Amusement and Redheaded Step Child – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

A NOBODY’S BUSINESS THEATRE DOUBLE-BILL OF HITS!

Fringe favourites celebrate their 10th anniversary with two remounts

 Following their immense success at the Next Stage Theatre Festival this January with ScheherazadeNobody’s Business Theatre return to the Fringe stage.  Co-artistic producers Morgan Norwich and Johnnie Walker have charmed Fringe audiences for a decade with their bold, weird, and hilarious new plays, and they are thrilled to celebrate their 10 years of collaboration by remounting two of their biggest hits, Amusement and Redheaded Stepchild, at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival.

In Amusement, Norwich and Walker play Rose and Sebastian, two friends seeking their fortune at a certain Orlando amusement park. They soon become embroiled in a series of conspiracies, hijinks, and musical numbers, thanks to the interference of a quirky cast of characters including a mean teen queen, nonagenarian costume mistress, and talking smell machine. Discover a whole new world of secrets at the happiest place on earth, in this darkly comic fairy tale for grownups.  Amusement is directed byTom Arthur Davis, whose Fringe credits include Elizabeth and Darcy (2013, Outstanding Direction – NOW Magazine) andMahmoud (2012, Best of Fringe & Patron’s Pick).  Amusement premiered last summer at the Edmonton Fringe Festival to sold out houses and glowing reviews.

Praise for Amusement

★★★★… Resplendent… a breath of fresh Fringe air.” VUE Weekly

★★★★… Walker and Norwich are an appealing pair, with classic showbiz caper chemistry.” Edmonton Journal

“Devilishly funny… high-speed, hip, and hilarious.” Edmonton Sun

In Redheaded Stepchild, directed by Norwich, playwright and performer Walker shares the hilarious and heartbreaking story of Nicholas, a 12-year-old with redhair whose dad just remarried, making him a redheaded stepchild. Literally. And tomorrow at lunch, the biggest boy in grade six plans to beat him up. Walker plays Nicholas; his ex‐Jehovah’s witness golf-pro step mom, Mary-Anne; and his fabulous alter ego and imaginary friend, Rufus Vermilion.  Walker was awarded the Steam Whistle Emerging Artist Award for Redheaded Stepchild when it premiered at the Summerworks Festival in 2010.  The play has since toured across North America to festivals in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria and New York City, playing to sold out houses.  This July Redheaded Stepchild travels to Halifax as part of the Queer Acts Festival.

Praise for Redheaded Stepchild

★★★★★ … Laugh-out-loud funny…Walker is a deft performer with brilliant comedic timing and an excellent writer.” Uptown Magazine

★★★★1/2… Insightful, funny, uncannily performed… A big, flaming winner.” Edmonton Journal

★★★★★… An hour-long virtuoso display of storytelling.” The Calgary Herald

A Toronto indie theatre institution, founded in 2004 by Johnnie Walker and Morgan Norwich, Nobody’s Business Theatre is a critically acclaimed company of young artists dedicated to the creation and production of new work that is exciting, accessible to all communities, and completely hilarious.

Nobody’s Business Theatre

In association with the Toronto Fringe Festival
Amusement & Redheaded Stepchild
written by Johnnie Walker
performed by Morgan Norwich and Johnnie Walker
directed by Morgan Norwich (Redheaded Stepchild) and Tom Arthur Davis (Amusement)

July 2-13, 2014
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79 St. George St on the U of T Campus

 

Performances:

Wednesday July 2, 6:30pm – Amusement
Friday July 4, 8:45pm – Amusement
Saturday July 5, 11:00pm – Amusement
Sunday July 6, 7:15pm – Redheaded Stepchild
Wednesday July 9, 12:00pm – Amusement
Thursday July 10, 4:15pm – Redheaded Stepchild
Friday July 11, 1:45pm – Redheaded Stepchild 

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.


Tickets: $10

On sale June 12, 2014
Online: fringetoronto.com.
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).

For more information please visit www.nobodybusiness.ca

Hey ‘90s Kids, You’re Old – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

POWER RANGERS, TAMAGOTCHIS, AND BEANIE BABIES TAKE THE STAGE AT TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL

Do you remember the Midnight Society, TGIF, and dial-up Internet? What about scrunchies, slap bracelets, and Pogs?  If you can relate, you’re one of the millions of young adults who fondly remembers the ’90s. And it might make you feel a bit old.

Taryn Parrish, writer for HelloGiggles.com, is excited to announce the debut of her ’90s nostalgia sketch comedy show, Hey ’90s Kids, You’re Old at the Toronto Fringe Festival (July 2-13 2014).

The twist is, the show isn’t set in the ’90s. “As glorious as they were, we don’t need to go back,” says Parrish, 25. “Instead, we are bringing ’90s pop culture into the present. What are the kids from the Magic School Bus up to? What if you ditched your iPod for your CD player? Where is Waldo, anyways?”

The show is inspired by the recent popularity of ’90s nostalgia, especially online. A simple Internet search reveals hundreds of lists with titles like, “You’re a ’90s kid if…” and “50 Best Moments in a ’90s Kid’s Life.” The comment sections are, of course, full of complaints about “feeling old.”

“We’re not old, obviously,” says Parrish, “but we’re the last generation to have experienced a childhood free of the Internet, cell phones, and social media. We played outside, went to libraries and video rental stores, and used landlines. We feel old because so much has changed in so little time. What would our favourite ’90s characters be like if they had to grow up, like we did?”

Taryn Parrish
In association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents
Hey ‘90s Kids, You’re Old
Written & Directed by Taryn Parrish
Starring  Samantha Adams, Alan Bee, Brian Jansen, Isabel Kanaan, Sundance Nagrial, and Alexander Steele Zonjic
Stage managed by Thomas Orwen-Goldhar & Alexandrea McGillis

Opens JULY 4-JULY13
St. Vladimir’s Theatre 620 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5S

Performances:

July 4, 9:15PM
July 5, 4:00PM
July 7, 6:30PM
July 9, 11:15PM
July 10, 9:15PM
July 11, 12:30PM
July 13, 1:00PM

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.

Tickets:
Available for purchase June 16th
Purchase online: fringetoronto.com
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St. W)

Tarrare: A Story of Hunger – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

Suspicious Moustache Theatre & the Toronto Fringe Festival present
Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, Liam Volke’s TARRARE: A STORY OF HUNGER recounts the real life exploits of France’s most notorious glutton. Freak, Lover, Soldier, Spy: TARRARE runs the gamut from whimsical to macabre at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace July 2-13th as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Tickets are available beginning June 12 via www.fringetoronto.com by telephone at 416-966-1062(ext.1), or at the door.

TARRARE’s real name and precise diagnosis remain a mystery but medical records and urban legend have given inspiration to Suspicious Moustache Theatre’s newest Fringe freak show about a man whose appetite and adventures are so fantastical one might almost disbelieve they are lifted from the history books. TARRARE’s insatiable appetite (including cats, stones, and corpses) stalks him from the streets to the sideshow, from the army to behind enemy lines, and finally, to the hospital.  An hour with TARRARE promises to be an astonishing story of love, hunger and shame that feeds our appetite for the extraordinary and grotesque.

“The weirdest thing at the Fringe” – Culture Vulture Victoria

After garnering much praise (“A nifty and nasty piece of work by some talented up’n’comers” – The Visitorium) and Pick-of-the-Fringe Best Family show (Victoria Fringe Festival 2011) for their earlier play, Struwwelpeter, Suspicious Moustache bring their latest Tim-Burton-esque world of weird to the Toronto Fringe Festival. TARRARE’s creative team includes director Darcy Stoop (Struwwelpeter, Suspicious Moustache; Scheherazade, Nobody’s Business; The Homemaker, Convection Productions), designer Cat Haywood (NOW magazine’s Outstanding design award for Life of Jude, SummerWorks 2013; nominated for Best Costume Design for Twelfth Night, Phoenix UVic) and playwright/actor Liam Volke(nominated for My Theatre Award for Best Actor for Bent, Hart House). Joining in the macabre madness are John Fray (nominated for My Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor forTurtleneck, safeword), Scott Clarkson (The Tim Drum, UnSpun; We Are the Bomb, Brouhaha;The Making Of, Modern Underground), Kristoffer Pedlar (Prayers for the New World, Glasswater; Yellowface, Fu-Gen; Empire of the Magic Beansalks, Vampire Frog), and Cydney Penner (Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, Hart House; The Washing Machine, Red Betty; Antigone, Soup Can). Given this creative team’s track record of award-winning weird, you may find yourself like TARRARE – hungry for more!

Suspicious Moustache Theatre Company was founded in 2011 in Victoria, BC, by directorDarcy Stoop, designer Cat Haywood and playwright/actor Liam Volke. They create original plays which explore the dark and whimsical side of the human experience. The company relocated to Toronto in 2013.

Full Media kit is available HERE.
Show Information for TARRARE A Story of Hunger:
Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Ave, TorontoDates & Times:
Fri. July 4 @ 1:45pm
Sun. July 6 @ 7:00pm
Mon. July 7 @ 4:45pm
Tue. July 8 @ 2:45pm
Thu. July 10 @ 11:30pm
Fri. July 11 @ 9:45pm
Sun. July 13 @ 4:30pm

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**

Watching Seana McKenna Watch Paint Dry – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

The LACTORS’ Studio and the Toronto Fringe Festival present
Part Waiting For Godot, part Title of Show, with a splash of Twelve Angry Men, WATCHING SEANA McKENNA WATCH PAINT DRY asks the big dramatic questions: what is art? What is life? What is the nexus between them? And what’s that woman on stage doing, anyway?Starring eleven real lawyers (and a faux Seana McKenna**), it’s a hilarious slice of comedic metatheatre.  WATCHING SEANA McKENNA WATCH PAINT DRY plays at the George Ignatieff Theatre 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 Premise: One of the most widely-acclaimed and best-loved actors of our time stars in a play that is rocking the theatrical world. The reviewers have called it “spectacular”, “thought-provoking”, “moving” and “deep”. It plays to sold out houses every night. But! Is it really such amagnum opus? Or does the empress onstage have no clothes? Two friends attend a performance, and fall into a heated debate. Soon the whole onstage audience is drawn into the fray: tempers flare, insults are hurled, and all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile, the show goes on, and the performance continues – even after the paint has dried.Written by practising lawyer Peter Hamiwka and novelist/writer/retired lawyer Diane Baker Mason, with much creative input from the Company, WATCHING SEANA McKENNA WATCH PAINT DRY will change the way you look at theatre (and maybe at lawyers too). Directed by lawyer Llana Nakonechny. Stage managed by cat-herding non-lawyer Aline Madian.

** Presented with the gracious permission of the real Seana McKenna,
who asks to know only one thing: 

“What colour is the paint?”
All proceeds going to Lawyers Feed The Hungry www.lawyersfeedthehungry.ca.
Full Media kit is available HERE.

Show Information for WATCHING SEANA McKENNA WATCH PAINT DRY:
Venue:  George Ignatieff Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place, Toronto.

Dates & Times:
Fri, July 4 @ 8:45pm
Sat, July 5 @ 5:15pm
Mon, July 7 @ 6:45pm
Tue, July 8 @ 10:30pm
Thu, July 10 @ 4:00pm
Fri, July 11 @ 11:30pm
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 60 minutes.    **Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating**

TRUE – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

From Press Release

Criminal Theatre in association with Aluna Theatre and the Toronto Fringe Festival Presents TRUE by Rosa Labordé

Citizenry Café 982 Queen Street West

July 2-12

Starring: Layne Coleman, Shannon Taylor, Ingrid Doucet, Sabrina Grdevich and Scott McCord

Lights: Trevor Schwellnus Sound: Thomas Ryder-Payne Costumes: Lindsay Walker

Directed by: Rosa Labordé

Criminal Theatre is launching this summer with an exciting new play. In a gorgeous and intimate venue True takes you into the storefront lives of three sisters who are hurled back in time with the unexpected arrival of their estranged father. Inspired by the café where the play is set, King Lear, Ikebana flower arranging, memory loss, quantum multi-verse theory and piano prodigies, the play is a playful, poignant and piercing look into the nature of memory and how it relates to our present. 

True is written and directed by award-winning playwright Rosa Labordé(Leo, Hush, Like Wolves) whose return to the Fringe as a playwright marks her first since her comedic hit Sugar. She was last seen as a director on the festival circuit with her acclaimed production of Sarah Ruhl’s Melancholy PlayTrue stars an exceptional ensemble of actors; Layne Coleman (Goodness, The Walls of Africa, Heaven Above, Heaven Below), Shannon Taylor (The Road To Mecca, The Jones Boy, Pride and Prejudice), Ingrid Doucet (Where’s my Money, Melancholy Play, The Happy Woman), Scott McCord (Jump, Hotel Loopy, Naked Hamilton, The Eleventh Hour) and a return to the stage for Sabrina Grdevich (Old Man’s Band, Hamlet, Slings and Arrows, Intelligence).

Criminal Theatre is a new development company committed to supporting writers and creators as they cultivate their original voice. The company’s development strategy will always cater to exactly what the individual artist needs to express his/her vision. Founded in 2012 by Rosa Laborde and Scott McCord, True is their inaugural workshop production.

True runs July 2nd to July 12th, 2014

Citizenry, 982 Queen Street West

Performances:

July 2nd, 8:30pm                     July 8th, 8:30pm

July 3rd, 8:30pm                      July 9th, 8:30pm

July 4th, 8:30pm                      July 10th, 8:30pm

July 5th, 8:30pm                      July 11th, 8:30pm

July 6th, 8:30pm                      July 12th, 8:30pm

Please note that there is no latecomer seating and at only thirty seats per show, seating is limited.


Tickets:

Tickets will be on sale as of June 12th/2014 and you can book them here:

http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/tickets-and-passes/

By Phone: 416-966-1062

In Person: During the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s 581 Bloor Street West