The COC’s Rusalka is a full-body immersive experience that tingles the spineIn the Canadian Opera Company’s current presentation of the Chicago Lyric Opera production of Rusalka, by Antonin Dvořák, the storytelling begins during the overture, before the curtain comes up. The dedication to telling a philosophical and darkly beautiful version of this well-known fairy tale is unwavering to the final haunting note.
It’s another busy week in the Toronto Theatre scene. Every local theatre company’s season is in full swing, there are many traveling shows, and since it’s almost Hallowe’en there is plenty of seasonal spooktacular. There is really something for everyone on a stage somewhere in the city. Luckily for me, it’s my turn this week to give you my ‘reds’ – the shows that are at the top of my ‘To See’ list this week. Get out there and enjoy some theatre this week!
Continue reading Playlistings for the Week of October 14, 2019
You can’t vote at The Election at Theatre Passe Muraille, but you’ll laughThe Election opened at Theatre Passe Muraille on Friday. “Huh?” I can hear you thinking, “I’m pretty sure the election is on October 21st.” Yes, the Federal Election is on Monday, October 21st. That’s not the election I’m talking about. This is a play is about volunteering for federal candidates in the 2015 election.
My friend Patricia has a lot of experience working on federal political campaigns, both as a staffer and a volunteer. It made sense for me to ask her to come with me, I don’t know anything about volunteering for a campaign. She said that the campaign office parts of the play were true to life. It reinforced why I don’t volunteer to work election campaigns.
Ghost Quartet, a hipster-inflected song cycle by Dave Malloy, is described as being “about love, death, and whiskey.” As you enter Eclipse Theatre’s grotto-like space at Streetcar Crowsnest, whiskey shots are on sale, and a thick haze hangs in the air.
With reality sufficiently altered, you’re then treated to a puzzle of a story that’s cyclical, freewheeling and a bit scattershot, mixing together the tales of Rose Red and her sister Pearl White, Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights (with references to Thelonious Monk), The Fall of the House of Usher, and a modern fable about a tragedy that befalls a woman waiting for a subway train. Characters weave in and out in a dream-like dance, and the world bends at its seams. It’s a spellbinding and spooky evening of song, perfect for Halloween month.
Continue reading Review: Ghost Quartet (Eclipse Theatre Company / Crow’s Theatre)
Over the last decade, Toronto-based company Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) has built a reputation for re-imagining old works and creating boundary-pushing new opera productions. In honour of its Tenth Anniversary, the company is remounting its inaugural production of La Bohème, this time taking the show on the road.
I was curious about the piece and asked the Artistic Director of AtG some questions about the production, which has visited Banff and 7 other communities between it and Toronto, many of which do not have regular access to opera.
Continue reading Preview: La Boheme returns to Against the Grain Theatre