Splashy modern Ibsen still pining for the fjords
In his new production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea, director Michael Bradley has blown the accumulated dust from the 1888 classic and, with bows its creator, turned it into a perfectly respectable tale for modern audiences. The U of A Studio Theatre production runs at the Timms Centre for the Arts until […]
PLAYBILL: Norwegian blue
Rarely has “pining for the fjords” had more meaning beyond the Monty Python sketch. And it might just be a coincidence that the aforementioned skit involves a possibly dead-or-maybe-just-resting “Norwegian Blue” parrot – and that the author of the season-ending play by U of A’s Studio Theatre was from Norway. Weird, no? The Lady from […]
PLAYBILL: Yo Mama
Who are these ladies – dames, gals, broads, girls, skirts, chicks, women – who call themselves “Hey Ladies”? It turns out the three Edmonton performers either are mothers, have mothers or both – so it works out. The Mother’s Day edition of their semi-improvised variety-talk show plays Friday at the Roxy on Gateway. It’s not […]
Bonnie and Clyde musical shoots to kill
Bonnie & Clyde: The Two-Person, Six-Gun Musical has been bouncing around the North American theatre scene for nearly 20 years. Seeing possibilities for a small musical featuring just two performers, theatre enthusiasts Andrew Philip Herron, Doug Ritchie and, later, off-Broadway producer Will Pomerantz, put together a show that played with varying degrees of success. Reviews […]
REVIEW: Smart Art
Art, a French language work by Yasmina Reza (translated by Christopher Hampton) opened in Paris in 1994 and quickly became one of the most produced plays in the world. It has won awards everywhere (including the Oliver in Britain and a Tony in America) and was a sure-fire audience hit. Shadow Theatre and veteran director […]
PLAYBILL: Bonnie and Clyde get musical therapy
If only Bonnie and Clyde had gone into couples therapy before things got out of hand. They could’ve unpacked all that co-dependent bank-robbing-shooting-people-running-from-the-cops behaviour, and come to some resolution that didn’t involve getting killed. Maybe they could’ve gone straight and counseled wayward youth on the perils of robbing banks, shooting people and running from the […]
Citadel’s Austen powers a ripping yarn
In 2008, the Citadel Theatre charmed Edmonton audiences with a memorable stage version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Beyond the main element of Austen’s durable book (published in 1813 and her best known work), the success of that production was something of a tribute to the theatre’s ace production unit working at full, flat […]
PLAYBILL: Art for art’s sake
Any artist who’s ever been turned down for a grant should feel their blood boiling over Art. As will the characters in Yasmina Reza’s play – the English translation at the Varscona Theatre April 26-May 14. Starring local familiars Glenn Nelson, John Sproule and Frank Zotter in this Shadow Theatre production, the story revolves around […]
REVIEW: Cinderella a real Cinderella story
In 1957, I joined over an astonishing 100 million North Americans to watch a live, black-and-white telecast of a new Rogers and Hammerstein musical Cinderella. The show featured that rising new Broadway star, a pre-Oscar Julie Andrews. The design was spectacular and the music was lovely – although not really up to the best of […]
PLAYBILL: We’ve CRADDOCK with you!
Chris Craddock is on a role … ooh, make that roll. You know what? It works both ways. The Edmonton actor-playwright recently made his directorial debut in what turned out to be Alan Thicke’s last starring role in a feature film, It’s Not My Fault and I Don’t Care Anyway (based on one of Craddock’s […]
Rock opera dares to suggest Jesus human
When Jesus Christ Superstar was released in 1970, it was condemned by many Christian groups because it dared to suggest that Christ was human and Judas was a tragic figure. At the time, lyricist Tim Rice observed, “It happens that we don’t see Christ as God, but simply the right man at the right time […]
PLAYBILL: Superstar rises at Mayfield
Jesus Christ Superstar is the best musical Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever made. FACT. Oh, you don’t want to argue around this time of year, when in some households the annual screening of the 1973 feature film starring dreamy Ted Neeley is as close to religion as they’re going to get all year – and […]
