Gender Wars Reach Fever Pitch in Hilarious Happy Birthday Baby J
Here’s a play for those of us who are endeavouring to come to grips with the increasing complexities of living in a gender-diverse society where sexuality is expressed in a very fluid and ever-changing manner. Even the lexicon of describing this rainbow-coloured world is full of traps for those who may have missed the subtleties […]
REVIEW: Emotional Impact of Disability Probed in Pulitzer-Winning Play
Cost of Living is about society’s marginalized people isolated by poverty or disability. It features four excellent performers who fashion fully-functioning characters out of subjects that are anything but functional. The play deeply probes the problems of living with disability, and the loss and the sacrifice that entails. It minutely examines the lives of people […]
REVIEW: Everybody Loves Robbie a Heartfelt Heartbreaking Musical Comedy
In the first moments of Northern Lights Theatre’s Everybody Loves Robbie, two young people are dancing up a frenzied give-her-all bubble gum roughhouse. The two are obviously lost in delirium – and each other. A few minutes later she pauses and asks plaintively, “Don’t you just love it when you’re making out and your partner […]
BEST OF EDMONTON THEATRE 2019: A Good Year
There were north of 15 live productions on Edmonton stages in November 2019 alone. A highly unscientific survey of local Artistic Directors suggests that Edmonton audiences are ignoring our seemingly endless economic difficulties, and continuing to support live theatre. In short, it’s been a good year. Here are some of the highlights: Best Production: Drama […]
REVIEW: Oklahoma! Oklahoma!
It was cool in New York on March 13th back in 1943. Over at the St. James Theater, a musical from the new writing team of Rogers and Hammerstein called Oklahoma! was opening. Right off the head, a laconic cowboy named Curly saunters to the front of the stage, plants his feet and sings, “There’s […]
Did Citadel Theatre Ruin A Christmas Carol in Bold New Production? Colin Says No
Last year, after a successful run of 19 seasons, the Citadel Theatre sent off its justly esteemed production of A Christmas Carol (originally written by Edmonton’s own Tom Wood, who was the first Scrooge) – to the special corner of Elysium that preserves the Ghost of Christmas Past. But this isn’t the end of Dickens […]
REVIEW: Walterdale’s Altar Boyz Pokes Fun at Boy Bands, Christianity
Was a gaping hole left in your soul when the Backstreet Boys went Main Street? Has the demise of N’Sync left you syncless? Well, don’t give up, boy band aficionados – hope is on its way. Apparently the unheralded Christian pop band Altar Boyz has been working its way across the North American bingo hall […]
Little Mermaid comes to life with wondrous St. Albert Children’s Theatre show
Back in 1989, The Little Mermaid set off a renaissance in the Disney world. The company had gone three decades without a hit. Indeed, Disney was seriously considering getting out of its signature animation business completely. Then a whole new set of animators were hired, new goals were set, The Little Mermaid was a hit […]
A PLAY FOR OUR TIMES: Wild Wilder Wonderfully Done by Bright Young Things
The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder’s head-scratcher of a three-part allegory about the precarious life of mankind, debuted in 1942. The biting satire won a number of best play awards – including the Pulitzer Prize – and immediately became a hit in the early years of World War II. Watching it return in 2019 […]
Theatre Network season opener a smart two-hander with humour and heart
Mark Crawford’s Bed and Breakfast is one of those Canadian stage comedies that overcame small beginnings in a summer theatre in Ontario to take on a life of its own – and much like Kim’s Convenience, became the basis of a successful television series. Theatre Network begins its new season in the Roxy on Gateway […]
REVIEW: MacEwan Theatre tackles challenging ’70s musical to great success
The musical Pippin has been a long time coming to Edmonton. The Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Roger O. Hirson (book) opened on Broadway in a Bob Fosse production in 1972. The original ran for a long time (36th longest on Broadway) and in 2013 was revived in a successful production. The show is […]
Spotlight Cabaret a Welcome Addition to Edmonton Entertainment Scene
Edmonton’s newest dinner theatre is in the lively Spotlight Cabaret that sprung up off Whyte Avenue last summer and became something of a fun place to be. It’s across the street from “Meat.” There’s a bar, a restaurant and a popular patio that presented cabaret shows for a ready audience. Co-owners Aimee Beaudoin and Jeff […]
