By Adam Collier

At the Toronto Opera Repertoire production of The Marriage of Figaro, the seating was unassigned. I took a seat about ten rows from the stage in the Bickford Centre Theatre. I sat close, because I’m not too familiar with opera and wanted to take in as many details as I could, but was too timid to sit up front, because “opera” – even the word – intimidates me.

The lights go down, and three people walk across the space in front of the stage. One of them sits behind a music stand (the conductor, Adolfo De Santis), one sits at a grand piano (Valentin Bogolubov) and behind him stands a third.

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Wanna do something really fun some Saturday?  Well, how about going to a cartoon voice workshop taught by Melissa Altro?

I did, and it was a blast.

Workshops are great; I think of them as theatre that you get to participate in.  In this one, participants (myself included) performed by working with scripts in a professional studio.

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Congratulations Jordan Mechano!

He and lucky guest are going to see East of Berlin tomorrow evening at the Tarragon Theatre.  -Jealous? For your chance to win a pair of free tickets to some of the best in Toronto Theatre, check back every Monday for contest details and be the 13th person to enter and win!

East of Berlin will be running until January 31st. For more information on show dates and times please visit the Tarragon Theatre.

So, you’ve heard on this blog about how a show we loved (check out the review from when it was at Fringe) was picked up by Mirvish.  The theatre version of a fairy tale I suppose…

Well, if you want some more back story on it check out the feature piece on the Mirvish production of My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding on W5.  Then, when you’ve watched that, check out the second part, where they talk about opening night. 

Enjoy!

Review will be coming soon, but since it’s closing on Saturday, and since I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to post a note advising you to go see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Theatre Centre.  Well worth the trip to Queen west, but take earplugs if you have sensitive ears.

By Dana Lacey

You might remember The Toxic Avenger. The campy horror/comedy film about a vigilante mutant nerd debuted in 1984 to little fanfare, but quickly captured the hearts of B-movie aficionados. Well it’s back, and more musical.

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By Trent Scherer

True Love Lies

Brad Fraser’s  newest play, True Love Lies about a father’s past coming back to change his family’s life, is opening the 40th anniversary season at Factory Theatre. After a well-received world premiere in London, England at the start of the year, Fraser’s play is a witty piece of writing.

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By Megan Mooney

I wasn’t sure I wanted to trek all the way to Saint John for the Canadian Comedy Awards, but I’m glad I did.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the awards, and this has been a great way to celebrate that.  The Imperial Theatre in Saint John is beautiful and provides a pomp and circumstance that the awards deserve. 

In the world of arts awards, comedy often gets short shrift.  It’s as though established awards don’t think that comedy is artful enough.  Let me tell you though, comedy?  Not an easy thing to pull off.  There were an incredible number of very talented people nominated this year, and they worked their asses off to get there. 

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by Lucy Allen

Last night I found myself in somewhat of a miserable mood.  Work was stressful as usual, I forgot money for the TTC ride home, and to top it off I was fighting a useless battle against a cold that’s filled my head with goo.  Why am I boring you with these mundane (and gross) details?  Because Nursury School Musical, currently playing at the Berkeley Street Theatre, made all of these things fly from my mind. (more…)

By Dana Lacey

Jerry Springer-the Opera is tacky, cheesy and bound to offend you. In other words–go see this show. The premise: a man hosts a talk show that caters to the voyeur in us all. His lineup includes cheated lovers, secret fetishes and a women who just wants to follow her dream of dancing on a pole.

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