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birdy… or, how not to disappear – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release



 If you ask anyone who knows me they would tell you, “Birdy? She smiles all the time.”
 

Birdy is afraid she might be crazy. It runs in the family, she thinks. Her grandfather had religious hallucinations. Her father was hospitalized for depression and self-harm. Birdy spends her life worrying—wanting so much to save the world, to help each person she sees. She’s haunted by the fear she’s inherited her family madness and there’s nothing she can do about it. Part memory play, part manifesto of compassion, and part anxiety attack, Karie Richards’ deeply personal solo show BIRDY… OR, HOW NOT TO DISAPPEAR plays July 2-13 at theHelen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival. Tickets are available via www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062 ext.1, or at the door.
“The play’s honesty and unexpected universality make it powerful, its contrasts make it sad, and its humour make it hopeful.” ~ Plank Vancouver
BIRDY… is a beautiful and unexpectedly funny confessional about keeping your balance, and a near-tragedy suffused with hope. An intimate story of memory, fear, love and loss, and the power of art to save us—from madness.
“Nothing short of stupendous. 5 stars (out of 5).” ~ Winnipeg Free Press
BIRDY…OR, HOW NOT TO DISAPPEAR was created as part of a Playfinding Master Class with Daniel MacIvor at The Banff Centre. Creator/performer Karie Richards (interrogation, Fairly Lucid Productions; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? & Summer and Smoke, Alumnae Theatre) premiered BIRDY at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival in 2012. It went on to great reviews at the 2013 Winnipeg Fringe and Atlantic Fringe Festivals. The production isdirected by highly-acclaimed solo-show performer and director Jeff Culbert (as creator/performer: The Donnelly Sideshow & archy and mehitabel, Ausable Theatre; as director: 2012 Fringe circuit hit Underbelly; Fall Fair & Boat Load; Stars and Hearts).
Karie is donating 5% of the ticket sales from BIRDY… to the Yonge Street Mission, an organization which reaches out to meet the needs of people living with poverty in Toronto with programs that have made a positive difference in the lives of families, seniors, socially isolated adults, street-involved youth and children growing up in low-income communities.
Full Media Kit is available here.
SHOW INFO for BIRDY…OR, HOW NOT TO DISAPPEAR:

Venue: Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79 A St. George Street, Toronto.

Dates & Times:
Thu, July 3 @ 8:45pm 
Sat, July 5 @ 1:45pm  
Mon, July 7 @ 9:00pm
Wed, July 9 @ 4:00pm
Fri, July 11 @ 11:00pm
Sat, July 12 @ 5:15pm
Sun, July 13 @ 12:00pm

Tickets:

$10 at the door (cash only) or $12 in advance (Visa or MasterCard, service charge included) Beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door. Show running time is 50 minutes.    **Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating**

Think Bigg – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release
Trent Arterberry & FringeKids!
present the Toronto Debut
of
 “A perfect children’s performer…
He can have kids in awe one moment,
and then suddenly reduce them to
fits of giggles with a single glance.”
– Mooney On Theatre
 
“Proven crowd-pleaser” Trent Arterberry brings his globe-trotting, world-class comedy THINK BIGG, to Toronto audiences for the first time in a BIGG way. Combining mime, storytelling and puppetry to create a series of kid-friendly stories and characters, THINK BIGG is hilarious physical theatre with thoughtful, inspiring reflections on the importance of learning and the power of the imagination. It’s happening at FringeKids! July 2-13 at the Palmerston Theatre. Tickets are available beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door.
For over three decades Trent Arterberry has been delighting the young and young-at-heart with his multi-media mime and merriment. THINK BIGG’s medley of comedy, music, Roboman, and Mr. Bigg, a 3 ft. “mini-me” who grooves to rap and Russian folk tunes alike, will prove why Arterberry has earned such honours as Performing Artist of the Year (US National Association of Campus Activities) and Best Local Performer (Victoria Fringe Festival).
“Arterberry’s genius is… two-fold – storytelling that doesn’t patronize and the agility to make it vastly entertaining.” – Monday Magazine, BC
Trained with performance masters such as Marcel Marceau, Arterberry has gone on to earn rave reviews and distinctions for his work around the world. He’s performed everywhere – from Radio City Music Hall to underwater! – and Arterberry now returns to his first love – performing for children. His ability to vividly illustrate the universality of the elemental language of gesture is a lesson he’s shared at thousands of schools throughout the Atlantic Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Mexico, Far East, and beyond. Lucky for us, he’s bringing it back to Toronto!
“Arterberry is funny without being cute, and like a cartoonist his lines of gesture and movement are broad but precise and speedy as a whiplash.” – Boston Globe, MA

Venue: Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave, Toronto

Dates & Times:
Thu. July 3 @ 1:00pm
Fri. July 4 @ 4:00pm
Sun. July 6 @ 11:00am
Tue. July 8 @ 12:30pm
Wed. July 9 @ 4:00pm
Thu. July 10 @ 6:30pm
Fri. July 11 @ 5:30pm
Sun. July 13 @ 12:00pm

Tickets:
$5 for kids 12 and under
$10 for adults at the door (cash only) or $12 in advance (Visa or MasterCard, service charge included)
Beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door.
Show running time is 45 minutes.    **Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating**

The Common Ground – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release
Phenomenon Theatrix & The Toronto Fringe Festival present

4 teens. 2 queer parents. 1 musical dissertation. Playwright, director, and performer Dr. Ken McNeilly has turned 4 years and 400 pages of doctoral research into a brand new one-hour musical featured at the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival, running July 2-13 at the Randolph Theatre. Tickets are available beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416.966.1062 (ext.1), or at the door. THE COMMON GROUND: You’ll love it so much, you’ll wish you had gay parents, too!

A clever hybrid of theatre and thesis, this witty and heartfelt musical comedy follows four teens that reveal their families’ histories while exploring the advantages, pressures, and quirks of growing up in a queer-led family. Using verbatim quotes merged seamlessly with songs composed by the original researcher, THE COMMON GROUND is finally giving voice to a generation of young Canadian adults who have grown up often defined by their parents’ LGBTQ identities.

“It’s true, who knew? They’re good parents, too. Those gays and those lesbians know what to do!  They seem to excel at whatever they try, so what’s with the great hue and cry?” – Lyrics from “The Lit Review Smackdown”

Upon completion of his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 2012, Ken McNeilly knew his 400-page dissertation was filled with rich stories that were calling out for life beyond the dusty shelves of an academic library. Identifying as a gay male with aspirations of becoming a parent himself, Ken is working closely with one of his “queerspawn” interviewees, Sadie Epstein-Fine, who is also the show’s production manager and choreographer. This creative duo is excited to expose some hilarious, provocative, and profound truths through these research-inspired stories that promise to leave audience members with an appreciation of THE COMMON GROUND that unites us all.

Bringing these genuine tales to the stage are playwright/director/performer Ken McNeilly (A Bedfull of Foreigners & City of Angels, Pinnacle Playhouse; The Mousetrap, Lower Ossington Theatre), veteran singer/songwriter/actor Suzanne McKenney (It’s All About You, Trailrunner Productions; HGTV’s Toolbox Challenge), Julia Gartha (Finalist in CBC’s Over the Rainbow), Fiona Sauder (Enough, Bad Hats Theatre Company; The Country Wife, George Brown College), Ben Chiasson (Rent, Etobicoke School of the Arts), and Tegan Macfarlane (Muse, Little Black Afro). The show is stage managed by Brenda Duran with set/costume designs by Luke Pieroni and graphic designs by Moe Waqas.

Phenomenon Theatrix is a grassroots Toronto-based theatre company dedicated to the production of research-informed shows that are both entertaining and accessible.  THE COMMON GROUND is the company’s inaugural production.

Show Information for THE COMMON GROUND A Musical Dissertation
Venue: Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street, Toronto

Dates & Times:
Wed July 2 @ 10:30pm
Sat July 5 @ 11:00pm
Mon July 7 @ 4:45pm
Wed July 9 @ 8:45pm
Thurs July 10 @ 1:45pm
Fri July 11 @ 7:30pm
Sun July 13 @ 3:30pm

Tickets:
$10 at the door (cash only) or $12 in advance (Visa or MasterCard, service charge included)
Beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door.
Show running time is 60 minutes.    **Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating**

Radical – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release
Primum non nocere —“Above all, do no harm.”
Renowned Canadian oncologist Dr. Vera Peters set the medical world against her by offering women a choice when it came to how their bodies were treated for breast cancer. Dr. Charles Hayter’s new play RADICAL examines Peters’ crucial struggle to persuade her patients and the medical community at large that mastectomies did not guarantee miracles, and that there was another way. RADICAL plays at the Tarragon Theatre MainSpace as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival. Tickets are available via www.fringetoronto.com,
by phone at 416-966-1062 ext. 1, or at the door.

Set in Princess Margaret Hospital in 1972, we meet Peters as she treats a tough-minded patient who refuses to get a radical mastectomy, a profoundly invasive and disfiguring procedure, and the only available treatment for breast cancer at the time. That chance encounter—and the fight it inspires—leads Peters to a discovery that will ultimately change the face of cancer treatment in Canada.

Making its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival, RADICAL traces Peters’ remarkable journey from acclaimed researcher to medical activist, as she wrestles with memories of her own mother’s battle with cancer, and seeks to humanize a medical system that trivialized and dismissed the perspectives of women. Ultimately for Peters, the fight with cancer became one she faced in her own body as well as those of her patients.

Dr. Peters’ great contribution was allowing the voices of cancer sufferers to be heard. This is still a struggle today, even more so with the complexity of medical technology—and as a result her story resonates with anyone whose life has been touched by this terrible disease.

RADICAL features stage and screen actor Jane Smythe (Society of Skeptics, Theatre Smash; Paranormal Witness, Syfy/Cream Productions) as Vera, along with Sheila Russell (Rabbit Hole, Alumnae Theatre; Over the River and Through the Woods, Eastside Players), Susan Q Wilson (Ways to Kill Ethyl, Toronto Fringe 2012; After Mrs. Rochester, Alumnae Theatre), Jerrold Karch (Sunshine Boys, Encore Entertainment; Second City Touring Company), and  Jeff Yung (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare BASH’d; The Story,Theatre Columbus).

Playwright Charles Hayter is a practicing oncologist in Toronto, dividing his time between medicine and playwriting. His solo show Lady in Waiting (dramaturged by Judith Thompson) won the award for Best Writing at the Fresh Fruit Festival in NYC in 2008. Hayter’s last full length play Eldorado Town had its world premiere at the 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook.  Joining Hayter on this production of RADICAL are well-known dramaturge Molly Thom, resident director of Shoestring Opera, and director Edward Chua, Director of Operations at Young People’s Theatre.

On average, 65 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every day. 14 more will die from the disease. ~ Canadian Cancer Society

SHOW INFO for RADICAL:
Venue: Tarragon Theatre MainSpace, 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto.

Dates & Times:
Fri, July 4 @ 10:30pm
Sat, July 5 @ 9:15pm
Sun, July 6 @ 7:00pm
Wed, July 9 @ 2:15 pm
Fri, July 11 @ 3:30pm
Sat, July 12 @ 8:00pm
Sun, July 13 @ 1:45pm

Tickets:
$10 at the door (cash only) or $12 in advance (Visa or MasterCard, service charge included)
Beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door.
Show running time is 50 minutes.    **Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating**

Confessions of an Operatic Mute – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

Excerpted from Press Release

Confessions of an Operatic Mute traces the path Briane Nasimok took from from his first visit to the O’Keefe Centre when he was 8 years old and vowing to get on that stage, to an anything but stellar public school performing career with roles ranging from A Boy to Policeman Number Two.

Appearing in a college revue that was so bad it closed during dress rehearsal he was “discovered” and offered a chance to join the Canadian Opera Company as a non-singing extra performer.  Although Briane’s knowledge of opera had been limited to Warner Brothers cartoons, he knew this would be his only chance to get on the O’Keefe stage a place that he had been yearning to reach for 13 years.

This turned into a career that allowed him to tour North America and after 287 performances he declared himself Canada’s Foremost Operatic Mute.

Briane also shares his personal stories of being bullied in childhood for being fat – and how that helped create the wit that later found him on stage at Yuk Yuks and appearing on Evening at the Improv with Howie Mandel and Jim Carrey. Mixed in is the story of his touching relationship with his father, a divorce lawyer in the 60’s, and the special relationship with his older sister Karen who got him to perform comedy routines at age 8.

Confessions, which previewed at the SouloTheatre Festivals in Toronto last May and in Totnes, England last July, is being remounted and improved by Dora Award winning director by Peter Moss – petermoss.ca

“Briane is a natural and powerful storyteller… veering into comedic mayhem”
R. Stephen, Windsor Square

Performance Dates
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 – 8:45pm
Friday, July 4, 2014 – 10:30pm
Saturday, July 5, 2014 – 1:45pm
Sunday, July 6, 2014 – 3:00pm
Monday, July 7, 2014 – 8:30pm
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 – 5:45pm
Saturday, July 12, 2014 – 12:30pm 

Venue
George Ignatief Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place. (Near Bloor and St. George.)

Ticketing
Tickets are $10 (cash-only) at the door, $12 in advance. Advance tickets may be purchased online (visa/amex), or from the Fringe Club box office (cash/visa/amex), located in Honest Ed’s Alley during the festival. Money-saving passes are also available; see website for details.

Be advised that there is absolutely no latecomer seating at Fringe shows.