Your last chance to see Billy Elliot in Toronto is this weekend!

I am in shock that it is closing already, however, I urge you to check out this show if you haven't seen it yet. One of the best pieces of musical theatre I have seen in ages. For tickets please click the header!

Sharron Matthews Sings Creep and tells a tale @ Joe's Pub

You know, sometimes your day calls for a little Sharron Matthews. According to fb, Sharron has left Scotland and is heading to London! We wish you well sweetie darling.

Music from Chess

Mirvish is doing a big push for their production of Chess. Check out the clips of "One Night in Bangkok" and "I Know Him So Well." Chess is a personal favourite of mine and Justin's, mostly because it has one of the best scores in modern musical theatre, and the most WTF storyline. And because I played Florence at St Mike's.

Preview: White Biting Dog

Opening this week at Soulpepper is Judith Thompson's local piece White Biting Dog. For tickets and/or more info please click the header!

Show Description:

A distraught lawyer steps to the edge of Toronto's Bloor Street bridge but is stopped by the words of a small white dog, who instructs him that his mental pain will be eased if he can save his dying father. This searing portrayal of domestic disharmony is one of the great Toronto plays. Soulpepper is thrilled to perform the work of one of Canada's most celebrated writers.

Warning: mature content

Directed by Nancy Palk

Featuring Gregory Prest, Fiona Reid, Mike Ross, Michaela Washburn & Joseph Ziegler

Young Centre for the Performing Arts
The Distillery District
55 Mill Street,
Building 49
Toronto, ON

Preview: Come Fly Away

Hot on the heels of Twala Tharp's Tony Award winning collaboration with Billy Joel, Movin' Out, is her latest collaboration. This time Ms. Tharp has combined her innovative choreographic style with the music of Frank Sinatra in, Come Fly Away. On now at the Four Season's Centre, Come Fly Away is produced by Dancap. This show is for anyone who loves great dancing, the music of Frank Sinatra or expressions of love and friendship. With the help of a fourteen piece band and seven dance couples this show is one for the whole family. Check out the video preview at the link below. And click the header for ticket information.

Come Fly Away runs at The Four Season's Centre for the Performing Arts

Performs Aug- 19th - 28th, 2011

Running time is 80 minutes, without an intermission.

DANCAP TV

Preview: Exit the King

Opening tonight in the Distillery District is Soulpepper's, Exit the King.

Show Description:

As the dilapidated kingdom of King Berenger the First crumbles around him, the aging monarch is told that he has until the end of the play to live. Absurdist master Eugène Ionesco at his hilarious and provocative best.

Directed by Albert Schultz

Featuring Derek Boyes, Oliver Dennis, Trish Lindström, Brenda Robins, Karen Rae, & William Webster.

For tickets or more info please click the header!

The Torontoist picks 10 SummerWorks shows that work...

The Torontoist has rounded up its 10 best shows this year at the festival. We have to agree with many of their choices and we are REALLY looking forward to seeing ONE tomorrow evening on the last day of the festival!

To check out which productions made their top ten please click here!

Preview: Brothers at SummerWorks

It is your last chance to see many shows at SummerWorks this weekend as the festival comes to a conclusion this weekend. One show that has its last show on Sunday is BROTHERS. The piece was created and is being performed by Jeremy James & Philip McKee

Show Description:

Longstanding member of the internationally renowned Théâtre du Soleil, Jeremy James, joins local artist Philip McKee in a work inspired by Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

Final show is Sunday August 14 at 10pm. For tickets please click the header!

The Factory Mainspace
125 Bathurst St.
416.504.7529
$15

SummerWorks Preview: Waterfront/The Blessing

Waterfront/The Blessing is the intimate, but confrontational, story of two brothers as they deal with the death of their father, and an uneven inheritance. The emotional story is written by Leah Jane Esau, and produced by Les Nouvelles Theatre. Directed by Amanda Lockitch, Waterfront/The Blessing stars William MacDonald and Robert Fulton. The smart and simple set and costume design are by Nancy Perrin. This is an emotional roller coaster, and very relatable for anyone with family struggles, or even just family.

Waterfront/The Blessing is on at The Factory Mainspace

Tonight at 5:00 pm

Friday 12th, at 10:00pm

and Saturday 13th, at 2:30pm.

Preview: The Trolley Car at Summerworks

Solo Collective Theatre is presenting a new version of THE TROLLEY CAR at SummerWorks.

Show Description:

In German-occupied Paris, impulsive Florence is drawn into a tempestuous love triangle with her husband’s cousin Inez. A boldly theatrical look at the choices we make during frightening times—and our complicity in the events that follow.

Written by Amiel Gladstone
Directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones
Starring Monica Dottor, Rosa Laborde, Matthew Tapscott
Design by Dana Osborne
Lighting by Kimberly Purtell
Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne
Stage Manager Michelle Barker
Production Manager Charissa Wilcox
Props, Design Assistant Alex Vass

Factory Theatre Studio
125 Bathurst Street

Thursday August 4th 8:00pm
Saturday August 6th 5:30pm
Sunday August 7th 10:30pm
Wednesday August 10th 5:30pm
Saturday August 1#th 12:30pm
Sunday August 14th 10:00pm

For tickets see:
www.artsboxoffice.ca
416 504 7529

For more information see:
www.solocollective.ca
www.summerworks.ca

SummerWorks Preview: Pretty Little Instincts

One of three National Series productions, in this year's SummerWorks Festival, is Pretty Little Instincts. Touted as a renegade outdoor dance, and theatre piece, Pretty Little Instincts opens with nine women at high tea. But their high society party quickly unravel to explore the rawest aspect of human emotion, and primal instinct. The show is playing at the Fort York, which is an unfamiliar venue to us here at EAP. But we are really looking forward to the rogue aspect of an outdoor dance piece. Pop up venues, or theatre in temporary spaces, has become increasingly prominent in contemporary theatre, and has made a few inroads here in Toronto. We are planning to check the show out tonight at 8:30, hope the weather holds!

Pretty Little Instincts plays at Fort York, tonight at 8:30

Wednesday at 10 pm

and Saturday the 13th at 9:30 pm.

Click the header for more info and to purchase tickets, for this and any of the SummerWorks shows. And click here for the full schedule.

SummerWorks Preview: You Should Have Stayed Home

You Should Have Stayed Home recounts the harrowing experience of Torontoian Tommy Taylor, after his G20 detention, last summer. The show was inspired by a note he posted to Facebook after his arrest, and is appearing as part of this years SummerWorks Festival.

The tile was inspired by the advice he received from many after posting his 11,000 word note to Facebook. In the fall, Taylor joined with Praxis Theatre, who we've been following for a few years, and the Original Norwegian, to transform the experience into a stage show. While the show is primarily a one man piece, there are up to 40 volunteers who appear on stage during the show.

With the show's local focus and timely run, You Should Have Stayed Home is generating a lot of buzz.

You Should Have Stayed Home plays this Wednesday at 7:30, Friday the 12th at midnight and Saturday August 13th, at 10 pm. All performances are at The Theatre Centre on Queen St west. Click the header for ticket information.

SummerWorks Preview: Still Life

My friend Indrit Kasapi is starring in a new show this year at SummerWorks. It is a piece that was partly inspired by the death of a friend of ours, Christopher Skinner. It is believed that Chris was the subject of a hate crime offense and this piece aims to shed light on those affected by hate, fear and violence because of their sexuality.

Show Information:

lemonTree creations presents

STILL LIFE

A new queer collective creation.

After an attack, four 20-somethings are confronted with their truth. The experience of the night reveals the joys and struggles of being queer in Toronto today.

Through the lens of a gay bashing, STILL LIFE explores how friends and strangers are connected by a night shared at a hospital. Time is fluid in the play with the past existing alongside the present. As Matt and Steven struggle to keep their relationship, Andrew offers Steven an escape from the norm while Sarah, the only witness to the incident, puts the puzzle pieces together. A night out turns into a search for identity as the four characters reveal honest accounts of being queer in a homophobic world.

Created and Performed by Indrit Kasapi, Cole J Alvis, Alisha Stranges and Andrew Aquino.

Created and Directed by Jonathan Seinen

Designed by Michelle Ramsay

Dramaturged and Stage Managed by Spencer Smith

SHOWTIMES
August 5 @ 4.30pm
August 6 @ 7.00pm
August 8 @ 9.30pm
August 9 @ 7.00pm
August 11 @ 4.30pm
August 13 @ 9.30pm
August 14 @ 2.00pm

Theatre Passe Muraille back space
16 Ryerson Ave

TICKETS
$15
By phone: 416.504.7529
To purchase online please click the header!

SummerWorks Theatre Festival on Now

Last night, SummerWorks kicked off their summer theatre festival's 20th season. The opening party was held at this years festival headquarters, Art Bar, on Queen Street. The party started at 4pm and went late into the evening, with local bands, and food provided by The Lakeview, for guests to enjoy.

This year's festival features over 40 plays and 10 nights of music at the Art Bar, Thursdays through Sundays, during the festival run. The festival runs from the 4th to the 14th. Click here for the full schedule. And click here for the program guide and show descriptions. Justin and I are going to stop by the headquarters tonight to get press kits for each of the show. We will be featuring a selection of shows over the next ten days here on the blog. Please join us at this years SummerWorks Festival.

Click the header for the full guide and ticket information. See you at the theatre!

Preview: BITCH SALAD presents: Andrew Johnston & Sara Hennessey in BIG BUSINESS

Show Description:

What happens when two sets of identical comedian twins separated at birth FINALLY meet their match? Well, I don't know, but I'll educatedly bet that it ends in sexy results...

In a BITCH SALAD first, beloved Torontonian comedian-types and fixtures from MuchMusic's "Video On Trial" program Andrew Johnston and Sara Hennessey invite you to witness a pleasurably tight evening of their signature stand-up comedy that will be forever cast in the TIME CAPSULE known as a DVD TAPING! Be a part of HISTORY and HILARITY in the making for the low low price of $10!

... With extra-, extra-, EXTRA-special guest, THE DICK MIME!!!

Bitch Salad presents...
Andrew Johnston & Sara Hennessey in BIG BUSINESS:
A special co-feature / DVD taping!
*SPECIAL NIGHT* Saturday, August 6th
Doors at 8, Show at 8:30
$10 at the door
femaledogsalad@gmail.com for reservations/info

ONE NIGHT ONLY! DON'T BE A FOOL!