Review: Snow White

Deliciously Dopey and Delightfully Good
Ross Petty’s Snow White has a little bit of something for everyone
by Stuart Munro

Now in their 17th year, the Ross Petty Pantos have become something of a holiday tradition here in Toronto, and it's no wonder – these high-energy productions have managed to thrill and delight audiences of all ages for close to two decades, and last night’s opening of Snow White: The Deliciously Dopey Family Musical was no exception. That rare blend of just right for the kids but oh-so-vulgar for the adults make this an evening everyone can enjoy.

The Panto tradition is an import from England where it is a holiday staple. A classic, well known story is mixed with contemporary music and jokes, and headlined by a few well known names to create an unforgettable night out for the family. The plot of the original story tends to be little more than a jumping off point, as is evident here. Seven Dwarves? Who needs ‘em?! This year we have Snow White and 007! 

CharPo's Real Theatre! November 30, 2012

Review: Binti's Journey

L-R: Ijeoma Emesowum, Sodienye Waboso, Allison Edwards-Crew, 

Thomas Olajide (Photo: Greg Edwards)

The Untainted Heart
by Gregory W. Bunker

Binti’s Journey is a journey worth taking, young or old. The story is set in present-day Malawi and is centred on the changes 13-year-old Binti endures after losing her father, her only surviving parent, to AIDS. Based on the young adult book The Heaven Shop by internationally acclaimed Canadian author Deborah Ellis, and produced by Theatre Direct at the Young People’s Theatre, you might be forgiven if you’d think such a play was only for youth. And in the beginning, the slight overdramatization suggests this. Certainly, young people have the most to gain from seeing the play—it is, after all, about the multi-faceted and far-reaching consequences of HIV/AIDS on the individual, family, community, and our generation at large. But this play is so well-crafted, and its message of HIV/AIDS awareness so well-delivered, that anyone who sees it will find it to be an entertaining, thought-provoking piece that educates in the best kind of way.

The Still, November 29, 2012

What's not to like in this portrait by Jason Strang of one of the puppets from Old Trout's Ignorance at Canadian Stage.

(Read our review)

Review: Ignorance

(photo credit: Jason Strang Photography)

Ignorance is Bliss
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop amazes with its new production

by Stuart Munro

What is happiness? Is it really just a simple matter of winning or losing? These questions, and some slightly more complex ones related to them, are purportedly the subject matter of Ignorance, the new piece by the Old Trout Puppet Workshop, now playing at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre. Created by the Workshop, Ignorance also received input from anonymous contributors via the company’s website during its development, resulting in a uniquely collaborative piece.

In a Word...Erin Brandenberg on BOBLO

Audiences seem to respond to our work, but it seems to be more of a personal connection.

by Christopher Douglas

Erin Brandenburg, creator of festival hits like Reesor, Pelee and Petrichor, ventures into a new direction with her latest piece, BOBLO. Co-created with her partner, Andrew Penner of The Sunparlor Players, BOBLO plays for the next two weeks at The Great Hall Black Box Theatre. Inspired by personal memories and collected stories about the Bob-Lo Island Amusement Park, their collective, Kitchenband, has created a unique way to take an audience back in time while staying in the present, to pay tribute to a place that is gone but not forgotten through songs and remembrances, photos and field recordings. When asked about how this ghost story came to life, Erin had a few things to say.

CHARPO: Shows seem to require an awfully long workshop period these days. How do you feel about the years it can sometimes take to have a fully realized performance before a paying audience?

BRANDENBURG: This is the first show we've developed in this way – with a two year period dedicated to development before presenting it as a co-production with The Theatre Centre. Having the time to experiment and try out ideas, or even having the time to really delve into an idea and throw it out if it doesn't work, has been really important for this project. But it’s also a challenge to sustain the creative drive over such a long time period. With this show, I don't think we could have done it in a shorter time period - we were really fortunate to have a residency at The Theatre Centre to allow for that time.

The Vid, November 28, 2012

Teaser for Ordinary Days. The production, now playing Winnipeg, is on its way to the city. 

(Read Joel Fishbane's preview of the production)

After Dark, November 27, 2012

Lemons, Lemonade and The Sour Taste That Stays

Dutchman hangs around for a bit

by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

I have invited the contributors at CharPo to, when the mood strikes them, write what we are going to call "Reconsidered". The idea is that, after thinking about it, many people will revise opinions about a work of art. We come out of a play with friends, we go to a café, and over the carrot cake we parse what we have just seen. The others put ideas into our head, we into theirs and then - hours, days, weeks later - we are hit by a new idea about the show. Those ideas remain largely unexpressed. However, I feel they form the foundations of future considerations not just of the piece seen but of the art itself.

The "Reconsidered" pieces will not be, "I thought it was shit, but now I think it's great!" - though that's okay too. It will be along the lines of a comment a colleague made last year when he was considering his top ten for the end of the year. He said that the plays that he was remembering for his list were, more often than not, the ones he had not raved about. 

The Show

Ava Jane Markus (photo credit: Josie Di Luzio)

We've seen it twice, two different reviewers, both wise, wise people. Terminus seduces, troubles, delights. Of the piece, during SummerWorks, Christian Baines wrote, "This was my second outing with Terminus, and though envious of those around me, who were experiencing the tale for the first time, I enjoyed seeing director Mitchell Cushman’s unique take on it – particularly its unusual and suitably confronting stage configuration...The Canadian debut of this Abbey Theatre gem is surely one of SummerWorks 2012’s standout sleepers. Dark, intimate and truly unique, it’s not to be missed." Then for the remount for Mirvish's brilliant new series of small productions, Jason Booker added, "this otherworldly show must be experienced." Need we say more? (See all of Christian Baines' review) (See all of Jason Booker's review)

Review: Tagged and It's Complicated

PROFILING THE ART OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY LOVE 
joel fishbane

Dating in the 21rst century has spawned a whole sub-genre of musicals, from I Love You Because… to A Craigslist Cantata, each of which comment on how the new generation deals with the impact of technology on love. To quote Jonathan Larson’s Rent, it’s all about “connection in an isolating age”. Into this mix comes Tagged & It’s Complicated, a new musical that chronicles the efforts of two social misfits, Tim (Matty Burns) and Katherine (Ruth Goodwin) to find true love via the Molten Lava Dating Company.

Almost entirely sung, Tagged… is set entirely in Tim and Katherine’s bedrooms; the two are on stage the entire time but never interact (at least not in reality). Katharine’s a workaholic while Tim’s unemployed and living with his parents. Unfortunately, not much more can be said about the characters. They reveal little about themselves during the show’s one hour time span, which right now is about thirty minutes longer then the current plot needs.

The Story: First-person: Wendy Nielsen on the COC Ensemble Studio

The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio: Then, But Especially Now

by Wendy Nielsen

Next week, the Canadian Opera Company will hold its second annual competition to see which young singers will be invited to join the COC’s prestigious Ensemble Studio training program for young opera professionals. It may well be history in the making.

In that historical light, I challenge you to think of Ben Heppner in any grassy shade of green. The same goes for Isabel Bayrakdarian, John Fanning, Joseph Kaiser, Gaetan Laperriere, Allyson McHardy, Jessica Muirhead, Gidon Saks, Janet Stubbs, and an all-star cast as wide as the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts’ main stage. Before they ‘arrived’ they all shared one monumental step along the way. They were all members of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program, an elite collection of extraordinarily talented young singers with futures in the big house.

It’s a story not unlike that fabled tale of young Canadian comics honing their skills at Toronto’s Second City. You’ve likely heard the Second City stories before, but what do you know about the Canadian Opera Company’s young artist program, the Ensemble Studio?

Review: Terminus

Maev Beaty (photo credit: Josie Di Luzio)

Apparitions at the Royal Alex
by Jason Booker

Outside the March’s production of Terminus transforms into a ghost story told round the campfire.  Staged with the audience seated on the deck of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the show is a wall of text that awakens and arouses audience members, entertaining them with gruesome characters, unnerving plotting and insinuating imagery. 

With a strong concept from director Mitchell Cushman, Terminus is expertly staged and wonderfully unique.  Cushman takes up the challenge of Mark O’Rowe’s script, maintaining that storytelling comes first, though this tale is anything but family-friendly.  Audience members are pelted with crude but real language and situations that are fanciful but graphic, like the one involving entrails.  The unflinching dialogue, written in a rap prose that rhymes but isn’t precise or metered, slams into the audience’s ear, particularly because of the Irish accents the actors acquire for the show.  There are moments when the barrage of language is almost more pleasant to hear than the specific words – these rhythms are so lyrical yet tricky to deliver and ultimately profound.  The art isn’t always the tale being told (so often the case with ghost stories) but in the method of delivery – and this one is a hit.

Theatre For Thought, November 24, 2012

SIMPLE TAKES A LOT OF WORK
joel fishbane

Last month, while killing time in New York, I decided to get lost in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After taking the subway to 86th Street, I enjoyed a New York breakfast of street food and coffee on those iconic steps before heading inside to look the painting “Grey Weather” by Georges Seurat. Along the way, I plugged in my iPod and listened to the only musical worth listening to when you’re lost at the Met: Adam Gwon’s song cycle Ordinary Days.

“The Met’s the only place in New York City where the traffic patterns don’t make sense,” sings Deb, one of the four characters in this quirky musical about the crossroads of youth. The show is made up of two completely separate storylines, but the scene at the Met is one of the few times when all four characters manage to break into each other’s lives.  “The show is about how one small thing that one character does creates a domino effect on everyone else,” explains Kayla Gordon, who’s directing the Canadian premiere. “It’s a show about asking ‘what is my big picture? What am I doing with my life?’”

CharPo's Real Theatre! November 23, 2012

The Still, November 22, 2012

Lordie! we like black and white photography to promote theatre especially for a play that has nothing black or white about it - the very nebulous Oleanna. Richard Burdett created this stunning - almost journalistic - shot using focus, negative space and some tinkering. The two characters (played by Jacqui Skeete and James R. Wood) seem to be floating in a void, with the blackness (slightly left of centre) offering utter separation even as Skeete's face suggests something quite different.

(Read out review)