The Gay Heritage Project engages Toronto audiences, on stage at Buddies in Bad Times
As a gay in my early 40s who has been out for 25 years now, I have begun to notice that my primary affinities are not necessarily with other people of my chronological age, but people who are the same queer age. I came out in the era of ACT UP and Queer Nation, chained myself to buildings and sat in on major thoroughfares; I remember television without a single LGBTQ-identified character and life before Gay/Straight Alliances were a thing.
As a piece, The Gay Heritage Project at Buddies In Bad Times moved me particularly and profoundly in part because I remember – I remember when coming out necessarily meant joining a multi-generational community; I remember when we danced all night and went right to direct actions still smelling like the club and the home fries of afterwards. I am not sure that my memories are what made me love this show so wholeheartedly, though.
Blood Wild is produced by Rabbit in a Hat Productions from Montreal, which kind of sucks for their opening night at the Next Stage Theatre Festival. If you’re a Toronto company your family and friends come to your opening so you have a nice sized audience. The audience tonight was sparse which was a shame because it’s a very funny show. I wasn’t the only person snickering at the death scene.
Cirque du Soleil brings its Avatar prequel arena show TORUK — The First Flight to Toronto
Do you remember Avatar? The blockbuster 2009 James Cameron movie featured Sigourney Weaver, a bunch of blue aliens (the “Na’vi”) and a beat-you-over-the-head environmental message. For its latest venture, TORUK – The First Flight, Cirque du Soleil has created a “live experience,” specifically designed for arenas, that takes place in the universe that Cameron created for the film. This is the first time the company has based a show on a pre-existing film property and the results are … interesting. Continue reading Review: TORUK — The First Flight (Cirque du Soleil)→
Aim for the Tangent’s Heart of Steel is a sort of Canadian fable. A young woman who has never seen anything that wasn’t Cape Breton; a destitute family; a war in Europe; and the world’s largest steel plant, suddenly desperate for women to fill a shortage of men. All song and dance and screwball comedy, Heart of Steel explores this unique period in Canadian history, and the experiences of the women who took to the mills. Continue reading 2016 Next Stage Theatre Festival Review: Heart of Steel (Aim for the Tangent)→
