World Theatres' Blog covers
the Toronto theatre scene from the aspect of the shows I see, with
additional personal comments on my life of watching theatre.
World Theatres and World Theatres' Blog are a labor of love prepared and shared freely with anyone interested in the global theatre. Thank you and Enjoy!
Clair Sedore
Dec 7/11 – Mary Poppins –
This is my second time for Mary Poppins, London and Toronto, and all
the magic seems to come from the brilliant choreographer Matthew Bourne,
the creator of the all male Swan Lake, and Edward Scissorhands and five
time winner of the Olivier Award, and scenic and costume designer Bob
Crowley with many Tony nominations and Tony awards behind him, and the
original director James Powell. Casting somehow seems secondary in this
production, the best being our own Valerie Boyle as Mrs. Brill, Rebecca
Thornhill as Winifred Banks, Laird Mackintosh as George Banks, and the
highly energetic and multi-talented Nicolas Dromard, as Bert. The dances
are the greatest things this musical has to offer, especially Step in
Time, and the wonderful scene where the sculptures come to life, which
left me in awe both in London and here.
Nov 30, 2011/Dec 1, 2011 – Back to back Christmas shows – Spirit of Christmas and White Christmas – Avalon Ballroom's production of Spirit of Christmas
is just that, very high spirited and energetic, the dancers and singers
giving it all they have, the show is a little over an hour of highly
talented people, and I assume a local black choir, to energize the
audience. Fairview Library's White Christmas
based on the film with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and
Vera-Ellen, is also a very happy event with a talented cast, and
featuring some of Irving Berlin's best songs from Happy Holiday, White
Christmas, Sisters, Count Your Blessings, Blue Skies, to A Couple of
Swells, makes for a delightful time in the theatre.
Nov 20, 2011 – The Addams Family – As of today The Addams Family gives its 674th
performance on Broadway, in spite of poor reviews and a posted closing
date of December 31/11. The main reasons for its longevity, are Nathan
Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, who carried it through the first year. The
touring production is quite another story, the script has been updated
and it is a much smoother show, and the cast is excellent, Douglas Sills
as Gomez Addams, and Sara Gettelfinger as his adoring wife, Morticia,
bring the characters to life, and the supporting cast work their butts
off as well and I feel without the larger than life Nathan Lane, the
show gives everyone a better chance to shine. The result is a fun
evening of theatre, and a reacquaintance with this spooky family. A few
of us are old enough to remember the great black cartoons in the New
Yorker by the brilliant Charles Addams (1912-1988) (to learn more visit
www.addamsfoundation.org).
Nov 12, 2011 – Love Lies Bleeding
- I have not seen this type of dance programme since the Royal Winnipeg
Ballet did “Tommy” many years ago, and it is sure a welcome addition to
a ballet company. It is more like modern dance, than ballet, but when
danced to the brilliant Elton John's music and bernie Taupin's great
lyrics it can create a spellbinding effect on an audience. This is my
first encounter with the Alberta Ballet, although this is their 45th
year. The music, the choreography by Jean Grand-Maitre, and the daring
costumes by Martine Bertrand make the evening, and such highlights as
Bennie and the Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a sensational Rocket
Man, and Someone Saved My Life Tonight make for a great evening of
dance. There are, at least to me, no known star dancers, but everyone
deserves credit for a wonderful evening of theatrical magic. One can
hardly wait to see what this company will do next.
Nov. 10, 2011 – Hairspray
– The Marc Shaiman/Thomas Meehan musical based on John Water's film,
needs an ideal cast to bring it off. Unfortunately, in Curtain Call
Players version at the Fairview Library Theatre, the only great cast
members were Natalie McGowan as Tracy and Andria Lewis as Motormouth
Maybelle, but the other necessary ingredients like Edna and Link were
substandard and let the show down. The supporting cast were good but
unlike the Broadway show did not help enough to bring the show off
completely. The black cast members like Andria as Motormouth, Masini
McDermott, Alyssa Oke, Kevin Vidal, Twaine Ward and Dorrett White
literally stole the show, and when they were dancing to “You Can't Stop
the Beat,” the show really took off. I realize every company cannot have
a Harvey Fierstein, or a Marissa Jaret Winokur.
Nov 7, 2011 – Seussical –
Young Peoples Theatre – the second production of Stephen Flaherty/Lynn
Ahrens musical is every bit as delightful as the first, and the talented
cast should be very proud of their efforts, a special nod to George
Masswohl, who as Horton, once again, holds the show together. I think
Horton is a special part of him, and his laid back talents hold the
audience in the palms of his hands. It is not easy playing a put upon
elephant with headphones for ears. Damien Atkins is ideal as the Cat in
the Hat, and Sharron Matthews, Jane Johanson and Jennfer Villaverde add
the sparkle and zest to the production. It is so great being a 73 year
old kid once again.
Oct 22/11 – The Gentleman Caller,
at Hart House, written by James Cunningham and Martin Hunter lasts a
little over an hour, but anyone who has read even a little on the life
of Tennessee Williams will find no new insights into this great
playwright. And unfortunately after having seen Daniel MacIvor's play
“His Greatness,” this play seems even lesser. The cast may do a okay
job, although Nigel Bennett is nothing like Williams, and I cannot see
anyone paying for this particular hustler, but Allegra Fulton and Carmen
Grant do an admirable job as his mother and sister. I feel most
fortunate to have seen most of Williams material, including the later
plays like Small Craft Warnings, The Red Devil Battery Sign, In the Bar
of a Tokyo Hotel, and the fairly recently discovered, Not About
Nightingales. So there are a few advantages of being much older and
realizing just how hard Williams was trying to recreate his period of
greatness when he was the darling of the critics.
Oct 15/11 - The Normal Heart - Take Larry
Kramer's play about AIDS in New York City in the early 1980s, a great
director Joel Greenberg and a brilliant ensemble cast led by Jonathan
Wilson and you have a tremendously explosive and very emotional evening
of theatre – the play was recently mounted on Broadway directed by Joel
Gray, but in no way could it have been better than the current Toronto
production. An evening of this calibre happens infrequently but when it
does it makes up for all the tepid plays one sits through. Toronto is
most fortunate to have Studio 180 and Acting Up Stage, two of the
greatest companies since the early days of Tarragon Theatre and Bill
Glassco.
Oct 12/11 – Private
Lives has to be Noel Coward's greatest play, and in 2011 it still is as
brilliant as it was when it was written in 1930. I have seen the play
many times and it always works well, with the brilliant Maggie Smith,
the exquisite Tammy Grimes, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1983
(probably the worst of the productions I have seen, and it more or less
worked even with them). Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross give it their all,
and is a joyful and hilarious time in the theatre. Even Noel Coward's
song “Someday I'll Find You,” is prominent in this production.
It
is seldom one is treated to this level of theatre and one leaves almost
walking on air. The supporting players, Simon Paisley-Day and Anna
Madeley are tremendous as well. There was only one problem with the play
and that was the hideous setting for the 2nd and 3rd acts. It may have been Art Deco, but of the worst possible sort.
Sept 28/11 –In
2003 I saw a concert version of Chess at the St. Lawrence Centre, and
after this performance at the Princess of Wales, I realize this show
should only be played or seen in the concert version. The music by
Abba's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus is great, as are Tim Rice's
lyrics, the problem is the very heavy-handed book (unfortunately written
by Rice as well). Another concert version at Royal Albert Hall in
London featured Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal, and was
highly successful. The staged show has since its premiere in 1986 had
nothing but problems. Add to this the direction by Craig Revel Horwood,
who has copied the works of John Doyle which features the actors playing
the instruments as well as acting. This, I guess, must be called
Quadruple Threat, as Triple Threat is acting, singing and dancing. Mr.
Doyle has put me off with his versions of Sweeney Todd, as well as
Company, Mack and Mabel and Road Show, all shows that I did love, before
his versions of them. I realize the producers must adore Doyle as they
get a great bang for their buck, the cast can be much smaller when one
does not need an orchestra, the actors take over this, but what a great
challenge for the cast. Long gone are the days of the large cast and
full orchestra, now if you are lucky you get two actors and perhaps a
piano or canned music. It was wonderful to see the current South Pacific
at the Four Seasons Centre with full orchestra, and this is the reason
we enjoy the small theatres like Civic Light Opera and Scarborough Music
Theatre who can put on musicals with FULL casts (their version of
Titanic probably had a cast of around 50 and a fairly large orchestra).
There are brilliant voices in Chess (Shona White, as Florence, Tam Mutu,
as Anatoly and Rebecca Lock, as Svetlana, and some great songs like
Heaven Help My Heart, and I Know Him So Well, but unfortunately I cannot
give the show more credit than that.
Tues Sept 20/11
- Last evening we saw Daniel MacIvor's play “His Greatness,” loosely
based on Tennessee Williams, with star performances by the three member
cast, Richard Donat (who starred in the original Vancouver production of
Red Devil), in a tour-de-force performance as Williams, Daniel MacIvor
as his former lover and now long-time suffering companion, and Greg Gale
as a younger hustler, trying to come between the two friends. The play
is well directed by Ed Roy and takes place during the presentation of
The Red Devil Battery Sign, at the Vancouver Playhouse in 1980, just 2
1/2 years before Williams death. Williams final plays were all
demolished by the critics, from “Red Devil Battery Sign,” to “In the Bar
of a Tokyo Hotel,” and “Small Craft Warnings.” He had to rest on his
laurels and the royalties from his brilliant plays were taken with
drugs, hustlers and alcohol, and he was left more-or-less penniless at
the end of his life. From what I have read, although the New York
presentation got some great reviews, none of the former efforts, from
San Francisco to Vancouver can possibly top this first rate production
at Factory Theatre. I was fortunate enough to see “Not About
Nightingales,” a play written by Williams in 1938 which only resurfaced
in 1999 with a production at Circle in the Square in New York starring
Corin Redgrave (it was his sister Vanessa who found the play). It was
nominated for 6 Tony Awards, but this success was much too late for
Williams.
Sept 9/11
- Our theatre season opened last evening with the Civic Light-Opera
company's production of Carousel, the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein
II musical based on Ferenc Molnar's Liliom. It opened on Broadway in
1945 and ran for 890 performances (less than half of Oklahoma). The
musical was called the “best of the Century,” by Time Magazine. And when
one sees the list of songs, from If I Loved You, June is Bustin' Out
All Over, A Real Nice Clambake, What's the Use of Wond'rin, You'll Never
Walk Alone, and the most powerful song ever in a musical, “Soliloquy,”
one can only hope they have found the voices to carry this musical. And
in this case, they definitely have, Joe Cascone as Billy, Caroline
Moro-Dalicandro as Carrie and Finne Jesson as Julie. We saw a production
a few years back by the Scarborough Music Theatre and unfortunately the
casting of Billy let the entire performance down. This is NOT a happy
musical, but has a great story in spite of its dark tones. Rodgers and
Hammerstein went on to write South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound
of Music, and a few “failures” like Allego, Me and Juliet and Pipe
Dream. Rodgers considered Carousel his personal favourite.
We were so lucky to have witnessed the
ultimate version of “Soliloquy” by Hugh Jackman in Concert at the
Princess of Wales a few weeks back.
