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. 

Four Shows in One Week! Am I a Madwoman?!?! From Northern Light Theatre to The Citadel to Walterdale Theatre to Jubilations Dinner Theatre - talk about a theatrical rollercoaster!

October is my birthday month, so it is fitting that I took in four shows this past week, starting on my actual birthday! Those who know me, know that theatre is the thing I love the most (outside my friends and family)! 

Photo Credit Brianne Jang

On my actual birthday I took in Opening Night of Northern Light Theatre's A Phoenix Too Frequent by Christopher Fry. The set-up features a young widow (Julia van Dam as Dynamene) and her servant (Ellen Chorley as Doto) dramatically mourning the mistress's recently deceased husband. It takes place in his tomb as they wait to die to join him. You begin to realize very quickly that it's not all serious business. Chorley is quite funny as the servant who's there for her mistress, but not quite as committed to the whole process and easily distracted. Enter a young and handsome Legionnaire (Brennan Campbell as Tegeus) who spotted the light from the tomb while on guard and came to check things out. He's handsome, Dynamene is also young and beautifully and suddenly the whole plan to join her husband in Hades gets reevaluated. It's a very unusual and sexy rom-com with laughs and twists and turns that lead to a satisfying ending! 

Tickets for A Phoenix Too Frequent are $38.85 and available here. There is also a PWYC on Sunday, October 15th and a 2for1 night on Tuesday, October 17th. The show runs to October 21st. 

Photo Credit: Nanc Price

The Next evening, I took in The Importance of Being Earnest at The Citadel Theatre. I'm very familiar with the show - perhaps one of the best comedies ever written - since i directed it years ago and have seen it elsewhere a couple of times. Everyone should take in the show, sometime in their life because it's so well written and so funny. The Citadel production has relocated the story to the 1950s, which works and provides beautiful stage pictures and costumes. Standouts in this production are Nadien Chu as Lady Bracknell, Amelia Sargisson as Gwendolyn Fairfax and Jeff Lillico as Jack Worthington (although, I kind of wished the two young men were switched - but that might have more to do with my vision of the roles). 

Tickets for The Importance of Being Earnest are $40-130 and are available here. It runs until Sunday, October 15th. 

Photo Credit: Scott Henderson, Henderson Images

After all that silliness, I switched it up next with Walterdale Theatre's production of All My Sons by Arthur Miller, directed by John Anderson. It was great to see this piece onstage. I have seen Miller's Death of a Salesmen several times, The Crucible twice and A View From the Bridge and I am admirer of his work. This play also has terrific characters and tackles important questions about social responsibility, honesty, and family loyalty. Inspired by a true story about faulty materials for aircrafts being provided to the military during WW II and taking place shortly after, it centers around the family of Joe Keller (Dave Wolkowski) who was implicated but then exonerated in the case. Joe's partner Steve Deever instead takes the fall for the crime. However, it is not in the factory or a courtroom that the story takes place, but the Keller backyard, where the Keller and Deever families spent many summers together. Steve’s daughter, Ann (Jasmine Hopfe), was all but engaged to Chris’s  brother, Larry, before Larry was killed in the war. Now she has returned from exile in New York, hoping to marry the besotted Chris (Franco Correa) instead. The Keller matriarch, Kate (Ursula Pattloch) refuses to accept that Larry is dead and believes he will one day return home and that Ann is still his girl. It's complicated. The first act of the Walterdale production sets up all the pieces for a second act where it will inevitably come crashing down. It ends with an emotional bang and the last 20 minutes had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Overall it's a fine production, with an outstanding performance by Correa, and I've had several people tell me they plan to go back for a second watch. 

All My Sons runs to October 21st and tickets are $25 and are available here. There is also a PWYC evening on Wednesday, October 18th. 

And finally, a message out of the blue from an old high school friend yesterday afternoon had me taking in Old Time Rock 'N Roll at Jubilations Dinner Theatre. The show was a fun little romp as told by an older man reminiscing about his high school days and his first real love through the late 50s into the 70s. The cast of 6 (plus a few extras) were great singers and dancers and they committed 150% to the hijinks required! I really enjoyed all the song choices, and while I'm not that old, I did know ALL THE SONGS from the way back! We also had a good meal and great servers (thanks Edna and crew) and a wonderful visit. I have been to Jubilations before and it's always a lot of fun. 

Old Time Rock 'N Roll runs to November 5th and tickets start at $75.95 (and include dinner) and are available here. 

#yegtheatre #yegarts #allmysons #phoenixtoofrequent

Fringe #42 - Final Day of the Fringe - Last Reflections!

Yesterday was another 2 show day. At this point, I need to pace myself since I am not as young as I used to be! I first took in DomestiKATE which was a really fun little show featuring Kate Ryan (not that Kate Ryan, the other one!) who is a phenomenal hula-hoop artist. It was aimed at the little ones primarily, but it was still a very fun show and Ryan was very funny in addition to skilled with her hula-hoops. She also did some cool quick changes and there was well-managed and entertaining audience participation. No more chances to catch that one as I caught her last show. 

Then, in late afternoon, a few of the ladies of Penelopiad and I caught The Clockmaker. It's a very cool script, about a clockmaker, but so much more. I don't want to give too much away. There are scenes of domestic violence so a warning for folks, but these are well choreographed and necessary to the story. The story itself is a love story dealing with what makes a good man and what are the moments in our lives that are important. This production features an excellent cast of 4 and it's very well done. I recommend! There's still one chance to catch it tonight at 8 pm!

This is the last day of Fringe. I left it open but I am looking at catching a few shows today! There's still so many more to catch!

Happy Fringing!

Fringe #42 - Winding Down... Friday, August 25...

Only managed two shows yesterday, but lots of good visiting on the grounds in between! It's hard to keep the momentum going, so I am pacing myself. 

First up was Lizard Boy: The Musical! It's another weird musical so right up my alley! It was very well done with three excellent singer-actors telling the comic book infused rom-com story of the Lizard Boy and an impending dragon-apocalypse. Of course, there's a villain to fight and a love story. Told with humour and terrific tunes it was great fun! There's also one of the best projection sets I have ever seen at Fringe that leant the comic book WOW to the fight scenes! 

Next, after a long visit and some mini-donuts, I took in Underbelly at Walterdale. I didn't know what to expect and I don't really think anyone could expect this show. It was a very funny and clever clown show with some cool tech and a monster. There were some technical difficulties that actually enhanced the show as the performer ably dealt with them. There's audience participation. All in all a fun, but weird 40-45 minutes!

Fringe #42 - Thursday, August 24th - My La Cite Day! and Word of Mouth

I spent Thursday at La Cite - starting with a lovely Croque Monsieur (at which my French immersion raised son giggled at and told me means "Mr. Crunchy") at Cafe Bicyclette - delicious!

It was a Twisted Christmas in August with Krampus! What a ride! This show is simply terrific. The folks at Straight Edge have been honing their musical writing skills over the past few years and this is producing some super solid scripts. Combine that with outstanding casts and you get a top-notch production. It's silly, irreverent, dark and very, very funny! The cast of 5 +1 are all perfectly committed to their characters and all have super strong voices well-suited to the music. They are also able to sing and dance their songs in character and with delightful humour! I say, move over A Christmas Carol, there's a new show in town. I would love it if this was remounted somewhere in December. It would be the Christmas show I'd seek out!

I then took in Ken Brown's Life After Life After Hockey. I'd never seen Life After Hockey but it wasn't necessary. It was a fascinating journey through Ken's life up to and after the creation of Life After Hockey and the blessings and challenges that experience had on his life. It was also a story of the Edmonton Arts Scene and the development and history of the Fringe from Ken's perspective. It was interspersed with music (Dana Wylie and others). The stories were engaging and I teared up thinking this was a show that my brothers would also connect with nostalgically for for very different reasons that me. There's enough hockey for those who come for that, and enough theatre/fringe for those who come for that. A really enjoyable show. I also encourage any playwrights who want to write a personal story play to check it out because Ken is definitely the master of that. 

I next saw Makings of a Voice with Dana Wylie. It's a beautiful song cycle reflecting on motherhood and it's inherent challenges and the feelings of failure that often come along with that. Dana also reflects on her personal and familial history as she seeks to define herself in the role of mother which she is not entirely comfortable with. It's raw and honest and the music is sublime. And while I do not have the same feelings about motherhood, it was interesting and eye-opening to hear Dana's story. 

WORD OF MOUTH - Thursday, August 24

This Won't Hurt, I Promise

Thank You For Coming to my TED Talk

Sea Wall

God is a Scottish Drag Queen

Love, Kurt

Long Night of the American Dream

Martin Dockery 

Chase Padgett

Titanical : the musical

Morningside Road

Muse
The Clockmaker
Breaking Bard
Millennial Sex Witch

Tiger Lady
The Approach

Fringe #42 - Wednesday, Aug 23rd - A Music Filled Day! And WORD OF MOUTH!

Undiscovered Country - A really cool little concert of a show. It's a play and talk concert in the style of Hawksley Workman but the stories are a little weirder and more dystopian. It was mesmerizing and I'm still trying to figure it out, but I don't think you're supposed to be able to. So wonderful to see Chris Bullough onstage as I feel it's been too long. Actually had a long conversation with a lady in the line-up about the actors we haven't seen much on Edmonton stages lately and how we hope we will be seeing them more again. Anyhow, this show was pretty cool - subtle and enigmatic. 

Tiger Lady - This is the show that I heard mentioned the most in my Word of Mouth conversations and it is not hard to see why. The cast of 6 fills the stage of the Westbury with physical action and a world created through low-tech magic! They combine music, movement, storytelling and puppetry and dp all of these things excellently. There's audience participation but not in a cheesy way, but rather we are all part of the show! A must-see - I hope it makes the holdovers because I think it's been selling out the Westbury - even at the more hard to sell time slots! 

Amor de Cosmos - I was very happy and excited to see this show! It tells a strange story from Canadian politics about Amor de Cosmos who reinvented himself many times. It's a bit of a whirlwind, with music by Lindsay Walker and performed by Cody Porter. I think it could be expanded (in fact, I think it had to be cut down from it's Toronto run time to fit the Edmonton timeslot). The music is catchy and Cody is a likable performer who ably conjures the title character as well as many other political figures of the time!

WORD OF MOUTH - Wednesday, August 23

Tango in the Dark

Sea Wall (Top recommendation)

Morningside Road

The Approach

Epidermis Circus

Love, Kurt

Train One to Coal Valley

Muse

Il Tabaro

Bathsheba and the Books

The Makings of a Voice (Dana Wylie)

Krampus

Life After Life After Hockey

Donating Sperm to my Sisters Wife

Tiger Lady

Chase Padgett: Nashville Hurricane

Jimmy Hogg: The Potato King

Paco Erhard: How To Monetize Free Hugs

Rat Academy

Anatomica 

Let’s Talk About Your Death

Absolute Magic

The War Comic

Martin Dockery (both shows)

Jon Bennett: Fire in the Meth Lab

Fringe #42 - Tuesday, August 22 - Getting all the Answers... and more WORD OF MOUTH recommendations!

I had a very mixed bag of shows today - the best kind of Fringe Day! I started the afternoon at a 1950s Graduation with the The Marvelous Wonderettes - Caps and Gowns! I hadn't seen any of the other shows from this series, but that was not necessary as the story and characters wee clearly defined! The music is terrific - a lovely blast from the past - with tight harmonies and solid voices! The show is humorous and flows nicely from song to song with jokes and funny situations in between. A great way to start the day! 

I went in a very different direction checking out The Mine. While taking place in almost exactly the same year as the previous one, this show is much darker as it dealt with three Soviet miners trapped underground in a cave-in. Each of the miners has different concerns and hopes and dreams and they share these over the long wait for rescue, while they also try to dig their way out. Tensions between them build and... well, I do not want to give spoilers! 

My last show of the day was Lady Porn presented by Whizgiggling Productions. This was a smart and sharp look behind the scenes at making of a 'feminist' porn film set. It's funny and intelligent, as it analyzes the good intentions of the safe set weighed against the wants of the financial backers. It makes you wonder if there is any such thing as a 'feminist' porn. I must admit of all the shows I've seen so far, this one has left me thinking the most. Not specifically about porn, but about good intentions in many situations which get over-ridden by expediency, money concerns and really a lack of desire to actually change even though that's what's been expressed. I'm obviously still thinking about it! 

WORD OF MOUTH - Tuesday, August 22nd

Tango in the Dark            Seawall            Old-ish            Morningside Road

Tales From the Hospital            Muse            90 Lies An Hour            Charade

Forest of Truth            Stigma, Pistil and Style            Multi Vs.            Lady Porn 

Puck Bunnies            Lesbihonest            Epidermis Circus