Author Archive
Review: Visiting Mr. Green (Harold Green Jewish Theatre)
Legendary Theodore Bikel performs in Visiting Mr. Green at Toronto’s Jane Mallet Theatre
In my enthusiasm at the prospect of seeing Theodore Bikel onstage in Visiting Mr. Green, it’s possible that I may have gone on at length to my theatre-partner (and husband) about his myriad accomplishments: originating the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music on Broadway, more than 2,000 performances in Fiddler on the Roof, television, films, folk music.
He’s a living treasure of theatre, with 68 years of performance in five languages under his belt. To the benefit of all, certainly including playwright Jeff Baron and costar Aidan deSalaiz, both of whom must understand how much they’ve been enriched by their association with Bikel in Visiting Mr. Green.
Review: The Story (Theatre Columbus)
As a Jew, I am usually exhausted with The Christmas Imperative at this point in December, and cross with all its trappings. I mention this so that when I say that I unreservedly adored The Story at Evergreen Brickworks, readers will understand how really, very, exceptionally good it is. I would use more superlatives if I thought the editors would let me.
Review: Hair (Mirvish)
Hair never fails to please – pretty boys and girls dancing around onstage, all enthusiasm and skin, cheerfully swaying stoned-ly along with whatever the music happens to be when they’re not engaged in some legitimate stage business. Some of the anthems are famous, by now, and the audience can usually be counted upon to sing along (or at least clap at whatever level of rhythm is available to them) by the time “Let The Sun Shine In” comes around at the end of the show and audience members are invited to join the cast onstage for a dancefest.
Review: (would you say the name of this play*) (Young People’s Theatre)
Just in case The Addams Family hadn’t given me my fill of teenaged theatregoers last week, I stepped it up this week with a performance of (would you say the name of this play?*) at Young People’s Theatre on Wednesday morning. The piece, originally titled nggrfg, appears to have been renamed in a bid to make it play better on school permission forms. Judging from the packed house on Wednesday morning, it was a good gamble.
Review: The Addams Family (Dancap)
I entered the Toronto Centre for the Arts for the opening night of The Addams Family swept up in a gaggle of young teens, all wearing coordinated black, white and dark-purple outfits, chattering excitedly in anticipation of the show. Accompanied by someone’s patient Dad, who distributed tickets while accepting stern instructions from his daughter not to go near them until the show was over, I found myself carried away in their enthusiasm. I hope they enjoyed the show as much as they wanted to; I must confess that I found it rather uneven.
Review: Circumcise Me! (Harold Green Jewish Theatre)
It was such mazel to get to see landsman Yisrael Campbell’s show Circumcise Me! last night at the Jane Mallett Theatre. You might not agree, but then, I’m Jewish – sometimes I don’t even agree with myself.
If the first sentence of this review made sense to you, and the second elicited a knowing chuckle, then takeh, you’ll love this show. If not, well? Maybe not.
Review: The Normal Heart (Studio 180/Buddies In Bad Times)
The first thing I need to tell you about the Studio 180/Buddies in Bad Times co-production of The Normal Heart is that you must go and see it. Must. Utterly non-optional for anyone who ever likes theatre a little bit, which I presume you must since you are reading a theatre blog. Go ahead and click over to get your tickets, I’ll wait.
Review: Sex, Religion, and Other Hangups (Gangland Poductions)
James Gangl, bless him, is perfectly honest: he wants to find a girlfriend. He’s aware that he is not, in the classic sense, A Catch, and so – like many of us with more charm than grace and more brains than looks – he has decided to work what he’s got. In Gangl’s case, aided by director Chris Gibbs and a few dark weeks on the Theatre Passe Muraille schedule, what he has is a really, really good story.
Review: Babes In Space II: The Wrath of Thong (Red Herring Burlesque)
I confess: when the opportunity arose to review a burlesque show called Babes In Space II: The Wrath of Thong, I squeaked happily and jumped on it. I am a longtime fan of the burlesque arts, and have had the great fortune to be warmly acquainted with a number of first-class practitioners of the craft. Because of this, admittedly, my standards of burlesque performance are pretty high. Even still, the revue cast of Wrath of Thong left me cheering and shouting for more.
Morning Glory (Kate Lushington and Soo Garay) 2011 SummerWorks Review
Morning Glory is a show written out of the truth. It documents, dramatizes, and details the experiences of Karin Bolette Sonne, in prison and in a center for women with what are referred to in the program as “mental health issues.” It feels facile and unfair to try to review a show that’s so obviously not meant to be entertaining in the typical sense. Morning Glory is much closer to an Augusto Boal-style, Theatre of the Oppressed series of performances, created to bring hidden injustice to light through the art form of theatre. It utterly succeeds.