Waiting for Alonzo — Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“Waiting for Alonzo is an outrageous comedy for anyone who sometimes forgets to recycle, and offers a feminist take on surreal forms of theatre.”

Waiting for Alonzo - Courtney Mulligan

Excerpted from press release:
Doctor Zanita is waiting. Surrounded by a menagerie of marvellous machines, a handsome talking statue and her faithful assistant Bielke, this mad scientist is aimlessly drifting through space – on a mission. But after six hundred days, two thousand coats of lipstick, and countless re-ordinated matrixes, time is running out. Will this mad scientist and her igor be Waiting for Alonzo forever? This
surreal satire is brimming with bizarre behaviour and seasoned with the tears of the unrepentant patriarch.
To reduce the environmental impact of our production, we’re creating our set and costumes from reused or recycled items. And we want our audience to join in! Audience members are invited to bring their old or expired makeup and beauty products to the theatre so that we can recycle them – we’ll be collecting them right after the show.
Waiting for Alonzo is an outrageous comedy for anyone who sometimes forgets to recycle, and offers a feminist take on surreal forms of theatre. Come for the pulchritudinator, the spaceship or the physical comedy, and stay for the infamous vajazzling scene. The script was developed through the Paprika Festival’s Playwrights-in-Residence program under the mentorship of Erica Kopyto.
Showtimes: 
  • July 3rd @ 5:45pm
  • July 4th @ 8:00pm
  • July 5th @ 1:45pm
  • July 6th @ 3:00pm
  • July 9th @ 4:00pm
  • July 10th @ 7:30pm
  • July 11th @ 5:45pm

Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace (16 Ryerson Ave.)

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo by Courtney Mulligan

Announcement: 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners (With Links to MoT Reviews)

Doras_2015Aluna’s Blood Wedding & Canadian Opera Company’s Falstaff win big at 36th Dora Awards

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards ceremony is the Toronto theatre community’s big night out to celebrate its own. This year the ceremony was hosted by comedian Gavin Crawford, who kept the pace swift and generally killed it with his material, injecting his wry observations throughout the proceedings. His opening musical song and dance number as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was a riot.

Continue reading Announcement: 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners (With Links to MoT Reviews) →

Mixed Chick — Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“What does it mean to be your own cultural mosaic?”
coko_galore_performer_writer_producer

Excerpt from press release:

We’ve all asked ourselves the question who am I?  This question for Coko Galore has always had a different meaning.  She is African.  She is Asian.  She is not Black enough.  She’s not Asian enough.  She knows what she sees in the mirror every morning – but we don’t see what she sees.  Is it our prejudices, our apathy,  our fear that are making her question who she is, or is it simply that – even in the most multicultural city in the world – we simply do not understand what it means to be biracial? Coko guides us through her journey of self discovery and acceptance with humour, dance and, yes, inevitable hair trauma.

This one-woman show is written and performed by Coko Galore. Coko Galore produces and performs in several comedy shows in Toronto including The Second City Training Centre’s Longform Thursdays, the charity show Random Acts of Kindness (for ACT Toronto), the web series Jay & Cokes and the improv show Coko & Daphney’s 212.

Mixed Chick is directed by Second City Toronto alumna Leslie Seiler.   Leslie Seiler has won multiple Canadian Comedy Awards including Live/Best One Person Show.  She is also known for her work on Comedy Inc. (2002), Twitches Too (2007) and 24 Hour Rental (2014). Leslie recently directed The Naughty Listers and Big Bad Wolf VS. Lord Underwearface Von Schtinker for Second City as well as Apathy Loves Company a Second City Training Centre Conservatory show.

What does it mean to be your own cultural mosaic?  Come watch Mixed Chick and find out!

Showtimes:

July 2, 10:30pm
July 4, 8:45pm
July 6, 3:00pm
July 7, 8:15pm
July 9, 9:15pm
July 10, 2:15pm
July 12, 3:30pm

Venue: Factory Theatre Studio (125 Bathurst Street at Adelaide)

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo of Coko Galore by Hannah Donegan.

Corral Blue Can’t Dance! – Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“CORRAL BLUE CAN’T DANCE! …But she can do A LOT!“

AmyZuch_CorralBlue

Excerpt from press release:

Off Model Studios presents a clubhouse style experience for comedy fans of all ages with sketches, songs, puppets and multimedia. Corral uses a tablet and projector to draw cartoons live and is joined by a cast of strong comedic and musical talent. A fun, unpredictable story about expressing creativity that includes a robot, a bigfoot, cowboys, and a BIG dance party!

This new play is a part of larger project to bring Corral Blue to the world! Storybooks, videos and an album are in the works, and Corral’s universe is rounded out with a fun cast of six cartoon characters. Off Model Studios is multidisciplinary company and is a reflection of Amy Zuch’s skills as both a professional animator and comedian. The show was developed out of “Corral’s Corral- A Kid’s Show for Adults!” that ran monthly at the Social Capital Theatre. Now with the same absurd humour that adults enjoy, but 100% appropriate for children!

Corral Blue Can’t Dance is created and directed by Amy Zuch, whose Toronto Fringe solo show “Key to Key” was rated 4 stars and featured by Eye Magazine. She performs along with Devon Hyland (current Second City Touring Company member, “Dale Beaner and Turtle Boy”) Caleigh LeGrand (“This Is The Worst” Musical Improv, Quinte Ballet School) Puppeteer Kathryn Landon and Musical Director Kevin Henkel (whose samples have been used by top artists including rapper T.I.)

This is a visual and musical spectacle not to be missed!

Showtimes:
Wednesday, July 1, 2:45pm
Friday, July 3, 5:00pm
Sunday, July 5, 4:45pm
Tuesday, July 7, 3:00pm
Wednesday, July 8, 5:00pm
Fri, July 10, 3:00pm
Saturday, July 11, 3:15pm

Venue:  George Ignatieff Theatre (15 Devonshire Place)

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. This production offers $5 tickets for children. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo of Amy Zuch by “Raw Photography” and Amy Zuch.

Review: The Night Dances (Luminato Festival)

the night dances

The Night Dances paired Sylvia Plath’s poetry with live cello music as part of Toronto’s Luminato Festival

Charlotte Rampling’s staged recitation of Sylvia Plath’s poetry in The Night Dances, a part of the Luminato Festival’s 7 Monologues program, is a kind of performance that I don’t often see anymore. With her arresting stage presence and iconic husky voice, Rampling’s delivery seemed to have come straight out of classic Hollywood or an old British concert hall. Perfectly complimented by director/cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton’s vibrant interpretations of select Benjamin Britten movements from Suites No. 2 and 3 for solo cello, The Night Dances – while not flawless – still had me mostly riveted.

Continue reading Review: The Night Dances (Luminato Festival) →