Sunday, January 30, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Adrianna Prosser

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Toronto actress Adrianna Prosser gave one of the summer's most memorable performances in Urban Bard's production of Shakespeare's obscure but fascinating Two Noble Kinsmen. As the tragically starry-eyed Jailer's Daughter, Prosser was easily the highlight of the clever and innovative production, which is also nominated for Best Director (Scott Moyle) and Best Local/Independent Production.

Read on for the full interview

Saturday, January 29, 2011

More from IDS: Glengarry Glen Ross

The Independent Drama Society started on shaky ground. Founded by a bunch of BU grads newly ineligible for the theatre groups they'd come to love in college, IDS cobbled together its earliest productions, recruiting inexperienced players and volunteer tech teams to put on plays with few resources and small audiences. The result was some very unbalanced productions. 2009's Oresteia, for instance, sported two excellent performances from the 21-year-olds playing Orestes and Electra (Nicanor Campos and Sarah Gazdowicz) but the rest of the production left tons to be desired.

In their second season, IDS hurled itself wholeheartedly into the grownup indie theatre scene, raising audition standards and expanding their resources. By the time The Shape of Things went up in the Factory Theatre, the company had managed to pull itself up to professional standards without losing the edgy passion of its founding principles (it had also held onto its best talents while expanding the acting pool). This fall's Romeo and Juliet made those truths all the more clear. A young but uniformly talented company pulled off a demanding production that not only embraced the company's desperate passion but actually celebrated it with a relatively low budget romp of good fun with great actors.

But it wasn't until Glengarry Glen Ross premiered this month at the BCA Plaza Black Box that I fully got the fact that IDS has arrived. I mean, it's always been here (well, since 2007 it has) but I've always thought of it as a sort of College Plus company. The company is still young, but it no longer seems tied to recent graduates the way it has been. Nowadays they're working with more money, grownup characters, more experienced actors. Glengarry's youngest actor, Adam Lauver (23) was one of Romeo and Juliet's most mature presences and here shares the stage with a company of honest-to-god adults.  I don't mean to take away from the company's other more recent productions (Proof had Mark Bourbeau as Robert and much of the point of Romeo and Juliet was its youthful cast) but the characters in Glengarry aren't, for the most part, brazen upstarts or foolish youths, they're worn down, trod upon working stiffs- a show like that isn't a job for a College Plus company. With Glengarry Glen Ross, in more ways than one, IDS seems to have grown up, or perhaps just grown into itself.

Read on for our review of the production

Monday, January 24, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Ted Witzel

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

One of Toronto's most innovative young talents, Ted Witzel joins our interview series today. The Red Light District artistic director is nominated in the independent theatre category for Best Actor in The Witch of Edmonton and Best Director for Woyzeck.

Read on for Ted's thoughts

Sunday, January 23, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Kate Ryan

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Today's interview is with Kate Ryan. The Best Actress in a Student Production nominee took on the complex role Cathy in Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years with Vetoed Productions last summer. The production is also nominated for Best Student Director (Emily Kassie) and Best Student Production

Read on for the full Q&A

Sunday, January 16, 2011

"You Shouldn't Underestimate Lucille and Leo Frank"

Acting Up Stage Company and Studio 180 have brought something really special to Toronto this month. In the Canadian premiere of the Tony-winning musical Parade, a pared-down company of just 15 takes on the most sprawling story ever told by Jason Robert Brown, one of musical theatre's most complex and daunting composers. Whatever the Globe and Mail may say, Parade is a superb musical filled with compelling characters, wonderful music and an affecting story done justice by the complex book and lyrics. Brown's wonderful a-melodic sensibility suits Leo Frank's isolation perfectly and heartbreaking lyrics like "when she laughed you swore you'd never cry again" lend sympathy to the Southern soon-to-be antagonists. In its original multi-Tony-winning form and this revised chamber version, Parade is a musical with a beating heart and something to say, as all the best ones are.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Sarah Gazdowicz

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Sarah Gazdowicz is the brains behind The Independent Drama Society's Romeo and Juliet, nominated for 2010 My Theatre Awards for Best Actress (Megan Cooper), Best Actor (Adam Lauver) and Best Production. Sarah herself is up for Best Director of an independent/local production.

Read on for Sarah's thoughts

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Adam Lebowitz-Lockard

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, a recent BU grad and one of Stage Troupe's go-to leading men, is nominated in the student production category for Best Director. His production of The Pillowman is also nominated fro Best Production.

Read on to see what Adam had to say

Thursday, January 13, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Megan Cooper

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

The Independent Drama Society's production of Romeo and Juliet is nominated for 4 My Theatre Awards this year. One of those nominees is Megan Cooper as Best Actress in an independent production for her portrayal of Juliet in the punk rock adaptation.

Read on for Megan's thoughts on the production, acting, teaching and life in general:

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Jesse Nerenberg

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

One of My Theatre's favourite young actors in Toronto, Jesse Nerenberg first caught our attention in a brilliant production of Bent a couple summers ago. Now he is nominated for a 2010 My Theatre Award, Best Actor in a Local Production, for the role of Alan Strang in Equus.

Read on for Jesse's insights.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Nicanor Campos

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Nicanor Campos, a nominee for Best Actor in a student production for his performance in Richard III, appeared in no fewer than 4 Shakespeare productions in 2010, playing 6 different parts: Aaron (Titus Andronicus), Richard (Richard III), Silvius (As You Like It), Gregory (Romeo and Juliet), Mercutio (") and Friar Lawrence (").

Read on to see what he had to say:

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Elenna Mosoff

Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Elenna Mosoff, a nominee for Best Director in a local or independent production for her work on Equus with Hart House Theatre.

Read on for our full interview.

This Rough Magic

The longest-tenured Artistic Director in the history of The Stratford Shakespeare Festival was an eccentric former actor famous for temper tantrums and stage fright. As a director, he staged some of the most popular productions the festival ever housed. In his 14 seasons in charge, he opened the new studio theatre, started the Birmingham conservatory and brought the festival completely out of the red.

This Rough Magic tells the story of how Richard Monette got there.


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Raising a Glass to a Stratford Great

There was sad news out of Stratford today as the festival announced the death of one of their finest performers, Peter Donaldson. The consistent and engaging actor died of lung cancer yesterday, January 8th 2011, leaving behind 2 daughters and his wife, former Stratford actress and Little Mosque on the Prairie star Sheila McCarthy.

Donaldson, who's brilliant performances as Kent (King Lear) and Friar Lawrence (Romeo & Juliet) were highlights of the 2007 and 2008 seasons, was slated to return to the festival in 2011 playing Buckingham (Richard III) and Marcus (Titus Andronicus). Filling his shoes will be tremendously difficult for the festival where he spent 24 seasons.

Stratford Artistic Director Des McAnuff hit the nail on the head as he mourned the loss of possibility for the talented actor whose death at 57 came just as many of Shakespeare's greatest roles were opening up to him as he got older: "Our sorrow is all the deeper when we think of the King Lear or the Prospero we might someday have seen him play but now have lost forever". 

Donaldson will be greatly missed, but his 24 years of Stratford greatness leave behind a truly remarkable legacy.

My Theatre Nominees- Q&A with Andrea Runge


Before we announce the winners of the 2010 My Theatre Awards, we're proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series.

Here with our first interview of the series is one of My Theatre's favourite actresses. Stratford leading lady Andrea Runge is nominated for her performance as Rosalind in As You Like It.

She took a few minutes to answer some questions for us. So, without further ado:

Friday, January 7, 2011

Hart House's Equus

Let me start out by saying that this review is tragically overdue. I saw the production in November but my notes have sat idle on my desktop for months. But this week I had the pleasure of speaking with director Elenna Mosoff as part of the upcoming "My Theatre Nominee Interview Series", a conversation that got me back to thinking about Equus and finally writing this review. So, apologies to the cast and crew for the delay- here it is.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

But, for my own part, it was Greek to me


 by Jim Melo

I’m sure that anyone who’s actually been reading my (admittedly few and far between) articles will have seen that I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare pieces. That’s ‘cause I love Shakespeare, and I would have his children if it were (biologically) possible. But, I thought that for this time around, I’d try something a little different, and take a look at one of the OTHER greatest playwrights of all time: Sophocles.

Most of you should know who Sophocles was. He was sort of a big deal. I’m going to have a look at my favorite one of his plays—Antigone, as well as a more modern version (relatively speaking) which was done by Jean Anouilh during the second world war.

We’ll start where things often due, at the beginning. The original Antigone, written by Sophocles way back in the hey day of Athens, was, by and large, one of the greatest tragedies that was ever written. I would summarize the plot for you, but the entire play is available free online here. Go ahead and refresh yourselves. I’ll wait.

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