Live and in person at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto. Playing until Dec. 14.

www.buddiesinbadtimes.com

Created by Denim and Pythia

Ghostwriter, Lauren Gillis

Directed by ted witzel

Set, projections and lighting design by Cosette “Ettie” Pin

Sound by steph raposo

Costumes designed by Pythia

Choreographer, Elm Reyes

Cast: Denim (Emerson Sanderson)

Pythia (Christos Dariasis)

Sasha Velour

Kaleigh (of multiple spellings) owner and creator of a PR firm and her best friend Matt, a wannabe influencer, social media devotee, bitch and giggle at the way of the world of drag queens, hashtags, and psychics.

Kaleigh is getting married to Brad, but she’s not sure if he’s the one. Matt drags himself away from his cell phone long enough to suggest she see a psychic about it and names the psychic—Madame P. Kaleigh sees Madame P, who subtly steers her away from Brad, among other things. It’s hardly a surprise at who Madam P really is. Kudos to Pythia for the clever and inventive costume design.

There are a lot of drag queen references (Denim and Pythia are celebrated Drag Race stars). The physicality, snappy patter, bitchy retorts and constant references to social media and its essence and ethos are bracing for those up on the lingo and the insider info and jokes. For those who are rusty Oraculum might be a bit (?) A lot (?) out of the loop.

Director ted witzel’s production is technologically complex, with digital backdrops of Madame P in full drag splendor and larger than life or imagination. Kudos to Cosette “Ettie” Pin for the Madam P projections. Kaleigh looks out to the audience with Madame P being beamed in through the wonders of pre-recorded video answering Kaleigh’s questions of life, Brad and what to do. There are constant references to hash-tag notation with the hashtag being projected on surfaces above door stage left and stage right. If only one could read them, they are so dimly lighted and fuzzily projected. Can Cossett “Ettie” Pin work wonders here? Please.

There is a lot of atmospheric smoke, lighting, directorial dazzle and a story and performances that need masses of attention. It’s great to cast real, celebrated drag queens such as Denim and Pythia, but this is a theatrical event and audibility is a requirement. And one could not hear them properly, and certainly Pythia who talks quietly and quickly. So quickly one can’t get the jokes or the gist. I guess friends who stab trusting friends in the back for fun, might be funny in some quarters, as Matt does to Kaleigh, but surely there is more to a story than this superficial rendering? A character who is glued to his cell phone waiting for the next influencer moment and his insecure, whiney ‘friend’ just don’t seem worthy of such a complex, complicated production, that one can’t clearly hear.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre presents:

Plays until Dec. 14, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours (no intermission)

www.buddiesinbadtimes.com

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Live and in person at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto, Ont. Presented by Mirvish Productions. Playing until January 19, 2025

www.mirvish.c

Book by Marla Mindelle Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue

Directed by Tye Blue

Set designer, Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher for Iron Bloom

Costume designer, Alejo Vietti

Sound designer, Lawrence Schober

Lighting designer, Paige Seber

Orchestrations and arrangement by Nicholas James Connell

Music director, Nick Burgess

Choreographer, Ellenore Scott

Cast: Andre Anthony

Tess Benger

Constant Bernard

Mariah Campos

Veronique Claveau

Dave Comeau

Kaylee Harwood

Mike Melino

Rose Messenger

Christopher Ning

Erica Peck

Queenie

                                                                                                                                                                         Michael Torontow

Seth Zosky

Irreverent, bend-over hilarious, beautifully performed. It’s perfect for the holidays and after.

 The Story. Creators Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue (who also directs this) say that Titanique is a “love-letter to Céline Dion.” And it’s a kiss-on-the-cheek to musical theatre.  It is also an uproarious send-up of the film Titanic directed by James (“The King of the World”) Cameron.

We start off at the “Titanic Museum.” A tour guide gleefully notes various artifacts that were found after that horrible disaster of the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic. He is interrupted by the one and only Céline Dion. He is puzzled because all she contributed was the theme song “My Heart Will Go On” of the film. She informs him that she was there!!!

This leads us into the story which is explained really well in case someone was on a deserted island and didn’t see the film or know what it was about. Rose, her cloying mother Ruth and Rose’s fiancée, the very rich, tuxedo-wearing Cal, are travelling to New York. Cal is hoping to sleep with the chaste Rose before they arrive. He gives her a huge blue heart-shaped jeweled pendant to sweeten the deal.  But Rose sees and falls in love with the poor, humble, and simply dressed Jack who is going to New York for a better future. They spend a lot of time below decks getting to know each other through singing and clutching. Cal finds out. It gets messy. Cal orders the captain, Victor Garber—that in itself is an inside joke of the show—to go as fast as they can to get to New York because he has an important appointment he must not miss. The captain cranks up the speed. The seaman (lot of jokes about that) is fearful because there are all those icebergs out there. The ship is unsinkable says the captain. They plough on. And hit an iceberg.  And Céline Dion keeps narrating, commenting and singing.

The Performance. Writers Marla Mindelle Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue have written a show that is funny, witty and irreverent towards the film, and so loving to Céline Dion that it is eye-popping. It is also a love-letter to musical theatre with references that are both familiar and obscure. There are jokes in the writing, sight gags in the direction and ad libs in performances that are so funny you cover your eyes and shake your head in disbelief. And joy.

Much is made of the Seaman as a play on words with the character and uh, well, uh another meaning. Lots of inuendo. The song list includes many of Céline standards. For the musical theatre aficionados there are snippets of music that one would recognize from Gypsy, Beauty and the Beast, a wonderful obscure one from Chicago, and even a snippet of the disingenuous song “For Good” from the dishonest and exhausting show “Wicked.” (please keep the invective; it’s just not that important over which to lose it.)

Tye Blue’s direction is meticulous. Every gesture is thought out. Every reaction and over-reaction are deliberate. The cast plays everything broadly and it works a treat for a show that is a send-up of everything one holds dear: Céline, the movie Titanic, musical theatre and the devotion of the gay audience of which much is made. Those not of that sexual orientation will be embraced as well for being ready for a laugh and a good time.

The performances are wonderful in their own way. Veronique Claveau is divine as Céline Dion. She is dressed in Céline’s iconic shimmering, formfitting silver gown and knows how to sashay around the stage with confidence. Her reaction when the audience applauds her arrival and the cheers in recognition is a mix of surprise, humility, humbleness and an “oh you are too kind and I love you all” reaction. And there are the expressions of love and devotion for the audience, followed by the tapping of her heart, the subtle flipping of her hair, the gentle brushing away of ‘non-existent’ tears she is so moved, the smiles, the laughs and all the other calculated gestures that render this a wonderful performance of Céline. And Ms Claveau has a strong, clear voice that is less an impersonation of Céline Dion’s voice and more a dandy performance of her various iconic songs.

Mariah Campos as Rose and Seth Zosky as Jack are wonderfully passionate and determined as the two lovers. Michael Torontow as Cal brings a lovely arrogance to the role but never manages to ‘get’ the girl. As Ruth, Constant Bernard is a pearl-clutching, fretting creation. But it’s in the moments of free-wheeling adlibs/improving that he shines. The jokes are topical, (so topical that one left the opening night audience stunned at the quickness—and no I won’t repeat it because it’s so brilliant, and besides, it might be gone in place of others over time.

Even the presentation of the title of the show is clever. The letters are formed in such a way that the “look” of the word “Titanique” resembles the ship. Brilliant.

 Comment. Titanique  is laugh-out-loud funny. A sweet, irreverent gift of a show for the holidays, and every day after.

Mirvish Productions presents:

Playing until January 19, 2025.

Running time: 2 hours approx.. (No intermission)

www.mirvish.com

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Live and in person at the Studio at the Streetcar Crowsnest, Carlaw and Dundas. Baram and Snieckus presented by Crow’s Theatre. Playing until December 22, 2024.

www.crowstheatre.com

Big Stuff, is a little show about big, important things written and performed by Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus. Both are celebrated comedians and improvisors who have worked at Second City and in many comedy venues. They are also married, to each other so their comedy chops are very finely tuned.

It’s about the stuff we keep and the stuff we let go. Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus are polar opposites when it comes to stuff. He has no problem with tossing anything no matter  how sentimental. Naomi Snieckus on the other hand keeps everything and she has a good reason to justify holding on. While Matt Baram tosses stuff, he holds the memory of it close to his heart. He remembers the nickname his father called him when he was a kid.  He has fond memories of his mother but no mementoes.

Naomi Snieckus has her late grandmother’s crochet needle even though Snieckus does not crochet. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t crochet, according her, it was her grandmother’s crotchet needle and she needs to keep it to keep her grandmother close.

Toaster’s, Naomi Snieckus keeps toasters whether they work or not because it has a memory. There are several toasters around the set. There is a childhood book, a mug etc. She even begins to save mementoes that might have been important in Matt Baram’s life too—such as a framed example of a parent’s needlepoint.

There is a story framing all this. They are driving a UHAUL full of a late parent’s stuff back from LA. They are at the Canadian border and Snieckus remembers that there might be a baggie of pot in the back of the truck. Snieckus and Baram do some role playing about how they are going to handle the questions of the border guard. They are master improvisors but have to get their stories right. There are about 100 cars in front of them in line before they are questioned.  They are nervous and creating what they will say, but not mentioning the pot. And then they go off on a tangent, explaining why they are in a UHAUL driving from Los Angeles in the first place.

That leads them to tell how they met (at Second City), fell in love as a result, and how they delt with it—they were both married to others at the time.

While it is a polished script, Baram and Snieckus do improvise. When we enter the theatre there is a folded card and pen on each seat. The card says to note a thing you have that reminds you of someone.

The audience dutifully writes about all manner of stuff they have that reminds them of someone. The cards are then collected in a cardboard box and will be used during the show—and we turn in the pens too. During the show, when Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus are talking about items that are memorable to them, they take a card from the box and read it. They then ask gently who wrote the card and to tell them about the item. Sometimes the cards and memories are poignant—one woman noted her father’s handkerchief and she got teary remembering how important it was to remind her of her father.  Baram then took out a cotton handkerchief from his pocket to show that he too uses a cotton handkerchief and not a Kleenex He then says he’s been using it since the opening. It gets a laugh but this is the kind of quick wit these two comedians have. Naomi Snieckus is just as quick with a quip as Matt Baram it. Their patter is good natured, teasing, loving and kind. They don’t throw barbs at each other.

I love the whole notion of memory and stuff that nudges us to remember. Big Stuff is similar to Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe in that it twigs the audience to remember the things that gave them joy. The premise of the play is that when the narrator was a young boy his mother tried to commit suicide and was in the hospital recovering. The boy then started a list of every beautiful (brilliant) thing that he thought would twig her to joy. The first item was ice cream. Each member of the audience was given a card with an item and a number on it. When the narrator called out a number, the person with the card with that number said what the item was out loud. The audience then became complicit in the story-telling. And of course, it got us to think of things that were ‘brilliant’ to us. I thought of that show while watching Big Stuff.

The production of  Big Stuff is terrific. It’s funny and very moving. The basic story is quirky but so resonant. We can all picture ourselves in that situation—picking up the parent’s stuff and having to get rid of it. What do you keep? What do you toss? What memories does it all dredge up? What games are played to make a person move to make a decision?

The set by Michelle Travey is wonderful—a whole side wall is loaded with brown cardboard boxes one uses to more stuff.  They are stacked one on top of the other.  There are ledges within the stacking that has a toaster a book a glass, a jar, a memento. There are two chairs in which Baram and Snieckus sit when they are driving or recalling another sketch.

It’s directed by Kat Sandler, with speed, clarity and enough time for the humour to breathe. Baram and Snieckus are often on the move to keep the vision varied.  And the programme credit that Rebecca Northan is the improv consultant, speaks volumes.

Rebecca Northan is a master improvisor and her care and respect for the audience is legendary. She never talks down to an audience and she never humiliates them for a laugh. She knows who wants to engage and who doesn’t and respects that. She has passed that care to Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, it seems to me. They are gentle and respectful when they read a card and ask who wrote it, and then to tell them about the memory. Sometimes they engage with the audience member and when they are finished with the encounter they say “Thank you.”

I love that care….so different from lots of comedians who look on the audience as fodder. Baram and Snieckus look at the audience as equal partners in a community.

Big Stuff makes you think of al the stuff in your life—clutter, mementoes, stuff to toss etc. and stuff to keep and why regarding both. It’s a sweet show with a big heart. Liked it a lot.    

Baram and Snieckus with Crow’s Theatre presents:

Plays until December 22, 2024.

Running Time: 90 minutes (no intermission)

www.crowstheatre.com

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Live and in person at Theatre Orangeville, Orangeville, Ont. Playing until Dec. 21, 2024.

www.theatreorangeville.ca

Written by Debbie Collins and David Nairn

Directed by David Nairn

Music director, Nicholas Mustapha

Choreographer, Candace Jennings

Set designed by Beckie Morris

Lighting designed by Chris Malkowski

Costumes by Wendi Speck

Cast: Debbie Collins

Christina Gordon

William Lincoln

Andrew McGillivray

Ben Skipper

Annika Tupper

Shamelessly over-the-to-silly-fun.

The Story. You know the basic story. In this version Bella is a princess who is cursed at her christening by Maleficent, a really mean, grumpy witchy kind of person. It seems Maleficent was sweet on Bella’s father (the King) years before and the King blew her off and married someone else. So, at the christening of Bella, Maleficent blew in with her grumpy ways and horned helmet and put a curse on Bella: on her 18^th birthday she would prick herself and be plunged into a deep sleep for 100 years. Well, this is a fractured fairy tale and there are twist and turns and laughs and three fairies who take it upon themselves to spirit Bella away and raise her so that Maleficent won’t know where she is. Bella meets Monty, a prince in disguise, well, really, in the forest. He’s riding his horse (a lovely tricycle with a small horse’s head on it) and sees Bella and she him and they fall in love…And eighteen years later things happen but not as you know they would.   

The Production and comment. Director David Nairn has a loose but tight ‘grip’ on the mayhem that ensues. Larry the fairy is our guide and narrator. He enters and says “Hi Kids” and we are to say, “Hi Larry.” Many other characters have their own greeting to the audience with instructions on what to say, reminiscent of last year’s panto. It’s rather sweet. Annika Tupper is a confident, feisty Bella who knows what she wants but isn’t pushy about it. William Lincoln plays Monty with dash and charm. And Debbie Collins is a marvelous Maleficent. She plays the audience, goading them to boo her and gives back louder. With her twisty horned headgear, she is both scary and hilarious. The whole cast are shameless in playing it broadly as it should be.  Great Fun.

Theatre Orangeville presents:

Plays until December 21, 2024.

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes (1 intermission)

www.theatreorangeville.ca

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Live and in person at a private residence in Barrie, Ont. Produced by Talk is Free Theatre. Playing until Dec. 7, 2024.

www.tift.ca

Based on “The Cabinet Minister’s Wife” by Branislav Nusic

Adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman

Translated from Serbian by Cintija Ašperger

Directed by Layne Coleman

Set and costumes by Varvara Evchuk

Cast: Noah Beemer

Laura Condlln

Aidan Desalaiz

Gabi Epstein

Brittany Kay

Mariya Khomutova

Cyrus Lane

Nolan Moberly

Original, outrageous and boldly presented.

The Story. Živka Popovič is a disappointed, self-absorbed woman. She feels she should be higher in station in her small town and resents she is not given her due respect by the other women in her circle. But then she hears that her husband might be made a minister in the new government and Živka is beside herself with glee and anticipation. Minions from the government come to call, thus ramping up her expectations. Matters are fraught. Živka is breathless with anticipation. How will it all end?

The Production. Imagine it–a Serbian play by a celebrated Serbian playwright, being adapted by a celebrated Canadian playwright, directed by an equally celebrated theatre mover and shaker, performed in a private home in Barrie, Ont. by a cast brimming with talent. It must be one of those surprises put together by Arkady Spivak, artistic producer of Talk is Free Theatre. And it is.

The play is performed in the heritage home of Pauline and Paul Stevenson. It’s an impressive mansion on a hill, which makes sense for a woman with Živka’s pretensions. The audience sits in two rooms on either side of the foyer. Each room can be shut off by a sliding door. All the action: the comings, goings, secrets shared and the arrivals and departures take place in that foyer and it’s not large. And being true to the style of farce that Madame Minister is, director Layne Coleman keeps the action going at breakneck speed without losing one clue, joke, sight gag or telling side-long look. Layne Coleman has such control on the comings and going that he also seems to be regulating how fast the audience’s heart is racing keeping up with all that whizzing activity.

As with all comedy and certainly farce, the cast handles this all seriously, as if it’s life and death for the characters, because in a way, it is. Reputations are on the line for these characters. Payback, revenge. Serious stuff. Leading the pack is Laura Condlln as Živka Popovič. This is such a beautifully modulated performance. You are never in doubt that Živka is almost overwrought with anticipation that her husband will become the Minister and so as his wife she will become “Madame Minister.” When Živka hears the news about her husband’s appointment she goes into overdrive giving orders, having people prepare things, chastising her daughter Dara (compassionately played by Brittany Kay) for not marrying ‘better’, and criticizing her son-in-law Ceda (a kindly Nolan Moberly) for not being more ambitious. Condlln is so nuanced, so detailed in her playing that we are never overcome with the angst of it all, we a ‘just’ mesmerized at the artistry of the performance. Cyrus Lane plays Pera, the person who very solemnly brings the news about the impending promotion. He also plays Doctor Ninkovič, a professional lothario who speaks with a French accent but mispronounces all French words. Hilarious. Opening and closing doors is Anka (Mariya Khomutova), the put upon maid. Anka never met a hairstyle she didn’t like and segues from a French twist, to braids, to seductively loose hair. Mariya Khomutova plays the part of Anka with a wink and a confidence of one who knows the nonsense going on in that house and plays along with it. Gabi Epstein plays Aunt Savka and Mrs. Nata with different levels of seriousness and arrogance that are funny in their own way. And rounding out the gifted cast are:  Aidan Desalaiz in various roles (Uncle Vasa, a policeman, a photographer) that are variations of kindly, nosey, and eager to be involved and finally Noah Beemer as Rista and a Young Man from the Ministry, brings a fresh exuberance that is endearing.

Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman has written a bracing, very funny adaptation that puts us in the world of the Serbian playwright as well as in our own of needing to be “liked”, seen, shared with, included, embraced and felt to be important. Social climbing is an art to these characters and Corbeil-Coleman has captured that beautifully in her adaptation.

Comment. Madam Minister is one of those treats produced by Talk Is Free Theatre as a matter of course. The programming is so adventurous that Arkady Spivak, the artistic producer of Talk Is Free Theatre has a loyal following who are up for any theatrical adventure and prove it by showing up show after show, whether they live in Barrie or elsewhere. Worth a visit.

Talk is Free Theatre presents:

Plays until Dec. 7, 2024

Running time: 80 minutes (no intermission)

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Live and in person at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ont. Crow’s Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre Company present:  The Master Plan runs until Jan. 5, 2025.

www.soulpepper.ca

Written by Michael Healey

Adapted from the book “Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy” by Josh O’Kane

Directed by Chris Abraham

Set and props by Joshua Quinlan

Costumes by Ming Wong

Lighting by Kimberly Purtell

Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne

Video by Andrea Scott

Cast: Christopher Allen

Ben Carlson

 Philippa Domville

Tanja Jacobs

Michael Healey

Rose Napoli

Mike Shara

An impassioned remount with a few cast changes that are all committed.

The Story. The Master Plan by Michael Healey played last year at Crow’s Theatre and was a huge success. It’s being remounted this year only this time at Soulpepper in collaboration with Crow’s and with some new cast members.

It’s based on the book “Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy” by Josh O’Kane, a reporter with the Globe and Mail. Crow’s artistic director, Chris Abraham, loved the book and asked playwright Michael Healey to adapt the book into a play. The book is full of politics and it’s right up Michael Healey’s alley.

The Master Plan is a kind of political-thriller-David vs Goliath comedy drama involving slick operators from New York City backed by Google, vs the hard-working, by-the-book civil servants in Toronto, who try to keep up with the shenanigans.

Larry Page was one of the young creators of Google—a monster of a search engine. What Page dreamed of was to create the perfect self-sufficient city using high tech to create automated vehicles, efficient waste management, sidewalks that don’t need shoveling because they would be heated to melt the snow and an efficient rapid transit system—that’s not an oxymoron. 

A subsidiary of Google was formed called Sidewalk Labs to work on this project. Sidewalk Labs was headed by Dan Doctoroff, a slick operator from New York City.

In 2017, Waterfront Toronto, which was the Toronto organization responsible for the development of the waterfront, approached Sidewalk Labs to develop 12 acres of underdeveloped waterfront to fulfill the experiment.

Dan Doctoroff came to Toronto with his shined shoes, smart suit and $50 million to get things rolling.  It was thought that the scheme for Toronto could then be marketed to other cities around the world and Sidewalk Labs would rake in the money.

Things did not go smoothly. After three years of squabbling, misunderstanding on the part of Sidewalk Labs about how Waterfront Toronto works, miscommunication, mishandling of details, and secret backroom deals, it fell apart in 2020. Globe and Mail reporter, Josh O’Kane wrote about the details of the scheme and the eventual debacle for two years. It resulted in his writing a book about it.

It’s interesting to see the slick and aggressive ways the New York movers and shakers approached the project vs the careful, collaborative and by-the-book ways the Canadians worked. Playwright Michael Healey can dissect a situation for its truth and also find the humour if not jokes, then satiric situations.

It’s a story full of facts and figures as one would expect a play about politics, development and the involvement of various levels of government. Added to that are the many and various participants with their own agendas, concerns and attitude toward the project.  The thing that’s intriguing about it is the tug of the rope with one side wanting to cut corners in the process—the New York contingent—and the Canadians who go by the book. It’s fascinating to see the backbiting politics of the process; the maneuvering; the games playing. So yes, it’s full of facts and figures which can be dry. But they are presented by different personalities, often volatile, fighting for their argument and the need to win. That makes the piece dramatic and even theatrical.

The Production. While every production of a show is different, this remount production, with a few cast changes, is similar to the production last year at Crow’s Theatre. The play is the same but there are cast changes and the configuration of the set is the same but seems to be smaller  to accommodate the space, or it seems to me.

The audience sits on four sides of the playing area designed by Joshua Quinlan, who also designed the props. When the audience enters there is an expansive model of wood configurations on a large table. One assumes this is the model of the ideal city.

Eventually the model is removed and characters sit at the table with their laptops, cell phones and other necessities. The floor of the stage is composed of octagonal shaped pieces that fit together and can be easily removed if one of the pieces wears away.

Suspended above the playing area is a frame on which is projected information, facts, headlines, timelines, meetings, maps, the area of the waterfront at stake and other areas that Sidewalk Labs wanted. There is also a running tally of the many and various people on boards, in jobs and positions that are constantly shifting. The use of tech is impressive.  At every turn you are bombarded with projected stuff. Kudos to Amelia Scott, the video designer for amassing such an array of videos.

The play is loaded with dates, meetings, facts, figures, reports, information and lots and lots of people being ignored while the folks in charge are running roughshod over everybody. I think director Chris Abraham does a brilliant job of realizing the dense, dizzying accumulation of facts, fiction and misinformation that went on over that time.  He has directed his stellar cast to deliver the information with conviction, urgency and a sense of absolute importance. The cast that is always on the move, lobbing information at us as well.

The blending of the new cast members with the original cast is seamless. Each one is inventive in their own way. A novel addition is that playwright Michael Healey, who wrote the play, is also an actor in the production. He plays the narrator and a tree that was slated to be chopped down. Healey has a fascinating sense of humour and throws it into the mix expertly, although I found he sounded a big hoarse and forced in his delivery.

Mike Shara plays Dan Doctoroff, the CEO of Sidewalk Labs. Doctoroff never met a back room he didn’t like for his secret deals.  Mike Shara plays Dan Doctoroff in a tailored suit, shined shoes and the most understated polka dot socks. He could not understand the Canadians with their adherence to rules, public town halls for the public’s input and process.  Mike Shara plays him with charm and a penchant for thinking quickly on his feet.

He is matched by Ben Carlson as Will Fleissig, of Waterfront Toronto who remembered exactly what was said and not. Fleissig’s control of information and the facts are always at odds with the seat of your pants thinking of Dan Doctoroff.  Ben Carlson plays Will Fleissig as tempered, contained and anxious to be accommodating. Philippa Domville, Tanja Jacobs and Rose Napoli play various parts and bring their own imagination and creativity to the many and various characters they play. Christopher Allen as Cam Malagaam continues to provide the heart to the story. Cam was really committed to the project because he felt it would be good for mankind. He was always trying to do good. Christopher Allen was heartbreaking when he realized the dream of this project was finished.

Director Chris Abraham has re-directed this with a strong sense of style and movement. I do think that the production seemed shouty at times. Lots of lines are pushed to give a sense of urgency, so the actor sounded strained. However, I think the play is a huge accomplishment. It’s tempting to be overwhelmed with the information.  Don’t. Look at the larger picture…how it pertains to the whole. The play and the production are worth the effort.

Crow’s Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre Company present

Plays until Jan. 5, 2025.

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes (1 intermission)

www.soulpeper.ca

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Live and in person at Tarragon Theatre, co-produced by Tarragon Theatre and Modern Times Stage Company, in Association with Theatre Artaud, in Toronto, Ont. Playing until Dec. 15, 2024.

www.tarragontheatre.com

Written by Rouvan Silogix and Rafeh Mahmud

Directed by Mike Payette

Set and costumes by Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart

Lighting by Arun Srinivasan

Sound and composer, Maddie Bautista

Cast: Augusto Bitter

Ali Kazmi

Kwaku Okyere

Lisa Rider

Louisa Zhu

I often quote the theatre’s website for a blurb about the play to see what they say it’s about. Here’s the “bumph” on Craze, by Rouvan Silogix and Rafeh Mahmud:

“Out of the storm and straight into the inferno.

Two couples shelter from an epic storm for a late night drinking session where technological mayhem and sexual frivolity may turn into something more… At times surrealist, dangerous, and laugh-out-loud outrageous, Craze is sure to keep you right on the knife’s edge.”

Hmmmm, well “laugh-out-loud” might be a reach of wishful thinking, as is “Craze is sure to keep you right on the knife’s edge” unless that means ‘squirming’, and I don’t mean that in a good way.

Craze uses Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee as a framework. It’s late at night. 1 am. There is that terrible storm outside and June (Lisa Ryder) and her husband Renee (Ali Kazmi) have just come back from a party at her ad agency and they have been drinking. The couple bicker and snipe and drink. Their conversation is peppered with references to her whiteness and his brownness. She is the ad executive and he is a creator of technology using artificial intelligence. He asks their ‘system,’ Buddie, who is at the door if someone is pounding on it; what the weather is like outside, and other questions one needs to ask the information system in the home.   We also learn later that Renee has created drones used by the military.

June has invited another couple over, perhaps to engage in ‘swinging’. Renee is not happy. They continue bickering and wrangling as well.

The other couple arrives. He is Richie (Kwaku Okyere) a surgeon and he is Black. His wife is Selina (Louisa Zhu) is Asian. She works at June’s ad agency and is the assistant to the assistant art director. The repetition and correction of what Selina does, does go on.  There is more conversation about: where are you really from, and various questions that one knows are insensitive and also play into the racist theme. June comes on to Richie even echoing Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? when she puts her hand waaaaay up Richie’s inner thigh to make a sexual connection. Neither couple has children but that might be a mystery. There is an interesting twist on who comes on to whom other than June, that is quirky.

Craze references racism, sex, swingers, the world of advertising, artificial intelligence, deadly military drones, the fear of the unknown, perhaps a passing nod to living room comedy only without the laughs and a lot of esoteric philosophical musings about the world, the future and A.I.

The set by Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart is very stylish, well-appointed and soulless, which seems apt for this couple. There is a Rothko-type painting that is interpreted as being a depiction of a slave ship.  Director Mike Payette has carefully directed the play and his stalwart cast to suggest a sense of heightened emotion with a tone that is deliberately declarative, making the characters seem deliberately fake. Everybody is totally committed.  The play is wildly crazed with its invention, twists in the story and the efforts to be esoteric.

Pity the play is incomprehensible.

Co-produced by Tarragon Theatre and Modern Times Stage Company, in Association with Theatre Artaud.

Plays until December 15, 2024.

Running time: 80 minutes (no intermission)

www.tarragontheatre.com

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Live and in person at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto, playing until Jan. 12, 2025.

www.mirvish.com

Book by John Logan

Based on the motion picture written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce

Directed by Alex Timbers

Choreography by Sonya Tayeh

Musical supervisor, Co-orchestrator, Arrangements and Additional lyrics by Justin Levine

Scenic design by Derek McLane

Costumes by Catherine Zuber

Lighting by Justin Townsend

Sound by Peter Hylenski

Musical director, Andrew Graham

Cast: Andrew Brewer

Danny Burgos

Nick Rashad Burroughs

Christian Douglas

AK Naderer

Robert Petkoff

Adrianna Rosario

And a really large chorus.

Loud, over-the-top-dazzling, vibrantly performed and a story so flimsy it’s like tattered gossamer swaying in the breeze.

The musical Moulin Rouge, is to musical theatre what a Big Mac Meal is to nutritious food—it’s good for a momentary hit of adrenalin/sugar/salt that fools you into thinking there is substance there, but there isn’t. There is just the rush (with bloating) but no substance.

The show is set in 1899 in Paris at the Moulin Rouge and various other locations. The Moulin Rouge was the ‘notorious’ cabaret, the home of the cancan. John Logan’s book revolves around the love-story of Christian (Christian Douglas), a sweet song-writer and Satine (Arianna Rosario), the sensuous star of the Moulin Rouge. The conflict arises when the dastardly, but rich, Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer) wants Satine for his mistress. It’s understood that when Satine agrees The Duke will underwrite the failing Moulin Rouge. Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff) the theatrical owner of the Moulin Rouge is desperate this arrangement goes through. There will be hell to pay if Satine refuses.

John Logan is a good writer who has done better work elsewhere. His book for Moulin Rouge is slight, with precious little character development, if any. For example, there is a character named Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs) that bears no resemblance except in name to the noted French painter and a frequent patron of the Moulin Rouge. The story is stretched and could use tightening.

The gimmick to the show is that snippets of at least 70 rock songs from singers like Lady Gaga, Sia, Katy Perry and Adele to name a few,  augment the story and emotion slightly.  But they are the same up-beat tempo, and monotonous. The orchestra blares the music, and at one point the bass line is so loud and thumping one gets the sense that one’s internal organs are being rearranged because of the reverb.

Justin Townsend’s lighting is rock-concert-dazzling. Sonya Tayeh’s choreography is complex, lively and arresting. Alex Timbers’ direction/staging keeps everybody moving as if to suggest something is happening. The singing is strong. It’s not the kind of show where one actually would comment on the acting, which seems beside the point, while the frenzy of the piece is.

Moulin Rouge is as empty and bloating as a Big Mac Meal. Please pass the Rolaids.

Mirvish Productions present:

Plays until January 12, 2025.

Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (1 intermission)

www.mirvish.com

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Heads Up for the week of Nov. 25:

Nov. 27-Dec. 15, 2024

TARRAGON THEATRE

CRAZE

Written by Rouvan Silogix and Rafeh Mahmud

Directed by Mike Payette

Out of the storm and straight into the inferno.

Two couples shelter from an epic storm for a late night drinking session where technological mayhem and sexual frivolity may turn into something more… At times surrealist, dangerous, and laugh-out-loud outrageous, Craze is sure to keep you right on the knife’s edge.

www.tarragontheatre.com

Nov. 28 – Dec. 29, 2024.

SOULPEPPER THEATRE

THE MASTER PLAN

Written by Michael Healey

Directed by Chris Abraham

A biting satire about the stunning failure to build a smart city in Toronto. Adapted from award-winning writer and The Globe and Mail journalist Josh O’Kane’s best-selling book  Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy, the play takes us behind closed doors and reveals the corporate drama, epic personalities, and iconic Canadian figures involved in the messy affair between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto.   

www.soulpepper.ca

Friday, Nov. 29, 2024

Fleck Dance Theatre

Raven Mother

12:15 pm and 7:30 pm

(one of your last chances to attend the Fleck before it closes in March!)

The Toronto premiere of Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious full-length work to date, Raven Mother, on stage November 29 at 12:15pm and 7:30pm at Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre, presented by DanceWorks.

A celebration of the significant generational impact of matriarchs, performed to original music and live vocals, Raven Mother is an homage to the late Elder Margaret Harris, co-founder of Dancers of Damelahamid in 1967 and mother to the company’s Executive & Artistic Director Margaret Grenier. 

Raven Mother illustrates the vast impact Elder Harris imparted on the revitalization of Indigenous dance along the Northwest Coast, and the integral role of women in holding cultural knowledge, including song, dance, stories, and regalia making.

Many Canadians may not be aware of the Potlatch Ban that outlawed Indigenous cultural practices, including song and dance, on this land for nearly 70 years (from 1884 – 1951). The movement practices that ground Raven Mother were nearly lost, but are now experiencing a resurgence due to the strength and vision of Elder Margaret Harris.

In Raven Mother, Harris’ spirit lives on, not only in the embodied narrative, but in the dancers themselves, who carry their grandmother’s vision forward for future generations to come. Performers include Harris’ daughter Margaret Grenier, and grandchildren Nigel Baker-Grenier and Raven Grenier, as well as Margaret’s niece Tobie Wick and daughter-in-law Rebecca Baker-Grenier. 

For tickets and further information, visit: danceworks.ca

Nov. 29, 2024

Talk is Free Theatre, Barrie, Ont.

Madame Minister

Adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman

Directed by Layne Coleman

Madame Minister Adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman From “The Cabinet Minister’s Wife” By Branislav Nusic Directed by Layne Coleman

This is a New Work/World Premiere. It is an adaptation of a Serbian black comedy. The story is about a wife who is treated poorly by the community until she becomes the wife of the Cabinet Minister, at which point the tables are turned.

www.tift.ca

Heads Up for the week of Nov. 25:

Nov. 27-Dec. 15, 2024

TARRAGON THEATRE

CRAZE

Written by Rouvan Silogix and Rafeh Mahmud

Directed by Mike Payette

Out of the storm and straight into the inferno.

Two couples shelter from an epic storm for a late night drinking session where technological mayhem and sexual frivolity may turn into something more… At times surrealist, dangerous, and laugh-out-loud outrageous, Craze is sure to keep you right on the knife’s edge.

www.tarragontheatre.com

Nov. 28 – Dec. 29, 2024.

SOULPEPPER THEATRE

THE MASTER PLAN

Written by Michael Healey

Directed by Chris Abraham

A biting satire about the stunning failure to build a smart city in Toronto. Adapted from award-winning writer and The Globe and Mail journalist Josh O’Kane’s best-selling book  Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy, the play takes us behind closed doors and reveals the corporate drama, epic personalities, and iconic Canadian figures involved in the messy affair between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto.   

www.soulpepper.ca

Friday, Nov. 29, 2024

Fleck Dance Theatre

Raven Mother

12:15 pm and 7:30 pm

(one of your last chances to attend the Fleck before it closes in March!)

The Toronto premiere of Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious full-length work to date, Raven Mother, on stage November 29 at 12:15pm and 7:30pm at Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre, presented by DanceWorks.

A celebration of the significant generational impact of matriarchs, performed to original music and live vocals, Raven Mother is an homage to the late Elder Margaret Harris, co-founder of Dancers of Damelahamid in 1967 and mother to the company’s Executive & Artistic Director Margaret Grenier. 

Raven Mother illustrates the vast impact Elder Harris imparted on the revitalization of Indigenous dance along the Northwest Coast, and the integral role of women in holding cultural knowledge, including song, dance, stories, and regalia making.

Many Canadians may not be aware of the Potlatch Ban that outlawed Indigenous cultural practices, including song and dance, on this land for nearly 70 years (from 1884 – 1951). The movement practices that ground Raven Mother were nearly lost, but are now experiencing a resurgence due to the strength and vision of Elder Margaret Harris.

In Raven Mother, Harris’ spirit lives on, not only in the embodied narrative, but in the dancers themselves, who carry their grandmother’s vision forward for future generations to come. Performers include Harris’ daughter Margaret Grenier, and grandchildren Nigel Baker-Grenier and Raven Grenier, as well as Margaret’s niece Tobie Wick and daughter-in-law Rebecca Baker-Grenier. 

For tickets and further information, visit: danceworks.ca

Nov. 29, 2024

Talk is Free Theatre, Barrie, Ont.

Madame Minister

Adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman

Directed by Layne Coleman

Madame Minister Adapted by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman From “The Cabinet Minister’s Wife” By Branislav Nusic Directed by Layne Coleman

This is a New Work/World Premiere. It is an adaptation of a Serbian black comedy. The story is about a wife who is treated poorly by the community until she becomes the wife of the Cabinet Minister, at which point the tables are turned.

www.tift.ca

Nov 28 to Dec 21, 2024.

Theatre Orangeville, Orangeville, Ont.

Sleeping Beauty… A Fairy’s Tale

by Debbie Collins & David Nairn

Directed by David Nairn.

From their website: “Remember when you were little and your parents would read you a good old-fashioned fairy tale?

Ahhhh, the good old days . . .

We take this well known story, fracture it, then put our own topsy turvy spin on it.

You will NEVER hear this tale told as we will tell it!

A pandemonium-packed panto for the whole family to love! You’ll be dancing and singing in your seats! You will boo the villain and cheer for the hero! You will laugh till your face hurts”.

www.theatreorangeville.ca

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