Bad Dog’s award-winning resident cast is proud to present their unconventional love letter to the city at this summer’s Toronto Fringe Festival. Toronto, I Love You is an unscripted comedy about unexpected connections, set against a backdrop of neighbourhoods suggested by the audience.
Toronto, I Love You features a handful of spontaneously-crafted storylines that intertwine and intersect each other in surprising ways. Nicolas di Gaetano (Mi Casa Theatre, Business As Usual) serves as musical muse for the piece, both underscoring and inciting the action with a mix of Canadian songs – some improvised, some well-known – chosen each night to complement the stories. “It’s a little like P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia, only much less… depressing,” says director Julie Dumais Osborne. “We’re playing with light magic realism – which feels very natural for the Repertory Players. The cast is remarkable at drawing fantasy from the mundane and grounding the improbable in relatable, honest emotion.”
“…among the best troupes doing unscripted comedy in North America” – NOW Magazine
Stacked with improv heavy-hitters hailing from across the country, the Canadian Comedy Award-nominated BDRP specialize in creating new unscripted show formats that showcase Toronto & the Canadian experience (including: This Canadian Life, You Are Here, 63 South and People City). Since their inception in 2012, they’ve performed in Vancouver, Regina, Montreal, Ottawa, as part of NxNE & JFL42, and they were recently named Best Improv Troupe in NOW Magazine’s Best of Toronto Readers’ Choice Poll.
The BDRP are: Craig Anderson (Peak Falls), Jess Bryson (Hawkins), Ashley Comeau (Second City), Kyle Dooley (Mark & Kyle), Liz Johnston (Final Frontier), Colin Munch (Sex T-Rex), Etan Muskat (The Bitter End), Paloma Nuñez (Throne of Games), Kirsten Rasmussen (Rapid Fire Theatre), Evany Rosen (Picnicface), Hannah Spear (Sexy Nerd Girl), Sean Tabares (Best Male Improviser – CCAs) & Anders Yates (Uncalled For).
For almost 30 years, the award-winning Bad Dog Theatre Company (previously known as Theatresports Toronto) has specialized in the art of unscripted comedy and improvised performance and has provided affordable, accessible improv training for thousands of people of all ages and experience. Dubbed “Toronto’s improv hub” by NOW Magazine and led by renowned improv veteran Julie Dumais Osborne, Bad Dog presents Theatresports, Toronto’s longest, continuously running improv show, every Saturday along with shows throughout the week at Toronto’s premiere indie comedy venue – Comedy Bar (945 Bloor St. West). Visit www.baddogtheatre.com for details.