Full disclosure: I’m no theatre reviewer. Further disclosure: Prior to attending a performance of Jersey Boys at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, I couldn’t name two songs by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Now, I’m not about to say that I was dragged kicking and screaming to the performance by my very much better half, but musical theatre is far higher on her list of priorities than it is on mine. Now, I may have to reevaluate.
Right from the opening number, a French hip-hop mash-up of the group’s hit “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night),” the performance rolled along with incredible energy. In fact, for someone whose attention span has been whittled down to nothing by the Internet—I have a hard time maintaining interest in hour-long dramas on TV—this show was just the ticket.
First of all, I’m not sure what lead actor Jeff Madden (“Frankie Valli”) is on, but I want stock in the company. Throughout the entire performance, his level of energy had just two settings—10 and 11.
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Ongoing to August 15, Toronto – DRIVEN contributor Murray Foster will be appearing in the stage adaption of Toronto Noir, a collection of short stories about Hogtown. Foster, who plays bass for Great Big Sea, will be playing a man who plays bass, but not for Great Big Sea. The master of the bottom end has received at least one rave-ish review.
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July 1-12, Toronto – When reading through a list of the 140-odd theatre productions at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, certain titles jump out at you: Killing Kevin Spacey, The Art of Being a Bastard, and Fucking Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Where It Got Me. However, none of these are as intriging as Dracula in a Time of Climate Change.
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Feb. 24-March 15, Ottawa—The Drawer Boy explores the lives changed by the act of researching a play. Michael Healey’s script presents the story of two farmers and lifelong friends, whose lives are interrupted when an actor comes to stay with them and investigate their lives, as background material for a stage piece. In the midst of his character study, the young actor unwittingly exposes secret truths from the farmers’ pasts.
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March 12-14 & 19-21, Calgary—For two weekends, six of the most popular artists of Calgary Fringe Festivals past have been invited back to perform in special encore presentations of their shows, in Fringe Rewind.
The beauty of the Rewind is that it’s a kind of greatest hits package, pre-filtering the flops and failed experiments inevitable in any full fringe theatre line-up. You’ll find that record of success all the more reassuring as you wait for the curtain to rise on the well-enough-titled Jihad Me at Hello. More titles after the jump. Read More
