Tag: theatre reviews

Live & Let Fringe: Day 2

Walking the grounds this year, it appeared that vendor numbers are down, with less food and merchandise kiosks on site. At least, the glut that usually line Gateway Boulevard and 104th Street are missing; I wonder if less permits were distributed this year?

I asked Dickson and Mack to join me for two shows on Friday evening. The first was The Power of Ignorance (Stage 5), a show that was impossible to get tickets for when it premiered in Edmonton in 2003. I am not a fan of solo performances, but after this, I now know that I simply have to choose the ones involving stand-up comedians. Chris Gibbs was hilarious as the (de)motivational speaker Vaguen. He had the perfect voice for the part, and could have easily been cocking his eyebrow for the duration of his satiric performance. Much of the punchlines were delivered rapid-fire, so I can’t say that I picked up everything, but the script was extremely clever, pulling apart popular expressions and universal truths. I also enjoyed the segue ways into his childhood – the anecdotes humanized Vaguen, and rounded out the play nicely by providing a storyline of sorts to follow. Get tickets while you can – the play garnered a 4.5 rating in the Saturday Journal.

We had some time to wander and relax before our second show, so ended up sitting in the near-empty beer tent on “Westjet Way” (compared to the standing room only one next to the Walterdale), and saw at least four Die-Nasty cast members leaving the tent. So if you want to do some celebrity-spotting…

Die-Nasty has been on my hit-list for years, but the late showtime has always been a deterrent, so I was glad to finally be able to participate in this Fringe tradition (Stage 8). I was sad to see that Jeff Haslam was absent from the cast, but Davina Stewart/Mark Meer/Leona Brausen had their A-games going, so that made up for the void somewhat. At the other end of the spectrum, I suspect the actress who played the Constable was smashed, because she was annoyingly disruptive and intruded on quite a few scenes; hopefully she straightens up for the rest of the Fringe run. There were many inside theatre jokes (including Ron Pederson’s comment about the pretentious “scarf-wearing” public, a reference to his recent letter to See Magazine and the subsequent ripple effect), but much of the humor came from the snide remarks directed at the changes in this year’s festival (buying tickets at “West Edmonton Mall”). It occurred to me that this troupe of actors are very lucky to have such a venue to publicly air out their grievances with the Fringe leadership – but if anything, they’ve earned it. In all, this episode wasn’t as funny as the season finale I attended back in May, but I can now remove it from my Fringe to-do list.

Live & Let Fringe: Day 1

It is no secret that the Fringe is my favorite time of year in Edmonton – I can just about hear Julie Andrews’ voice in my head as I pass the painted busker squares, jewelry vendors, and mini-doughnut stand.

Of course, the main attraction being theatre, I was interested to see if the vibe of the Fringe had shifted at all since the axe fell on sales at the venue door. Picking up my tickets at the unmarked “will call” window in the Arts Barns took a little longer than it should have – it seems one of the patrons at the counter had had some trouble with his online purchase confirmation. To be fair, the festival should be allowed time to work out the inevitable kinks of a new system, but the staff seemed terribly inefficient and ill-trained, deferring their queries to the one person who seemed to actually know what was going on. The queue at the main box office was also very slow-moving; I hope this is not the case later on in the festival, otherwise last-minute decision makers will be forced to adopt a new show selection strategy. As for the satellite box office locations (which weren’t open until later that night), I know I’m not the only one who thinks that they look a tad…corporate. With the necessary gate protecting computer equipment (and employee) built into the wooden structures, purchasing a ticket somehow feels less personal than simply approaching volunteers at a makeshift stand in front of a venue.

We watched one show – Matt & Ben (Stage 1), a satire about Damon and Affleck’s rise to fame in the form of Good Will Hunting ‘falling from the ceiling.’ Being a fan of Jocelyn Ahlf (Ben) made this an easy early pick, and she did not disappoint. She demonstrated great comedic timing once again, and her zealous embrace of silly quirks really distinguished her from her co-star. Belinda Cornish was weaker in her portrayal of Matt, but she did better as the ghost of J.D. Salinger. The storyline as a whole was less about “male bonding” as the program portrayed, and more about two foil friends trying to find their way in the world together and as individuals. It was light Fringe fare, and a good way to start off the weekend (both Colin MacLean and Liz Nicholls were in attendance, so expect reviews in the papers tomorrow).

On to day 2!

Theatre: “The Exquisite Hour”

After dinner, Mack and I headed to the Varscona to check out Stewart Lemoine’s latest, The Exquisite Hour. From the website:

“A seemingly well-adjusted bachelor finds his life forever altered on a summer evening when an alluring stranger materializes in his backyard to ask the question ‘Are you satisfied with what you know?'”

Not a new work but a remount, the play had the feel of a Fringe production. It really was only sixty minutes in length, but more than that, the light, summer quality of the content was devoid of the existential elements I have come to associate with Lemoine. As well, though Jeff Haslam did his best to make the mood shift from one of lighthearted make believe to mourning the loss of time realistic, even he couldn’t hide the fact that the switch was much too sudden.

That said, The Exquisite Hour did feature some great exchanges between the two leads, and allowed Haslam to showcase his talent in line delivery. This was my first time watching Kate Ryan on stage, and she was every bit as spunky and charming as the role demanded.

I should say that Mack didn’t enjoy the play at all, but I am certain he felt he got his money’s worth with our proximity that night to fellow audience member Ron Pederson(!).

I may also have to make it a habit of watching Teatro productions on a non-pay-what-you-can night. That Thursday, they offered free wine before curtain, and a dessert reception following the play. I guess that’s what our ticket dollars go towards.

Two changes at Teatro this fall: Lemoine is stepping down as Artistic Director of the company, and will be replaced by longtime associate Haslam (but not to worry, Lemoine will still be writing!). Secondly, the production calendar will be shifting to a spring/summer/fall schedule after a winter hiatus. More information about the news available here.

Theatre: “East of My Usual Brain”

After dinner, Mack and I watched the new charmingly-titled Stewart Lemoine play East of My Usual Brain at the Varscona Theatre. From the website:

“East of My Usual Brain sets forth the utterly unexpectable tale of young bookstore clerk Eric Thaw (Ryan Parker), whose perceptions of life in an unremarkable city undergo an extraordinary transformation when he accepts a position as the research assistant to tempestuous European author Istvan Madaras (Ron Pederson). Istvan has himself been completely untethered from his moorings after a chance encounter with the alluringly pensive Bianca (Belinda Cornish) one afternoon in a public garden. Inspired, amused, and occasionally horrified by this romantically tortured pair, Eric must broker a resolution in a suddenly unfamiliar landscape that grows more peculiar and more beautiful with every scene.”

Let me just preface this review with the advice to never attend a show tired. That said, it was no fault of the play itself that I missed most of the first half due to, well, a lack of caffeine in my system. From what I did gather, it was a typical Lemonian-exercise of a verbally shy courter, with Pederson for the first time cast not as the yuppie bystander, but as the starry-eyed would-be Romeo. Pederson did great, pulling off both a mustache and accent without falter (his silent struggle with low table seating in the tea shop was a notable comedic moment). Parker was a seamless addition to the Teatro family (as this was his Teatro debut), and I can see why Lemoine reacted with a “You–get in the car” comment after seeing Parker’s spoof of the 80s duo Wham. My only lukewarm reception was towards Cornish – noticeably older than Pederson, her inclusion in this role appeared mainly to be because of her English accent. She was as upright, mysterious, and transcendent as her character demanded, but I wasn’t entirely sold that both Eric and Istvan would fall for her. Moreover, whoever’s decision to allow Bianca the number of costume changes that would rival an Oscar host’s should regret it – Maggie Walt‘s designs were flashy and ultimately distracting. Bianca’s wardrobe superseded the focus that should have been on the words.

The set deserves its own praise as well – both beautiful and functional, the red lanterns hung behind the paper screen were a nice touch. However, I am still wondering whether designer Mike Takats deliberately chose to use low tables, despite its alignment with Japanese and not Chinese culture.

All in all, it was an enjoyable play, with the expected poignant metaphor (in this case, excuse my mangling, but of the orientation necessary in love and in life), charming characters, clever dialogue, and laughs.

Theatre: Die-Nasty, Season 16

Die-Nasty has become an institution of sorts in Edmonton, and though I’ve always meant to give it a go (I came really close at last year’s Fringe), I just haven’t made it out. Part of the reason lies in a lukewarm experience I had watching one of the shows at the Improvaganza festival a few years ago – I came to the conclusion that unscripted comedy really wasn’t my thing. Well, Die-Nasty may have changed my mind.

Season 16 centered around a fictional 70s hockey team, the Edmonton Die-Hards, loosely based on the Oilers of the era. With outrageously-named characters, including Dr. Bueno Excellente (Mark Meer) to Captain Derrick Capilano (Jeff Haslam) and Coach Rollie Doobie (Dana Andersen), the cast really had fun creating their world. And upon hearing that Georges Laraque would be guest starring in the season finale, how could I pass it up?

It was a packed house, and a CTV cameraman even stayed to record the first half! I can tell you it was a bit surreal watching Laraque (fittingly #69, Wellen Dowed) alongside who I consider to be Edmonton’s theatre all stars – Meer, Haslam, Andersen, Sheri Somerville, Leona Brausen, Matt Alden, and of course, Ron Pederson (back in Edmonton for the summer!) up on stage. Two of my favorite things – hockey and theatre – came together for an evening.

As for the comedy itself – Andersen’s direction was spot on. The fact that this omniscient narrator was present to set up and subsequently end the scenes really allowed for some plot development, and unlike Improvaganza, wasn’t just a series of random exercises. He also ensured the audience got their money’s worth of Laraque – in the first act, he appeared in every other scene. As expected, most of the funny moments arose from ironic comments about his size, or more often than not, hyper-sexualized tension between him and whichever female cast member happened to be in his way (Laraque’s, “I couldn’t breathe!” after Brausen stuck his head between her breasts was priceless). Mack’s recap highlights some of the other memorable lines of the night, including Donovan Workun’s “I have a million dollar tool, that’s why I built the shed” response to a dig about his weight.

Though I may never understand why all of the women got to make out with Pederson, nor want to know what was actually in those bottles they were drinking out of, it was an entertaining evening all around. And really, any event that helps Mack get to the point where he can pick the theatre all stars out of a lineup is a worthwhile one in my books.

Theatre: “After the Fall”

With The Crucible and Death of a Salesman as evidence, I thought Arthur Miller’s last play, After the Fall, would have had similar oomph. Boy, was I wrong.

From the Studio Theatre website:

“Miller’s After the Fall (1964) is a strongly autobiographical work, which deals with the questions of guilt and innocence, examining failed relationships, false American values and broken principles amid larger political and social failures like the aftermath of the Holocaust and the McCarthy communist witch hunt. One of the central characters, Maggie, is clearly modeled on Monroe, although Miller always denied this.”

After reading an interview with director Stefan Dzeparoski, I wholly give him the credit that he deserves in attempting to unpack this challenging play, as at intermission, Mack and I both had no idea what was going on.

Between the too-busy set (the textured backdrop, giant wardrobe, theatre seats, overhead screen, and rolling bed in the second half), and projected visuals (Quentin’s conscience, ghosts, and wife Maggie), it was a battle to pay attention to the words alone. The fragmented narration, with characters popping in and out of Quentin’s life, was too difficult to follow. I also wasn’t able to reconcile the first half of the play, with storylines involving the House of Un-American Activities Committee, Quentin’s mother, and his first two wives, with the second half that centered on Quentin’s tumultuous relationship with his third wife. “Strongly autobiographical,” I’m convinced that only Arthur Miller himself would truly be able to tell us what he intended of this play.

That said, I thought Melissa Thingelstad’s performance as Louise was a bright spot in the play, while Mack liked Meredith Bailey’s turn as Maggie.

Beyond that, I don’t have much else to say, except that the audience’s stunned silence following the end of the production, and subsequent delay in applause, said it all.

Theatre: “Dreamland Saturday Nights”

May and I then attended a matinee of David Belke’s remounted Dreamland Saturday Nights at the Varscona. From the website:

“When two lonely hearts meet at an old time repertory cinema, they discover that where one sees colour and romance in a search for love and adventure, the other analyses lighting, direction and camera angles. The play follows the growth of their relationship over a series of Saturday nights as they watch old movies together, eat popcorn and fall in love – with a little help from their friends, Bogart, Davis and Astaire.”

Just as nostalgic as the description portrays, the play was a classic Belke romantic comedy. I loved the use of old trailers and concession advertisements to set the tone as the audience seated themselves (though Shadow Theatre’s own trailers could have been better put together – I thought they were fake until I looked in the program). The set was as functional as it was pretty – the designer found great replicas of theatre seats and a concession stand to accompany the whimsical pastel colored swirl backdrop, evoking the desired feeling of innocence and push for simpler times. The stage also incorporated a clever sheer movie ‘screen,’ to distinguish between the film realm and reality.

Like most Belke plays, the supporting cast stole the show. Patrick Howarth, the only actor who appeared in the original, was fantastic. His impersonations were spot-on (and he can dance!), with his Jack Nicholson imitation garnering the most laughs. Aimee Beaudoin, playing the “wicked” gold digger, was so fabulous in her oozing indifference and cruelty that I was left wondering how it could have been possible that I’d never seen her before. In particular, her maturity as an actress shone through in her Bette Davis masquerade. Angela Christie was well-cast as Dorothy, the cute and shy female lead, but I’m still unsure about Chris Bullough. Although better this time around than in Teatro’s House of Cats earlier this season, he didn’t completely convince me that he was remotely torn about his decision of tearing down the Dreamland. The program didn’t list the original cast, but as Chris Fassbender was a Belke favorite while he was still in town, I couldn’t help but think Fassbender’s ability to juggle quirkiness with heartfelt sincerity would have better suited the role.

As a classic movie fan, I’m embarrassed to say I couldn’t recognize all of the allusions (the buck stopped with Citizen Kane and Empire Strikes Back for me), but I could relate to Dorothy’s sentiment of wanting to have a bit of both Oz and Kansas in her life. So despite its shortcomings, Dreamland Saturday Nights was an enjoyable piece of fantasy, comedy, and romance.

Theatre: “Closer and Closer Apart”

Uncomfortably full, Dickson and I headed to the Roxy Theatre for Eugene Strickland’s Closer and Closer Apart. Though I usually shy away from dramas, I was intrigued by both the award-winning playwright and all-star cast. I wasn’t disappointed. From the program:

“A man once renowned for his architecture can no longer recognize his own reflection. Dressed perfectly in a suit and tie, he clings to his life’s details scrawled on scraps of paper. As he proudly tries to battle Alzheimer’s Disease on his own, his children attempt to map out the future of a man who seems lost in a city he helped build. ”

The living room set was gorgeous – strikingly modern and classic at the same time. So hip it seemed that the older, retired architect looked out of place in his own home. The backbone of a bookcase was certainly the dominating feature – both in size and representation of the crumbling state of Joe’s mental organization.

Closer and Closer Apart is one of those beautifully written, character-driven plays where details are at a premium and the audience thirsts for information (e.g. tracking the timeline of the mother’s death and Melody’s move), a valley created that mirrors Joe’s own need to fill in the blanks that he cannot recall. The opening scene with Michael, frantic on his cell phone, was brief, yet incredibly revealing. This is a sign of a deft playwright.

At intermission, I turned to Dickson and commented on how James DeFelice was “acting the crap out of his role.” In the challenging character of the architect, he not only had the speech pattern and timing dead on, but everything from his shuffle to the way his shoulders hunched over conveyed the image of a proud yet fragile man. Between his mannerisms and his dated wide-lapel, double-breasted suit, buttoned just under his belly with tie astray, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the West Wing‘s Leo McGarry (which layered the character with even more history for me, though admittedly misplaced). Sue Huff (replacing the Sterling Caroline Livingstone) was surprisingly good, visibly torn between the choice of her father or her future. Julian Arnold had a smaller role than expected – a barrel of energy on stage, his character didn’t demand too much from the seasoned actor.

Though Dickson was slightly disappointed with the ambiguous, unresolved ending, I think the play ultimately accomplished what it set out to do – raise the issue of Alzheimer’s, framing it in a realistic, relatable context. Strickland mentioned in an interview printed in the program that the play provided an outlet for those affected by the disease to speak about it without having to refer to those around them. He reached this goal in spades, crafting a heartfelt, touching work about the importance of family and connection.

Theatre: “The Producers”

May and I attended the opening night showing of Broadway Across Canada’s The Producers:

“Based on Mr. Brooks’ Academy Award-winning 1968 film of the same name, The Producers , the new Mel Brooks musical is the story of down-on-his-luck theatrical producer Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom , a mousy accountant. Together they hatch the ultimate scam: raise more money than you need for a sure-fire Broadway flop and pocket the difference. Their “sure-fire” theatrical fiasco? . . . None other than the musical Springtime for Hitler.”

Like watching opera from The Met broadcast at a local theatre, I viewed this as an opportunity to experience a little New York in Edmonton. Unfortunately, the Jubilee was not exactly a Broadway venue. I was quite annoyed that for a show of this caliber (and expense!), the company couldn’t get past opening night adjustments. There really was no excuse for the ill-functioning sound system that fizzled out halfway through the first act, particularly when so much of the humor in this play arises from puns and sarcastic asides.

My mental comparison was the 1968 original film, which I happened upon late last summer on Turner Classic Movies. One of the best scenes in the movie – the drunken conversation between Bialystock and Bloom following the surprising success of Springtime – wasn’t duplicated. They did, however, recreate the dancing swastika visual (minus, sadly, the pink feather boas), with the clever use of a tilted wall of mirrors. Also, I have to give them credit for the absolutely hilarious “Little Old Ladies” number, chicken Adolf’s “Hail Hitler” moment, and Jason Simon’s breathless delivery of his jailhouse reprieve. I’m normally not a fan of musicals, but the songs as a whole (absent from the original) really enhanced the plot (so perhaps the problem has been the fact that I’ve been watching C-grade musicals all my life…).

At the end of the day, I don’t regret going, but I couldn’t help but think of the 8 Varscona pay-what-you-can shows I could have attended in place of one night at The Producers.

Theatre: “House of Cats”

After Murietta’s, May and I headed to the Varscona to check out the newest Teatro La Quindicina production, House of Cats:

“a hapless bylaw officer investigates a highly concentrated feline presence in a bungalow shared by two sisters and learns that in certain circumstances the lines separating what’s obsessive, what’s crazy, and what’s just plain fun can be deliciously blurred.”

A piece by Cathleen Rootsaert, I must admit my immediate bias against any Teatro premiere not penned by the venerable Stewart Lemoine. And while I do think it’s possible for a play to be both frivolous and entertaining (last summer’s Hey Countess! is a good example), House of Cats only exemplified the former. It was definitely a ‘madcap’ production, with emphasis on ‘mad.’

It was difficult to like the characters – while their actions throughout were reasonable, they were all so self-indulgent and contained within their individual existences that the entire script seemed like a pointless exercise. There were some good lines (e.g. after his explanation of blogging and WoW, the bylaw officer comments that, “Being anti-social isn’t what it used to be”), but most of the humor felt downright forced.

The bright spots included Jeff Haslam’s set – ornate, rich, and with more cat-nacks than I’ve ever seen in one space. Also, Leona Brausen’s nervous energy translated perfectly into the role of kooky sister Helene. She had by far the juiciest part, but she aptly demonstrated her comic timing and skill in exhibiting oddball tendencies.

Next up for Teatro: a new Lemoine in May!