[Benc7]

Weaverville Waltz- Fringe Festival

So, Weaverville Waltz IS a one-man show. Randy Rutherford ( who I’ve never heard of), is apparently a Fringe festival veteran, winning multiple “Best of Fringe Awards” with his earlier works. I wonder if they were like what I saw today? Loosely based on his growing up in a trailer park in the fifties, he introduces various characters (he’s at his best when he plays his drunkard of a stepfather) that add up to not very much. I’ve seen a lot of one person shows, most of them ego rather than talent driven. When there’s someone really good on stage it’s as close to theatrical heaven as I ever hope to get. I didn’t get anywhere near that and Rutherford’s ramblings about his hometown became tedious and self indulgent. Eighty minutes was about thirty minutes too much.

At the end, an interesting thing happened; some of the audience gave him a standing ovation, most of them were seated stage-right. The stage-left side of the theatre (where I sat) applauded politely but remained seated. He came back after his bows to plug the show’s final performance. He concluded by saying that if we liked the show to let our friends know and then, glaring at the stage-left side of the house, if we didn’t like the show he didn’t care. Really, he said that. Well, Rutherford, I don’t care right back at you.

 

[Benc7]

The Toxic Avenger-New DanCap Production Announced

"Dancap Productions president Aubrey Dan is going back to Jersey – via off-Broadway – for what he hopes is the company's next hit.

The Toxic Avenger, about a dweebish New Jerseyite who emerges from a vat of radioactive waste as a seven-foot mutant to wreak "green" havoc on his enemies, is slated to open on Halloween night at The Music Hall on Danforth Ave."

Quoted from The Toronto Star. Good for Aubrey Dan and good for The Music Hall!

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/663132

 

[Benc7]

Of the Fields, Lately -Soulpepper Theatre

It just doesn’t get much sweeter than this: a first rate play, with a first rate cast, under the baton of a first rate director, Soulpepper’s production of "Of the Fields, Lately" by David French, directed by Ted Dykstra, ticked off every box on my “What Makes a Great Evening of Theatre†score card.

This play is one of five that French wrote centred around the Mercer Family, Newfoundlanders transplanted to Toronto, and is a sequel to “Leaving Homeâ€. Ben Mercer (Jeff Lillico) comes back to Toronto after an absence of two years, ostensibly to attend the funeral of his aunt Dot. His father, Jacob (Kenneth Walsh) loves his son but neither of them can be in the same room for very long without fighting. Mary Mercer (Diane D’Aquila) is the matriarch of the family, determined to keep her ill husband alive even if it means sending her son away; it’s been “just the two of them†for a couple of years now and they’ve been the best years of a tempestuous marriage. Dot’s husband, Wiff (Eric Peterson), tries to come to terms with his own terrible behaviour to Dot while she was alive and while she lay dying. Both senior men are hard drinkers and young Ben seems to have inherited that trait as well has his father’s violent temper. Amidst the terrible anguish of love that can’t seem to make itself understood there is a lot of humour. While watching father and son TRY to communicate, TRY to build some kind of understanding, one is hearing and seeing dramatic writing at its very best. The actors are superb, not a false note among them, so much in their characters that I forgot I was watching a play.

Soulpepper mounted “Leaving Home†in 2004 with the major characters played by these same actors (save for Peterson). They presented “Salt Water Moonâ€, a prequel to “Leaving Homeâ€, in 2008, having Jeff Lillico star as his young father courting the young Mary, a brilliant stroke. It isn’t necessary to have seen any of the other plays to appreciate “Of the Fields, Latelyâ€, it stands on it’s own as a dazzling piece of writing.

I alluded earlier to director Ted Dykstra’s "baton", something more often found in a musical conductor's hand, but with this cast, and a beautiful set (Lorenzo Savoni) and that terrific script, he made some very, very good music.
http://soulpepper.ca/performances/09_season/of_the_fields_lately.aspx

 

[Benc7]

FREE PERFORMANCE- The Harder They Come

From the Mirvish Newsletter:

"The London cast of THE HARDER THEY COME, the smash hit reggae musical that begins next week at the Canon Theatre, flew into town over the weekend and is already getting down to business.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, they'll be putting on a FREE preview performance of music from the show... and you're all invited!

It's happening as part of the official launch of CARIBANA, at Yonge/Dundas Square (that's the square at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas streets, if you've never been there). The festivities begin at 11:45 AM and continue through 2:00 PM and I can't imagine a nicer way to spend a Tuesday lunch hour (or two)... especially since it's FREE!

Don't forget. That's tomorrow, 11:45 to 2:00. The cast of THE HARDER! THEY COME. Free."

 

[Benc7]

Bare- Hart House Theatre

Watersedge Productions presents the Canadian premiere of “Bare†at Hart House Theatre almost ten years after this work’s premiere in LA, and five years after it’s short off-Broadway run in New York. I’m all for nudity on stage, gratuitous or otherwise, but there’s none here, so forget the come-on title; the programme cover is as bare as it gets.

This musical, set in St. Cecilia's Boarding School, revolves around Peter and the love of his very young life, Jason. Peter loves Jason. Jason loves Peter but doesn’t want their love known. Ivy loves Jason, Matt loves Ivy and everybody is supposed to love Jesus.

Nadia is Jason’s sister, fat, lonely and gifted with a particularly sharp and nasty tongue. Sister Chantelle is in charge of getting this bag of cats into some semblance of a cast for “Romeo and Julietâ€, the school play. Romeo and Juliet? Now you KNOW this musical ain’t gonna end happy and it doesn’t. It joins the great heap of "doomed gay love" drama/film/novels etc. Jeebus! ENOUGH, already!

The Catholic Church is both pilloried and feared; these kids drink, do drugs, fall in love, and keep going back to Mother Church to find understanding, acceptance and absolution from a system that has no room for them; don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t even think it. “Confession is the poor man’s therapy†is one line that sticks in my head, one line of far too many. This two-act play is so chock full o’ songs it threatens to explode. (Almost every word is sung by the eighteen member cast accompanied by a very good ten member band.)

There’s a lack of clarity, both in the play and from the director (Brian Gregory-Waters). The Church comes in and out sporadically and there’s something contrived about it when it does. The set is interesting and allows for no mistaking its intent. Comprised of stained glass windows that form a back drop to a crucifix (that lights up during a rave scene), and walls of religious bric-a-brac too kitschy to be called iconography, it underscores the omnipresence of the Church; whether the kids are at prayer or drunk at a party, GOD IS WATCHING! But these actors are paraded on and off stage like an army review, and too often are left with nothing to do while someone sings at them, or past them, or about them. The cast is young, exuberant, energetic and has the best of intentions, even when their talents (or the script) don’t rise to the occasion.

The two protagonists, who should be the centre of the action, are often lost in the bid to have minor characters take life. Graham Parkhurst (Jason) is ideally blond, charmingly buffed, nicely voiced, and alarmingly wooden. Wade Muir(Peter) gives, every now and then, what his character demands of him. Relax, boys, relax! You know the words, now let us feel them. Alison O’ Neil (Ivy) is absolutely beautiful and her voice can be too when she resists the urge to shout what she’s feeling. Claire Rouleau (Nadia) has some very funny and very sad songs to sing and she does so with good voice, but the score and the book(in spite of some very funny bits) are as heavy as a hammer. Good thing Nichola Lawrence (Sister Chantelle) is there to throw some vocal weight right back at them. She is the large, black, full-voiced, earthy character that has become cliché, only in this production she wears a nun’s habit and not a Baptist choir robe. Her songs and her voice may be reason enough to see this play. “God Don’t Make no Trash†is a beautiful song sung by an impeccable singer. This is her first stage role and it shows; she’s sometimes inaudible when speaking lines, but when she sings, all is forgiven. David Sazant (Matt) proves again there are no small roles; he gives back the best of what he’s been given.

I understand why this had such a short run in New York and why it’s taken so long to come to Toronto; it’s just not that good of a musical. And no, it couldn’t have been another “Spring Awakeningâ€. There are too many characters vying for attention and too many songs. A very sharp set of scissors might have been helpful. With them might have come a sharper focus, and with that more true emotional connection.

http://www.uofttix.ca/view.php?id=518

Addendum: I’ve been listening to the two-CD soundtrack of “Bare†. The people involved with the original production didn’t want their baby to disappear into obscurity, so they gathered together a group of very talented young singers to preserve it for posterity. It seems to have worked; the recording has developed a “cult followingâ€( so MANY cults out there!) and inspired the current production at Hart House Theatre. Matt Doyle, last seen on the Toronto stage as Melchior in “Spring Awakening†sings the role of Peter. Listening to the recording refreshed my memory; I still think there are too many songs but, damn, some of them are really funny and really good: “There’s a Bender Among Us†(LOL!) “Plain Jane, Fat Ass†etc. I won’t compare the quality of the singing on the CD’s with what I heard yesterday; with the endless retakes, and the almost infinite “tweaking†possible in a recording studio, that wouldn’t be fair. Live theatre is LIVE: no retakes, no second chances, no safety net.

Do go and see this. Flawed as it is, it’s worth the effort.

 

[Benc7]

Angelwalk Theatre-New Company in Town

"A new player has joined the Toronto theatre community, with Angelwalk Theatre revealing its inaugural two-show season.

Artistic producer Brian Goldenberg announced a pair of small-cast musicals that will kick off the company's run at the Studio Theatre, in the Toronto Centre for the Arts in the city's north end.

The curtain goes up in late September on the musical comedy Altar Boyz.

The hit off-Broadway production about a fictitious Christian band skewers the boy band phenomenon, religious music and contemporary North American culture.

Next May, the Toronto troupe will stage The Last Five Years, Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Browne's intimate and emotional account of a New York couple who fall in and out of love.

Angelwalk will present two shows a year."

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/story/2009/07/23/angelwalk-debut-altarboyz.html
http://www.playbill.com/news/articl...e_Will_Present_Altar_Boyz_and_Last_Five_Years

Excellent! First Watersedge and now Angelwalk...the more the merrier!

 

[Benc7]

Bare: The Musical-Take 2

With rain forecast for Saturday, I thought it might be wise to pursue an indoor pastime, so I chose to pass the time seeing “Bare:the Musical” again. I find it fascinating to watch live performances change over the course of a run: you NEVER see the same show twice, it’s always evolving.

I was sitting in a section crowded with friends of the cast, friends of the lighting crew, friends of friends of friends etc, all of them in some form of theatre study and, in essence, a claque. Eavesdropping furiously, I heard one say that last Saturday’s performance ( the one I saw) had been the best of the week. EEK! That didn’t bode well. Then I saw Wade Muir sitting in the front row. He played the role of Peter last week, one of the two leads. No one announced which of the two understudies listed was to take his place, so I still don’t know who I ended up seeing.

How a production can get WORSE, after a week of performances, leaves me stymied. Yes, the musical is flawed from the get-go and, yes, we’re seeing a very young and inexperienced cast, but this performance was just sloppy. It was, I realized, like sitting in on a high school end-of-year musical. Whoever played the role of Peter( I say this with kindness) might want to re-consider his choice of career. If this kid can hold a note he couldn’t find it today. He sure is cute and there just might be an actor in there, so best of luck to him in any non-singing role he gets in the future.

Apart from the two experienced singers (Nichola Lawrence (Sister Chantelle)who can sing anyone off the stage, and Renée Stein (Claire) whose voice deserves better material) there are only two of the 18 member cast that I hope to see again. Alison O’ Neill (Ivy) just got better over the week; she can sing, she can act and god, she’s easy on the eyes. Claire Rouleau (Nadia) has the voice and the talent to make a go of it and I hope she does. Best wishes to both of them.

It’s a rough business, this theatre thing, and as soon as you start charging admission, then you have to deliver the goods. If you can’t deliver on stage then maybe there’s another way to have a career in the performing arts. Not everyone can be in the limelight.

By the way, the claque performed admirably. They laughed too loudly at jokes that fell flat, cheered at songs that were flat, and stood up to applaud a performance that was worse than flat. I commend them on their loyalty.

http://www.watersedgeproductions.net/index.htm

 

[Tewder]

This may be a little out of town, but hey it's summer so enjoy a nice ride and go to the Shaw Festival. I just saw Born Yesterday and it was a real treat. Tickets are going fast and this is one you wont want to miss.

 

[Benc7]

Mirvish Subscription Update-2009-2010 Season

Excerpts from the Mirvish Newsletter-July 28,2009

"LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL [is] the final show of the 2009-10 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season. The show will play July 6 to August 8, 2010 at the Canon Theatre.
It will replace the previously announced PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL on the subscription season. PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL, currently a smash hit in London's West End, will be postponed until the beginning of the 2010-11 season.
Now we have four more shows to add to the off-subscription line-up,

STOMP
October 20- 25, 2009
Canon Theatre

RENT: The Broadway Tour
January 19-24, 2010
Canon Theatre

GREASEâ„¢
Starring American Idol Winner TAYLOR HICKS as Teen Angel
April 7-18, 2010
Canon Theatre

MAMMA MIA!
April 27-June 27, 2010
Canon Theatre"

Rent? Grease? Stomp? MAMA MIA!

 

[Benc7]

Mirvish Weathers The Recession

Excerpt from Toronto Star Business Article:

"David Mirvish, head of Mirvish Productions, said the theatre company has not seen a decline in ticket sales related to the economy. "I think what we see is play by play, whether the show is attractive to a specific audience," Mirvish said.
Still, the company has made changes to appeal to a more diverse audience, he said. "Now we run shows for a shorter period of time. We have a more frequent change of shows."
In the summer of 2001, as much as two-thirds of Mirvish's ticket sales went to U.S. customers. That plummeted following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and again two years later, as the SARS outbreak kept tourists away.
Today, ticket sales to American theatre-goers account for only 2 to 3 per cent of its revenues. Mirvish now teams up with hotels, restaurants and attractions to offer deals attracting customers from Hamilton, Oshawa, Brampton and other places just beyond the GTA. "We've coped extremely well," Mirvish said. "It's partly because Ontario has a very large population and we have tourism within the population itself."

Interesting.


http://www.thestar.com/travel/article/672615

 

[Tewder]

While I'm happy to see they've been weathering the storm their upcoming season sounds pretty lame, and barely better than the fare on offer at Stage West. Shame that Toronto's prime commercial theatre scene has devolved to such a pathetic degree. Local impresarios are playing it way too safe and that never bodes well for the arts, even of the mainstream kind.

 

[Benc7]

While I'm happy to see they've been weathering the storm their upcoming season sounds pretty lame, and barely better than the fare on offer at Stage West. Shame that Toronto's prime commercial theatre scene has devolved to such a pathetic degree. Local impresarios are playing it way too safe and that never bodes well for the arts, even of the mainstream kind.

If you’re looking for something other than “safeâ€, the Mirvish Organization isn’t the place to find it; that isn’t its mandate. It isn’t a “not-for-profit†organization. It wants to make money, preferably SCADS of it. It does that by minimizing risk (risk can never be completely eliminated from a theatre venture). It does that by booking shows with proven track records, or hedges its bets by producing something with an existing fan base, as it did with the doomed “Lord of The Rings†(again, risk is never totally eliminated). It is, largely, subscription based; it tries to appeal to the greatest number of people with its season, and may slip in something a little different, but not SO different as to alienate the people who buy all seven shows. That’s why “August:Osage County†is an off-subscription offering this year.

I rolled my eyed when I saw “Stompâ€, “Rentâ€, “Grease†and, (oh god, not again) “Mama Miaâ€, but that’s because I’ve seen these productions, regardless of whether I liked them or not. There are many people (Mirvish is counting on that) who’ve NEVER seen them, or would like to see them again. Once a live theatre event is over, it’s GONE, so these remounts are good for those people. I’m just not one of them.

If, like me, you want to see new, challenging works, or just new interpretations of existing works, then you have to turn to the smaller theatre groups that this city is blessed with. There are a lot of them, and they often deliver some of the best theatre in Toronto. Every once in a great while, the little play at the little theatre ends up, years later, on the Mirvish or DanCap stage, AFTER the risk has been reduced.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I rolled my eyed when I saw “Stompâ€, “Rentâ€, “Grease†and, (oh god, not again) “Mama Miaâ€, but that’s because I’ve seen these productions, regardless of whether I liked them or not. There are many people (Mirvish is counting on that) who’ve NEVER seen them.

I've never seen them, and I never will, so he can't count on me!

 

[Tewder]

If you’re looking for something other than “safeâ€, the Mirvish Organization isn’t the place to find it; that isn’t its mandate. It isn’t a “not-for-profit†organization. It wants to make money, preferably SCADS of it.

Indeed, it is 'showbusiness' after all...

Still, I'm a little surprised by your repsonse... In the past the Mirvishes have taken risks both with Canadian productions of North American premieres (Mamma Mia, Lord of the Rings etc.) and main stage productions of local fringe hits like The Drowsy Chaperone and Da Kink In My Hair etc. Other Toronto impresarios, like Garth Drabinsky in his time, have also believed that producing theatre with integrity means taking risks and investing in and nurturing new projects (remember Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Ragtime etc?). Many of these shows went on to critical and boxoffice acclaim, playing for many years and providing a critical mass of work and infrastructure to the local theatre industry that spilled over to the smaller venues and companies through increased opportunities for growth with their productions.

As with Broadway in the United States, 'commercial' doesn't necessarily always have to be a dirty word that automatically implies 'safe', 'expected' or 'lightweight'. On the contrary those characteristics tend to typify the flops rather than the successes that form the canon of popular theatre over the generations. It is true that the small independent companies are important to the diversity of the arts scene and they offer a degree of experimentalism and innovation that can only be offered on a smaller and less-expensive scale.... *but* this type of theatre doesn't have to exist independent of commercial theatre, and indeed it can be an incumbator for commercial success where the technical and performance standards offered by the 'pros' can do much to elevate the embryonic forms and ideas small theatre can offer. The opposite can happen too, of course, but when it works it works big.

Mirvish is playing it safe and I'm not sure that this will guarantee him the jackpot profits that we agree is his mandate. This morning it is reported that Mirvish has dropped Priscilla in favour of Legally Blond: The Musical, and I think this says it all...

 

[Benc7]

... In the past the Mirvishes have taken risks both with Canadian productions of North American premieres (Mamma Mia, Lord of the Rings etc.) and main stage productions of local fringe hits like The Drowsy Chaperone and Da Kink In My Hair etc. Other Toronto impresarios, like Garth Drabinsky in his time, have also believed that producing theatre with integrity means taking risks and investing in and nurturing new projects (remember Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Ragtime etc?). Many of these shows went on to critical and boxoffice acclaim, playing for many years and providing a critical mass of work and infrastructure to the local theatre industry that spilled over to the smaller venues and companies through increased opportunities for growth with their productions.

I use “ taking risks†in the sense of subject matter and staging that pushes or redefines boundaries. With the Mirvish organization, I think “risk†means “financial jeopardyâ€. It takes that risk every time it puts on a show, but it works to minimize it. After all, it owns the bricks and mortar of four theatres, a VERY expensive proposition. It has a large subscription base that HAS to be considered when choosing a season. Even the rather tame “Spring Awakening†almost came to us as an off-subscription offering.

“Mama Mia†was a jukebox musical made up of Abba songs that were all top-ten hits strung together by a ridiculous plot. They counted on that the HUGE Abba fan base that knows every word to every song. “Preaching to the converted†minimized the risk.

“The Drowsy Chaperone "(one of my great favourites) started at The Fringe, then was moved by Mirvish to the 160 seat Theatre Passe Muraille to expand and to “test the watersâ€. Then he moved it to the 1000 seat Winter Garden, minimizing his risk every step of the way.

“Da Kink in My Hair†started at the Fringe and then went to Theatre Passe Muraille. AFTER it was nominated for a few Dora awards, Mirvish underwrote an expanded version for the Princess of Wales Theatre. Minimizing risk.

Of the plays you mentioned, “The Lord of the Rings†was the riskiest (in both senses of the word) gamble Mirvish has ever taken. But even that was (as it should be for him) a calculated one. The excellent and very successful movie trilogy was fresh in everyone’s mind. There was (and still is) a HUGE and devoted fan base for Tolkien’s work. I may be the only person in the city who actually loved the stage production; it was a theatrical event more than a musical, and pushed enough boundaries to satisfy me. They lost a lot of money on it (here and abroad) but I congratulate them on the effort.

Garth Drabinsky (bless him in whatever jail cell he’s likely to end up in) did bring excellent theatre to the city. Unfortunately, he cooked the books and redefined the term “not-for profitâ€. So, I have to take him out of this discussion about taking risks and actually making money on them.

As I said in my previous post, every now and again a small play from a small theatre will show up on the Mirvish stage, once it’s proven to be a smart gamble. That’s far more likely to happen now that he owns the Panasonic Theatre, a smaller venue that might (should) serve as an incubator for newer and (dare I say it one more time?) riskier productions. But with those four theatres to support, he needs as many “bums in the seats†as he can get. With a subscription base, he can’t afford to alienate too many subscribers. The REAL trail blazing plays are left to the small theatres that only have to fill 200 seats for every performance. Most of those plays will NEVER be on a Mirvish subscription offering. And there aren't that many to begin with:really good theatre is a rare beast anywhere.

Regarding "Priscilla Queen of the Desert", as far as I know, it’s being postponed, not cancelled, and it follows the risk reduction formula: hit movie, turns to cult classic, turns into musical=a guaranteed audience. But how BIG would that audience be? Would the general raunchiness turn off most of that precious subscriber base? A big, expensive production like this needs to sell a LOT of tickets. It’s not selling that well in London. In MY sense of the word "risk", Priscilla isn't one at all.

I’ll paraphrase an old saying: “This theatre impresario oesn’t put on a play because we want to see one; he puts on a play to make money.â€