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The following two reviews were broadcast on Friday, August 9, 2013, CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 FM: THE LIFE OF JUDE at Theatre Passe Muraille, Mainspace and ALZHEIMER THAT ENDS HEIMER at the Factory Theatre Mainspace. Both part of Summerworks.

 Phil Taylor was the guest host.

(PHIL)

1) Our Theatre critic Lynn Slotkin is back with her weekly theatre reviews and views of all things theatre. Hi again Lynn

 (LYNN)

Hi again Phil.

 (PHIL)

Since the Summerworks Performance Festival opened yesterday, I assume you are going to talk about some shows you saw?

 (LYNN)

I am. First let me tell you what Summerworks is. It started 23 years ago as a festival of one act plays. Over the years it’s grown from just being a theatre based festival to now adding music, live art, a performance bar, international companies etc. So it’s now called the Summerworks Performance Festival. It runs at various venues downtown, from August 8-18. I can only focus on the theatre component of which there are 42 shows.

 I saw four shows yesterday but will only talk about two of them: The Life of Jude and Alzheimer That Ends Heimer. Next week I’ll do an overview of the festival and pick the standouts of the ones I see. The schedule being what it is, I’ve only been able to slot 23.

 (PHIL)

2) Ok, let’s get to it. The Life of Jude is nothing to do with the Beatles I take it?

 (LYNN)

Nothing. The Life of Jude is a huge undertaking. It’s written by the gifted actor-writer Alex Poch-Goldin.

It boasts a cast of 21 of our leading actors. It’s directed by the equally gifted, inventive David Ferry. It’s a musical.

The story is about Jude, born after the time of Jesus, and devoted to his teachings. As he gets older and studies religion he believes that God is talking directly to him and he goes forth to spread His word.

 When Jude was a child his father was imprisoned and his mother made due by being a prostitute. She was abused by ‘customer’ (an officer) she was with and killed him. Jude’s blind faith and conviction that one must repent for ones sins leads to devastating results.

 Poch-Goldin is writing a parable and what happens when blind faith obscures moral decision making. It’s about corruption, corporate greed and all sorts of neat things that are with us today.

 Poch-Goldin’s writing is sharply funny, perceptive, and has created a raft of characters that are clearly drawn from  Teresa, Jude’s mother,  who has a desperate, moral centre that leads her to do anything to take care of her son; a lascivious magistrate with a bowel problem; to the blinkered, blind-faithed Jude who finally sees the light.

 (PHIL)

3) You obviously like the writing. How is it as a play?

 (LYNN)

Well with 21 actors it’s a huge endeavour. And one has to be impressed with the guts of this company to put it on. Poch-Goldin captures the tenacity of the people living under less than ideal conditions in a corrupt world. They are wily, often decent, and complex.

 That said, The Life of Jude could stand cutting. And clarification.  Initially we are lead to believe that Jude is simple-minded—or am I taking his declaration that he is simple, too literally. But early on he does seem simple. Then as he matures his faith becomes so unwavering and rigid that it’s scary.

 There are a lot of songs—part of it was developed at the National Theatre School in Montreal and some of the students wrote some of the music. Some of the songs don’t progress the plot or develop character. They should be cut.

 Other songs are rousing and express a belief or attitude of the people such as “Tell Me Lord” which is intoxicating and effective.

 (PHIL)

4) And how is the production?

 (LYNN)

Under David Ferry’s direction it goes like the wind. There is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of scenes to get through and Ferry leads his cast efficiently, creatively and often with vivid impressions. I must say that often his creativity too could stand some cutting.

 Poch-Goldin seems to have titled his various scenes—silence for one; poverty for another; retribution etc. Ferry finds clever ways of illuminating the title that introduces the scene; either on a curtain, or on the clothing of a character. These illuminations get in the way of the flow since the scene describes the point anyway. And sometimes they are illuminated so fast you miss seeing what it says anyway.

 But he, along with choreographer Darcy Gerhart, do capture the throb of the music as they move the cast to stomp, clap and sway.

 The cast is accomplished with Adam Kenneth Wilson leading the way as Jude. It’s a performance that captures the innocence of the young Jude and the focused, dangerously blinkered attitude of the older Jude. Nothing sways him from making decisions that will do harm to his parents because he has his faith on his side.

 As Teresa, Pamela Sinha is poised, confident and desperate. She does something wonderful that speaks volumes about Teresa’s power over men–she flicks her hair over her shoulder. Simple, effective and dangerous.

 As the Magistrate with bowel problems, Bruce Dow fairly drools over Teresa during her court case for murder, while he squirms until there is a bathroom break in the proceedings. It’s a performance of a scum bag, that makes you want to take a shower soon after.

 So The Life of Jude. I love the guts and fearlessness of the group to go big and say something important.

(PHIL)

5) And now the strangely titled Alzheimer That Ends Heimer. 

(LYNN)

Yeah, I think it’s a play on the title of All’s Well That Ends Well. At least it seems to be referenced. It’s written, composed and narrated by Jay Teitel. Yes, a musical about Dementia. 

 As the program note says: ‘Alzheimer That Ends Heimer (aka ‘Six Characters in Search of their car keys” or “Tuesdays with What’s-His-Name) is a musical about the lighter side of dementia; a cross between a Power Point presentation and “Marat-Sade”; and a love story involving a father, a son, and two hot twenty-somethings who keep losing track of who they are.”

 To Jay Teitel the playwright and director Jordan Pettle, it’s personal.  It’s about Jay Teitel’s father and Jordan Pettle’s grandfather who has disappeared into Alzheimer’s Disease.

 Teitel tells us how funny his father was/is in spite of loosing his memory—and gives illustrations which are often clever and amusing.

 He gives us an interesting history lesson. The first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the beginning of the 20^th century was a 53 year old woman diagnosed by Dr. Alzheimer for which the disease is named. Because she was only 53 it was thought to be a disease of the young and not the old. Interesting.

 Then Teitel conjures his young parents by having the two previously mentioned hot twenty-somethings re-enacting their meeting, falling in love, and the encroaching dementia in the young man.

 There is also a minor goddess with a Russian accent named Dementieva (symbolism folks) to help with various revelations.

 (PHIL)

6) It sounds complicated.

 (LYNN)

Rather than complicated I found it laboured in its efforts to be funny, plodding in the storytelling especially involving the young couple, and mystifying regarding Dementieva. It’s not Six Characters in search of their car keys because there are only four characters. And what’s with the “Marat-Sade” reference. Teitel tries way too hard to be funny and he fails at it.

 I can appreciate that Teitel says that the word ‘sad’ as a description of the disease should be banned, that it’s insulting to the person with the disease. I’m sure everyone who either had a loved one with the disease or knows someone with it, will have their own ideas.

But for the purposes of the play and production, it doesn’t work. Jay Teitel as the Narrator is a big problem. He is an award winning magazine writer not an actor and it shows. His delivery is flat even a touch smarmy.  He stumbled over his own script. Timing is lost.

 I would have preferred his director Jordan Pettle to have been the narrator because he’s also a well established actor in this city. Pettle stages as best as he can but you can’t make an actor out of a person who isn’t one.

 As the young couple, Kathryn Davis and Ben Irvine have charm and warmth.  And while I think most of the songs are unnecessary, one song that Kathryn Davis sings beautifully questions what is worse, to be the one left behind, or the person who leaves. That’s a moving, appropriate song for this show.

 As Dementieva, Amy Rutherford is sassy and a breath of fresh air. She makes up for the disappointing script with inventive business.

 I can appreciate that Teitel says that while his father can’t remember what he had for lunch today, ‘he remains indelibly himself. The show is for him’.

 But is the show for the legions of people who had loved ones with the disease who disappeared in fistfuls and are now totally absent?

 (PHIL)

Ouch.

 (LYNN)

Indeed.

 (PHIL)

We look forward to your roundup next week. What else is on tap for you next week?

 (LYNN)

There are three Stratford openings: The Thrill a new one by Judith Thompson; Othello, and The Merchant of Venice.

 If there is time after the Summerworks roundup I’d love to talk about The Merchant of Venice. I’ll blog about the other two but Merchant is always good for debate.

(PHIL)

Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can check Lynn’s Blog at www.slotkinletter.com

 The Life of Jude and Alzheimer That Ends Heimer continues at various times during Summerworks until August 18.

 www.summerworks.ca

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At the Citadel, 304 Parliament Street, Toronto. Based on the novel by Edith Wharton. Directed and Choreographed by James Kudelka. Composed by Rodney Sharman. Libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin. Set by David Gaucher. Costumes by Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell for Hoax Couture. Lighting by Simon Rossiter. Starring: (singers) Scott Belluz, Graham Thomson, Alexander Dobson, Geoffrey Sirett: (dancers): Laurence Lemieux, Claudia Moore, Christianne Ullmark, Victoria Bertram.

Produced by Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie. It plays until February 24.

The House of Mirth is Edith Wharton’s stunning novel of manners in New York society in the early 19th century. Beauty was prized, money was too and reputations were fragile in a society noted for gossip and bitchiness.

Beautiful Lily Bart is in the thick of it. She loves money and is looking for love as well. Keeping up appearances, travel and bridge are expensive. Debt overwhelms her. She borrows money from Trenor, friend’s husband. He will invest it for her but wants something else. Lily is not too swift in picking up the subtext. Later she is implicated in a scandal with another friend’s husband. The downward spiral because of debt, scandal and a tarnished reputation leave her ostracized and desperate. It doesn’t end well for Lily.

Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie have taken on the challenge of creating a music, dance, theatre collaboration inspired by the novel. In the resulting piece essence is everything. James Kudelka, choreographer extraordinaire, not only choreographs The House of Mirth, he also directs. There is a swirl of dance activity suggesting the heady world of the rich and well dressed. Partners begin together, see someone more alluring and change partners. And Kudelka’s fine directorial eye for the subtle reaction, the side-long look, the raised eyebrow, speaks volumes about relationships, jealousy, and longing.

I can’t speak knowledgeably of composer Rodney Sharman’s music (theatre is my focus), but it too adds to that lush world of money and manners. The libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin is wonderful. Poch-Goldin is both an accomplished playwright and actor and he brings his playwright’s sensibility and his actor’s smarts to distilling Wharton’s book to its fine focus in his libretto.

In the first aria “America”, the men sing:
Lily’s aunt once said
New York frowns on those unwed
Income makes the marriage bed
It’s a table to be set
And you dare not serve the melon
Before they’ve had the consommé

In those crystalline lines he has described the notion that marriage is vital and being unwed stigmatizes you. Money is uppermost. And the archaic set of upper class etiquette, form and rules paint one as either to the manor born or déclassé. The latter is to be avoided at all cost.

Lily is desperate for a loan and goes to Trenor, (the husband of a friend) who sings “Money”, the lyrics of which are:
“I am horribly poor and very expensive
I must have a great deal of money”
Horribly poor and very expensive
The song of a woman in trouble.

Tremor is a man of the world and knows the angles. He is dashing, watchful, smart and sees an opportunity to get Lily in his power. And he’s a tenor. Lily doesn’t have a chance.

The singing is stirring from the cast of four. And the dancing as I said earlier conjures a grand world. Lily is danced by the languid, elegant Laurence Lemieux. She is lively when Lily is in her element and alluring and quite moving as she descends into despair and solitude when she is ostracized. The dancers are also accomplished. And it’s a pleasure to see Victoria Bertram dance as Aunt Peniston among other characters. Ms Bertram, long a stalwart of the National Ballet, creates the sense of the haughtiness of that class and the devastating displeasure conveyed with a simple look of distain.

David Gaucher’s set of arched curves with a chandelier suspended in the centre says “money and upper class,” as do Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell’s costumes for Hoax Culture.

The Citadel on Parliament is an unlikely place for a dance company’s studios, but its mix of wood and concrete are beautifully designed and completely inviting. I look forward to seeing more there. In the meantime, The House of Mirth is well worth a visit.

The House of Mirth plays at 304 Parliament Street until February 24.

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The following two reviews were broadcast Friday, June 22/12 on CIUT FRIDAY MORNING CIUT 89.5 FM. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and THE MATCHMAKER.

Rose Palmieri was the host.

(ROSE)
1) Good Friday morning. Well after a personally dramatic week for her, Lynn Slotkin, our passionate playgoer and theatre critic is here doing what she does best, talking about the plays she’s seen.

Hi Lynn. So what’s on tap today?

(LYNN)
Two plays. Both from the Stratford opening week coincidentally. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, the Gilbert and Sullivan buoyant musical comedy and THE MATCHMAKER a wonderful play by Thornton Wilder, which is the source material for a little show called Hello Dolly.

(ROSE)
2) So a return to Stratford for Gilbert and Sullivan?

(LYNN)
Yes. It seems such a perfect fit for Stratford really. The musicals of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are literate, witty and intricate. W.S. Gilbert wrote the libretto and Arthur Sullivan wrote the music. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE also adds a good dose of ‘silly’ to the mix.

It’s about Frederic who is about to turn 21. He has been an apprentice pirate for many years. And it turns out that was a mistake. His father wanted him to apprentice to a pilot—a person who guided ships into and out of the harbour—but his nursemaid Ruth thought he said pirate. So she got him indentured to a band of pirates.

Ever the dutiful man, Frederic served his time to the pirates and now looked forward to leaving and doing what he wanted, which was to wipe out the band of pirates.

Then there was the sticky business of Frederic being born in a leap year, which happens every four years, and the Pirate King, the head of the pirates, felt that Frederic really wasn’t 21 but much younger.

They are visited by a Model of a Modern Major General and his bevy of daughters, of which one daughter—Mabel, takes a fancy to Frederic and he to her. And they all sing about it rather wittily, often quickly and loudly.

(ROSE)
2) How does one take a Gilbert and Sullivan show that was written in 1875 and make it accessible for a contemporary audience?

(LYNN)
It’s directed by Ethan McSweeny who has never directed Gilbert and Sullivan before. As he says in his program note—he certainly did not want to keep it stuck in Victorian times. But he wanted to be true to the traditions of the period of the piece. So he set it as a backstage drama of sorts, as a play within a play.

It started backstage as a troupe of actors gets ready to put on a production of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Actors warm up. The stage manager tries to keep them from banging into each other and get to their places.

Actors look upstage towards the curtain separating them from their audience and then it goes up and the show starts for us. I like that cleverness. And when the intermission comes then the harried stage manager tries to get every body off the stage etc. so we can all go to the bathroom.

Also, during the show there are references to 19th century stagecraft. Two long boards with crescents carved out of them rare painted blue. Two stage hands move the boards back and forth in opposite directions thus suggesting the waves of the ocean where the pirates patrol.

The stage is full of rigging. Occasionally characters swing from a rope from one side of the stage to the other. I like the exuberance of the production.

(ROSE)
2) Is it all swashbuckling?

(LYNN)
Well not quite. Although I think the choreography by Marcos Santana is athletic and gymnastic—lots of flipping across the stage thrusting barrels.

The Pirate King is played by a swivel hip thrusting Sean Arbuckle. He plays the Pirate King very fey but also rather rakish—there’s something about a guy who wears eyeliner whether it’s Johnny Depp or Sean Arbuckle—that makes him look strange and attractive in a pirate kind of way.

As Frederic, Kyle Blair has an innocent sweetness and a strong tenor voice. Frederic is easily duped shall we say and Kyle Blair handles it in the gentlest way. As Mabel, Amy Wallace is endearing and pert with a lovely soprano voice—a perfect match for Frederic.

And Gabrielle Jones plays Frederic’s nursemaid Ruth, who has visions of running off with Frederic…wishful thinking. As the model of a modern Major General, C. David Johnson is dashing, and almost battled to the ground, the tongue-twisting song, “I am the very model of a modern major general” with a few glitches on opening night that I trust will be fixed with doing the show.

(ROSE)
3) And now for THE MATCHMAKER. Isn’t there a particular connection to Stratford for this play?

(LYNN)
Yes. Thornton Wilder had a flop of a play in THE MERCHANT OF YONKERS—a rare flop it seems since he won Pulitzer prizes for his work—OUR TOWN for example.

He was invited to come to Stratford in the early 1950s by the first artistic director, Tyrone Guthrie, to work on THE MERCHANT OF YONKERS and the result was THE MATCHMAKER. It became a huge Broadway hit in 1955.

It was adapted as a musical by Michael Stewart—who also did the book for 42nd Street–called HELLO DOLLY with music by Jerry Herman.

(ROSE
So who is the matchmaker?

(LYNN)
She is Dolly Gallagher Levi. She has been employed by Horace Vandergelder, a rich merchant in Yonkers, New York to find him a bride.

He actually wants to marry a woman who will take care of his house etc. Another name for this is housekeeper but of course he doesn’t want to pay. Dolly has planned that Horace will meet a woman in New York for a check-out date. But she has ulterior plans of her own.

In the meantime, Horace’s two shop clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby leave the store for New York to seek adventure. They all manage to find themselves in the same restaurant.

Horace loses his wallet with a lot of money in it. Cornelius, who is poor, finds it. He also finds love as does Barnabus.

Wilder’s play is charming, full of characters in humdrum ruts who want adventure and find it. They are yearning to break out of their ordinary lives. The writing is poetic, lyrical and there are phrases in the dialogue that just remind you of songs in because Michael Stewart used that dialoguHELLO DOLLYe in the book of the musical.

But THE MATCHMAKER is the source material and it’s heart-squeezing.

(ROSE)
4) How about the production?

(LYNN)
It’s directed by Chris Abraham. He is a hugely gifted director. He’s done experimental work with his own theatre Company called Crows.

He directed a wonderful production of FOR THE PLEASURE OF SEEING HER AGAIN last year at Stratford.

But his work on THE MATCHMAKER is a revelation. He has a keen sense of humour, getting every single joke and laugh out of situations and characters. Every actor seems to step up to the plate with a surprising invention.

As Horace, Tom McCamus is all bluster (perhaps too blustery at times), swagger, arrogance and an endearing bumbling. Dolly is the Matchmaker, but Horace is no match for her when she sets her sights on something.

Seana McKenna ads Dolly Levi to her list of beautifully drawn characters. Dolly is understated but focused. A meddler but with style. A fixer. A lovely performance.

As Cornelius, Mike Shara makes you do a double take with his triple takes of surprise. It’s a performance full of elastic body language all of it communicating the sweetness and boldness of Cornelius.

As Barnabus, Josh Epstein matched Shara moment for moment. Barnabus is innocent, afraid of everything and blossomed into an exuberant puppy when they faced adventure.

Even John Vickery—an actor whose work at the Festival has been hammy and dull–is a revelation here in several small parts. Inventively funny.

Santo Loquasto’s set certainly captures the largeness of Horace’s store and the grandeur of the other locations. I just wondered if the people sitting on the sides were able to see over various necessary partitions.

A problem with his other design for MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. In any case, THE MATCHMAKER is definitely one of the hits of the Festival.

And I liked the exuberance of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.

(ROSE)
Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can read Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and THE MATCHMAKER continue at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com

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The following three shows were reviewed on Friday, June 8, 2012, on CIUT FRIDAY MORNING, 89.5 FM: RAGTIME at the Shaw Festival; 42nd STREET at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

The Host was Rose Palmieri

(ROSE)
1) Good Friday Morning it’s time for some theatre talk with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

Hi Lynn. The theatre scene is hopping it seems.

(LYNN)
Luminato begins today with all sorts of free events. I’m particularly interested in the theatre offerings. Both EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s epic opera opens at the Sony Centre.

LA BELLE ET LA BETE opens at the Bluma Appel Theatre.

PLAYING CARDS by Robert Lepage opens on Wednesday for a short run.

And of course the Shaw and Stratford Festivals have had their openings so I’m going to talk about three musicals for a change.

(ROSE)
2) A lovely change of pace. Which three?

(LYNN)
RAGTIME which is playing at the Shaw Festival; 42nd STREET and YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, both at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Let’s start with RAGTIME. It’s based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow. The book of the musical RAGTIME was written by Terrence McNally—wonderful playwright. With Music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens—equally gifted.

It’s a sweeping story of America at the turn of the last century. When boats of immigrants landed in New York looking for a safe haven and a better life.

It centres around Coalhouse Walker Junior, an African American. He’s a classically trained pianist, who plays ragtime. He is successful. He is able to buy a Model T. Ford. He has a rocky relationship with a loving woman named Sarah but it’s working out.

Coalhouse and Sarah are out for a ride in the car one day when a band of bigots prevent them from driving down a road. Coalhouse senses trouble and tells Sarah to leave. He goes for the police who don’t help and while he’s gone the bigots destroy the car.

Coalhouse starts on the road to revenge. All sorts of events swirl around this main one, but it does give us the sense of a tremendous time of change.

(ROSE)
3) How about 42nd STREET?

(LYNN)
This is one of four musicals at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. It’s the quintessential back stage musical. Don’t think Smash on TV, 42nd STREET is the original.

Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. Music by Harry Warren. Lyrics by Al Dubin.

It’s about putting on a Broadway show named Pretty Lady, in the Depression. The leading lady, Dorothy Brock, breaks her ankle just before the first New York preview.

There is no understudy, so Peggy Sawyer, a talented but inexperienced chorus girl, is picked to take over the lead. She must learn everything in 36 hours.

As her director says: “You’re going out there a youngster but you’ve got to come back a star.” Can she do it? Oh the suspense!!!

(ROSE)
4) And YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN?

(Lynn)
It of course is based on the beloved Charles Schulz comic strip, Peanuts, about Charlie Brown and his band of friends, one of whom is his constant companion, his sleepy dog Snoopy. And it’s been adapted into a musical. The book music and lyrics are by Clark Gesner with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Charlie Brown is a lovable, sweet loser. Things always go wrong for him. He’s bad at sports. He can’t fly a kite. Girls ignore him. His friend Lucy treats him badly.

But the wonderful thing about Charlie Brown is that no matter how terrible today is, he is always hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day. His resilience is impressive. His hopefulness is inspiring. We root for him all the time.

(ROSE)
5) Three very different musicals. How did they do? RAGTIME first?

I can appreciate that a festival does musicals to attract audiences. Nothing wrong with that. But the Shaw Festival does it with a twist. They focus on the words first and I find that focus just makes the message of the musical that much bigger.

The music of course is important and musical director, Paul Sportelli does a great job on this gorgeous score. But I thought Jackie Maxwell’s clear, fluid, focused direction just made that story, soar.

And I thought the choreography of Valerie Moore captured the essence of the various groups—especially the hip-swaying, sashaying ease of Coalhouse and his friends.

This is a strong cast headed by Thom Allison as Coalhouse. Allison is glorious. He has pride and dignity. He’s almost courtly, and the man can burst your heart with his singing.

As Sarah, Alana Hibbert has a quiet grace. Sarah has had her trials, but her grace gets her through, and she too sings beautifully. As Mother, Patty Jamieson shows us a woman whose world is changing and she tries to keep up. She finds she has a mind of her own and doesn’t have to copy her husband’s opinions.

This is a terrific production of a stirring musical.

(ROSE)
6) And now for something completely different. 42nd STREET. How was it?

(LYNN)
As much fun as a bouquet of balloons. And just as buoyant. It was like candy floss. I love candy floss.

You have to suspend your disbelief here. We are told Dorothy Brock can’t dance so it’s suggested that she wave her arms a lot and have the chorus dance around her, thus fooling the audience into thinking she can actually dance. Enter Peggy Sawyer, the chorus kid who has to learn Dorothy’s part when she breaks her ankle. In 36 hours. And when she goes on her part is now loaded with intricate tap dancing numbers that Dorothy would not be able to do. So we have to suspend our disbelief and just go with it. Don’t look for depth. This isn’t Schopenhauer.

It’s beautifully directed by Gary Griffin. He uses the Festival Stage really well. Alex Sanchez’s choreography, especially the tap-dancing is lively, energetic, and joyful.

As Dorothy Brock, Cynthia Dale has that coolness of a leading lady who knows how to get what she wants with a tight smile and a rich boyfriend. It’s a dandy performance.

As Peggy Sawyer, Jennifer Rider-Shaw has endearing enthusiasm and knows how to hoof and sing beautifully. And I liked Sean Arbuckle as Julian Marsh, the uptight, no-nonsense director of the show within a show. You can see how much he wants and needs this to succeed.

So all in all it’s a strong cast of beautiful singers and dancers.

(ROSE)
7) And YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN. How was it?

(LYNN)
From the sublime to the ridiculous. One would expect a show about the sweet, innocent, perpetual ‘loser’ Charlie Brown to have charm. Like Charlie Brown, we hope for the best.

As Charlie Brown, we do have a wonderful, wide-eyed, awkward, sweet performance by Ken James Stewart. And it’s to director Donna Feore’s credit that she does have a multi-racial cast. They all work hard. They have to, to actually be seen and heard in this over-blown, overly microphoned, visually distracting production.

Almost every thing that was sweet, gentle and charming about the show has been stripped away by Feore and replaced by loudness, garishness and an overwhelming barrage of video images that are distracting. Feore’s direction is cluttered and clumsy. Her choreography is pedestrian.

Almost everyone in the talented cast of six is over the top manic with Stephen Patterson playing the usually laid-back Snoopy, as if that character is on speed. Snoopdog anyone?

You get a sense of what might have been when Charlie Brown quietly sings the lovely song, ‘Happiness’. But that comes too late at the end of the show. Then it’s reprised at the bow into a raucous, blaring rock song.

Is “hideous” too strong a word to describe this mess? I have to wonder, who is the target audience for this? No matter, miss this.

(ROSE)
Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin out theatre critic and passionate playgoer. You can read Lynn’s blog at www.slotkinletter.com

RAGTIME continues at the Shaw Festival.

www.shawfest.com

42nd STREET and ,YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN continues at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com

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At the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. Music by Green Day. Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong. Set by Christine Jones. Costumes by Andrea Lauer. Lighting by Kevin Adams. Sound by Brian Ronan. Video/Projection Design by Darrel Maloney. Choreography by Steven Hoggett.

Part of the DanCap season. Plays until January 15, 2012.

AMERICAN IDIOT is a blast—angry, raucous, poignant, but in sum, a blast. The musical opened on Broadway in 2010, and is based on Green Day’s 2004 Grammy Award winning album of the same name. Toronto is the first city of the show’s North American tour.

It concerns three friends from boyhood—Johnny, Will and Tunny–each floating through life without purpose, and vaguely searching for it. They are all angry and raging, but the reason is blurry. They dream of leaving the suburbs and going to the city to seek their fortune? Future? Something? They all manage to get the bus fare—Johnny, the most excitable and damaged of the three, brags that he robbed a convenience store for the money; then says he really stole the money from his mother; and finally admits that he borrowed the money from her. That journey to the big city marks the beginning of huge changes in their lives.

Will is about to leave with his friends when his girlfriend tells him she’s pregnant. He stays, not out of responsibility, but because he can’t make any other choice. He’s trapped. He offers no support to her even when the baby is born, choosing to strum his guitar while she does all the parenting.

Johnny is a kind of narrator, listing off the dates of the milestones in his and his friends’ lives, beginning with February 2011. He falls in with a bad crowd and becomes addicted to heroin and alcohol. He believes what his stepfather said about him, that he’s a loser and would amount to nothing. Being in a drugged haze is what a loser like him would do, is his thinking.

Tunny through some patriotic sense, joins the armed forces and goes overseas to fight in Afghanistan. He comes back with all his illusions shattered, but he is not destroyed by the experience.

September 11, 2011 changes their lives again and in one way or another they come home. Will takes responsibility as a parent. Johnny comes back damaged, fragile, lost and thinks a desk job might set him straight. Tunny has to cope with various issues both mental and physical. It is not a sweetness and light ending, It’s sobering and apt.

The music of Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong’s lyrics give this show a throbbing, blaring sense of urgency and immediacy. Whether it’s the loud, furious “American Idiot” which sets the tone, mood and decibel level of the show, or the touching “21 Guns” or the haunting “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” AMERICAN IDIOT captures the latest generation of disaffected youth.

Every generation seems to have its musical that speaks for it. There is HAIR (1967) that expressed that generation’s anti-Vietnam sentiments for the whole decade of the 1960s. RENT (1996) the late Jonathan Larson’s modern take on La Bohème, focuses on a group of young artists and musicians who left their comfortable lives to live, work and make art in the East Village of New York City. Their bond with each other, no matter the social strata, is intense. SPRING AWAKENING (2006) set in 19th century German (and based on the 1890 play of the same name by Frank Wedekind) is about the sexual oppression and obsession of teens in a repressive society. In that case the music is modern rock, thus making a story, more than 100 years old, immediate and totally of our time. AMERICAN IDIOT is a natural continuation of SPRING AWAKENING. These youth are not repressed. They are free to rage and be angry without knowing why or to whom.

It’s no coincidence that both the musicals of SPRING AWAKENING and AMERICAN IDIOT have such a vivid, throbbing, compelling presence, because they were both directed by Michael Mayer. For AMERICAN IDIOT he and his cast and design team have created a world of rage, grit, dazzle and all the stuff that we are bombarded by to get our attention.

Characters are delineated slightly. As Johnny, Van Hughes has the flashiest part, jerking almost uncontrollably around the stage while he is under the influence of drugs; singing such soul searching songs as “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “When It’s Time.” As Will, Jake Epstein broods on the couch, playing his guitar for solace. And as Tunny, Scott J. Campbell is a contradiction of strong-chinned resolve and fragility.

Christine Jones’ set for AMERICAN IDIOT involves simple furniture, a mass of scaffolding, and a wall with more than 30 television screens. Those screens are full of Darrel Maloney’s video projections of everything from product names and brands, images, and phrases going at warp speed. And the image of thousands of papers floating upwards takes the breath away. It’s all we need to see to know that the Twin Towers were coming down. Kevin Adams’ lighting bombards us with effects that dazzle and disorient (appropriately). Steven Hoggett’s choreography is controlled mayhem. The cast stomp, stamp, writhe and march to a different drummer.

I have a quibble. After what is thought is the final bow, the curtain goes up on the whole cast, holding guitars, ready for one more song to send us on our way. The sight is funny. The song is about hoping we had a good time. It’s up beat and lively. It’s a cheat. AMERICAN IDIOT does not have an upbeat ending. It is appropriate and thought provoking. To end with this upbeat encore diminishes the show and doesn’t give us credit for being able to deal with something that is both rocking and serious.

Quibble aside, AMERICAN IDIOT is a blast.

It plays at the Toronto Centre for the Arts until Jan. 15, 2012.

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The King Edward Tea Society (KETS) Awards for 2011 were compiled on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, during high tea in the Sovereign Ballroom of Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Toronto.

The jury members were Paula Citron and Lynn Slotkin.

THEY BROUGHT GLORY TO THE STAGE CATEGORY

The Coalminer Meets Ballet Award:
BILLY ELLIOT (directed by Stephen Daldry, produced by Mirvish Productions)

The First Arab Spring Award:
HALLAJ (directed by Soheil Parsa, produced by Modern Times Stage Company)

There’s More to Kitchener than RIM Award:
THE LAST 15 SECONDS (directed by Majdi Bou-Matar, produced by MT Space and Theatre Passe Muraille)

Beware the Help Award:
THE MAIDS (directed by Brendan Healy, produced by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre)

Sorry, Did You Say Something? Award:
NAME IN VAIN (directed by Richard Rose, produced by Tarragon Theatre)

The Truth Shall Finally Be Revealed Award:
OUR CLASS (directed by Joel Greenberg, produced by Studio 180 and Canadian Stage Company)

The Paper Roses Award (Neither Cuts Nor Thorns):
PAPER SERIES (directed by Nina Lee Aquino, produced by Cahoots Theatre Company)

The Mail Finally Got Through Award:
THE POST OFFICE (directed by John Van Burek, produced by Pleiades Theatre)

Someone’s Junk is Someone Else’s Gold Award:
THE PRICE (directed by Diana Leblanc, produced by Soulpepper)

The Off-the-Wall/Death Can Be Fun Award:
RIDE THE CYLONE (Directed by Britt Small and Jacob Richmond, produced by Theatre Passe Muraille, Acting Up Stage Company and Atomic Vaudeville)

THE ÜBERTALENTED THESPIAN CATEGORY

He Can Teach Us All a Lesson Award:
JOHN CLELAND (Edward The Crazy Man, produced by Workman Arts)

She’s Everywhere and Is Always Good Award:
DIANE D’AQUILA (The Maids, produced by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and Saint Carmen of the Main, produced by NAC and Canadian Stage Company)

His Greatness Award (A Tie):
RICHARD DONAT (His Greatness, produced by Independent Artists Repertory Theatre;
JIM MEZON (Red, produced by Canadian Stage Company)

More Bang For Your Buck Award:
DAVID FOX (The Price, produced by Soulpepper)

The Salty Broad Award:
KATE HENNIG (Billy Elliot, produced by Mirvish Productions)

The Cross Dressing Award (A Tie):
RON KENNELL (The Maids, produced by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre);
SPIRO SCIMONE (La festa, produced by Spotlight Italy, Canadian Stage Company)

There Always Has To Be A Yanna McIntosh Award:
YANNA MCINTOSH (Ruined, produced by Obsidian Theatre and Nightwood Theatre)

They Caught Our Eye Award:
JESSIE AARON DWYRE (The Ugly One, The Cherry Orchard)
GREG GALE (His Greatness, Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show)
GREGORY PREST (Ghosts, White Biting Dog, A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
GEMMA JAMES-SMITH (The Glass Menagerie)

ARTISTIC DIRECTORS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE CATEGORY
BRENDAN HEALY (Buddies in Bad Times)
MATTHEW JOCELYN (Canadian Stage Company)
JACKIE MAXWELL (The Shaw Festival)
ANDY MCKIM (Theatre Passe Muraille)
GUY MIGNAULT (Théâtre français de Toronto)
ARKADY SPIVAK (Talk is Free Theatre, Barrie ON)
JOHN VAN BUREK (Pleiades Theatre Company)
ROBERT WINSLOW (4th Line Theatre, Millbrook ON)

GOOD STUFF – STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL CATEGORY

He Can Make Bad Productions Look Good, and Good Productions Look Better Award:
BEN CARLSON (Twelfth Night, The Misanthrope)

Free Trade Import Award:
AARON KROHN (The Homecoming)
CLAIRE LAUTIER (Titus Andronicus)

Heartache Award:
IRENE POOLE, THE ACTING ENSEMBLE, AND DIRECTOR CHRIS ABRAHAM (The Little Years)

A Standout In Atrocious Productions Award:
TOM ROONEY (Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives Of Windsor)

She’s Fulfilling Her Promise Award:
BETHANY JILLARD (The Little Years, Richard 111)

GOOD STUFF – SHAW FESTIVAL CATEGORY

A Fresh Take for the 21st Century Award:
DEBORAH HAY, BENEDICT CAMPBELL, PATRICK GALLIGAN, THE ACTING ENSEMBLE, AND DIRECTOR MOLLY SMITH (My Fair Lady)

The South Shall Rise Again Award:
JIM MEZON, GRAY POWELL, THE ACTING ENSEMBLE, AND DIRECTOR EDA HOLMES (Cat On A Hot Tin Roof)

There’s More To Australia Than Kangaroos Award:
THE ACTING ENSEMBLE AND DIRECTOR PETER HINTON (When The Rain Stops Falling)

Unearthing A Treasure Award:
DRAMA AT INISH – A COMEDY BY LENNOX ROBINSON (as executed by Thom Marriott, Corrine Koslo, the acting ensemble, and director Jackie Maxwell)

ODDS AND ENDS CATEGORY

Classiest Tribute Award:
THE ED MIRVISH THEATRE (renaming The Canon Theatre)

The Kid’s Got a Future On The Other Side of the Footlights Award:
ADAM BRAZIER (director for Assassins)

She Makes Us Think Award:
ANUSREE ROY (Brothel #9)

Laugh Out Loud Award:
THE PHOTO SHOOTS (Calendar Girls)

Is It A Bird? Is It a Plane? What The Hell Is It? Award:
LUMINATO FESTIVAL

ROAD KILL CATEGORY

Comatose Award:
ANDREW MOODIE (Like The First Time)

The Bullet Was For the Wrong Guy Award:
BULLET FOR ADOLF (by Woody Harrelson and Frankie Hyman)

They Shouldn’t Do Shakespeare Award:
SOULPEPPER

Self-Indulgence Award:
(RE)BIRTH: E.E. CUMMINGS IN SONG (Soulpepper Academy and music director Mike Ross)

Keep It As A Book Award:
DIVISIDERO (written by Michael Ondaatje and directed by Daniel Brooks, produced by Necessary Angel)

Why Would Anyone Go To This Theatre? Award:
SONY CENTRE (the dangerous wrought iron cup holders and the no-hold-in-the-hand programs)

Is The Director Deaf? Award:
ACTORS WHO ARE NOT PROJECTING (Liisa Repo-Martell, Pamela Sinha, Michelle Monteith, Moya O’Connell)

The Smoke And Mirrors Award:
DES MCANUFF, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND DIRECTOR (Stratford Shakespeare Festival)

Over-Rated Award:
LASZLO MARTIN, DIRECTOR (a Soulpepper favourite)

THE JURORS AGREE TO DISAGREE CATEGORY
1001 NIGHTS (produced by Luminato)
RED (produced by Canadian Stage Company)
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR,
RICHARD III,
TITUS ANDRONICUS (produced by the Stratford Shakespeare Festival)

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The following three plays were reviewed on Friday, November 11, 2011, CIUT 89.5 FM on the as yet no named show: word!sound!powah! at Tarragon Extra Space; LIKE THE FIRST TIME at the Walmer Centre Theatre and LOVE LIES BLEEDING at the Sony Centre. Rose Palmieri was the host sitting in for Damon Scheffer.

ROSE

1) It’s Friday morning and I’m here with Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

Hi Lynn

You’re going to talk about three shows this week: word!sound!powah!; LIKE THE FIRST TIME, and LOVE LIES BLEEDING. What caught your fancy about them?

LYNN

It is an eclectic mix.

word!sound!powah! is a one woman play that is written and performed by d’bi.young anitafrika and is the third part in the sankofa trilogy.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME is written and directed by Adam Seelig and is based on a play by Luigi Pirandello.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING is Alberta Ballet’s homage to the music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

ROSE

2) An eclectic mix indeed. Let’s go in order as you usually do: word!sound!powah! On the page the title is in all small letters.

Is this deliberate?

LYNN

It is.

The playwright and performer is d’bi.young anitafrika, all in small letters, and she writes about the Jamaican experience.

young anitafrika is a Jamaican Canadian writer/performer now travelling the world and performing her work.

The trilogy was first nurtured at Theatre Passe Muraille and Andy McKim, its Artistic Director.

word!sound!powah! is the third part of the sankofa trilogy— The other two plays, blood.claat and benu will open later in the month.

The trilogy covers almost 40 years in the lives of three generations of women in the sankofa family, namely Benu, her mother and grandmother.

These women are poets and political activists.

The plays are set in Jamaica and in their way look at the politics and corruption of government and the people who want to make a change.

This is certainly true of word!sound!powah!

ROSE

3) If word!sound!powah! is the third part of the trilogy and it’s opening this run at Tarragon, is that confusing?

Will people get a sense of where this play fits in the trilogy?

LYNN
A good question.

I’ve seen the first two plays and was familiar with the characters mentioned in
word!sound!powah! But if I came to it fresh, I would think that it was confusing even though young anitafrika’s performance is compelling. Is that the assumption, that she thinks that people would have seen the other two plays and would automatically know who she was talking about? I don’t think that’s a reasonable assumption.

word!sound!powah! is a mix of dub poetry, story-telling, song, traditional music and sound effects made by three musicians.

Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry that originated in Jamaica or the West Indies at least, involving spoken word said over music.

ROSE

4) Let’s talk about the production. What makes the performance so compelling?

LYNN

d’bi.young anitafrika is just such an engaging performer. She a moving force of expression, flitting seamlessly from scene to scene.

In one scene she is a character brutally interrogated about a recent protest. Then she goes back in time to her grandmother’s day, then back to the present.

young anitafrika gives a powah-house performance that is vibrant, fearless and joyful in a play that is confusing if you don’t know the other two plays.

That said, I think the piece needs trimming. And I think it’s overproduced for a one person show.

d’bi.young anitafrika has said that she envisioned that the trilogy would be huge in production scope.

That’s a mistake, as the production overpowers the piece.

There is a really impressive set by Camellia Koo of a huge tree with branches that spread all through the small Extra Space.

There are three musicians that sing and create the soundscape.

Too much.

And interestingly, there is no mention of a director. It needs one, to help shape the show and young anitafrika’s performance. A performance, no matter how grand, can always use a good director.

So I have issues with word!sound!powah! from its placement in the performance schedule and the piece as a whole.

But I look forward to the other two shows: blood.claatand benu.

ROSE

5) Moving on, what about LIKE THE FIRST TIME?

LYNN

It’s written and directed by Adam Seelig, the Artistic Director of One Little Goat Theatre Company.

It describes itself as a theatre company devoted to modern and contemporary poetic theatre. Theatre that tries to find clarity through ambiguity.

A bit pretentious, that.

I have found their productions in the past hard going in the context of clarity, but I always go.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME is a refreshing change.

It’s based on a play by Luigi Pirandello. An Italian playwright who wrote in the early 20th century and dealt in a metaphysical way with reality, appearance.

His best known play is 6 Characters in Search of An Author. My favourite is Right You Are, (If you think you are).

The premise of LIKE THE FIRST TIME is fascinating and mysterious.

A woman named Fulvia, is involved with two men. She has one child and is pregnant with
another and the father here is a mystery.

At the beginning of the play Fulvia is attempting suicide by hanging herself. Her husband, Marco, has left her for another woman but returns when it doesn’t work out. Fulvia is saved by Marco but leaves for a former lover, a dangerous fellah named Sylvio.

She hasn’t seen him in 13 years because she left him. He raised their three year old daughter.

The two men vie for Fulvia’s affections. She tries to win the love of her now 16 year old
daughter who doesn’t know that she is her mother.

Welcome to Pirandello country.

ROSE

6) You say that Seelig has used Pirandello’s play as a guide, how does he do?

LYNN

Well there is the mystery of who the father of the baby is. There is a lot of games playing with names. Fulvia is sometimes called Flora by Marco. She also refers to him by other names.

In a program note Seeling says the text is written with no punctuation. The actors chose how to emphasize the text.

(A bit dangerous, that)

Seeling also includes a note from Pirandello on the text of a play and the nature of theatre: .. ”The work of art in the theatre is no longer the work of a writer… but an act of life to be created moment by moment on the stage and together with the spectators”

One assumes that that act of life is created by the actor and the director. And here is where this production is a mixed bag.

ROSE

7) How so?

LYNN

As a director Seeling’s productions are beautiful to look at—the scene with Fulvia attempting suicide is beautiful and elegant.

She stands on a table with black gown that billows over the table and a black scarf hanging down from the ceiling that is loosely wrapped around her neck.

But the productions are rather static in the direction.

Seelig belongs to the school of directing that tells actors to move downstage three steps and look out, after they say a certain word.

It gives the productions a stilted feel. Hardly life-like.

The performances here make the difference and are interesting with one glaring exception.

As Marco, Dov Mickelson is dangerous and desperate for Fulvia. He seethes with life.

As Fulvia, Cathy Murphy is almost sphinx-like. I can see why these two men would find her appealing.

Sylvio, the former lover, is supposed to be mysterious and dangerous too, but you would never know it from Andrew Moodie’s wooden, stultifying performance. Comotose, unexpressive and he acts by rote.

The only action of this character is putting his hands in his pockets, walking three steps here or there, and breathing melodramatically.

Awful.

There is much to recommend the production, but this performance really makes it hard to recommend.

ROSE

8) OUCH.

And now for something completely different. A ballet. LOVE LIES BLEEDING.

Last week you said you generally didn’t review opera or ballet. How come you’re doing this one?

LYNN

True.

I don’t generally review these because I don’t have the vocabulary for ballet. So I am looking at this Alberta Ballet production as a theatrical event.

Artistic director/choreographer Jean Grand-Maitre has created ballets using the music of pop/folk composers. He did the popular and award winning FIDDLE and THE DRUM using the music of Joni Mitchell.

He’s created a ballet using the music of Sarah McLaughlin.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING is Alberta Ballet’s homage to the music of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

In his curtain speech seemed geared towards the person who knew the music but not necessarily the artform.

So he sold it not as a ballet but as a rock concert. There a a lot of lighting effects; bombarding video images and all manner of stuff associated with a rock concert.

Grand-Maitre uses 14 of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s songs from “Goodby Yellow Brick Road to Rocket Man to, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, to Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.

And he encouraged people to tweet and text.

What I was looking at was a muscular, hip-thrusting sexually charged work that is based in sex-drugs-rock and roll and love.

There is not a tutu in sight.

The costumes referenced a lot of the flamboyance of Elton John.

But I also saw a tip of the bowler hat to Broadway director-choreographer Bob Fossie.

His choreography always used lots of hip thrusting. And his dancers wore bowler hats which they always tipped.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING Has lots of that.

And in the middle of this rocking, dazzling work is a number between two men that referenceswar, homophobia and love, that is startling in how moving it is.

ROSE

9) Do you think the non-ballet fans might be converted?

LYNN

I think they might when they see how this music is applied to this athletic choreography.

Is it good ballet?

I don’t know, but the effect on the audience certainly was evident.

ROSE

Thanks Lynn. That’s Lynn Slotkin, our theatre critic and passionate playgoer.

word!sound!powah! is part of the sankofa trilogy which plays at the Tarragon Extra Space until Dec. 4.

LIKE THE FIRST TIME plays at the Walmer Centre Theatre until Nov. 13.

LOVE LIES BLEEDING plays at the Sony Centre until November 12.

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