I generally go to Soulpepper openings alone but I was out of town when A Christmas Carol opened, so I had the pleasure of getting to bring my mother to an everyday evening performance of the biennial remount. I like to talk, in case you haven’t noticed, so I relish getting to explain things like how […]
When they say Giselle is “the ballerina’s Hamlet”, there are lots of reasons that’s true (it’s a challenging, possibly infuriating title role that’s as self indulgent as it is beautiful) but part of it’s got to be the simple fact of name recognition. Other than roles made famous by another medium (Sleeping Beauty, Juliet, Carmen, […]
I went into Soulpepper’s recent production of Endgame hoping for the best. They’re my favourite company in the world and have managed to turn me around on more than a few texts I was sure were overrated until I saw them tackled by the flawless acting company at Soulpepper. The folks down at The Young […]
The Canadian Opera Company had an interesting fall with two repertory productions that had little in common beyond being of about the same quality. Both Il Trovatore and Die Fledermaus had the stunning design work and professional overall calibre that is to be expected from the COC, but they were both about average when it […]
My dad does this thing that drives me crazy. I mean, my dad does countless things that drive me crazy, but this one drives me particularly crazy. Every time I ask him to see one of Shakespeare’s oft-produced masterpieces- like Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, or King Lear– he says “I’ve seen it already”. Cue my […]
The stage adaptation of David Sedaris’ first person account of elf life at Macy’s is as smartly sarcastic and belly-shakingly funny as you’d expect from the famous essayist, but what struck me most is how not-so-dark the heart of his dark comedy is. I would even go all the way to sweet. Insofar as a […]
15 AUGUST 2012- I am about to watch a show directed by my favourite Canadian playwright (Morris Panych). The set is fascinating to me. I love absurdist drama, and the designer (Ken MacDonald) has made appropriately bold choices with this fantastical set that feels like an even larger than life version of a cute doll house. The […]
SpeakEasy, you never disappoint. After a short hiatus from reviewing their shows, I’m back and more impressed than ever. While the production has some minor issues (I call them minor because they were vastly overwhelmed by the good), the production rocks. Yes, we’ve hit the era of rock musicals, which take a seemingly mundane topic […]