Rich and enticing voices pair with stunning and complex instrumentals in Canadian Opera Company’s Peter Grimes playing at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre
Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten opens in what appears to be a high school auditorium. The auditorium is being used to conduct an inquest into the death of a young boy. Peter Grimes is the only suspect. The second production of the Canadian Opera Company‘s (COC) current season was written in 1945, and is based on the “Peter Grimes” section of a collection of poems entitled The Borough by George Crabbe.
A sexy cat and mouse chase takes the stage in Venus in Fur playing at Toronto’s Bluma Appel Theatre
Auditions can never be looked at the same way again after watching the intense power struggle between actors Rick Miller and Carly Street in the Canadian Stage production, Venus in Fur.
The moment when Vanda (played by Street) stumbled in late for her audition, she commanded the stage with her exotic look and fiery personality. She convinced Thomas the playwright/director (Miller) to give her a shot and let her read. Reluctantly, Thomas eventually agreed to listen to the vibrant yet somewhat frantic woman who stood tall in her sexy black leather lingerie and stilettos. I honestly think it would be hard for anyone to say NO to her.
Here is what’s going on in Toronto theatre this week. There are several great shows to catch for the week of October 7th, 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.
The Glass Cage is a family feud filled story playing at Toronto’s Alumnae’s Studio Theatre
The Glass Cage is set in a sitting room in 1906 Toronto and it’s fitting that it is being performed in Alumnae’s Studio Theatre, Edwardian in design. The Glass Cage takes place over an evening when three young siblings of mixed indigenous and Scottish heritage visit their wealthy family’s home to wreak havoc and claim their birthright.
Douglas, Angus and Jean McBane are not initially clear about what they want from their deceased father’s family but a deed and transfer seem to be top priority for everyone.
Strong performances and profound emotion are packed into Canadian Opera Company’s La Boheme playing at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre
Crossing the lobby of the Four Seasons Centre after La Boheme, I saw a couple standing with their young daughter of eight or nine years old. I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to ask her: “Did you like it?” Her parents smiled tolerantly at me (I may not have been the first person to ask) as she nodded and said, reverently “I loved it.”
I did too. And, I would like to add, with a very similar child-like glee. It’s not that often that I attend something to review it and find myself just happy, with my review-brain noticeably silent for long minutes at a time while the lifetime lover of performance in me sighed with pleasure and reached for my sweetheart’s hand. This production of La Boheme made me so happy.
