A fun show for parents and kids, Alligator Pie is playing at Toronto’s Young Centre for the Performing Arts
I’ve been enchanted with Dennis Lee‘s book of poem’s Alligator Pie since I was little. So has my son. That means the performance of poems by Lee that has once again taken the stage at Soulpepper, also called Alligator Pie, has a lot to live up to, for both of us.
And it does.
Max, my four-and-three-quarters year old son, and I loved the singing and romping and make-shift instruments that showcased the well-loved poems in a different light than our usual bedtime recitals. That said, the knowledge of the poems is certainly not a must, because there’s a lot of action on that stage, and it’s a great way to introduce kids to a Canadian icon.
Heaven Above Heaven Below is an intimate conversation playing at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille
Linda Griffiths’ play Heaven Above Heaven Below opened last night at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace. Thirty years ago I saw her one-woman show Maggie and Pierre and I’ve never forgotten it. Not that I remember specific lines but I remember the feel and look of the play.
I think I’ll also remember Heaven Above Heaven Below. I might even remember some of the lines that I particularly loved.
This week’s selections of theatre on a budget are all about lovers’ relationships gone awry. What happens when two people fall out of love, try to rekindle love or simply rediscover who they really are in and out of love. As told through tragedy, comedy, and even dance (with a selection from the good ole’ Bard thrown in for good measure), these stories may prove better than soaps on the tube.
Here is what’s going on in Toronto theatre this week. There are several great shows to catch for the week of November 18th, 2013. ** Shows marked with the double asterisks and in red are the ones that make Wayne, our Managing Editor, wish he could exist in multiple parallel universes so he could check them all out.
Annie is a spectacular family treat just in time for the holidays, playing at Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre
On hand for the first performance of Annie at Young People’s Theatre, my small companion and I filed in between a kindergarten class and a band of gangly Grade 8s and I wondered – is this going to work? Will this production appeal to such a big range of kids? Well, yes.
This production of Annie, clocking in at 80 minutes plus a five-minute curtain speech, is the TYA or Theatre for Young Audiences version – it’s mostly songs: complex subplots are dispensed with. The worrisome abduction of Annie is deleted altogether and replaced by a version in which Mr. Warbucks’ contacts at the FBI discover Rooster and Lily’s ruse before they get anywhere with dear, orphaned Annie. It’s a solid production, just the sort of thing a whole family can safely enjoy together, and quite a nice stepping stone for younger theatre patrons — between kiddie shows and full-length musicals.
