ALL THE THEATRE in the WORLD in LONDON, EDINBURGH, TORONTO AND NEW YORK ( Catch Up Post #1 )

Friends,

I have been REMARKABLY busy.


I turned in a Manuscript!   Murder at the Flamingo releases with Harper Collins July 2018 and you can add it to your Goodreads shelf   . The cover for this book is nothing short of amazing and I will be able to reveal it to you in the next few weeks :-)


I traveled to Scotland, England and Paris (!!!)

I traveled to Northern Ontario for a work conference

I spent a weekend at CFRR in Cincinnati

I spent a weekend in New York seeing a ton of theatre

I have done weekend trips to Niagara on the Lake for Shaw!

I spent a week in my little hometown Orillia

I have wandered Toronto near and far!


I TURNED IN A MANUSCRIPT (let me repeat that )

So I have been very neglectful of ye olde blog and rather do one LARGE catch up post, I thought I should divide it into a few sections.


THEATRE 


I  have seen a ton of theatre in the recent months and I thought I should give you a recap



Toronto: 

Les Miserables: this was a workshop at Factory Theatre that really has a lot of potential. The story isn't quite finished yet;  but it drew greatly from Hugo ---drenched in his prose and presence. I am interested to see the final, polished product.    We are so used to the musical version, it was nice to see something straight

Strictly Ballroom:  here is a show with sequins and sparkle adapted from the popular film and transposing its soundtrack from screen to stage that just cannot figure out what it wants to be.   It was a fun spectacle; but needs a little story work


Tosca My friend is the technical director at the Canadian Opera Company and I had the privilege of seeing this on dress rehearsal night. IT WAS AMAZING!   Opera is not my favourite musical medium; but I do appreciate Puccini.  I had seen this at the MET three years ago and I have to say, I enjoyed our production more. GO CANADA

SHAW FESTIVAL in Niagara on the Lake 

The Farmer's Revolt:  Face it: if you adapt the Rebellions of 1837 to stage my Canadian history loving heart is gonna go pitter patter.   This was an interesting tapestry sewn of many different patches embroidering different perspectives of Canada's almost-Civil-War in Upper Canada well over a century ago. It was a great ensemble piece; but I found without a working knowledge of the source material, audience members might get lost.   I was right: several people left at intermission

The Madness of King George: My friend Melanie and I did a double-header day and this was our matinee. It wasn't the cast's fault; but the pacing in this play needs so much help. SO MUCH HELP! amazing what an editor could have done to tighten up the plot.  It is a fascinating look at the George that, truth be told, just makes everyone's favourite Hamilton songs run on loop

Saint Joan MAN THIS WAS AWESOME! I love Joan of Arc.  They chose to do it in that vague century-agnostic militant way that so many people are doing to transpose popular yarns of war to the stage;but it was captivating and sparked a ton of discussion !

NEW YORK 
Got the dream team back together and spent another weekend JUST for shows in New York

Miss Saigon: they did a lot of work at revitalizing this blockbuster ( a long time favourite of mine because of the MUSIC!) and they kinda did everything  I ever wanted them to do to make the story and characters more palatable.  This is not a white saviour story.  This is a story about conflict and multi dimensional characters , blended dark and light, spotlit against the travesty of a complicated war.  There are not heroes and heroines in this piece: just sweeping music and poor decisions informed by impossible situations.

Anastasia 
So first, there are some great additions to the soundtrack ( albeit some lyrically challenged). Second, the production values are astonishing: costumes, lighting, sets, design--- truly breathtaking. STORYLINE --- this has always been problematic and somehow it becomes more apparent on stage when told in this way.  I enjoyed it; but I wasn't floored. I kept turning to my friend Kat, scrunching up my nose to match her puzzled expression in the dark and shaking my head.  The pre-teen girls in their sparkles LOVED IT


Bandstand

GUYS!  I bought the soundtrack to this early in the summer and it is just absolutely dazzling.   On stage, this is just a revelation: the actors sing, dance, act (triple threats!!!) and PLAY INSTRUMENTS!  You see a real live swing band form before your eyes.  I loved the story of recent veterans from the Second World War returning home to find that the world hasn't stopped as they anticipated; nor is it rolling out the red carpet as they dreamed when in the trenches.  A bit more careful characterization could have drawn out some of the individual stories of the supporting band members, but Laura Osnes and Corey Cott (!!!) were exceptional

Kim's Convenience Readers of this blog know that this is not my first time with this show. Due to my friend Kat's close relationship with it, I have followed it around --- this time to New York! It was so lovely to see a slice of Toronto find a home in Manhattan for a little while and touch audiences in America the way it does here

LONDON:

Half a Sixpence
This is the show you pick to see in the West End when you want to see the most British thing you can conjure.  Based on a lesser known H G Wells novel, it is kinda Downton meet Great Expectations meets--well any Lord of the Manor from humble beginnings tale. The music isn't memorable, the story is flimsy; but there's this adorable bunny (actor Charlie Stemp) who has a whole lot of gumption and a banjo and literally takes the show and runs off with it. You literally cannot take your eyes of him. When you do, you see a tightly produced piece with expert voices and choreography that are far better than the material they are performing.  A fun night out and so very British I cannot even....


EDINBURGH:

One of the reasons I trekked to the UK this summer, was to check up on my friend Maggie  and her immersive show in the Edinburgh Fringe, Intermission. It was kinda neat to see how this piece---infused throughout Edinburgh by marriage of stage show and app and video and podcast--- came to be.  


Whew! I think that is it !  Mel and I are off to Stratford to see Twelfth Night on the weekend--- so will keep you posted on that


Catch Up Posts will continue .....

Where have I Been?

Blogger friends, this is just turning out to be the busiest year.


My next writing adventure takes me back to 1930s Boston so, of course, I am using any opportunities I can to head out to Beantown and its historical wonderfulness in order to immerse myself in the place and walk for hours.   I stayed at the Omni Parker House: which will be familiar to readers of Of Dubious and Questionable Memory as one of the locations Jem and Merinda visit on their Massachusetts adventure.

a few snippets from my recent adventure

And then, Allison Pittman ( my co-author from Starring Christmas) and I found ourselves in Chicago for some major brainstorming and some major Palmer House-ing ( readers of A Lesson in Love and Murder  will remember my use of that hotel -- -it's where Jem and Merinda ( and Ray!) stay when they're in Chicago.

We also found ourselves in the Room Where It Happens seeing the amazing Chicago cast of Hamilton --including new addition Wayne Brady as Aaron Burr.   note: I got these tickets the day the first block of Chicago seats went onsale last June. That's how long we waited.

Chicago, you're so pretty 

the Palmer House 

Rachel and Allison

And for those of you who may be wondering if Hamilton  is everything they say--- it is--- and more.  I have seen hundreds of shows and it is unlike anything I have ever seen.


speaking of Unlike Anything I have Ever Seen,  I am a huge fan of Come From Away.  I saw the original cast in Toronto last fall during their pre-broadway run and am absolutely thrilled that this small Canadian musical with a staggeringly beautiful story and infused with Maritime Canadian music is making a splash on broadway.  Just read what the NYT had to say 


As for theater in Toronto, I will be seeing Mrs. Henderson Presents straight from the West End next week so will keep you posted.


 And this past week I was in the East Coast of our great country for work!

love the Jelly Bean houses in St. John's, NL 

And from St. John's, I flew a tiny plane out to PEI. Last time I was in Charlottetown was in the height of summer--- it is decidedly more quiet at this time of the year.

So, that's what I have been up to.    And it doesn't slow down a lot.   I still have work travel for my day job and an Easter Weekend research trip back to Boston.   But, I am also excited about THE WHITE FEATHER MURDERS which releases May 1

There's a nice review in the next issue of Romantic Times


order at Barnes and Noble     Amazon      Chapters 

Theatre Post !

I have had some fun theatrically recently and am so excited to tell you about it.

First off, Come fromAway: a musical I loved in its pre-Broadway run at the Royal Alex is now opening on Broadway. It is set during the aftermath of 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland and showcases the incredible hospitality and resilience of the spirited locals.  If you are in New York, make sure you see it

Two weeks ago, I went to Halifax to see Kim’s Convenience at the Neptune Theatre. I always love an excuse to go to Nova Scotia and my friend Kat has long been this ground-breaking production’s stage manager.   Though I had seen it before in Toronto ( with Ins Choi, the playwright, playing prodigal son, Jung), it was a fresh and exciting experience to see a few new cast members.   This show, too, is headed to New York this summer ( huzzah for Canadian theatre on Broadway).

And, as always, Halifax was good for my writing chops.  I wrote a ton while there….

We are so lucky to live in a time and age where theatre is broadcast on cinema screens.  I absolutely salivated when I heard that the National Theatre was producing Amadeus, which remains one of my favourite plays of all time.   And I was stoked to see it at a theatre a few weeks ago.   It is a tale of madness and religion and obsession and art and the play has freer range to delve into all of these themes in a way that the (also excellent) film doesn’t.   To add, they really amped up the use of Mozart’s music, with  a mobile orchestra on stage. I liked it so much, I am pipe dreaming a trip to London when it plays again next winter….

As a musical theatre NUT, I have always wanted to see Cabaret –especially the definitive Roundhouse Production that plays on the popular Sam Mendes direction from the mid-90s.    It is here for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stop at the Princess of Wales while on a national tour.  I was blown away by the production and the hefty conceptualization of the show but also how chillingly and potently relevant it is to current political tenets.  Honestly, this is why I love theatre: it says things in a big and broad and brash way with stop lights and pageantry.  A magnificent production.

Last night, I was SO stoked to attend a production of Measure for Measure by Toronto’s new Groundling theatre company.   I also enjoyed the chance to see a show in the Winter Garden.   I have been there quite a bit the past few years for tour and research, but most of what I see at the double-decker, is in the Elgin.  Readers of Herringford and Watts will know that I think it is the most beautiful place in the world. So magical, I set numerous Jem and Ray scenes there---

Last night, the intimate audience sat on stage in scaffolded rows while the action took place at the lip of the stage and the empty, gorgeous flora fantasia stretched out in its glimmery coloured lanterns and draping vines.       This was a Shakespeare I had never seen live before and, as per his magic, it stretches out before you, you quickly becoming accustomed to the rhythm of the language and picking up with its ebbing speed. 

Theatre Update

Alright, it has been awhile since I touched base on the performance side of things.

shakespeare in love 

Like a long time! I am trying to think what I need to recap you on.


I left half-way through a production of If/Then because neither the music nor the plot and characters grabbed me.   I did enjoy seeing Anthony Rapp, though


The Judas Kiss was a brilliant adventure for renowned actor Rupert Everett: who embodies Oscar Wilde in a warm and funny way.  The contrast between the Wilde of the first act and subsequently the Wilde of the second, post-incarceration, is remarkable and displayed in Everett's tone and body language.  Perhaps the most alluring aspect of this play, to me, was the way it incapsulated the language and wit of a Wilde play, appropriating it to tell his story. The rhythms and nuances were quite deft and wonderful.


Theatre-adjacent and performance wise, I had the opportunity to hear Kathleen Battle two weeks ago through a cycle of Negro Spirituals and backed by a marvellous choir.  Roy Thomson Hall was the perfect setting for her resplendent voice and she was a performer on my bucket list.  She has a haunting away of wrapping her instrument around haunting metrics. I loved it.


Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is one of the smartest, funniest shows I have ever seen. I am actually going back I liked it so much.  It is based on the British black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets and features Monty Navarro: an impoverished man mourning the death of his mother who learns she is a distant relative of a wealthy and titled family.  He picks off his relatives in rather ingenious and hilarious ways to climb to the top of the pecking order.   The staging is  wonderful and the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque musical numbers pay homage to the Edwardian music halls with perfect musical setting.



I was in Stratford this weekend ( I hope to return again this summer)


A Chorus Line is a passion project of famed Stratford choreographer and director Donna Feore.  Stratford's production is the first time Michael Bennett's estate has allowed a professional company to perform the show on a stage that is not a proscenium arch.

A Chorus Line is familiar to me as is its music, but I have never seen it performed live. A complete contrast to the opulent mechanics of a show such as Gentleman's Guide, the stage is black with only lights and mirrors to create the world of a Broadway theatre on one day of audition eliminations.     It is one of the best musicals I have seen at Stratford, mostly because there were no weak links in the cast. Everyone was talented vocally and in dancing with a few stand-out solos. The orchestra was also amazing.     It is a very effective piece: highlighting vignettes of auditioning dancers and digging into their backgrounds, only to have them fade into one seamless and un-indvidualized line at the end.

(note: if you haven't seen the documentary Every Little Step it is worth the watch for anyone interested in Broadway).


Yesterday afternoon, I went to Shakespeare in Love at the Avon (which I prefer to the Festival Theatre, sorry ).  Tom Stoppard ( a brilliant playwright) also dabbles in Hollywood and the film made for sensible theatrical pursuit.  Unfortunately, despite the costumes, staging, music ( extra points for the troubadours and performers on stage ) the two leads failed to have any chemistry at all which undercut the smarter and more alluring parts of the feminist historical tale.  I, of course, love the trope of a woman dressing as a man in order to pursue a man's world but I didn't buy the two leads as really grasping the mouth-dropping and unexpected and blatantly forward story they were telling.

It did, however, remind me how wonderful Stoppard is: interweaving Two Gentleman of Verona and Romeo and Juliet with his own lines--their cadence and exposition worthy of the Bard.

Theatre Catch-Up

With my real job and tomorrow's release of Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder , I am behind on my blogging.


I saw three shows recently.  First, a touring production of Beauty and the Beast  which is now scaled back somewhat from the dazzling 90s production and didn't do a lot for me.

Friends and I went to Tarragon to see You Will Remember Me which was a fascinating experience: mostly because the playwright and translator were there to flesh out their experiences with the piece in a post-show talkback.

c/o Torontoist

R.H. Thomson is pretty unbelievable as a French-Canadian history professor whose alzheimers is settling in quickly.  While his quick mind still holds to the past ( the very, very far gone past ), scribbles in his notebook keep that which is contemporary swirling around him.

It is a quiet play with calm sets and a small cast, largely resting on the fact that Thomson is brilliant. He really is.  He is magnificent and heartbreaking here.

But, what the play renders so beautifully is a snapshot of the threatening loss of cultural consciousness. A bold statement on the loss of the fervour of a Quebec Libre, Rene Levesque and past referendum.  While this Quebecois-surged piece might at first seem isolating to those unfamiliar with the material--- the themes of loss and a zealous nostalgia are universal.  Hence, when the playwright mentioned that it had played in Calgary and was perhaps finding its way to New York, I knew that the solid material would shine.

No intermission and a stark woodsy backdrop immerse you immediately in the content and do not let you go until the lights dim.  Perhaps one of the most interesting notes I came away with is how Thomson managed to inflect his voice and mannerisms with those of a man indigenous to Quebec without putting on an accent.   I am a firm believer that I would rather have no accent than an inconsistent one and while Thomson can probably do anything, this was one thing that stood out for me.

c/o postcity

Readers of my blog know I am a MASSIVE Soulpepper fan. We are so lucky that Toronto has such a strong theatre base and their ensemble pieces continue to dazzle.    I was familiar with David French's Canadian play but had never seen it and it is one of the funniest and most farcical spectacles I have ever seen on stage.   The audience was in an uproar surging the auditorium with an energy that flicked and pulsed the frenetic action on stage.    Oliver Dennis is a LONG time favourite of mine and he is perhaps the most scene-stealing character in this backstage drama about the anxieties and tensions rampant behind an opening production.

The cast used the space well: meandering through the aisles, the stage manager bellowing from the box above and the set was all 70s kitsch.    Alex Furber ( who we had seen in Anne and Gilbert the musical in the fall) played the ingenue role like a wide-eyed Greg Brady.


I am really lucky to live where I do:  in close proximity to festivals such as Shaw and Stratford and in the heart of Toronto which has some of the greatest theatre going.

In both of the aforementioned plays, the love for Canadian culture and its limitations and triumphs are paraded --- in Jitters over-the-top,  in You Will Remember Me subtle and sad.

Theatre! Mini-Reviews: 'Cinderella' and 'Anne and Gilbert'

Cinderella:

toronto theatre.com

The revival of this lesser known Rodgers and Hammerstein piece opened last week here on its National Tour after mixed reviews ( though a few Tonys!) on Broadway.

I knew nothing about the music or the adaptation of the story before I went .  I confess that I was disappointed with the book to the musical : some of the lyrics being forced to rhyme together while the secondary plots weren’t really developed at all.  While the orchestration was a dream, the lyrics were stilted and too often expected without the turn of nuanced phrase that contributes to the lasting impressions of other musicals by the pair like Sound of Music and The King and I.

That being said every single actor on the stage was top-notch, the voices soared through the beautiful Edwardian Mirvish theatre and the dancing was divine.  The costumes were slight of hand and really quite as magical as the subject matter and the sets of enchanted forest and glistening palace alike.    

An opulent musical with expert staging that just suffers from some lukewarm storytelling.  Cast and crew  nor composer to blame.

p.s. how does she do that dress change before the ball? I have no clue. Youtube has been no help.

Anne and Gilbert:

metronews.ca

We went off to Ottawa for this one! 

This is a musical that has become a staple in Charlottetown and Summerside during the summer: a sort of continuation of the favourite Anne of GG Musical which I am not afraid to admit I loathe.    This is a far more mature piece and actually a pretty close adaptation of Anne of the Island. Unlike other adaptations, and indeed the book itself, it really excels at digging a little deeper into Gilbert’s perspective.  While the first act was a bit scattered, I found things really tightened in the second when Anne and Gil, Moody and Josie end up at Redmond.  Here, Anne meets the equally luminous and flirtatious Philippa and her upper class beau Royal Gardner. All while Gil sits on the sidelines, hoping Anne finally catches up to him.

The staging was great: a sort of an elaborate puzzle with pieces that interlocked and spread apart. The costumes, too, were first rate and the choreography was great.   Musically, I was impressed at how the score was infused with the flavour of Maritime music.  This is not big, robust orchestra musical music: this is sweet and chime-like, making great use of the fiddle and, in some cases, crystalline voices.  The two strongest voices in the cast belonged to Anne (thank goodness) and Roy.  Though the actresses playing Marilla and Rachel Lynde both had fine voices and a marvelous duet. 

Apparently, on the Island ( where I will probably see it next summer) the auditorium at the Guild theatre is quite intimate.  The National Arts centre is a mid-sized theatre with great acoustics and allowed the production to breathe a little. It makes great use of its space.

Finally, if you’ve spent your life pining for boy-next-door Gil Blythe, this musical was written for you. It self-consciously parades the idealization of Gilbert, every school girl swoons for him and, obviously, even the stubborn Anne is not immune to his charms. 

But, without doubt, the price of admission was worth it for Ellen Denny whose Anne is at times heart-breaking and winsome who is never less than luminous and intelligent and who sings like an angel. 

Theatre Thursday: 3 Reasons why 'The Proposal/The Night Was Alive' from 'Titanic' is the smartest duet in the Broadway canon

Last night, Kat sent me this amazing youtube performance ( I mean everything is perfect: the piano accompaniment, the voices, the duet)  and it had me (again) thinking about how much I love the musical 'Titanic.'   I repeat, this show has nothing to do with the stupid movie and it has one of the most moving and ingenious broadway scores I have ever heard.

I saw it 3 times in Toronto this past Spring and saw James Hume ( one of the fellows here, singing the part of Bride) as Etches. His voice is magnificent.


You also really need to hear the song with full orchestration, 


Here's why this song leapt into my top 3 broadway songs of all time when I first heard it:

1   1.) It is an interesting and unexpected duet: composer and lyricist  Maury Yeston said that he divided the story into groups of three ---2.) three love stories from across the classes b.) the builder, the owner and the captain of the ship c.) three men who knew that something was amiss:   Barrett the stoker knows that the speed they are going is ridiculous, Fleet, the lookout, has no binoculars and no moon to guide him, Bride cannot get ahold of anyone when he sends his SOS signal.   Unlike other popular male duets in the Broadway canon (think of Confrontation in Les Miserables), this doesn’t drive the plot forward in a blatant way, rather serves as a portentous moment threaded with melancholic music and positioned in a somewhat humorous moment.

     2.)The tune is at once wistful and whimsical( an almost impossible counterbalance) and excessively listenable: layering an interesting counterpart of foreshadow and temporary bond.   It uses its funny onomatopoeia but its undercut by a severe melancholy: most apparent in the orchestration which occasionally sits high and yearning octave above the musical line Bride is singing. The telegram that Barrett sends to his love ( inspired by a real one ) will be his last connection to her while the thousand voices that Bride relies on to assuage his feelings of loneliness will be silent when he needs them most and then transposed, at the end, to exemplify the football stadium of wails as passengers drowned.  

            3.) It follows a song of major exposition ( a dinner table sequence that posits information on the date and the speed of the ship )where most people might put a love duet:  Any other composer would have used this moment, I think, to focus on young Katie and Jim Farrell: a typical musical theatre love story. Instead, Yeston gives the second class married couple a duet ( in another interview he said that this is merely because the spoken dialogue he had for them was not loud enough to cover the sound of a mechanical elevator needed in the original stage production) and the Isidor and Ida Strauss a duet. Neither is predictable. In this moment, he tells a different love story: Bride loves his friggin telegraph and Barrett years for Darlene.  Most of the romance duets are interspersed into large, layered chorus numbers

Theatre Weekend in NYC !

Oh fair blog, I have deserted you.

 

A rachel in times square 

But, I did want to touch base about my amazing Broadway weekend.  What is a broadway weekend, you might ask?  Well, it’s when you go to New York City ,stay at a hotel just off Times Square and see a bunch of theatre.

My friends and I met in NYC on a Friday morning. Went to the Strand bookstore and then commenced a theatre weekend.

I saw Amazing Grace Friday Night

Tosca at the MET on Saturday afternoon, the King and I at the Lincoln Centre Saturday night

Daddy Long Legs Sunday afternoon

The Fantasticks Sunday night .

L: Lincoln Centre R: The STRAND BOOKSTORE

The great thing about this weekend was that the theatre was varied!  An opera, 2 off-broadway shows presented in intimate spaces and two big budget musicals.   

And what about these shows?

Amazing Grace is a passion project  and as a long time student of hymnody and the history of the great hymnists it was a must see for me. It was closing weekend for the show and the cast was had some of the best voices I have ever heard on stage.   While the story of John Newton is a fabulous subject, I couldn’t help but think that the musical would’ve been even better had it had a more competent score and stronger lyrics.  The staging ( including one impressive shipwreck scene ) transported you back to 18^th Century England.   A nod to the musical’s focus on Mary Catlett who really is in a wonderful and unexpected way, the heart of the story.

Broadway night L: with Sonja at AG!

Tosca was an exercise in marathon singing featuring some of the world’s most renowned operatic voices.  Puccini is all romance: swooping and sighing and long recitatives and the MET auditorium and its almost ethereal acoustics was the perfect house for this epic exercise in song.  While opera is not my favourite medium, I loved the experience.

The King and I had some of the best staging I have ever seen for a musical.  As Anna and her young son arrive in 19^th Century Siam, their boat steers a clear path, overtaking the stage and covering the orchestra pit underneath. The dancing, singing, choreography and magnificently buoyant and intelligent Kelli O’Hara gave this classic musical a modern and feminist slant.  I really appreciated seeing it anew.

Daddy Long Legs was my favourite show of the weekend.  It is a chamber musical playing off-broadway and based very closely on the epistolary novel by Jean Webster. I was familiar with the concept recording which I have been listening to non-stop and was delighted to hear that most of the music had been preserved in the broadway production.  A cast recording featuring the actor and actress we saw will release next week.   It is just a perfect musical. Basically tailor-made for Rachel.  Sweet and scholarly with dollops of literary infusion and a really careful and smart romance. I loved the writer heroine and the kuntsleroman sentiments and I loved the clever way they interwove Jervis’ reactions to her beguiling letters.   This musical is a kind, small world of its own with fantastic singing, perfect staging, a charming book-filled set and nuanced humour.  It really is the coziest cashmere way to spend an afternoon at the theatre.

a rachel at lincoln centre

The Fantasticks was a show that everyone knows and it is a staple of musical theatre but that I was pretty much unfamiliar with. A sparkling, well-sung allegory, it reminded me of the vaudevillian tropes of old: paper moons and streamers, hats and a mime, a magical trunk that provided all of the props and costumes needed to collectively imagine the myth of Pyramis and Thisbe with a sometimes mournful, always light and airy musical score.

A perfect little confection with plenty laugh-out-loud moments

Hamlet: The Ultra-Condensed Version

Mel and I went to Stratford on Saturday for a fun double-header of Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew.

I give you, for your enjoyment, Hamlet: Abridged

Guards: GHOST!

Horatio:  How now, guards! Was that a ghost I saw?

Ghost: BWAHHHHHHHHHAAAA

Guards and Horatio: Good Lord this is terrifying

[meanwhile at a wedding party]

Claudius: blah blah blah royal duty blah blah

Gertrude: giggle

Hamlet:  I am going to stand here like a statue and curse all women for being as fickle as my mother who but a month after the death of my father is marrying this lout.

Claudius: come Hamlet! Stop standing all aloof like Darcy at a country dance, join us and we shall all kiss

Hamlet: *rolls eyes*

[First of many existential soliloquies]

[amidst the growing tension of a faraway random geographically-implausible war between England, Poland, Norway and Denmark]

Polonius: now Laertes, before you off for France, let me tell you and your fair virginal sister Ophelia some nuggets of wisdom.

*does so, loquaciously*

Ophelia: I think I am in love with Lord Hamlet

*twists daisy chain*

So you see, Ophelia, I thought we had a future; but it turns out I prefer Horatio and also I am playing mad.

Horatio: Hamlet, you gotta come see this ghost who looks like your dead dad

Hamlet: *existential moanings of woe*

*Hamlet, Horatio and Guards chase ghost*

Ghost: Hamlet, my son, I have not come to weird you out. Rather, to tell you your douchebag uncle Claudius put poison in my ear and killed me to get your mom.  Please avenge my death.

*Hamlet wallows loquaciously in a  murky haze of indecision, fake madness and existential soliloquies of which here are some highlights*:

Polonius: I know what is troubling you, young man. Love for my daughter.

Hamlet: words words words. Buzz buzz buzz

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern : you be a little weird, yo

Hamlet: Hawk and a handsaw!

Ophelia: oh lord Hamlet, I do take your madness harshly; perchance because we have done the deed and according to my later suicidal presentation of flowers, many symbolizing abortive powers, you may have knocked me up

Hamlet: Get thee to a nunnery

PLAYERS: we have come to play! And entertain!  Perchance to help you forget the looming English-Polish-Norwegian-Danish conflict that plays off stage left throughout this whole thing.

Hamlet: Can you guys do Murder of Gonzago? Except, I will totally write a few extra lines?

PLAYERS: we see nothing odd about this at all. Totally fine with this.

[more existential Hamlet soliloquies]

PLAYERS: *reenact death of Hamlet’s father what with poison and such*

Claudius: I’ll be damned. They're on to me

Hamlet: BWAHAH YOU ARE CAUGHT

[Hamlet: more existential soliloquies and indecision and inaction]

Gertrude: son Hamlet, why do you hate me so?

Hamlet: You’re totally shacking up with my murderous uncle.  *Kills Polonius accidentally*

Claudius: we shall send Hamlet away to England hope he dies

Audience: but isn't England one of the countries in this implausible war?

Shakespeare:  the political and military stuff isn't supposed to make sense here, you guys. If you want all that, go see one of the Henrys. 

Ophelia: woe! My father is dead. I have lost my mind. I might be pregnant. In fact, in this Stratford production I am!

Laertes: Behold! I return from France.  WTF! My dad’s dead and my sister is looney. What did you guys do?

Claudius *cough* Hamlet *cough*

[Ophelia:drowns herself after talking a lot about flowers ]

Gertrude: *proceeds to describe in great detail how Ophelia died leaving everyone to ponder why no one inevitably watching this slow and easy to recount in great detail death, didn’t go and save her*

Laertes: REVENGE!!!!

[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead]

Hamlet: Horatio! LOOK! I am back from England! I was almost killed and drowned and stuff. Let’s take a detour by the graveyard

[gravedigger. Skull. Yorick.]

[Ophelia funeral]

Claudius: I have an idea, Laertes.  Let’s poison Hamlet in a made-up fencing tournament.  You will nick him with your sword. And if that doesn’t kill him we’ll have a goblet of poisoned wine as a backup.

Laertes: sure!

Hamlet: the readiness is all!

Audience: can you please die so we don't have to have another soliloquy?

Hamlet and Laertes *fence fence fence*

 Cladius: drink from this goblet, Hamlet, you look thirsty.

Hamlet: meh!

Gertrude: mmm wine. Gimme *drinks and dies*

Claudius: *dies*

Laertes: *dies*

Hamlet *dies*

Horatio: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fortinbras: Ummm, okay. I think I showed up at the wrong time! I am part of the plot involving the English-Polish-Norwegian-Danish war.

Horatio: *sniffing* I forgot about that

Fortinbras: No worries. I think everyone did. Hamlet looks like a nice guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. LET US BURY HIM AS A SOLDIER

The end.

this is basically a love story between these two 

Theatre Review: 'Titanic'

Here’s the deal: if Kat likes something then you know it has something going for it.

Ever since I’ve known her, Kat has loved the musical Titanic.   So I knew when it came to Toronto that a.) we had to go that b.) it would have something amazing going for it.

Kat is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. So, she has no time for dumb stuff. 

Before I go further, let us make a few things clear a.) Titanic: the Musical is not as terrible as Titanic: the Musical sounds like it could be b.) it is a predecessor of the crappy James Cameron film. It has nothing to do with the film other than the fact that they are set on the same boat.

So I went in with the expectation that Kat likes it so it will have something going for it.

It had a ton going for it including one of the best Broadway scores I have heard in my lifetime.  Maury Yeston (Nine, Grand Hotel ) doesn’t just jukebox the heck outta some nonsense content. He goes deep, he goes big and there is not a note of anachronism in his rendering of whatever musical period he is invested in.

For Titanic, a welcome marriage of Celtic influence, Edwardian popular pomp (think Sousa) and mournful melody ( think Vaughan Williams) as well as a reverent hymn and ragtime and dance hall: music of the period is knit together in a smorgasbord of perfectly suited style.

It's going to hades, Mr. Andrews, but you get a darned good song outta it

The music is so clever (the lyrics, too, but more on that in a moment ) that even its “happiest” melodies have a portentous note.  It is rapturous to listen to how intelligent this all is.  And when you add the lyrics and the marvelous way he knits the quilt of the story (Stoker and Telegraph operator have a duet,  the classes are distinguished with a triad  of couples--a third class Irish lass and her fellow, a social climbing American wannabe, Isador Strauss of Macy’s fame and his wife), as well as the captain, the builder and the owner  create a sequence of musical vignettes.  All, of course, are tied together in the metaphor of a floating city or world. The metaphor of Titanic as a representation of civilization is a recurring motif and embroidered throughout with references not only to class structure but to men speeding ahead of its time. For one, it notes the pyramids( as an example of many).

To add, musical tropes made slightly minor recur. At one moment a theme promenades the grand and opulent  launch of a great ship, when the theme is revisited it evokes the frantic and harried frenzy of passengers spilling into the lifeboats. 

And it goes even deeper.  Every lyric preludes what will happen.  For me, the most surprising and interestingly innovative duet is between Barrett, the Stoker, and Bride, the telegraph operator.  While Bride plunks out a message to Barrett’s love behind he sings of the loneliness made moot by Marconi’s world-bridging apparatus. The self same apparatus that will at once isolate and colonize the entire ship with hope and despair.  A lifeline when the Californian is near, a death-knell as it pats out the last SOS signal.     And yet this isolation juxtaposed with Barrett’s singing the imagery of heaven’s blanket foreshadows a starless, still night and the prayers of thousands facing the glass- shattered pricks of their icy deaths.

Another astonishing musical decision of Yeston’s was to forego the music history informs us was played on the voyage with his own similar composition.  The meters of his own hymn certainly reflect the hymns that would have been sung aboard ship while his version of the Autumn waltz( largely believed to be the last tune the band played as the ship sank ) has the same interesting measure and sequence as the original.

The musical is the best version of historical fiction: it creates its own world, populates it with actual personages and makes them more representation than individual character.  The characters here represent themes. Yeston doesn’t try to develop them---nor should he. They are already set in stone. Moreover, he rotates the carousel of the world so that stage and song-time is distributed in so many directions, it would do a disservice to funnel on one “lead” character.

This is a chorus piece. This is an ensemble dream.

The musical certainly captures the essence of the period and the event ( as mentioned, most pronouncedly in its musical setting) but from a deftly altered way.

The staging of the tour (late of Britain and now over in North America to make its rounds) is sparse.  You will use your imagination but the story, song sequences and sound make you feel as if your modern era has been peeled away.

There is a cacophony of eerie sounds and joyful robust resolutions. There is a layer of hope and dismal despair at once. The score, here, is a veritable feast. I cannot remember the last time I was this impressed by a Broadway score and surprised it took near 20 years from its debut for me to get my teeth into it.

It’s clever storytelling surrounded by majestic and magnificent music and, as it has nothing to do with effing James Cameron’s stupid film, you can go in satisfied and leave, as I did, with expectations exceeded.

 Also, everyone, the first 16 minutes of the show is brilliant storytelling. THIS is how you introduce character, theme and circumstance. It is how you establish action. Luckily, for musical theatre lovers, it is done in a brilliant and scrumptious way.

Rachel and Melanie's Adventures in Torontonian Theatre

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Chekhovian, jovial, hilarious and full of off-kilter rants, this play was unexpectedly hilarious. Fiona Reid and Steven Sutcliffe were to die for---especially the former when she launched into a mirror perfect impersonation of Maggie Smith.    I loved the warmth and the raw humour of the writing which extols the relationships shifts in sibling dynamics as each grew older.  Jennifer Dale played a one-note as the narcissistic archetypal actress Masha and was continually overshadowed by the generous and warm Vanya and Sonia.   But that was the only sour note in the play.

Melanie and I had a wonderful post-theatre conversation and I encourage you to find this Canadian production, wander around it in it mentally for a bit and let its giddy euphoria follow you out of the auditorium.

 

from cbc.ca

Opera Atelier is a perennial favourite experience of mine---especially because it is accompanied by Tafelmusik: one of my true Torontonian passions.   Orpheus and Eurydice, as explored in jubilant and buoyant colour and celebration of dance, song and love, by the talented repertory company is the perfect gateway opera. If you have not yet experienced opera or are reticent about it being dire and over-handed and sprawling ( and long), then this compact retelling of the famous myth is perfect. It looks and sounds extraordinary, it employs Hector Berlioz’s Victorian revision (and cross-dressing) and it never takes itself too seriously.  The ballet sequences are lush and gorgeous and crinolines sweep swiftly across the stage. Everything is mesmerizing. The music, too, is some of Gluck’s most familiar and will stay with you long after the final note. 

A night at the Elgin is an experience in and of itself ..... so make sure you go and see our OA friends in their perfect habitat. 

stage-door.com

My theatre goer Melanie can be found here 

Theatre!!!!

Theatre Theatre!

What is going on in the world of Torontonian Theatre?   I haven’t re-capped what I have seen in a while.

Before Christmas, a friend and I saw Arcadia: the Tom Stoppard rubik’s cube that still hurts my brain when I think about it.  It was so transcendentally intelligent as it switched between the present and a room of scholars and the Regency.  It was a wild maze of philosophy and romance and ideas and I have trouble winding my brain around all that happened.  It was more an exhilarating brain-dance than a night out at the theatre and I could deconstruct forever the platitudes it hoists itself upon and the vulnerable lows and depths it scrapes with its fluent and fragile word-span.

I loved it.

A friend and I saw Spring Awakening at the Lower Ossington a few weeks ago and I wasn’t sold on it.  Prior, I think the last Torontonian show I had seen was the usual Wicked launch that shows up every few years.

c/o the Star

On Saturday night, we trekked down to the Berkeley to see How Do I Love Thee: a painfully beautiful exploration of the tragic love between creative forces Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.   Honestly, it was wrenching. First, it was light and airy as correspondence was exchanged between the two poets, name-dropping Wordsworth and Coleridge, and their letters (literally) filling the air.  To add, the director staged bawdy innuendo that flitted in perfect beat alongside the passionate letters crossing between them.   They intersected---emotionally and creatively--- and eventually decided to marry and take off to Italy. Penniless.  But, once they wed, Barrett Browning (Ba, to her friends) showed a side more Kubla Khan than Westminster Bridge: she was addicted to opium to laudanum and to brandy.   A love story more like a wretched passion piece, How Do I Love Thee takes the idea of two people trapped in a marriage unsure of how to make their creative minds soar while bound to the expectations of each other, their patrons and the world.  It also delves deep into the heart of addiction: made more tenuous by the fact that it propels creative juice.

One of the most vibrant and sensual pieces of theatre I have seen--- it is equal parts lusty and erudite, passionate and sizzling ---it buzzes with words and the two titular characters step into the skin of these Victorian romantics and move around so comfortably I was surprised I wasn’t watching an age-old film reel.

Definitely made me want to exhume all the bare bones knowledge I had on both from my time at University.

Read about it here http://torontoist.com/2015/02/sex-drugs-and-sonnets/

c/o Manitoba Theatre Centre 

Last night I saw the pre-Broadway production of The Heart of Robin Hood: a Shakespearian, cross-dressing acrobatic affair which reimagines the legend in more of the BBC vein than the Errol Flynn. Here, it is Marion who is the brains and guts behind the outlaw operation,  two steps ahead of the weaselly Prince John and the maniacal Guy of Gisborne.  Featuring the anachronistic musical flare of Parsonsfield, it is a buoyant but odd production that was a little too pantomime for my taste. That being said, the staging and the lush green set (used to within an inch of its life ) was breath-taking to behold.

I quite enjoy re-imagining Marian as a cross-dressing, sword-wielding force of nature more at home in the forest than in the traditional upscale life meted out for her in the castle.  There was a nice zest of feminism here tempered with the slow, expected romance---- but even as they wed you know that Robin will meet her on equal terms.

Who Should Sing "Ol' Man River" by Todd Decker

From the publisher:

“In Who Should Sing "Ol' Man River"? The Lives of an American Song, author Todd Decker examines how the song has shaped, and been shaped by, the African American experience. Yet "Ol' Man River" also transcends both its genre and original conception as a song written for an African American male. Beyond musical theater, this Broadway ballad has been reworked in musical genres from pop to jazz, opera to doo wop, rhythm and blues to gospel to reggae. Pop singers such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland made "Ol' Man River" one of their signature songs. Jazz artists such as Bix Biederbecke, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, and Keith Jarrett have all played "Ol' Man River," as have stars of the rock and roll era, such as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Cher, and Rod Stewart. Black or white, male or female-anyone who sings "Ol' Man River" must confront and consider its charged racial content and activist history."

Honestly, this is a fascinating piece of ethnomusicology penned by a passionate expert who excavates the history of a controversial song. Yes, the song’s history, form and function are extrapolated; but, more interesting still, is the song’s varied appropriation.

Rhetorically, we are asked who should sing Ol' Man River: especially as it worked its way as emblem into a wide spectrum of rebellion, anarchy and cultural consciousness. Vernacular, lyrical changes, slow denouements and show stopping octave-leaping flourished finishes --- all are at the center of one of the most interesting studies I have read in an age. Who has the right? And why is it sung again and again by singers from all walks of life, in all genres and forms, from all races?

To add, it speaks greatly to the historical context of the show and the ripples and shudders it spread through the Civil Rights movement. Decker writes: "  Every performed version of Ol Man River negotiates the color line that divided black from white and white from black in the years of legal racial segregation. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that the height of the civil rights movement—from the late 1950s  to the close of the 1960s saw the greatest proliferation of performed and recorded versions in the song’s history.”

In the context of Show Boat (1927), the stevedore Joe stands in for a greek chorus with his other pulley-levers. The song is reprised more than 4 times during the almost three hour operetta, concluding to emphasize how the world has changed --the days of the Show Boats are over, but the world continues--- as do the travails and triumphs of Americans--- as does the lives of Magnolia, Gaylord, Kim and the central cast of the show. The melody is played with and inverted to act as the musical infrastructure of the show: at times happy and sad but, like the currents of its eponymous river, strained and fluid throughout.

I couldn’t help thinking about my relationship with the song. I am, of course, an unabashed broadway fanatic and the popular 1993 revival of Show Boat with Cloris Leachman, Mark Jacoby, Rebecca Luker, et al. was one of my first stage experiences. I loved Ol Man River. I can see the stage before me now: the bails and barges in the elaborate set (see the documentary on Garth Drabinsky’s excess to learn just how elaborate that set was) and I can see Joe leaning there, his low baritone rumbling across the stage and into the seats. The auditorium vibrated. Another instance: I am sitting in Roy Thomson Hall to the thunderous applause reaching Colm Wilkinson at the end of one of his many concerts. While I secretly hope that he’ll impart This is the Moment on his set, he instead gifts us with Ol Man River.

It's a memorable song: memorable enough that each person who hears it stamps upon it their personal experience. Yet, it is not without its controversy.  Along with containing (in its original lyrical form) racial slurs, it has been shirked by artists of both colour. Speaking to one critic, Decker notes: "…Far from alone among black ( as well as white) intellectuals in thinking Ol’ Man River would be best consigned to oblivion.”

But it never was resigned or shelved and it is here, in the study, we begin an extensive look at the too-many-to-count renditions of a standard that has lived many lives, touched many and stood in for experience. It offends some, empowers others but never, like its famed river, has a completely smooth ride.

It has been sped up for doo wop, and slowed down to a ballad, labelled incorrectly as a piece of spiritual history, it has been enhanced with big bands, slurred from the distinctive voice of Louis Armstrong and crooned sadly by Judy Garland. It has undergone tempo and key changes. And SO MANY LYRIC CHANGES-- often tweaked to the agenda of the performer. Speaking to the firebrand Paul Robeson's changes, Decker explains: "“Tote dat barg!” “Lif’ dat bale!” You show a little grit and you land in jail. “Show a little grit” is a brilliant change [from get a little drunk] it fits the tune at a spot where the melody can’t overwhelm the words”

My favourite part of the history was very much the beginning in which Decker leads us through the maze of the song’s complicated history, followed by his absolute unabashed passion for Paul Robeson’s performance in particular. And once he began speaking to Robeson, then he began really exhuming the relationship between Robeson and the Jerome Kern, how he weaved it into his concerts stitched together of spirituals and songs but also how he defiantly changed words and inflections so that he always had power and control over its meaning and its interpretation.

Indeed, the relationship between the singer and the song was another fascinating tenet to Decker’s intense study. Robeson’s relationship, Sinatra’s relationship ( and the subsequent embrace of the Italian American community’s embrace of the song ), Bing Crosby’s relationship and, more recently, examples of contemporary performances and recordings and even the presentation of its timeless appeal to the raves of an America’s Got Talent audience.

You will never be able to hear the popular song again: not without thinking of its resonating implications: the fact that offensive slurs have been taken out and artists have layered it with a completely different context. But, one thing remains the same: it is eerie, haunting, tragic, beautiful and completely unforgettable.

I received this book from netgalley via Oxford University Press in exchange for an honest review.

Stratford: Man of La Mancha and Crazy for You

So, Stratford! Such a good place, right?  and such good theatre.
There were a few seasons where I felt they were trying to find their pace again and defaulted to my die-hard Shaw love; but when they announced they were doing Crazy for You and La Mancha this year for their musical selections, I knew that I really wanted to go.

For those of my blog readers who are unfamiliar with Stratford: it is a premiere Shakespeare festival which began in the early 1950s by a journalist who wanted to revitalize the town's tourism.  You will understand if you go there, it is gorgeous. At first it was mainly Shakespeare and while they still feature several plays by the Bard a year, it has expanded.  Because it is so popular and the tourism from all over the world is so high, the talent is high and you can expect first-rate productions with talent who has done their stint in Toronto, the West End and Broadway. But, to add to this, they use mostly homegrown talent which allows Canadians to be proud of their thespian output.

Some famous actors who have found home on the Stratford Stage include James Mason, Alec Guinness, Maggie Smith,  Jason Robards, etc., etc., etc.,

The other cool thing about Stratford is that it goes out of its way to provide an optimum theatrical and cultural experience which includes, of course, the gorgeous grounds the Festival theatre is set on  and the sites around town: the Avon river and its famous swans, the Shakespearian gardens,  and the quaint 19th Century typical-Ontario town.  




Crazy for You is a plotless wonder and it is supposed to be because it is built around amazing dance sequences and a bevvy of standard classics by Ira and George Gershwin.    I must confess to being a little confused that they chose the Festival Theatre ( theatre in the round a la the Globe) as the venue for the massive tap sequences; but they used the space as well they could.  The orchestra was amazing, the chorus was amazing. The only other time I have seen the show professionally was when I was a teenager and it was in Toronto at the Royal Alex (for years) and saw Ruthie Henshall and Mickey Rooney and so I cannot compare all of the choices they made but I can applaud the casting and the fresh take on the Susan Stroman-famous dance numbers.  Our Bobby Child is basically Gene Kelly in talent, scope and adorkableness ( but with a better singing voice)  and the other stand-out for me was Tom Rooney who played Bela Zangler with all of the physical comedy that sends What Causes That over the top.

Actually, it's a good thing I found Tom Rooney so exceptionally talented because after a few hours of rambling, exploring and pub-eating, I crossed over to the Avon Theatre and saw him as Miguel de Cervantes in Man of La Mancha.

Guys, can we just get the problems that Man of La Mancha has out of the way? When done poorly, it is poor. Like, really poor. It is not an easy musical ---what with its whole meta thing--- and it is not a happy musical. It is set in the squalor of a prison and you know that several of the inmates will be led out to be tortured and purified (burned at stake ) by the Inquisitors.   And yet, this is the stage-within-a-stage that launches the picaresque tale of a delusional knight errant, Don Quixote, and his faithful squire Sancho Panza.   They embark on a castle---actually a decrepit inn run by a sympathetic innkeeper and housing rowdy muleteers who are abusive of the lady-of-the-knight Aldonza, whom Don Quixote immediately replaces as Dulcinea: holder of his heart and lady fair he will slay dragons for .


The music is also unbalanced in the show (not the cast's fault; nor the orchestra's part, rather the score and songs themselves) and while Impossible Dream and the title song sat very well in Tom Rooney's voice, the range was evidently difficult when it came to Robin Hutton's turn as Aldonza.  Not entirely her fault, I cannot imagine how difficult that part is to sing.  It's unbalanced but the cast and the choices made here are amazing. I ADORED Tom Rooney and you will too!

There were some great directorial choices here and I especially liked the exchange between Aldonza and Cervantes that you see in the video below.