Yearly Archives: 2017

Review: Moll (Randolph College)

Photo of Armando Biasi and Alexandra Grant by Raph Nogal Timely and engaging Moll arrives on the Toronto stage

In this current world of #metoo, when it comes to sexual violence and predation, there are a few common themes. One, people in power tend to get away with things. Two, women who are victimized are often seen as tainted, and three, the onus appears to be on the woman to prove she is good enough, special enough, trustworthy enough not to have somehow deserved it. Cue the very timely Moll, a world-premiere musical being presented by the Randolph College for the Performing Arts at the Annex Theatre. A loosely-inspired, modern Canadian update of the 1722 novel Moll Flanders, it’s about a woman trying to become self-reliant with the deck stacked against her.

Written by Leslie Arden and the late Cathy Elliott, with Anna Theresa Cascio, Moll is a complex, catchy, and consummately professional show that I hope will have a life outside of Randolph. Even if not, like #metoo, it reminds us of the importance of listening to women’s voices in the here and now.

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Review: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee (LowDown Theatre Company)

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee posterToronto’s LowDown Theatre Company presents Wake Up And Smell The Coffee, a play by Eric Bogosian

I see a lot of theatre. And while Toronto offers a diverse fare with something for everyone you seldom come across a show that will enthrall you as LowDown Theatre’s production of Eric Bogosian’s Wake Up and Smell the Coffee at The Assembly Theatre. Continue reading Review: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee (LowDown Theatre Company) →

Preview: The Magic Victrola (Canadian Opera Company)

Like a much, much nicer version of hanging around schoolyards offering kids their first hit for free, our Canadian Opera Company has begun to expand its programs aimed at introducing young people to the wonders of opera early, so that their appreciation for the art form can grow and mature as they do. The Magic Victrola, this year’s specialty offering from the COC, is a magical journey assisted by an old trunk and a record player that a pair of children — Gracie and Sam — find in their grandfather’s attic. As the opera unfolds, not only do they get to hear the music on the old records, but fully-formed and dramatic operatic vignettes spring to life before their delighted eyes. Over the hour, children are introduced to a sort of Greatest Hits of operatic moments (with themes suitable for children, that is) by Bizet, Delibes, Donizetti, Mozart, Offenbach, and Puccini.

To find out what goes into making a piece like this, what to expect and what surprises there might be in store, we spoke to Ashlie Corcoran, the director, and Bruno Roy, who alternates as Papageno (the beloved everyman character from The Magic Flute):

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Preview: In the Heights: In Concert (We Are Here Productions)

Poster for In the Heights: In ConcertToronto artists perform Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical as a benefit for Puerto Rico

Before there was Hamilton, the phenomenally successful hip hop musical that conquered Broadway and much of the English-speaking theatre world, there was In the Heights, playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about a Dominican-American community in New York’s Washington Heights neighbourhood.  Now, a group of Toronto theatre artists is coming together to perform an in-concert version of Miranda’s seminal, semi-autobiographical show  to raise funds for Puerto Rican hurricane relief via The Hispanic Federation.

We asked director Matt Lacas (Corpus Dance) a few questions about the project.

Continue reading Preview: In the Heights: In Concert (We Are Here Productions) →