spotted them at 2 of the 3 shows we were at!