The first update of 2010 (and the first in more than 3 months!) is two days late, partly due to a computer virus, but better late than never! I’d almost forgotten how to write these. The website hasn’t been entirely fallow since November; I’ve posted Best of 2009 posts on “music albums” and “Summerworks shows”, with “Fringe shows” coming up soon, and “comedy shows” and “music singles” not far behind. But the core of the site - the updates - well, it’s good to have one of those up again, and I’m going to try to stick to the schedule from here on in.

For first time readers: detailed info about shows mentioned in the update are mostly contained in the week’s scheduled picks (near the end of the update). The main body will usually be hotlink-free (save for “special interest” tangents).

Long dormant local glitch-pop band The Russian Futurists (whose last release was a compilation in 2006) are back to help give the Wavelength music series a proper send-off on its 10th and final birthday.

In Theatre & Dance,

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There’s TWO productions of Stephen Sondheim’s black comedic history musical, “Assassins“, that have just opened in Toronto, and while the Hart House one will almost certainly be of better quality than most community or college productions, it’s Birdland Theatre and Talk is Free Productions‘ version, down at the Theatre Centre, that I’m most looking forward to, by far. It’s got a bona fide Broadway star at the helm (director and local boy made good Adam Brazier), and boasts both renowned belters ( like Eliza Jane Scott, Steve Ross, & Trish Lindstrom) and actors who heretofore have not appeared in a musical professionally (like Kate Hewlett and Chris Stanton), musical though they might be. And that would definitely have to be the case, since the entire cast plays accompanying instruments for the show.

Not yet opened, but running already in previews, are the remount of Convergence Theatre’s “YICHUD (Seclusion)“, who managed to overcome the Harold Green funding debacle with the assistance of generous donations from the theatre community; Obsidian Theatre and Canstage’s production of “Intimate Apparel“, a story of a Harlem seamstress (scheduled to coincide with Black History Month); and the world premiere of Rosa Laborde’s eagerly awaited sophomore play, “Hush“, a psychological mystery, wherin a father seeks to discover the cause of his daughter’s night terrors (Laborde was mentioned in my Best Summerworks shows of ‘09 post as the director of the #1 show).

Two other new plays by renowned Canadian playwrights Michael Healy (”Couragous” @ The Tarragon Theatre) and  Judith Thompson (”Such Creatures” at Theatre Passe Muraille) close Sunday, while George F. Walker’s newest, “And So It Goes” , continues at Factory Theatre.

Other continuing shows include “Peer Gynt” (Susan Coyne works with indie company The Thistle Project, whose production of “Miss Julie“  in 2008 trounced CanStage’s in almost every way), “Billy Bishop Goes to War” (Eric Petersen & John Gray bring back their phenomenally popular WWII flying ace play to Soulpepper), “Cloud 9” (a stellar Canuck cast, including Megan Follows, Evan Builing, and Yanna McIntosh, subvert gender norms in two different time periods), and “Light in the Piazza” (a critically acclaimed Broadway hit that ’s spoken and sung partly in Italian).

Dance show running this week include “Under a Paper Moon“,  a multidisciplinary showcase at Hub 14;  Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Series brings Australian movement thriller “Roadkill” to town for a typically too short run; and Toronto Dance Theatre is presenting a FREE showcase on Monday of work from their upcoming new show, “Pteros Tactics“.

Finally, the 30th annual Rhubarb Festival begins Wednesday at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; the festival usually runs the gamut from weird to wonderful, and this year promises more of the same, with a wrestling spectacle from Birdland and Swanville (featuring pint sized spandex clad combatants like Cara Gee and Rebecca Applebaum), a “Teddy Chainsaw Massacre“, and a Italian duet, “Parole, Parole“, about “semantic satiation”, which could hopefully end up sounding somewhat like this not quite Italian or English musical extravaganza...

Birdland Theatre's production of "Assassins" has an eclectic mix of seasoned musical performers, and local actors who are dipping their toes in musical theatre for the first time, professionally. It's one of the shows I've been most looking forward to seeing in 2010. (Photo by Guntar Kravis).

Film, Comedy, Music, more vids and pics, and the weekly calendar picks, are just one “More” click away…

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The second post of my Best 9 of ‘09 series was supposed to be theatre in general; however, when I realized that 4 of my preliminary picks were Summerworks shows, I realized that Fringe and Summerworks deserved their own lists entirely. So there’ll be a Best of Theatre ‘09 list down the pipeline, but first - a post each, celebrating Toronto’s new work festivals. The Next Stage Theatre Festival is running to the end of this weekend at the Factory Theatre, featuring many of the actors and companies singled out for praise in these lists; I’ll mention their current offerings where applicable, as well as shows outside of Next Stage.

Naive little me thought I’d manage a post a day (hah!) when I started these retrospective posts, but they’re working out to 5 or more days apiece, so it’s entirely possible I won’t finish until the end of January! But for those curious, next up will be the Fringe Festival, then the Best Comedy Shows of 2009, then a Best Singles of 2009 post (plus an update by next Friday). - Steve

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Best Summerworks Moments of 2009

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One of the remarkable things about how the Summerworks Festival has evolved under Artistic Director Michael Rubenfeld is how it’s grown to include performance events that aren’t strictly stage plays; for this past year’s festival, I saw 27 plays, 18 bands, 9 Performance Gallery pieces, and 3 Summerwalks tours. So I’ve tried to pull from all those experiences in listing my top Summerworks picks, by citing particular events and moments that stood out and crystallized why that show was worthy of mention.

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#9: Maev Beaty’s painter seduces Erin Shields’s shopgirl in “Montparnasse“

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Erin Shields and Maev Beaty played with audiences' conceptions of the nude model as their characters gradually succumbed to greed, lust, and jealousy in the riveting "Montparnasse". Photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard.

When both of the writer/performers of this fascinating look at nude models in 1920’s Paris first shed their clothes on stage, they did so in a way that lulled the audience into accepting the nudity as natural and non-sexual, and therefore non-threatening. The posing and attitudes all suggested that the character’s disrobing was being done for art and beauty’s sake, and that anyone sexualizing it (or thinking of it as shameful) would be ruining the compact by subverting something liberating and beautiful.

But midway through the play, Beaty’s lesbian painter Amelia seduced Shields (playing a secondary character, an assistant who can help further Amelia’s career), succumbing to both her own lust, and the desire to insinuate herself into the inner circles of Paris’ cultural elite. All of a sudden, all bets were off. As Amelia slowly stripped clothes off the tough-talking shopgirl, her brusque demeanour dissolved, and was replaced with a vulnerability hitherto unseen when skin was exposed; a vulnerability that was taken advantage of. The apple had been tasted of, and for the rest of the play, the nudity was no longer quite so innocent.

Many critics marveled at the bravery of Shields and Beaty for spending so much time nude in “Montparnasse“, but it was this re-contextualizing of that nudity that was the audacious choice in their show.

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#8: Oh No Forest Fires‘ cover of “Footloose“

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There were all sorts of incredible performances over the course of the Summerworks Music Series. Two of the bands on my Best Albums of 2009 list, Think About Life (#1) and Great Bloomers (#10) were among the bands who played extraordinary sets (and since they’ve already been mentioned, were “disqualified” from this list), and nearly every night, as least one of the bands got people up and dancing.

Among the best to do so, however, were ONFF and their set ending cover of Kenny Loggin’s classic “Footloose“. Faced with a smaller mid-week crowd than most of the festival’s nights, ONFF gradually got the crowd warmed up and dancing, and when they busted out “Footloose“, there wasn’t a still foot in the house.

Sadly, ONFF recently announced their last show on Jan. 23rd (which you should definitely consider attending); in the meantime, while there is a video of ONFF performing “Footloose“, the sound quality is pretty terrible, so here’s a clip of them performing their own song, “It’s Not Fun and Games Unless Someone Loses an Eye“.

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(The rest of the Summerworks list, including some choice videos, follows below.)

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It’s twenty-ten! Last year, my own resolutions revolved mostly around getting this website off the ground and running. This year, given my lack of posts in November and December (a hiatus for a few weeks became habit-forming), I’m resolving to more consistently post the weekly update, and try and institute some subtle changes to the site, among them an integrated GTS Twitter account, a sidebar tweak (some third party ads should crop up, but I promise they won’t be intrusive), a monthly music playlist, and an easier interface for posted MP3s.

Before we get to new business, however, I have a series of end of year recap posts planned for music, theatre, and comedy. As befitting the year that just ended, they’re kept to 9 (though some, like this post, will also have the same number of “honourable mentions”). First up on deck:

Best Albums (LPs) of 2009

#9. Josh Reichmann Oracle Band - Crazy Power

Best track: “Fractal Web”

If Toronto had an equivalent to NYC’s The Strokes in the 2000s, both in sound and local buzz, it was Tangiers; the rock and post-punk band garnered considerable local acclaim for their 3 strong albums and energetic live shows from 2002-2005. When Tangiers dissolved in 2006, lead singer Reichmann experimented with a few different projects and sounds, releasing a debut solo album in ‘07 under the moniker Jewish Legend. The album showed a lot of promise, though it was a little too out there and dark to appeal to a wide segment of T.O.’s music fans. Crazy Power, however, while still venturing into all sorts of odd musical genres, is poppy and upbeat where previous effort Telepathy Now! was obtuse and challenging (continuing the Strokes comparison, their lead singer Julian Casablancas almost made this list for his own solo album this year, but we’re getting off topic). Anyway, Reichmann seems to have really hit his stride, and the album evokes all sorts of soul and funk comparisons, most notably to Prince. Songs like “Shivering Black” and “Sea at Night” are full of falsetto flourishes, calypso beats, and all manner of interesting instrumentation. Live, the Oracle Band is still a bit chaotic, but that’s A-OK by me - my favourite album of last year, Miracle Fortress’s Five Roses, took a while to bring to life on stage, too.

#8. Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice

Best Track: “Robots”

Mangan’s already received a lot of praise for his finely crafted debut album this year, including being awarded the XM Verge Award for Artist of the Year (an award that came as a shock to many who expected the award would go to a harder edged rock band), and Two CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards, for Best Vocals and Best Song of the year. He ended the year on a high note, too, being named Best New Artist of the Year by iTunes Canada. Word spread quickly amongst the tight knit Canadian blogosphere and music community in 2009 about his exceptional stage craft skills and approachable persona; I’ve been at several live shows and in-stores, and Mangan always puts an effort in to turn new fans into friends after his set is over. While “N, N, VN” isn’t a re-invention of the wheel, it’s a album of exceptionally pleasant and straight-forward singer-songwriter tunes, and Mangan displays wit and charm throughout, including having had a hand in producing the terrific 80’s gang fight homage video for lead single “Robots”.

For the rest of the list, including a cornucopia of videos and MP3s, click “more”…

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In Music,

All ages music series ALL CAPS and Wavelength collaborate on a fundraiser for Toronto Islands arts studio Gibraltar Arts Gallery, with heavy hitters on the Saturday all day on the island showcase like Brain Borchedt (Holy Fuck), Great Bloomers, and We Take Lovers. Later that night, back on the mainland, are second night shows by both Cuff the Duke and Shout Out Out Out Out, as well as a set by the Phonemes at the Tranzac Club.

Sunday evening, veteran Japanese gal rock n’ rollers Shonen Knife play the ‘Shoe; Monday, there’s a probably-impossible-to-get-into show by Sloan at the Dakota Tavern; and there’s new album releases by Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle on Thursday (also at the Dakota), and Everything All the Time on Friday at the Drake, in association with ace concert series No Shame.

(Kidstreet play the Robots //// Us dance party this Thursday at Wrongbar, with headliners OPOPO. For Film, Comedy, Theatre, and the week’s picks, you know what to do - click that “more” link…)

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In Comedy,

theatrical improvisers Impromptu Splendor won a Canadian Comedy Award last weekend in Saint John, NB, for Best Improv Troupe (click HERE for a list of all the winners); the trio and their impressive roster of special guests resume local shows in October with several special one offs, including this Friday’s play not written by David French, with special guest Ted Dykstra, that will close The BUZZ Festival.

What with this being the Thanksgiving long weekend, there’s a few less comedy choices than usual, particularly on Sunday (both Laugh Sabbath and Sunday Night Live are taking a break), but there’s still plenty of swell shows. Saturday, there’s a stand-up show at the Yonge and Wellseley Fox and Fiddle location, featuring comics like Fraser Young, Kathleen Phillips, and Nathan MacIntosh; they’ll be competing against a just announced sketch show at Comedy Bar featuring Bull Hooey and The Bring Back Swayzes. On Sunday, Monkey Toast has a special holiday edition, with host David Shore interviewing restauranteur Zane Caplansky (I’ve fallen hard for his smoked meat knish), “The Drowsy Chaperone” creator Bob Martin, and “Hot Box” creator Pat Thornton.

Monday, the generous folks of PROJECTProject are hosting a Thanksgiving potluck, and will perform improv sets (at least until the triptophane kicks in); Tuesday, “Bitch Salad“’s Andrew Johnston hosts the first all black female stand-up show in Canada (really? The first?) at Buddies in Bad Times (there’s also a stellar line-up of gals on the “West End Girls” show on Thursday in Parkdale); and next Friday, Theatre Passe Muraille’s Elephants in the Room collective hosts a late night variety show, “Crapshoot!“, featuring 5 minute shows by almost a dozen performers at the upstairs TPM bar.

(The above video is the latest in Kathleen Phillip’s series of kitsch statue character monologues. The clever comedienne is on the Texas Comedy Massacre bill this Saturday. Theatre, Music, Film, and the weekly picks continue below…)

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Finally - the first update in a month! I’ve been kept away from the computer due to working pretty much non-stop at the CNE and TIFF, plus time spent out of town. I’ll also admit I was a little burnt out after Summerworks. But my batteries are recharged, and there’s plenty to delve into this week, so let’s just dive right into it, shall we?

Ah, but one note of importance: an earlier edition of the update, since corrected, mistakenly linked “Mimi: Or, a Poisoner’s Comedy” writers Melody Johnson and Rick Roberts as wife and husband, when in fact, Johnson and “Mimi” composer Allen Cole are a pair.)

In Theatre,

The fall season is in full swing; all of the mid size theatres have new work debuting this week or next. Tarragon has a new musical (”Mimi: Or, a Poisoner’s Comedy”); Passe Muraille, a new play about Chilean exiles (”Refugee Hotel“) by Alameda Theatre (many of the artists in the stellar “Nohayquiensepa” at Summerworks this year are involved); and Factory sees the opening of a new play by Brad Fraser, “True Love Lies“, later in the week. CanStage has the Toronto premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “Rock and Roll“, and Soulpepper’s perpetual season continues with fine productions of “Antigone“, “The Guardsman“, and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” But if you’re only going to catch one show this weekend, you should make Volcano Theatre’s “Goodness” at the Theatre Centre your priority, as it’s closing as of this Sunday.

The cast of "Goodness" (L to R, Lili Francks, Tara Hughes, Jack Nicholsen, Amy Rutherford, and Layne Coleman) wrap up their critically acclaimed show at the Theatre Centre this weekend.

Other theatre around town includes an outdoor production of “Twelfth Night” taking place smack dab in the downtown core (College Park), an edition of Tapestry’s “Opera Shorts” this weekend, a Toronto opening for Classical Theatre Project’s touring production of “Oedipus Rex“, and a remount of Fringe hit “Nursery School Musical“, playing to next weekend at the Berkeley St. Theatre.

(For Comedy, Music, Film, and the weekly picks, keep going…)

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The update’s back! I took a week off to prep for the Summerworks Festival - you really should have a look at the special posts on the Theatre and Music Series - so this here’s the first weekly update since July. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

In Theatre,

Summerworks is wrapping up this weekend, and there’s so many great plays (and performance pieces, and concerts) you should do your darndest to catch before it all wraps up. My must-see shows so far are “Melancholy Play”, ‘Montparnasse”, “The Middle Place”, “Impromptu Splendor”, and “Nohayquiensepa”; I’d also strongly recommend “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich”, “Red Machine: Part 2″, “Benu”, “Underneath”, “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry”, and “The Epic of Gilgamesh (Up Until the Part When Enkidu Dies)”.

Dana Puddicombe's Summerwalks tour, "Love Letters to Queen Street West", takes its participants through the back alleys and hidden places of the busy neighborhood.

What I haven’t yet written about in the special posts are the more interactive aspects of the festival; namely, the Performance Gallery, and the Summerwalks. The Gallery is PWYC, and gives you a chance to take part in a number of social experiments, plus see some pretty fascinating theatrical pieces; the Walks are something else entirely. They’re opportunities to discover aspects of a fairly well known neighborhood (Queen St. West) from a new perspective, whether that be from the POV of a newcomer to the city (Dana Puddicombe’s “Love Letters to Queen St. W.”) , or through the family history of an immigrant who’s watched the neighborhood change for 30 years (Byron Abalos’ “Lola Lita”).

There IS theatre besides Summerworks running through the weekend, to next week, and beyond, like Canstage’s Dream in High Park production of “The Tempest“,  MacKenzieRo’s “Teach i Dtir: Voices from Ireland Park“, and newly opening shows like Soulpepper’s production of “Billy Bishop Goes to War“, starring Eric Petersen, and Red Tape Theatre’s tiny indie basement performance of Stephen Belber’s”Tape” (I’ll go into more detail of all these next Friday, most like - Summerworks still has me by the throat).

(For Comedy, Film, Music, and the weekly picks, keep going…)

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When Artistic Director Michael Rubenfeld took the reins of the Summerworks Festival last year, one of the most wide-reaching changes to the festival he instituted was opening it up to performance art (The Summerworks Performance Gallery) and live music (The Music Series).

Bob Wiseman was on the bill for the inaugural Summerworks Music Series last year; this year, the multi-faceted performer is presenting a show in the theatre series, "Actionable".

The inuagural 2008 Summerworks Music Series had a stellar line-up, programmed by Baudelaire record label founder Evan Newman; between Newman and Rubenfeld, they were able to book some of the hottest Toronto acts, including The Rural Alberta Advantage (who’ve exploded in the past year thanks to raves for their SXSW shows this spring, and a glowing review on Pitchfork), Gentleman Reg (who’s also been getting a lot of attention for his recent release on the Arts and Crafts label, “Pitch Black”), and The Diableros.

I was honoured to write profiles of most of the music acts on the Summerworks blog last year, at Michael’s request. I haven’t had time to do the same this year, being focused on my own site, but there’s been some really great coverage by some of their staff members, including interviews with Rajiv Thavanathan of On No Forest Fires, DD/MM/YYYY, and Matthew Barber, who is one of the few returning acts from last year’s Music Series.

This year’s line-up is equally jaw-droppingly good, due in no small part to Michael’s inspired selection of Eric Warner to curate this year’s festival. Warner’s no stranger to programming first rate music festivals; he launched the Over the Top Festival before he was even of drinking age, and for the 2009 Music Series, he’s not only landed some of the city’s best independent local acts, but he’s also scored some of the hottest acts from Montreal, too, including Miracle Fortress (shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Prize) and Think About Life (long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Prize).

There’s still plenty of incredible bands on the slate for this weekend’s shows, including Thursday’s double bill of The D’Urbervilles and Forest City Lovers, Friday’s of The Josh Reichmann Oracle Band and The Sunparlour Players ( SPP delivered an awe-inspiring performance at the festival launch and during the Music Series last year), and a fantastic triumphant return home for Great Bloomers (recently touted by Gordon Lightfoot as one of the best new music acts in Canada), and Germans, who’ve been touring North America and Europe in 2009, and will be playing their first local show in over a year.

You can listen to terrific tracks from all of the artists on the Summerworks site via their embedded player, but here’s a few more goodies, including a video from Think About Life, whose set last Friday just about brought the roof down on the Theatre Centre.

Miracle Fortress - Blasphemy

Josh Reichmann Oracle Band - Sea at Night

Great Bloomers - Young Ones Slept

Filed under: Dance, Music, Theatre by Steve
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Theatre, Comedy, Music, Dance, and more; it’s all happening at the Summerworks Indie Theatre and Arts Festival, running August 6th-16th along Queen St. West, at more than a half dozen venues. My apologies to anyone who has a show that’s NOT Summerworks-associated, but this week’s postings are 100% festival focused ( August 14th’s edition of the update will revert back to the usual format).

This first of three special Summerworks posts starts off focusing on the original and largest element of the festival… Theatre.

Erin Shields and Maev Beaty follow up their last paired collaborative work ("Goblin Market") with "Montparnasse", a nuanced and sensual piece about nude models in 1920s Paris (photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard).

I’ve seen exactly 1/3 of the 42 plays in the “Local” and “National” categories as of this post, and there have been some real standouts. There’s also a number of shows that I’ve already seen in one form or another prior to this festival, that I can confidently recommend.

If you’re looking for drama, both of the shows Groundwater Productions is producing, “The Epic of Gilgamaesh (Up Until the Part When Enkidu Dies)” and “Montparnasse“, are sure bets to see fascinating and theatrically accomplished work. “Montparnasse” in particular has garnered excellent word of mouth based on their 1st act preview at the Rhubarb Festival earlier this year, and I’m happy to report that the full version of the show has been brilliantly realized. Writers/actors Erin Shields and Maev Beaty shed all,  playing nude models - one an aspiring artist, the other a hedonistic dilettante - and their artist patrons and bohemian acquaintances in 1920s Paris.

Carlos Gonzales-Vio is a strong contender for best male performer at this year's Summerworks, for his moving ensemble work in the multimedia show "Nohayquiensepa", and his standout performance as the beast man Enkidu in "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (photo by Amanda Lynne Ballard).

Also showing a fair bit of skin in their production is Ecce Homo, who had a huge hit on their hands last year with their production of “The Pastor Phelps Project“. This year’s offering is “The Ecstasy of Mother Teresa (or, Agnes Bojaxhiu, Superstar)“, the third and final in their trilogy of collective creations based on quotes concerning controversial figures of the 20th century. While almost every spoken word in the show is a quote, the assemblage of the show is original, and whereas the nudity in “Montparnasse” is integral to the plot, in “Mother Teresa”, it’s just one of many elements (music, dance. video) that enhance the spectacle of the production.

Other multi-media productions worth noting include Aluna Theatre’s “Nohayquiensepa“, and Daniel Barrow’s “Everytime I See Your Picture, I Cry“. “Nohay”, a less titillating, but far more technologically adept show than “Mother Teresa”, is a “workshop production” that uses a physically agile ensemble and an astounding array of projections, video, and audio recordings to give a vague and affecting eulogy to victims of violence, “inspired by events in a Columbian river town on the fringe of great violence”.

Barrow’s show builds on his previous work creating hand illustrated overhead projection shows - he describes his work as “manual animation” - with several key new developments; it becomes clear early on in the show that this is not autobiographical, but is a weird and surreal narrative, and Barrow for the first time is “invisible” to his audience. Previous shows have had him clearly visible manipulating his projector, but in this show, he’s hidden away on the balcony of Theatre Passe Muraille, and the audience focuses solely on his moving images. I had some issues with the narrative (the show could really use a program), but there’s no denying this is a wholly original theatrical experience.

Project Undertow's "Melancholy Play" has it all: a sparkling, witty script, a deft directorial debut from Rosa Laborde, a gorgeous set, and a uniformly enchanting (and also gorgeous) ensemble cast.

The final two shows I’m strongly recommending (that I’ve seen - I expect I’ll have some new shows to highlight come this weekend’s update) are both resolutely comedies, though their titles and topic material might suggest otherwise.

The National Theatre of the World, who I wrote about at length when they launched their series “Impromptu Splendor“, have finally brought their improv act to a theatre festival, and it’s truly gratifying to see theatre audiences realizing what this company does is brilliantly theatrical, though their techniques are rooted in comedy. The company members - Naomi Snieckus, Ron Pederson, and Matt Baram - research a playwright’s work to prepare for a show; on “opening night”, they ask the audience for a few random suggestions, then spontaneously create a one act play “inspired” by the featured playwright. I’ve seen them perform shows you’d swear were written by David Mamet or Judith Thompson, and it’s almost impossible to believe the three are creating as they go - but it’s 100% written before your eyes, and must be seen to be believed.

Last but certainly not least, my favourite show to date at the festival, “Melancholy Play“, is anything but. Ingrid Rae Doucet stars as a blonde depressive who finds that her maudlin demeanor causes people of both sexes and all walks of life to fall head over heels for her - until she overcomes her depression and realizes her new-found cheerfulness has the opposite effect. This absurd and delightful farce boasts a surfeit of comedic talent, and director Rosa Laborde, herself a Dora and Governor General Award nominated playwright, makes an assured directorial debut. While the script itself is by American playwright Sarah Ruhl, it’s an outstanding example of a independent Canadian company (Project Undertow) demonstrating great prowess in all aspects of theatrical production; the performances, live music, sets, and costumes are all note perfect.

Next up: a post about the stellar Summerworks Music Series (with lots of choice new MP3s and videos), followed by a final Summerworks post about the interactive treasures of the Summerwalks, and the Performance Gallery at the Gladstone Hotel.

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And we’re back! The Fringe took a lot out of me; I’ve now posted as many  reviews as I’ll get finished to the Review post; I had to shelve those midweek to focus on this week’s edition of the update. I figured it was time to get back into the regular swing, and there’s a LOT of great shows this week. Read on…

In Comedy,

The Just for Laughs Festival continues to the end of the weekend. Many of the gala shows are sold out and/or ridiculously overpriced, but there ARE some great JFL-associated events happening at Second City, Absolute Comedy, and Comedy Bar, like a Sketch Show featuring Bull Hooey and Deadpan PowerPoint, and showcase shows by Nikki Payne and Marc Hickox (as his Teutonic alter ego Heino).

Other shows this week include the 50th edition of Laugh Sabbath’s most popular show, the all-solo-no-stand-up-comedy showcase “The Loner Show“, hosted by Brian Barlow; solid line-ups on regular shows like the “Alt.Dot.Comedy Lounge” and “The Carnegie Hall Show“; and several special one-offs, like a fundraiser for the Rape Crisis centre featuring all female comics (”Snatch and Snatchability“), and a Thursday night stand-up and sketch show featuring Punch Drysdale, Ladystache, and more.

Attention Birdie People! Calcu-Lator and the Oral Presentation play a one night only reunion show tonight (Friday) at the Drake Hotel Underground, with special guests Bob Wiseman and D-Sisive.

(For Theatre, Film, and Music, plus the week’s picks, just keep on going…)

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