Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Preview: Cirque Éloize iD arrives in Toronto


Opening tomorrow at the Sony Centre is the vibrant, joyous and urban infused iD from Cirque Éloize. Check below for the press release and to purchase tickets! EAP is checking out the piece tomorrow evening at the Sony Centre!

Press Release: 

The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts is pleased to welcome the return of Cirque Éloize and their critically acclaimed production, iD. The Toronto Star raved “You're not going to find a more energetic, mind-blowing, roof-raising piece of entertainment than iD”, and now, after two years, the show finally returns to Toronto, Thursday, November 1 – Saturday, November 3, 2012 at the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts for four performances only.

Created by Jeannot Painchaud, founder and Artistic Director of Cirque Éloize, iD weaves together hip hop, breakdance, trial bike, and ten circus disciplines including tumblers, acrobats, jugglers, and contortionists. The end result is a production rich in youth and athleticism powered by a rousing soundtrack and state-of-the-art video projections. iD’s plotline pulls the audience in to a world where urban circus art meets West Side Story in this seamless combination of contemporary circus and theatricality.

Cirque Éloize has been creating moving performances filled with magic since 1993. Continually striving for artistic perfection, it is one of the leaders in contemporary circus arts. Based on the multidisciplinary talents of its artists, Cirque Éloize expresses its innovative nature and humanity through the combination of circus arts with music, dance, and theatre in a groundbreaking and original manner. With seven original productions under its belt, Cirque Éloize has presented more than 4,000 performances in over 436 cities and 36 countries.

The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts presents
Cirque Éloize’s iD
Sony Centre For The Performing Arts, 1 Front Street East, Toronto
Thursday, November 1 – Saturday, November 3, 2012 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, November 3, 2012 @ 2pm
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Sony Centre Box Office, 1 Front Street East, Toronto, 
over the phone at 1-855-872-SONY (7669) or online at www.sonycentre.ca 
Discounts are available for groups of 8 or more. Call THE Group Tix Company 647-438-5559 or 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Preview: Speaking In Tongues arrives this evening!


Starting previews this evening is the exciting new piece from The Company Theatre, SPEAKING IN TONGUES at the Berkeley Street Theatre. A thrilling play from Australia, Speaking In Tongues is a multi-faceted adventure that reveals the mysterious side of human nature. 


For tickets visit: www.companytheatre.ca


Friday, October 26, 2012

Preview: Harbourfront presents World Stage 2013

Two days ago our friends over at Harbourfront and World Stage have just released their 2013 line up and it looks quite delicious. Please scroll below for information on each individual piece and for exact dates and details.

PRESS RELEASE:
Harbourfront Centre Announces
WORLD STAGE 2013

TORONTO, ON (Wednesday, October 24, 2012) – Harbourfront Centre announces the artists, companies and performance dates for World Stage 2013. The series opens in February 2013 and continues until May, offering select works of provocative and cutting-edge international and Canadian contemporary artists.

This season welcomes productions and artists from Canada, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Brazil, Australia, China, Norway, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands. The work proposes to redefine the act of witnessing, as it chronicles a day in the life in Auschwitz in KAMP (CAMP), negotiates a thin line between love and brutality in Still Standing You, and throws us to the dogs in Dachshund UN.

Shakespeare is turned on his head in a triptych of works that make the Bard relevant, immediate and moving with Toronto’s own LEAR, and 2 German works, She She Pop & Their Fathers: Testament and Othello c’est qui (Othello, who’s that).
Dance is featured prominently for aficionados and newbies alike, as dance and soccer fans can rally around Norway’s A Dance Tribute to the Art of Football, scratch the surface of contemporary expression from superpower China with TAO Dance Theater, and warmly welcome the return of dance heavyweights Grupo Corpo.
As a pioneering culture port, World Stage’s commitment to developing Toronto artists continues with bold new work from Ame Henderson/Public Recordings in what we are saying, and Heidi Strauss/Toronto Dance Theatre with Everyday Anthems.
Established in 1986, World Stage has presented artists and companies from over 40 countries, bringing the world’s most dynamic performance leaders to share and develop contemporary viewpoints with Toronto audiences while showcasing local artists who have gone on to tour internationally. From the 2012 season, The Dietrich Group’s Paris1994/Gallery has traveled to Singapore and Evan Webber and Frank Cox O’Connell’s Ajax & Little Iliad has been booked across Canada and in Europe. 

Over the past decades, World Stage has granted access to performances and in-depth discussions with the industry’s best including; Christopher Plummer, Laurie Anderson, Robert LePage, Cillian Murphy, Atom Egoyan, Elizabeth LeCompte, Kitt Johnson, Wayne McGregor, and Young Jean Lee to name a few.
World Stage productions have received Dora Award nominations and multiple wins, most recently Outstanding Production, Dance Division for Out of Context - for Pina by Alain Platel (Les Ballets C de la B) and Outstanding Touring Production, General Theatre Division for Mabou Mines DollHouse.

World Stage 2013 Season: Productions and Dates:

Othello, c’est qui (Othello, who’s that)
Gintersdorfer/Klaßen (Germany | Côte d’Ivoire)
Performed in English and French
February 6-9, Enwave Theatre, 70 mins
While Othello may be the single most famous black man on the Western stage, in Africa, hardly anybody has heard of him. In this fearless and radical reinvestigation of one of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters, what begins as a playful conversation about the clichés surrounding Othello and Desdemona quickly evolves into a provocative confrontation between two cultures. A mischievous but hard-hitting exchange, Gintersdorfer/Klaßen’s frank and very human production won first prize at the 2009 Theater Festival Impulse, and has engaged audiences around the world ever since.

Sem Mim & Ímã
Grupo Corpo (Brazil)
February 19-23, Fleck Dance Theatre, 110 mins, including intermission
Two spectacular dance productions from this world-renowned company. In Sem Mim, meaning “without me,” “tattooed” dancers merge the rhythm of the sea with the music of medieval Portuguese-Galician chants. The second work, Ímã, meaning “magnet,” takes inspiration from the law of magnetism where dancers passionately entwine and separate in poetic polarities. Always a hit with World Stage audiences, Grupo Corpo combines classical ballet technique with a contemporary rereading of Brazilian and world dance forms. The end results are performances that are virtuosic, athletic, breathtaking and simply spectacular.

Dachshund UN
Bennett Miller (Australia)
Production Sponsor: PawsWay
February 28-March 3, Enwave Theatre, 50 mins
Shock, delight, cacophony! A meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is staged with the help of specially recruited dachshunds in this wild performance installation. Joyful and chaotic, spectacular and fascinating, Dachshund UNquestions our capacity to imagine and achieve a universal system of justice. Creator Bennett Miller is a sculptor and installation artist whose aim is to create theatre as a political arena by exploring active viewership and durational performance. Admittance to this show is free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Performances will also be webcast. If you have a dachshund and want to participate, email dogshow@harbourfrontcentre.com.

LEAR
Philip McKee (Canada)
Co-produced by Harbourfront Centre
March 5-10, Studio Theatre, 80 mins
Canadian performance legend Clare Coulter steps into the title role of Shakespeare’s King Lear in this intimate and powerful portrait of passing on a legacy, in a family and in the theatre. A reinvigorated and sensitive overturning of a timeless tragedy. Philip McKee is an emerging performance maker and director within Canada’s theatre scene. In LEAR, he’s assembled an exciting group of collaborators for this surprising staging. LEAR originally appeared as part of Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH performing arts residency programme in 2011. For more information about HATCH, visit harbourfrontcentre.com/hatch.

Everyday Anthems
Toronto Dance Theatre (Canada)
March 6-9, Fleck Dance Theatre, 70 mins
Choreographed by rising star Heidi Strauss, along with text from playwright Brendan Gall, this new dance work explores anthems as a metaphor for overcoming obstacles, for things unrequited, for personal strength and belonging. An impassioned performance that poses questions around power, pride and unity in the face of difference. Strauss’s first creation for Toronto Dance Theatre draws on the embodied histories of her performers to create a richly physical ensemble work. Toronto Dance Theatre, under the artistic direction of Christopher House, is recognized for intelligent choreography and the exceptional artistry of its dancers.

Weight x3 & 2
TAO Dance Theater (China)
Production Sponsor: ManuLife Financial
March 20-23, Fleck Dance Theatre, 90 mins, including intermission
Two incisive works by China’s emerging leaders of contemporary dance that shatter expectations. Weight x3 is a triptych of pieces concerned with stretching the boundaries of physical practice. In 2, the dancers’ bodies fold, collapse, invert and mirror each other to convey the movement (and rigidity) of language. Since its inception in 2008, TAO Dance Theater has established itself as one of the most provocative contemporary dance companies in China. Through rigorous, sincere, and exploratory corporeal research, they are discovering the body’s unknown possibilities and taking Chinese dance in bold new directions.

A Dance Tribute to the Art of Football
Jo Strømgren Kompani (Norway)
Production Sponsor: BMO Financial
April 10-13, Fleck Dance Theatre, 60 mins
A series of comic, tough and tender vignettes celebrating the world’s favourite game in which the form and physical patterns of football (soccer) are deconstructed. This work offers an opportunity to reflect on the similarities and differences between sport and art. Behind slow-motion replays and locker room rituals lurks a sophisticated take on a global obsession that speaks volumes about the human condition. Jo Strømgren Kompani is one of Scandinavia’s most established independent dance theatre companies, combining raw physicality with absurd humour.
Advisory: Contains partial nudity.

She She Pop & Their Fathers: Testament
She She Pop (Germany)
Performed in German with English surtitles
April 17-20, Enwave Theatre, 120 mins
Mirroring the story of King Lear and his daughters, She She Pop members take to the stage with their own aging fathers to enumerate their inheritances and negotiate how power, money, memory and love are passed along across the generations. With the drive of a game show, this heart wrenching and humourous work strives to find the intersections of responsibility and respect between parents and children. She She Pop, based in Berlin and Hamburg, is one of Germany’s most important performance collectives.

Still Standing You
Pieter Ampe & Guilherme Garrido/CAMPO (Belgium/Portugal)
April 23-24 & 26-27, Enwave Theatre, 45 mins
Unadorned, hilarious, moving and disturbing. With the instruments of their bodies, this Belgian Portuguese duo offers a mischievous glimpse into the kaleidoscope of friendship. From slaps on the back to violent strokes of a leather belt, the pair tests the strength of their relationship. The artists invite the audience to consider associations of touch, tenderness, violence and struggle between the bodies of men. CAMPO, which brought That Night Follows Day to World Stage audiences in 2009, is a Ghent-based art centre that creates and presents work at all stages of development on a national and international scale.
Advisory: contains full frontal nudity

what we are saying (Canada)
Ame Henderson/Public Recordings
Presented in association with The Power Plant
May 23-26, The Power Plant, 60 mins
Expanding upon findings from 300 Tapes and relay, Public Recordings asks: "What can we say about our future and how do we say it together?" Using language and movement to explore new perspectives of our world and each other, an assembly of performers responds to uncertainty, potential danger, and possibility in an unobstructed performance space. Since 2003, widely-acclaimed Public Recordings has been supporting and promoting the works of dancemaker Ame Henderson and her collaborators. The Power Plant, part of Harbourfront Centre, is Canada’s leading public gallery devoted exclusively to contemporary visual art.

KAMP (CAMP)
Hotel Modern (Netherlands)
May 23-26, Enwave Theatre, 60 mins
With an enormous scale model of Auschwitz filling the stage, thousands of eight-centimetre-tall handmade puppets represent the prisoners and their executioners. The performers move through the set like giant war reporters, or silent gods, filming the horrific events with miniature cameras. The audience becomes witness. Hotel Modern attempts to imagine the unimaginable: the greatest mass murder in history, committed in a purpose-built city. Established in 1997, Hotel Modern blends visual arts, puppetry, music and film in evocative productions by representing harsh reality in a refined poetic manner.

World Stage Tickets: Help deliver world-renowned programming like World Stage by becoming a Harbourfront Centre donor. Donors receive advance World Stage 2013 ticket purchasing opportunities, starting October 24, before the public on sale date of November 7. Regular ticket buyers can save up to 50% with a World Stage Flex Pass. Purchase four tickets to any World Stage shows for only $110 or eight tickets for $180. The Flex Pass is only on sale until January 23, 2013. Regular ticket packages (three or more productions) offer discounts and exclusive partner offers, discounted parking and more. The CultureBreak programme, designed for 13-25 year-old arts and culture cravers and/or students of all ages offers $15 tickets to any show, any time. Seniors, groups of 10 or more, arts workers and NextSteps ticket buyers save 20%. Single tickets available anytime via our box office by calling 416-973-4000 , Tuesday to Saturday, 1-6pm, or online atharbourfrontcentre.com.

Extras: World Stage goes deeper to deliver a more textured performance experience for audiences by offering post-performance talkshows on the second night of the run with guest hosts and cast members, opening night receptions and artist development workshops.
Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2013 gratefully acknowledges the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Westin Harbour Castle, the official host hotel of World Stage.

ABOUT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
Harbourfront Centre is a Canadian charity operating the 10 prime acres of Toronto's central waterfront as a free and open public site. We celebrate the multiplicities of cultures that comprise Canada and enliven the city through the creative imaginations of artists from across the country and around the globe. Harbourfront Centre attracts more than 17 million visits to its site each year to experience 4,000 diverse public events and activities. Harbourfront Centre receives operational support from the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto and program funding from all levels of government, the private sector and individual donors.

For more information and unparalleled access to interviews, videos and commentary on the World Stage 2013 season visitwww.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage

Follow us on Twitter @WorldStageTO #WSTO
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WorldStageTO

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Preview: Delicacy by Kat Sandler












Opening this weekend is a new piece from the prominent Canadian playwright Kat Sandler and the spicy theatre company - Theatre Brouhaha. Expect lots of laughs, lots of yelling and social commentary served straight up!

Preview:

Delicacy is the story of a wealthy Yorkville couple who meets a younger, open-minded couple at an underground sex club. Two weeks later the Yorkville couple invites the younger couple back to their condo for wine and cheese to see if lightning strikes twice. What follows is an emotional brouhaha that will leave both couples wondering if marriage is all it's cracked up to be.

Delicacy is written and directed by Kat Sandler
Featuring: Andrew Trithardt, Kaleb Alexander, Tennille Read and Kelly McCormack

On at the Factory Studio Theatre until November 3rd

Tickets are on sale at the Factory Theatre box office and can be purchased online here.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Canadian Stage Preview: POLITICAL MOTHER


Photo by Tom Medwell


Opening tomorrow is the second show in the Canadian Stage lineup and we hear it is a very strong one. We love dance here at EAP so we are excited to see it and see what all the buzz is about!

Press Release:

                    Electrifying dance and rock spectacle 
Political Mother 
sweeps through Toronto for six performance run
Dynamic production by UK-based Israeli choreographer
Hofesh Shechter on stage from October 24 to 28

Toronto, October 11, 2012 – Hofesh Shechter’s electrifying dance and rock spectacle, Political Mother, stops in Toronto for six performances as part of an international tour that has captivated audiences around the world. Presented by Canadian Stage and performed by Hofesh Shechter Company, this dance-performance-meets-rock-concert is a full-throttle, immersive experience that has taken the dance world by storm.

Political Mother will be on stage from Wednesday, October 24 to Sunday, October 28 at the Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (27 Front St. E). Tickets from $24 to $99 are available by phone at 416.368.3110 , online at www.canadianstage.com, or in person at the box office.

“To finally share the brilliance of Hofesh Shechter’s choreography with Toronto audiences is very exciting for Canadian Stage,” said Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic & General Director. “Our mandate is to present the most groundbreaking and powerful productions from Canada and around the world. Political Mother exemplifies this in a storm of dynamic and beautiful dance moments combined with live rock music and electrifying lighting. This show is one of the most sumptuous visual presentations - and at the same time - one of the most riveting and gripping emotional experiences that I’ve had in a long time.”

Shechter, who choreographed and composed this “howling beast of a dance show” in 2010, draws on his training and career as a musician and dancer to create both the music and movement for his work. For Political Mother he assembled a band of seven musicians, including guitarists and percussionists to bring a big sound to the stage, inviting audiences to ride an emotional roller coaster that confuses one’s values and challenges perceptions of what is “normal”.

The ensemble features 12 dancers from Hofesh Shechter Company and includes Maëva Berthelot, Chien-Ming Chang, Sam Coren, Frédéric Despierre, Karima El Amrani, James Finnemore, Bruno Karim Guilloré, Yeji Kim, Kim Kohlmann, Philip Hulford, Erion Kruja and Hannah Shepherd. The score, composed by Shechter, was created in collaboration with Nell Catchpole and Yaron Engler. The dancers are accompanied on stage by a live metal rock band alongside a group of military drummers.


Monday, October 22, 2012

Preview: Romeo and Juliet


 Hart House Theatre is set to continue its tradition of producing high-caliber and accessible classics with the greatest love story the world has ever known, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The captivating tale of young love thwarted by circumstance opens at Hart House Theatre on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 for a three week run.

The show is directed by Jeremy Hutton, Hart House Theatre's Artistic Director.  Hutton has created a raw, dangerous and violent world. While his vision for the play stays true to the original script,  he has moved the action into the present and added elements of Italian hip hop culture. His Verona is a violent and chaotic town in the middle of a decades long war whose cause no one can recall.

Helping Mr. Hutton to create his vision of Verona, is Dora Award winning Lighting Designer Andre de Toit (The Double, TheatreRUN; The Rez Sisters, Factory Theatre; SPENT, Theatre Smith-Gilmour/Why Not Theatre/TheatreRUN) and Set and Costume Designer Brandon Kleiman (You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Pirates of Penzance, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, Stratford Shakespeare Festival; RENT, Sheridan College/Mirvish; Blind Date, World Stage).

Taking on the iconic roles of Romeo and his beloved Juliet are Paolo Santalucia (The Crucible, The Royal Comedians and Dirt, Soulpepper Theatre Company; Blast Hamlet, Bellrock Theatre Company; Twelfth Night, Canopy Theatre) and Darwin Lyons (Hushabye, Toronto Fringe; Tough!, Factory Theatre at The Magnetic North Festival). Also appearing are Joshua Browne (S-27, Intersection Theatre; Peter Pan, Stage West), Jeremy LePalme (A Midsummer Night's Dream and Christmas Carol, RoseTheatre; bittergirl, Theatre Aquarius), Jonathan Sousa (Boyfriends, Le Carsonage Theatre) and numerous other emerging Toronto theatre artists.


Romeo and Juliet
By: William Shakespeare
Directed by: Jeremy Hutton
Set and Costume Design by: Brandon Kleiman
Lighting Design by: Andre de Toit
Sound Design by: Jeremy Hutton
Dramaturgy by: Susan Bond
Choreography by: Melanie Mastronardi

November 7 - 24, 2012
at Hart House Theatre (7 Hart House Circle)

Performances:
Week 1: Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM
Week 2: Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM
Week 3: Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM + Saturday at 2PM

Ticket Prices:
Adults $25; Student & Seniors $15
$10 Student Tickets every Wednesday
Tickets can be purchased at UofTtix Box Office by phone, 416.978.8849    
Or click here

Friday, October 19, 2012

Don't miss Rachel Corrie

Justin and I saw My Name is Rachel Corrie at Hart House on Wednesday night. And if you only see one show this weekend this should be it.  


In addition to creative staging and direction Rachel Corrie is supremely well acted by Amelia Sargisson.


 A one woman show about a young activist who is killed in Palestine is a tough sell, and I was especially curious to see how they would deal with her death. I think audiences will appreciate that this is not a political piece, although there is a lot of politics behind the story. It is fundamentally a human story. 


The show does drag in places, but at 90 minutes without intermission it is a tidy affair, and well worth seeing. The show only runs tonight and tomorrow.  So hurry to Hart House.  Click here for ticket information.  


Photo Credits - Daniel De Marco

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Preview: The Normal Heart 2012


THE NORMAL HEART

LARRY KRAMER’S MASTERWORK OF LOVE, RAGE AND PRIDE

The story of a society in denial between 1981 and 1984, THE NORMAL HEART unfolds like a real-life political thriller—as a tight-knit group of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the press bury the truth of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence.


A quarter-century after it was written, this outrageous, unflinching, and totally unforgettable look at the sexual politics during the beginning of the AIDS crisis remains one of the theatre’s most powerful evenings ever.


THE NORMAL HEART won three 2011 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, and was one of the biggest hit son Broadway this past season. Now it is produced by the acclaimed Studio 180 Theatre, in association with Buddies in Bad Times, with a star-studded, all-Canadian cast under the guidance of the distinguished director Joel Greenberg.


Playing for a strictly limited run, THE NORMAL HEART is performed until November 18, 2011 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto. Box Office -- 416-872-1212 or 1-800-416-3333 .

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Normal Heart Insider Blog: This Must Be the Blog: Living the Dream


The Normal Heart has its first 2012 preview Friday evening and we are in major celebratory mode here at EAP. We wanted to give you a taste of some of the deliciousness that Studio 180 is providing by posting the link to their current blog on the production. Click below to find out what some of the actors are saying this time around:

This Must Be the Blog: Living the Dream


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Preview: Road Trip, Prresented by Harbourfront Centre's NextSteps Series

Opening Thursday and running through Saturday, at the Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre, is Road Trip.  Presented as part of the NextSteps series and developed by DanceWorks, Road Trip features the dynamic choreographic duo Susie Burpee and Linnea Swan.



The Harbourfront Centre release describes Road Trip and Its leading ladies as, 

 ...two physically fierce contemporary dancers – [these] two women caught in the spotlight like deer in the headlights. Has something awful happened? The rollercoaster movement of this tragicomic face-off takes the audience on an unforgettable road trip.

Susie Burpee in 'Road Trip' from Road Trip on Vimeo.

Susie Burpee creates “fully human characters, struggling for connection” (Toronto Star). Her work received Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Choreography and Performance, and she is a recipient of the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Dance. Burpee’s works are noted for their skillful use of contemporary movement to transform individuals on stage and showcase human complexity.

Linnea Swan in 'Road Trip' from Road Trip on Vimeo.

Linnea Swan has worked with many of Canada’s esteemed dance and theatre companies and the interdisciplinary Exchange Rate Collective, whose creation, Appetite, received two Dora Mavor Moore Awards. As a filmmaker, Swan works alongside choreographers and musicians to create music and promotional videos, and films for live performance.

Do not miss this short run.  Click here for ticket information and specific show times.


Monday, October 15, 2012

The Normal Heart Toronto premieres this week!!!















Our FAVOURITE show of 2011 returns to the Buddies in Bad Times stage this coming week.

The Normal Heart is a profoundly moving and affecting piece of theatre. I know many of you will be returning to see it, and if you have not seen this piece we highly recommend it! It will blow your mind and heart.

For more info or to purchase tickets please CLICK HERE! (many performances are sold out so act fast!) 

Friday, October 12, 2012

On at the Opera House


The Canadian Opera Company’s 2012/2013 season is back with the quintessential Italian opera, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, featuring internationally renowned Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas and acclaimed Canadian baritone Russell Braun in role debut performances.  A staple of the operatic repertoire, Il Trovatore has mesmerized audiences since its premiere in 1853 with its fiery, melodramatic tale of the vengeful gypsy Azucena, her son Manrico’s romance with the noblewoman Leonora, and his rivalry with Conte di Luna.  Last performed by the COC in 2005, Il Trovatore returns with director Charles Roubaud’s acclaimed production from Opéra de Marseille and celebrated conductor Marco Guidarini leading the COC Orchestra and Chorus through Verdi’s rich score.  Il Trovatore is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™ and runs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on Oct, 13, 19, 21, 25, 28, and 31, 2012.

Also on now, Johann Strauss II’s popular operetta, Die Fledermaus, returns to the Canadian Opera Company after an absence of more than 20 years with a new production this fall.  Strauss II outdid his own reputation as the “waltz king” of Vienna with Die Fledermaus by composing some of opera’s most enduring dance music for this hilarious comedy with its screwball plot of elaborate revenge, disguises and mistaken identity.  A largely Canadian cast, led by internationally renowned tenor Michael Schade in a role debut, comes together in this new COC production by innovative director Christopher Alden with COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducting.  Die Fledermaus is sung in German with English SURTITLES™ and runs  at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on Oct. 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 27, 30, Nov. 1 and 3, 2012.

These are both delightful classics and a great way to kick start the fall at the Opera House.  Click here for ticket information.  Or call the box office at 416-306-2356      .

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Theatre Centre celebrates groundbreaking moment today


After 33 years in rental spaces across the city, The Theatre Centre will break ground on its permanent home, launching a year-long renovation of the historic Carnegie Library building at 1115 Queen St W on Thursday at 11 am.
Click below to find out more!!

Theatre Centre celebrates groundbreaking moment

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Preview: TEAR THE CURTAIN! opens at Canadian Stage



Opening tonight at the St. Lawrence Centre in the Bluma Appel Theatre is another fascinating looking piece from Electric Company. It looks INCREDIBLE! For details and to watch the impressive production trailer please look below.

Press Release:

Multi-media marvel Tear the Curtain! to open Canadian Stage 2012.13 season

Hit show created by Electric Company and Siminovitch Award-winning director Kim Collier
on stage in Toronto from October 7 to 20

Toronto, October 1, 2012 – Canadian Stage presents Tear the Curtain!, the genre-bending West Coast hit that moves from stage to screen and back again. An Electric Company production in association with Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre Company, Tear the Curtain! is a stylish psychological thriller and a groundbreaking, hybrid stage experience that combines live theatre and film.

Created with and directed by Canadian Stage resident artist and Siminovitch Award-winner Kim Collier, and written by long-time Electric Company collaborators, artistic associate Jonathon Young and artistic director Kevin Kerr, the production follows Alex Braithwaite (played by Young), a jaded theatre critic in a gritty film noir rendition of Vancouver in the 1930s, as the advent and popularity of the “Talkies” threatens the existence of theatre. When Alex falls for the screen siren Mila, he’s caught dangerously between two warring mob families: one controlling the city’s playhouses, the other, its cinemas. Alex tries to tear through the artifice and war between these art forms without selling his soul – or losing his mind. Devised as a detective story, the plot unravels on stage in a seamless blend of filmed and live performance, leaving the audience to decipher which medium they are seeing.



“Tear the Curtain! is a penetrating examination of art – what we want or expect from it,”said Matthew Jocelyn, Artistic & General Director, Canadian Stage. “Opening our 25th anniversary season by sharing this incredible multidisciplinary adventure that fully embodies our company’s artistic mandate, from our resident artist Kim Collier and past collaborators, Electric Company, is very exciting. Prepare to be dazzled.”

Featuring a talented cast that includes David Adams, Scott Bellis, Craig Erickson, Hiro Kanagawa, Tom McBeath, Laura Mennell, Dawn Petten, Gerard Plunkett, James Fagan Tait and Young, this production of Tear the Curtain! is a re-imagining of the original show that was presented in Vancouver in 2010. Developed over several years, beginning with a commission from Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre, the piece was originally inspired by the Stanley Theatre’s dual identity as a live theatre and former cinema. A three-week film shoot resulted in 70 minutes of edited footage that comprises approximately half the production. With an updated and revised script, this remount features the original cast and is supported by the same creative team.

Tear the Curtain! will be on stage from Sunday, October 7 to Saturday, October 20 
Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (27 Front St. E). 
Tickets from $24 to $99 are available by phone at 416.368.3110 , online at www.canadianstage.com, or in person at the box office.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Preview: This Must Be the Place: The CN Tower Show


Press Release from Passe Muraille:

This Must Be the Place: The CN Tower Show
Your City, Your Stage.


Using music and theatre, maps and media, the CN Tower Project is a love letter to Toronto, onstage. At the middle of a scramble intersection the stories of Toronto are played out. Where have we come from? Where are we going? This Must Be the Place.

This next project in Theatre Passe Muraille’s Fall Season is a play that puts Toronto onto our stage. Based on interviews and research done across the city, This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show is showing us snapshots of Toronto as we hoped it would be and as it is now.

The company is comprised of the Architect Theatre Collective—the artistic team behind Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show. Artistic Director Andy McKim is thrilled to have the voice of so many young Torontonians on the stage. “All of these artists are relatively new to Toronto so they have a unique take on our city. Their view has also been informed by speaking to a lot of people over the last year- famous and not so famous people. They are young artists embracing the Passe Muraille tradition of talking to people in a community and then bringing those stories back to our stage in a play.”

This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show marks the 6th initiative of TPM’s Theatre Beyond Walls Season. The fall at TPM has already seen a hugely successful Street Fest; the inspiring and intimate dance piece Queen West Project; The ToyBox a touring wonderland that had its first two stops- in our Mainspace and at City Hall where the Councilors turned out; the out-of-the-box radio drama The Four Corners which has a free live performance at Bathurst and Queen on September 29 and the launch of our Bring The Buzz Festival.

Bring the Buzz is our audience dramaturgy initiative for the 2012 fall season. Typically TPM hosts 2-3 Buzz Festivals a year where we invite artists to showcase fifteen minutes to an hour of a piece in development and invite audiences to give feed back and discuss what they have seen. To further this ideal, TPM has invited 5 companies to be in residence and bring the Buzz! The project provides meaningful support to the artistic community by providing theatre space to emerging and independent artists to develop their art through the engagement of TPM’s core audience.
The first company The Quickening Theatre is in residence in the Mainspace from September 17-30 with public presentations of their production Mister Baxter on September 20-22 and September 16-29. The second company is comprised of Julie Tepperman and Shira Leuchter and they are in residence in the backspace from September 24-October 14 with public presentations of Uninvited on October 4-6 and October 11-13.



This Must Be The Place: The CN Tower Show

A Theatre Passe Muraille Production
Created by The Architect Theatre Collective—Jonathan Seinen, Georgina Beaty, Charlotte Corbeil Coleman, Greg Gale, Ingrid Hansen, and Thomas Olajide, with Layne Coleman
Directed by Jonathan Seinen
Set & Costume Design by Lindsay Anne Black
Lighting Design by Rebecca Picherack
Sound Design by Thomas Ryder Payne
Dramaturgy by Charlotte Corbeil Coleman
Stage Manager Sandy Plunkett
Performed by Georgina Beaty, Greg Gale, Ingrid Hansen and Thomas Olajide

Previews October 4, Opens Ocotber 9, runs to October 27
In the Theatre Passe Muraille Main Space, 16 Ryerson Avenue

Performances:
Tuesday-Saturday @ 7:30pm with Saturday Matinees at 2:00pm

Ticket Prices:
Tuesday-Thursday $30
Friday & Saturday $35
Previews $15
Under 30 $15

Tickets:

Arts Box Office 416.504.7529 or at The Arts Box Office located at 16 Ryerson Avenue is open Tuesday-Saturday from 12:00pm -6:00pm and one hour before the show.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Theatre 20 is hosting a Blood drive in support of Bloodless TODAY!



THEATRE 20 AND CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES
HOST "BLOODLESS" BLOOD DRIVE

Manulife Centre, Toronto
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012
12-4 p.m.


WHO:
Theatre 20 - a new Toronto-based, artist-led theatre company formed to present story-driven musicals by developing new Canadian works and re-imagining existing repertoire. It aims to nurture the talent of writers and composers and foster the development of young artists through mentorship and education programs. Theatre 20's founding artists include such internationally renowned performers as Louise Pitre, Brent Carver and Colm Wilkinson.


WHAT:
A blood drive in support of Theatre 20's inaugural production, Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare. Members of Theatre 20's Founding Artists, Board of Directors and the cast of Bloodless will be joining the cause and donating their blood.

WHERE:
Manulife Centre Blood Donor Clinic
55 Bloor St. W. (Bay & Bloor)
2nd floor - by the movie theatre
Google Map: http://goo.gl/maps/tZdGa
         
WHEN:
Thursday October 4, 12:00pm - 4:00pm

WHY:
The need for blood in the GTA is especially great during Thanksgiving (and most holidays, in fact). The need for supporting new Canadian works and talent is also extremely important to the state of arts and culture in Canada. The "Bloodless" Blood Drive is a great dual cause. We could all be a little more "blood-less" for Bloodless! Those donating blood at any permanent clinic location in Toronto will receive a special discount on tickets to Theatre 20's production of Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare at the Panasonic Theatre this October.

WHAT ELSE:
Canadian Blood Services will also be running a free "What's Your Type" event at the Panasonic Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 20 - patrons will be able to find out their blood type for free (approximately $180 at the doctor's office)!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Big Announcement at Mirvish



Big changes may be coming to King Street if David Mirvish gets his way.  Check out this article from Saturday's Globe and Mail, about the future of the Princess of Wales and Mirvish's theatre empire.


* Photo of David Mirvish from the G&T's Peter Power.

And check here to see the promo video for the project.