Giselle

Dec 6/12 – Giselle – written in 1841 by Adolphe Adams – I first saw this ballet in the mid 1950s by the National Ballet of Canada when they were at the Royal Alexandra Theatre (from 1953 to 1964), with leads being Lois Smith and David Adams, along with other principal dancers like Earl Kraul, Hazares Surmejan, Jeremy Blanton, Karen Kain, Veronica Tenant, Angela Leigh, Martine Van Hamel, Lawrence Adams, Yves Cousineau, Glenn Gilmour, Howard Marcus, Vanessa Harwood, Frank Augustyn, Eric Braun, Irene Alpine, Grant Strate, Nadia Potts, Robert Ito, Howard Meadows all under the wings of the brilliant Celia Franca, who started the company in 1951. Before that they used the Eaton Auditorium. This was long before O'Keefe Centre opened, and certainly many years before the Four Seasons Centre. These were my first ballets and most of them were not full length but excerpts from full length ones. Popular ballets were Swan Lake, Orpheus in the Underworld, Cappelia, a very funny Gala Performance, almost a pre runner of Ballet de Monte Carlo with ballerinas trying to upstage each other, and my introduction to ballet. To see this ballet again at the Four Seasons, a lot of water has since gone under the dam, so to speak. I am not up to the newer dancers like Naoya Ebe who played Albrecht, and Jillian Vanstone who played Giselle, but what great dancers they are. Tremendous rounds of applause for the leads and the corps de ballet.

La Cage aux Folles

Oct 31/12 – La Cage aux Folles – In spite of the totally non talented George Hamilton, this production is quite fun, mostly due to the overly talented Christopher Sieber. We were lucky enough to see him in this production in New York, as Georges, and this time he is Albin. So to see him having played both roles you realize what a great actor he is. On Broadway he played opposite Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book for this Jerry Herman pastiche. I have seen this musical many times, from the lavish original production to this watered down Menier Chocolate Factory production, and never have I heard “I Am What I Am,” sung so brilliantly. Other than Mr. Hamilton, the rest of the cast make up for his inadequacies, and you leave the theatre feeling upscale.

Bloodless

Oct 24/12 – Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare – Theatre 20's initial presentation at the Panasonic Theatre, is a real coup for Toronto. As directed by the very able, Adam Brazier, along with creative consultant Colm Wilikson, and a very strong cast of talented singers and actors, and an unlikely plot for a musical, although based on fact, works extremely well. The sinister musical is somewhat of a mixture of Sweeney Todd and Arsenic and Old Lace. It may not be to everyone's liking, but for me the music and lyrics moves the show along almost too quickly, and although not memorable, are sure spirited with a definite Irish/Scottish flair. This is the season for the Irish, and Scottish, with the success of Once on Broadway. Now, along with Acting Up Stage, we have two great musical theatre companies in Toronto and I wish them both well, and look forward to their next presentation.

Sister Act

Oct 10/12 – Sister Act – Ed Mirvish Theatre - Take a producer like Whoopi Goldberg, a director like Jerry Zaks (Addams Family, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened...., La Cage aux Folles, Little Shop of Horrors), a composer like Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Leap of Faith, Newsies), a lyricist like Glenn Slater (Tangled, The Little Mermaid, Leap of Faith, Love Never Dies), and a choreographer like Anthony Van Last (Mamma Mia, Bombay Dreams, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar), a costume designer and associate of Matthew Bourne, Lez Brotherston, great singers like Ta'Rea Campbell (Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Little Shop of Horrors), Hollis Resnik (Les Miz, Thoroughly Modern Millie), and one comes up with a glitzy musical. Even the sound system was in cahoots with this production, no blaring noises from the mikes. All in all a most enjoyable evening of theatre, a joy to watch like the calibre of Mamma Mia, or Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Dear World

May 24/12 - Dear World – I feel fortunate to have seen the original when it played Boston prior to Broadway in 1969 – it is a charming musical based on The Madwoman of Chaillot, and starred Angela Lansbury as the Countess Aurelia, with Milo O'Shea as the Sewer Man. Unfortunately the musical was quite different by the time it reached Broadway and the changes were not for the better. It is a great opportunity to see this vehicle without the star power, as I do not think the audience was ready to accept Ms. Lansbury as a raging lunatic, especially following her brilliant performance in Mame. The Civic Light Opera version has Barbara Boddy as Aurelia and David Haines as the Sewer Man, and it becomes a much more balanced show. The performers give it their all, and it comes off as was meant, to be a small charming musical, and succeeds. There are some wonderful Jerry Herman songs, Each Tomorrow Morning, Kiss Her Now, I Don't Want to Know and the title song Dear World.

Semele

May 22/12 – Semele – George Frideric Handel's opera, with Jane Archibald in the title role, shows off her magnificent voice, in a staging by Zhang Huan, which literally steals the show, from a huge dragon, to horses, to a sleeping giant on the roof, two sumo wrestlers, an orgy....what more could one ask in a COC production? The three acts move quickly and it is the visuals that give the production it's dynamic force. This is my first Handel opera, and shades of The Messiah are heard throughout, and like most operas in English, another more lyrical language may have disguised the inane repetitious lyrics projected overhead.

Bring It On

May 16/12 – Bring It On – The Musical – news that this show is heading to Broadway seems strange in that this pastiche of cheerleading will certainly not be welcomed by the critics, even with the talent of Lin-Manuel Miranda, there is no reason to see this show!

May 7-14/12 – New York – We got to see 10 shows in NYC, in alphabetical order – Cole Porter Exhibition at the New York Library for the Performing Arts – an unbelievable collection of memorabilia of Mr. Porter, from his Academy Award, Tony Award, various cigarette cases from his adoring friends, great letters from the likes of Vivian Leigh thanking Cole for spending Christmas at his home when she had just separated from Laurence Olivier, correspondence from Katharine Cornell and her female lover, again thanking him for his hospitality, his dressing gowns etc., a treat for everyone; End of the Rainbow - with an incredible performance by Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland during her last days appearing at Talk of the Town, she also plans to tour with the show so it may just end up in Toronto; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Megan Hilty from Smash gets to once again recreate Monroe, in a great performance in this Encore presentation of this 1949 broadway musical, a concert presentation with full orchestra and a large number of great actors, fully costumed with settings suggestions, a few years back I saw Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town and it managed to transfer to Broadway. Their shows are always highly professional, and a treat when one gets to see one of their productions; Ghost the Musical, based on the film, with fantastic illusions, and a great supporting performance by Da'Vine Joy Randolph in the Whoopy Goldberg part; Leap of Faith, the final performance with a great performance by Raul Esparza, choreographed by our own Sergio Trujillo; The Lyons with a stand-out performance by Linda Lavin in a very black comedy; The Disney musical Newsies, a very energetic recreation of the newsies strike in 1899 in a limited engagement at the moment but we know it will be around for many years to come – the singing and dancing are both standouts; Nice Work If You Can Get It, a loosely based on an early Gershwin musical with music taken from various Gershwin shows, featuring Matthew Broderick, Kelli O'Hara with featured performances by Judy Kaye, and Estelle Parsons, the show ended up being a pleasant surprise as neither of us expected much after the lukewarm reviews; Once, an Irish musical based on the film, which was a little like Riverdance without the dance – the set is an Irish pub and the audience could go up and get drinks and listen to the music before the show started—the first act had a lot of charm, but by the time it was over we were glad it was, the critics however think it may just win the Tony Award for best musical; the low point of the week, One Man, Two Guvnors, a Commedia dell'Arte version of The Servant of Two Masters, we found just silly, and only a few of the audience members seemed to find it funny as well, in spite of it's success in London and James Corden's raves from some critics; Venus in Fur – a sexual diversion with great erotic performances by Nina Arianda (Born Yesterday) and Hugh Dancy, directed by Walter Bobbie

Ragtime

April 25/12 – Ragtime – Nothing can outdo the incredible 1997 Drabinsky/Livent version of this Stephen Flaherty/Lynn Ahrens musical with such talents as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie and Audra McDonald, with production design by Eugene Lee, costumes by Santo Loquasto, sound by Jonathan Deans, and lighting by Jules Fisher/Peggy Eisenhauer and the great book by Terrence McNally, but this Shaw version sure gives it a run for the money. Thom Allison pulls out all the stops as Coalhouse Walker, and Kate Hennig as Emma Goldman, Patty Jamieson as Mother, Alana Hibbert as Sarah, and Jay Turvey as Tateh are not far behind, as directed by Jackie Maxwell. What a joy for the audience, and an immediate standing ovation for the entire cast. It is always a joy for me to see this great musical experience. To me, this is the best production of the Shaw Festival, along with Mack and Mabel, and The Apple Cart with Zoe Caldwell of many years back.

Love Never Dies

April 11/12 – Love Never Dies – the troubled sequel to Phantom of the Opera which was filmed on stage in Australia, is a glorious production. Many of the songs are new or updated lyrics by Ben Elton (The Beautiful Game), and work well, especially Love Never Dies, which is very hummable.The ending which is wrapped up somewhat coyly, could have been better, but otherwise the plot moves along well. The sets and costumes are magnificent and the one and one-half hours go by very quickly. Ben Lewis is a great phantom, and Anna O'Byrne is a wonderful Christine. I was surprised that the originals, Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess were not used in the filming. I was so pleased to have the chance to see this version as I do not expect another version anytime soon.

War Horse

March 28/12 - War Horse – there are not enough superlatives to describe this theatrical. A coup for Toronto, and the Canadian cast, and the wonders created by the Handspring Puppet Company. Not since The Lion King have I been so in awe of the creatures that can be created for the stage. The film version of War Horse pales by comparison. I just hope everyone gets the opportunity to experience War Horse on stage.