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.

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…)

In Comedy,

The Toronto International Improv Festival wraps up this weekend; the week long fest has had teams from NYC, Philidelphia, Chicago, and further (not to mention local talent) playing in 3 shows a night at Comedy Bar. The fest closes this Saturday night with an all star show and gala party as of midnight after the 8pm and 10pm showcases.

Second City’s new revue, “Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets!“, finishes its previews this weekend and opens officially as of Tuesday; sketch comic, science lecturer, and solo improviser extraordinaire Peter Stevens returns to town after several months abroad, hosting this weekend’s edition of Sunday Night Live; improv duo Iron Cobra have a “secret” show on Wednesday at Comedy Bar, with specail musical guest Laura Barrett; and there’s several companies celebrating milestones this week. Underground improv troupe PROJECTProject is having their 2nd anniversary party at the more publicly accessible Bread and Circus this Monday, and sketch troupe The Boom has the 20th edition of their monthly show at Supermarket this Wednesday.

In Film,

TIFF may be over, but there’s still loads of smaller festivals riding its coat tails; there’s the Canadian Black Film Festival, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, the Nollywood North America Festival, and the Spinning Wheel Festival (celebrating films by Sikhs). Hits of the TIFF are hitting theatres, too; I’d strongly recommend “The Informant!“, which has a terrific turn by Matt Damon as a pudgy and deluded whistle blower, and a strong supporting cast of comics in unusually deadpan roles. Opening next Friday, there’s Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It“, with Ellen Page delivering a typically strong performance as a teen who becomes a roller derby star; Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story“, lauded by many critics as his best doc since “Roger and Me”; and, though they didn’t play TIFF, there’s two zombie flicks opening in wide release; “Zombieland“, starring Michael Cera and Woody Harrelson as mismatched zombie fighters, and “Dead Snow“, a Norwegian horror comedy about undead Nazis stalking a group of skiers.

At the reps, Kathryn Bigelow’s exceptional bomb disposal flick “The Hurt Locker” gets a short weekend run at the Royal Cinema, where the pristine projector and digitial sound will be of great benefit; and the Bloor has a double bill of both of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films on Monday night, which I’ve found to be highly re-watchable.

In Music,

There’s some innovative artists (PDF Format, Wordburglar) taking part in a burlesque variety show this Friday at Goodhandy’s (not to mention many lads and lasses in g-strings and pasties); if you’re a Beatles fan, you can watch artists like Sarah Slean and Steven Page cover that band’s catalogue with the Art of Time Ensemble on Saturday at the Harbourfront Centre, or you can save yourself $95 and pay $5 to see Bread and Circus’ house band The Mockers do the same (they’ll have a dance party going, too); and there’s a number of sold out high profile acts in town this week, including The Hold Steady, Sufjan Stevens, and Arctic Monkeys. You can try (pretty futilely) to get scalped tickets for these, or you can see the positive side of this; many slightly less popular acts (Dinosaur Jr., Gonzales, Michachu and the Shapes, Matt and Kim) are in town and NOT sold out due to the week’s glut.

Also, there’s plenty of terrific local acts playing this week, like Oh No Forest Fires and Fox Jaws (both of whom were great at the Summerworks Music Series) this Friday at Lee’s, Spookey Ruben and Boxes and Bags (among others) playing Elvis Monday at the Drake; and Bruce Peninsula and Sunparlour Players are at the ‘Shoe on Thursday.

Finally, this Sunday is the final Wavelength at Sneaky Dee’s; as of next week, the long running series will be relocating to the Garrison in the Dundas / Ossington area. The bill is eclectic, the beer will be cheap, and I don’t doubt that it’ll be packed with music fans who’ve appreciated the 7 year run the show’s had at Sneak’s.

Steve’s Weekly Picks for Sept. 25th - Oct. 2nd, 2009:

FRIDAY Sept. 25th: “Mimi: Or, A Poisoner’s Comedy“, w/ Paul Braunstein, Trish Lindstrom, Ron Pederson, more, @ The Tarragon Theatre, 8pm, $20-$38 ($10 rush tickets available as of 6pm)       / Toronto International Improv Festival: Full Contact (Virginia), The Belmont Transfer (Chicago), DHARMA (Toronto), @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $10       / The Balconies, Oh No Forest Fires, Fox Jaws, more, @ Lee’s Palace, 9:30pm, $7 /     “Pasties and Pocket Protectors“, w/ Cherry Temple, Parker and Seville, The Atomic Cherries, musical guests PDF Format and WORDBURGLAR, more, @ Goodhandy’s, 10pm, $15 / The Weather Station, @ The Holy Oak, 10pm, FREE      / Toronto International Improv Festival: We’re From Here, Maybe, and Road Trip, @ Comedy Bar, 12 Midnight, $10

SATURDAY Sept. 26th Aft.: “The Informant”, @ Varsity Cinemas, 1pm (also 3:50pm), $12.50      / “Antigone”, w/ Liisa Repo-Martell, Jordan Pettle, Claire Calnan, more, @ The Young Centre, 2pm, $28-$68 (rush tickets $5-$20 1 hour b4 show)      / Michael Redhill’s “Goodness“, w/ Lili Francks, Gord Rand, Amy Rutherford, more, @ The Theatre Centre, 2:30pm, PWYC

SATURDAY Sept. 26th Eve: “Twelfth Night” closing show, w/ Lindsey Alston, Scott Clarkson, Casey Hudecki, more, @ College Park Courtyard, 7pm, PWYC /      Toronto International Improv Festival closing night: Unleashed (Rochester), Surf ‘n Turf (NYC), Traffic Jelly (Philly), @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $10      /      The Mockers dance party, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, $5 /      Toronto International Improv Festival closing night: BWP (Philly), SidViscous! (NYC), Gluttony (NYC), @ Comedy Bar, 10pm, $10      / Toronto International Improv Festival All Star show and closing party, 12 Midnight, $10

SUNDAY Sept. 27th Aft.: “Word on the Street” festival Music Stage: Ghost Bees (5pm), Bruce Pennisula (2pm), Sandro Perri (noon), more, @ Queen’s Park, FREE     /      “Refugee Hotel“, w/ Salvatore Antonio, Paloma Nunez, Bea Pizano, more, @ Theatre Passe Muraille, 2:30pm, $21 (limited PWYC day of show)      / “Opera Briefs” closing show, w/ Carla Huhtanen, Lauren Phillips, Keith Klassen, @ The Ernest Balmer Studio (Distillery District, Building 58), 4pm, $10-$25

SUNDAY Sept. 27th Eve: “Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets!” final preview show, w/ Rob Baker, Caitlin Howden, Adam Cawley, more, @ Second City (51 Mercer St.), 7pm, $15-$23        /     “Etched in Sketch“, w/ Georgea Brooks Hancock, Issac Kessler, Liz McEachern, more, @ Comed yBar, 8pm, $5 ($8 includes Sunday Night Live)     / “The Hurt Locker”, @ The Royal Cinema, 9:15pm, $10 /       “Sunday Night Live“, w/ The Sketchersons, guest host Peter Stevens, musical guest Eve and the Ocean, @ Comedy Bar, 9:30pm, $10       /        Wavelength 482, w/ Sandman Viper Command, The Sales Department, Let There Be Light, more, @ Sneaky Dee’s (Last Wavelength there), 10pm, PWYC

MONDAY Sept. 28th: Quentin Tarintino x 2: “Kill Bill: Vol I” (7pm), & “Kill Bill: Vol. II” (9:15pm), @ The Bloor Cinema, $9       /      Tom Stoppard’s “Rock and Roll” preview, w/ Fiona Reid, Shaun Smyth, Kenneth Walsh, more, @ Canstage Bluma Appel Theatre, 8pm, $20-$95 (limited PWYC tickets available)       / “PROJECTProject Birthday Show!”, w/ Kevin Whalen, Julie Dumais, Bob Kerr, musical guest Maylee Todd, more, @ Bread and Circus, 9pm, $5       /      Elvis Mondays, w/ Whale Tooth, Spookey Ruben, Boxes & Bags, more, @ The Drake Hotel Underground, 9pm, FREE

TUESDAY Sept. 29th: David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow” & “Bobby Gould in Hell“, w/ Luis Fernandez, Leigh Bowen, Scott Walker, more, @ Unit 1o2 (46 Noble Street), 7pm, PWYC       /     “Sketch Wars“, w/ 7 Minutes in Heaven, The Chesterfields, Viv and Craig, more, @ Comedy Bar, 8pm, $5       /        Micachu & The Shapes, w/ Hooded Fang, @ The El Mocambo, 10pm, $13

WEDNESDAY Sept. 30th: Brad Fraser’s “True Love Lies” final preview, w/ Ashley Wright, Susanna Fournier, David Keeley, more, @ Factory Theatre, 8pm, $15      / Gonzales, @ Mod Club, 8pm, $20 /       “The Iron Cobra Show“, w/ Becky Johnson, Graham Wagner, Mark Andrada, musical guest Laura Barrett, @ Comedy Bar,  9:30pm, $8      /     Dinosaur Jr., w/ Lou Barlow & The Missing Men, @ Phoenix, 9pm, $30

THURSDAY Oct. 1st: “Nursery School Musical“, w/ Paul Constable, Kylee Evans, Aaron Walpole, more, @ Canstage Berkeley Theatre, 8pm, $27.80     /      “The Boom Show: Chapter 20“, w/ Gilson Lubin, Frenzy, Don Ferguson, more, @ Supermarket, 9pm, $10      /      Bruce Peninsula, w/ SunParlour Players, RAH RAH,  @ The Horseshoe Tavern, 9pm, $10      /      Matt and Kim, w/ Ninja Sonik, @ Reverb, 10pm, $13.50

FRIDAY Oct. 2nd: “Oedipus Rex” opening night, w/ Ben Blais, Laura Burns, Paul Kit, more, @ The Lower Ossington Theatre, 8pm, $15-$20 (pre-show reception @ 7pm)      /      “East End Comedy Revue”, w/ Katie Crown, Jeff McEnery, Daryn Jones, host Jean Paul, more, @ The Dominion (500 Queen St. E.), 8pm, $10      /        “Whip It”, @ Rainbow Market Square, 9:15pm (approx.), $8.50       /      “Zombieland”, @ Scotiabank Plaza, 10pm (approx.), $12.50

Fine Print:

- All prices listed are advance ticket prices (where applicable). With many of these shows, especially music and theatre, if you show up at the door, you run the risk of being turned away due to a sell out.

- All times are start times, NOT door times. If you show up after the posted time, the show will likely already be underway.

- I typically cap the listed performers at three mentioned per show. The bill of bands / acts / performers is often much larger (particularly for comedy and theatre).

- Theatre and Comedy events are ALL AGES, unless otherwise noted. Music events are 19+, unless otherwise noted (FREE in-store and outdoor performances are ALL AGES, due to the lack of alcohol service).

Filed under: GTS Update by Steve