Canstage - Political Mother

What the heck is a modern dance piece doing in this playbill. Perhaps an attempt to weed out subscribers? Some patrons left partway into the work and others escaped promptly when it concluded, even before the curtain call.

The choreography was very creative and ambitious - the skill and fluidity of the dancers was awesome. The story emerged of activism, capture and evading, political prisoners, torture, rape, love and death.

Unfortunately it started to become a little repetitive at parts and I found my attention waning. With the dark light and monotnous tone of the music, I almost nodded off a few times. And this was a matinee performance! At only an hour and 20 minutes, I found myself checking my watch frequentlly after about 40 min.

Did I say I am not a fan of dance - perhaps I am biased. My sister, who is more open to dance, enjoyed the show.

CMA Ontario - Convocation

A record number of CMA Ontario graduates this year - 1,232 !!

I was at the convocation and it was quite the affair. The new graduates were escorted into the room by a large pipe and drum band and we were serenaded by bagpipes for almost a half hour.

The speeches were inspiring, beginning with Merv (CEO), followed by Nigel (Board Chair) and Marni McBean (keynote speaker). The overriding theme was building the confidence within to leverage the skills learned and all three speakers carried this through, linking their remarks nicely. Marni shared her experiences coaching Olympic athletes to excellence, providing some great advice to the new graduates and injecting a wonderful sense of humour. As a three time gold medal winner, she is everything we would expect from an outstanding athlete and generous human being. If you ever have a chance to hear her speak, I strongly recommend you jump for it.

Video Games Live

Another fantastic night for gamers. Our host was determined to prove that video games and it's music are cultural icons. We saw the best of the video games, heard some amazing scores, performed by a fabulous Toronto orchestra and choir.

This was a very interactive show, featuring audience guitar hero prowess and audience participation - screams and shout outs - were strongly encouraged and enthusiasticallly delivered. The shorts in between were hilarious - Chuck Norris vs Angry Birds !

 

Also featured this evening, was an awesome multi-talented vocalist and performer. Known on uTube as FluteLink (think Zelda) she sang opera and pop, as well as other scores, playing flute and some really odd instrunment.

My gamer son and his friend Loved the show. My sometimes gaming daughter also really enjoyed it, particularly the encore from Portal. Stll alive !

Mirvish - Sister Act

Truly wildy enjoyable show. I barely recall the movie version, so can't compare but I found this a thoroughly entertaining show, with lots of laughs, great score, choreography fitting with the times and impressive voices.

Sweaty Eddie was perfectly cast. So lovable and charming, in a very nerdish self-deprecating way, you just want to take him home.

The cast is very solid, with great voices and not shy about using them. The female lead had exactly the right amount of huzpah to be believable, while still embedding sincerity and loyalty in the character, when the going got tough for her friends.

I strongly recommend you go see this show. One of the people in my party was even contemplating going again !

Theatre 20 - Bloodless - the Trial of Burke and Hare

A musical, dark, somewhat comedy about a real life quartet of murderers, set in old Scotland, in the days when the only corpses available to medical schools were those from executed criminals. An underground industry developed in robbing graves and some medical schools turned a blind eye, only weakly questioning the origin of the corpses.

Burke and Hare stumbled upon the opportunity to make money off vagrants and loners, who passed away in Hare's rooming house, rather quickly progressing from taking advantage of an unclaimed body, to aiding someone close to death out of their misery to ultimately just targeting those who were alone and unfortunate enough to cross their path. Husband and wives colluded in luring their prey and incapacitating them so they could sufocate them, reserving a good specimen, free of trauma, for the doctors.

Presenting this in a musical is a very interesting approach to what is a somewhat morbid and sordid topic. However, it is very well handled by Theatre 20, the only artist led musical theatre troupe in Canada. Definitely a very talented group, with some powerful singing voices. While the descent into madness was a little quick, and therefore not quite credible, I suppose it was probably a sign of the times.

My son and I enjoyed the show and I love the Panasonic Theatre. All the seats are pretty good and tickets can be had for as little as $25 so well worth it. You may also want to check out the website for Theatre 20 and see what else is coming up.

Canstage - Tear the Curtain

Wow, what a crazy, interesting and sometimes unfathomable show. Part film noir, part theatre, both incredibly and intricately linked. This was a really fascinating piece to watch unfold. It was fun and challenging, both for the actors and the audience, keeping track of the parallel and overlapping storylines. Spoiler alert - don't read any further if you want to enjoy figuring it out for yourself and then come back later to see if you agree with my interpretation/conclusions.

Parts of this play were quite bizarre and I have to confess that I didn't quite get all of it. Was it descent into madness, some alcohol induced stupor, writers block driving crazy dreams or just plain illusion. I felt that we slowly descended into someone's nightmare, then surfaced rapidly back up into normalcy, like surfacing from a deep dive, gasping for breath.

In the battle between cinema and live theatre, this play had me thinking all the way home and still pondering in the morning when I woke.

What is real, what is the movie and what is the play. I think I got it. Mavis is the clue. In the play she is the secretary, in real life she is his girlfriend. And the movie, well, that part is easy ...

I definitely recommend you see this play from Electric Company. I have never been disappointed by their productions and today was no exception. They push the envelope just enough and this surrealist production is challenging and charming, as are the characters.

YPT - I on the Sky

A very clever presentation following a young woman's torment through flashbacks of her life. Without a spoken word in the entire play, we watch several stories unfold.

A young family, the parents estranged from their daughter and each other, as she tries to bring them together again. The daughter's desire to hang with the bad crowd and their bullying of her when she doesn't conform with their code, when relieving others of their possesions.

A child projidy, an excellent pianist, who has lost her desire to play. Probably after the loss of her family years earlier in the war and of the firing squad her desserter husband faced. Her clothes are worn and tattered, her suitcase old and battered - has she been living homeless on the streest for some time now....

Amazing acrobatics, with a hidden trampoline between two park benches providing lift for the actors, makes the visuals all the more impactful. Some very talented actors and accomplished gymnasts. While the content and delivery may have been a little over the heads of the younger ones in the audience, this is children's theatre at its best, giving you lots to talk about with your children afterwards. Even the adults in my party had some interesting discussion around their respective interpretations.

Mirvish - la Cage aux Folles

George Hamilton was a blast in the role of the nightclub owner, although the critics were not particularly kind. He may have struggled a bit with some of the score and certainly followed his own, somewhat slower tempo, both physically and in song, than the rest of the cast, but he was still a delight to watch. He added the right touch to the role with his unnatural sideways glance tongure-in-cheek persona.

The lead for his "wife" was strong, with a great voice and amazing comedic timing. The character of the crazy butler was equally charming, in an annoying sort of way.  The comic timing when they released their "man voice" was excellently delivered.

The opening monolgogue was very well done, although did seem to go on just a tad too long. It made for a very long night, as it did not detract from the timing of the play itself.

The action seemed to wrap up pretty quickly at the end, with a rather week closing. After such a long lead up to the punch line ("mom" showing up for dinner and all the tension that entailed), It just seemed to rapidly drop off at the end, with the characters quickly dispatched one by one ....

The audience definitely liked the show and were very generous to the two male leads. If you enjoy farce, I recommend you go, but it would not be on the top of my list if I had limited resources (time and money) ........

TSO - some enchanted evening

We loved this concert of Roger's and Hammerstein most loved songs from their most loved musicals. My son and I always love the POPs and today was no exception.

We enjoyed some amazing vocalists (soprano, alto, baritone), with a pretty impressive resume of top Broadway shows and two awesome choirs - the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and the U of T MacMillan Singers.

There were lots of favourites from Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and, of course, they brought the house down with that most beloved Roger's and Hammerstein Hit - the theme song from the Sound of Music. The audience couldn't sit down at the end and were rewarded with an encore sing-a-long of Do-Re-me.

It is just the most amazing venue to hear music, and to have the TSO paired with such strong vocals is an experience that just can't be compared. The best stereo system just won't give this to you at home, folks. My teenage son and I love the POPs series and always thoroughly enjoy it. We have held this subscription for years and my sister, who joined us this year, was also awed. Please support your Toronto orchestra - you won't be disappointed !