A Very Spicy Christmas

EAP is super excited to see our friends Wannabe - The Spice Girls Tribute Band perform their first Christmas Concert!

When it comes to celebrations, epic dance parties and conjuring up serious nostalgia, no one does it better than the darlings of Wannabe: The Spice Girls Tribute! Join Sporty, Baby, Ginger, Scary and Posh for an unforgettable night featuring all the Spice hits, sing-alongs, dance-alongs and a little holiday cheer!


THURSDAY DECEMBER 6 - 8:00PM at the Lower Ossington Theatre.  Click here for tickets (they are only $20.00)  See you there!

Preview: My Name is Rachel Corrie

On the heels of the dismissal of the Corrie family's civil lawsuit, Hart House Theatre will be presenting the controversial play that explores an extraordinary young woman's singular experience in a region most of us only know from the news. My Name is Rachel Corrie opens on the historic Hart House Theatre stage on Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 for a limited run.

In March 2003, 23 year-old American student, Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death by an Isreali Defense Forces bulldozer in the Gaza Strip while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home. My Name is Rachel Corrie is a controversial, passionate and stunning account of a girl who sought to discover the human impact of her own country's foreign policies on people thousands of miles from her home. Since its sold-out opening in 2005, My Name is Rachel Corrie has acted as a catalyst for discussion and continues to spark heated debate.

Taking on the role of Rachel Corrie is Montreal native Amelia Sargisson. Most recently, Amelia appeared in the premiere of Daniel Karasik's award-winning play Haunted at the 2012 SummerWorks Festival. Other recent credits include bringing to life five characters in the 2012 Toronto FringeKIDS show, Water, and reprising the role Jackie in Daniel Karasik's The Innocents (Tarragon Theatre) which she oringinated at the 2010 SummerWorks Festival. Other highlights include appearing in an adaptation Michel Tremblay's La Duchesse de Langeais (2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, NOW Magazine Outstanding Ensemble); The Madonna Painter (Centaur Theatre); down from heaven (Imago Theatre, Cartes Premières Award for Best Actress); co-creating and performing in The Art of Catching Pigeons by Torchlight (SummerWorks Festival, Spotlight Award). Amelia also spent five seasons performing with Shakespeare-in-the-Park and is currently co-creating The Besetting of Reena Virk with fellow members of the Subtle Vigilance Collective. Amelia is a proud graduate of Ryerson Theatre School.

Award winning director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu returns to Hart House Theatre to direct My Name is Rachel Corrie. She made her inaugural directing debut at the historic theatre with the production of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf'. Mumbi is the founding Artistic Director of IFT theatre and has worked with Canadian Stage, Volcano Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, DvXT and The AfriCan Theatre Ensemble. Currently, she is working at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as the the Assistant Director for the world premiere of renowned Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor's The Best Brothers. Mumbi is a graduate of the University of Toronto and York University.

U of T's Performing Arts Leader Since 1919 - Hart House Theatre is not only a cultural hub for the University of Toronto but a cultural destination for the city. Under the direction of Artsitic Dorector Jeremy Hutton, we are dedicated to developing dynamic productions for a diverse and discerning modern audience with a roster full of the best emerging theatrical talent this country has to offer. The Art Deco theatre has cultivated and featured some of the country's finest actors, directors, playwrights and designers, including Raymond Massey, Dora Mavor Moore, William Hutt, Donald Sutherland, Norman Jewison, Lorne Michaels, and more recently Andre Sills and Tyrone Savage. Recent productions include The Night of the Iguana, Cabaret, Equus, Jerry Springer: The Opera and Macbeth.

My Name is Rachel Corrie

Taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie
Edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner
Directed by: Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu
Starring: Amelia Sargisson
Set and Costume Design by: Mariuxi Zambrani
Lighting Design by Sarah Masikka
Video and Sound Design by: David Mesiha

October 17 - 20, 2012
at Hart House Theatre (7 Hart House Circle)

 Performances:
 Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM


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, online at www.uofttix.ca or in person.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: East Danforth Community Association

Danforth East Commmunity Association (DECA) is interested in filling the empty stores along Danforth Avenue between Monarch Park and Main with short-term enterprises.  If you are an artist or social enterprise who would be interested in a pop-up venture then check this out.


DEADLINE:  September 23, 2012


They are  looking for artists and social enterprise projects that:
* Can fill (and vacate) an empty space quickly and easily
* Will add value to the street and the community

If you have an idea for a creative enterprise that could be placed temporarily in an empty store, this is an opportunity for you.  In 200 words or less, write to the DECA about your enterprise or artist venture.

Statements of intent are being accepted NOW for placements in October.  What would YOU do with one free month on the Danforth?

Send your proposals and/or questions to: info@DanforthEastCommunityAssociation.com

Fringe New Play Contest

2013 Fringe New Play Contest

Applications for the 2013 Fringe New Play Contest are now open!

Remember Kim’s Convenience? Remember Help Yourself? These Fringe shows were brought into the spotlight by the Fringe New Play Contest, sponsored by Exclamation Foundation and macIDeas. If you’re a playwright and want to be a household name, the Fringe New Play Contest is the best way to fast-track that success. Even better – this year is Fringe’s 25th Anniversary, so the media attention will be bigger and bolder than ever!

Details are available on the Fringe website.

 First Place Winner will receive the following:

1. A free spot in the 2013 Toronto Fringe Festival.

2. A cash prize of $1250 courtesy of Exclamation Foundation Inc. and macIDeas.

3. Production consultation courtesy of Exclamation Foundation and macIDeas.

 Applications close on Friday October 26th at 5pm, or when 80 applications are received.

Contact    416-966-1062 x 3  
or creation@fringetoronto.com for more information.

This is a great opportunity for a young playwright and we strongly encourage you to enter your work.  Even if it isn't finished.  The Fringe is a development vehicle and a great way to workshop and continue developing your play.

Theatre 20: Artist Led, story-driven.

Check out this video Theatre 20 published to YouTube yesterday.  It is great to see Canadian grown musical theatre with this kind of star power and panache, back in Toronto.

It's Tonight Opera Fans.

The young artists of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio take on the lead roles in
their own performance of George Frideric Handel’s Semele tonight, May 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.  This special performance is a valuable and exciting step in developing the next generation of Canadian opera stars as they take to the main-stage in this “scenically
stunning” (New York Times) production by famed Chinese visual and performance artist Zhang Huan.  All tickets are accessibly priced at only $22 or $55.

Under the direction of the same artistic team as the main stage cast, including conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini, director and set designer Zhang Huan and costume designer Han Feng, the artists of the
Ensemble Studio perform Semele with the full COC Orchestra and Chorus. Zhang’s Semele draws on parallels between Greco-Roman mythology and Chinese legends, as well as Buddhist concepts of karma and reincarnation, to create a true interaction of Eastern and Western cultures. The production’s centerpiece is a 450-year-old Ming Dynasty ancestral temple salvaged by Zhang from a small town in China, and used to tell this operatic tale of a love affair between the god Jupiter and the mortal princess Semele.

The title role of the flighty, narcissistic and naïve Semele is shared by two rising young sopranos: Mireille Asselin and Ambur Braid. (We've had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Braid at OperaNation, and can say firsthand that she is fantastic.) Commanding the stage as Jupiter is tenor Christopher Enns, and mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb brings her vivacity and passion to the roles of Jupiter’s jealous wife, Juno, and Semele’s sister, Ino.  Cast as Juno’s messenger, Iris, is soprano Jacqueline Woodley.  Bass-baritone Philippe Slydemonstrates his dramatic and musical versatility in the roles of Cadmus, Semele’s father, and Somnus, the god of sleep. Rounding out the cast is guest artist Ryan Belongie, who sings Semele’s jilted suitor, Athamas.

Preview: The Shipment

Award-winning Young Jean Lee’s Theatre Company (U.S.) comes to Harbourfront Centre with THE SHIPMENT, as part of World Stage from May 9-12, 2012 at the Enwave Theatre. Young Jean Lee, a rising star of American theatre, dissects what it means to be black in America in this hilarious and shocking play.

“Ingenious . . . radical.” - New Yorker

“A fiendishly funny piece of neominstrelsy.” – Time Out New York

Brazenly theatrical and transcendentally lyrical, THE SHIPMENT starts with a stand up comedy act and moves from the urban dreams of would-be rappers to the sitcom realism of yuppie domesticity, proving that nothing is ever as it seems. With an ending guaranteed to leave jaws hanging, this is contemporary theatre at its biggest, boldest and most daring.

Young Jean Lee, a Korean-American playwright raises questions about race in an entertaining and unique way.  Referred to as “the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation” by New York Times, Lee has a unique approach to playwriting: she starts a play by asking herself, “What’s the last play in the world I would ever want to write?” THE SHIPMENT stars a cast of five black actors, who developed this provocative play in collaboration with Lee.

The playwright was also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for THE SHIPMENT in 2010 and recently named as one of the inaugural Doris Duke Artists. Young Jean Lee is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, and was named by American Theatre magazine as one of the 25 artists who will shape the American theatre over the next 25 years.

Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company is an Obie Award-winning New York-based company that has creates and produces performances written and directed by Lee in collaboration with company members from diverse backgrounds, since 2003. Their work challenges audiences to think, rather than reaffirm their pre-existing beliefs. Lee has written and directed nine shows in New York with Young Jean Lee's Theater Company and toured her work to over twenty cities around the world.  The company’s most recent work is the hugely successful THE UNTITLED FEMINIST SHOW, which The New Yorker described as, “one of the more moving and imaginative works I have ever seen on the American stage.”

Performance details:

Wednesday, May 9, 2012: 8pm
Thursday, May 10, 2012: 8pm
Friday, May 11, 2012: 8pm
Saturday, May 12, 2012: 8pm

Enwave Theatre, 231 Queens Quay West, Toronto

Performance is 90 minutes with no intermission.
THE SHIPMENT contains strong language and content some may find offensive.
Click here for ticket info or call 416.973.4000.

Preview: Paper Laced with Gold

Harbourfront Centre’s performing arts residency programme, HATCH 2012, continues with Paper Laced With Gold on Saturday, April 28 at 8 pm in the Studio Theatre. Paper Laced Productions, the creative team behind the Rat King Rock Opera, unite in the creation of a new musical. Paper Laced With Gold features writer/co-director Maggie MacDonald and producer/co-director Stephanie Markowitz, with music composed and performed by Stevie Jackson of Belle and Sebastian.

Paper Laced with Gold is a new musical about two of these lost characters, living on the banks of the once thriving St. Lawrence Seaway. For 10 years, Betty has been waiting tables at a truck stop, day-dreaming her life away. One night, Kevin, a young thug with a familiar face, tries to steal her car. While awaiting the police, Kevin recognizes Betty as his old babysitter, and she recognizes him as a frightened, closeted teen. Slowly they reveal their mutual recognition, and Kevin tells the story of what brought him to the truck stop. Paper Laced with Gold is a folk-rock musical that pays tribute to the storytelling style of forgotten dramas of the silver screen, and the golden sound of the AM radio waves that drew Glenn Gould to the North Shore of Lake Superior, in “The Search for Petula Clark.”

Paper Laced Productions is writer/co-director Maggie MacDonald and producer/co-director Stephanie Markowitz. They focus on themes of gender, physical difference, class, and environmental issues, pursuing social justice through art that communicates passionately, and without irony. Their choice to work with artists from a mix of disciplines as performers is one of the ways they achieve a raw and innocent performance style that minimizes the feeling of separation between audience and performer.

Maggie MacDonald is a novelist (Kill the Robot), musician (Betty Burke, The Hidden Cameras, Barcelona Pavilion, Republic of Safety) and environmental campaigner. MacDonald grew up along the banks of the mighty St. Lawrence River, a stone’s throw from the now defunct Domtar paper mill.

Stephanie Markowitz is a filmmaker, theatre artist, producer and musician (The Phonemes, Vag Halen). She recently produced a series of ten short films titled Little Films About Big Moments. Stephanie has produced a number of other short films and is currently developing a film adaptation of Zoe Whittall’s novel Bottle Rocket Hearts.

The original music for the show is performed by Scottish guitarist and songwriter Stevie Jackson, acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa Bozikovic (named one of the CBC’s “10 Artists to Watch” in 2010). The show features a cast that includes members of The Organ (Katie Ritchie), The Bicycles (Drew Smith), and all-lesbian, all-classic rock, cover band Vag Halen (Vanessa Dunn, Ritchie).  Installation artist Bojana Stancic makes her musical theatre debut as the owner of the truck stop, and performance artist Liz Peterson (Express Yourself) plays Betty, a waitress from Cornwall who stopped for coffee, and stayed for ten years. Amy Siegal is stage managing the production, and performer Stancic doubles as set designer.

For ticket information click here.

Preview: The Sheets, The...

HATCH 2012 presents THE SHEETS, THE… by Salvatore Antonio.  An Inaugural new work by The Empty Whole Group

The Empty Whole Group, a new multi-disciplinary theatre company in Toronto, launches on April 21st, 2012 at 8pm, with their first project, THE SHEETS, THE ..., as a part of Harbourfront Centre’s HATCH 2012.

THE SHEETS, THE... is written and directed by Governor General Award-nominated Salvatore Antonio. As part of the HATCH programme’s mandate of highlighting original, exciting and fresh voices in creation, Antonio offers a one-night-only experience of a new and challenging multi-disciplinary work-in-progress, that explores the expression (or lack thereof) of intimacy in all its modern day banality, disconnectedness, and solitude. Set in a hotel room, and centered around the role of the bed as witness, THE SHEETS, THE… unfolds as a revealing and unsparing foray into the depths of the physical and psychological core of the human need for emotional connection, sexual release, and simple tactile contact.

Salvatore Antonio, an established actor (Léo, Hosanna, Refugee Hotel) and writer (In Gabriel’s Kitchen, for which he was named a G.G Finalist 2007), has brought together a group of progressive performers and collaborators—both established and emerging—to breathe life into this creation that flirts with the boundaries of conventional theatre, performance art, dance and visual art. Artists include Aviva Armour-Ostroff, Greg Gale, Thomas Olajide, Jason Jazrawy, William Christopher Ellis, David Christo, Zion Forrest Lee, Amy Lee Lavoie (assistant director and dramaturge) and multi-award-winning Beth Kates (designer) have joined forces to build this charged and challenging piece.

THE SHEETS, THE... marks the first production from The Empty Whole Group. Under the artistic directorship of Antonio, The Empty Whole Group gathers like-minded artists to build around a central theme for each future production. The Empty Whole Group’s mandate is to produce  original performances that remain vital, while blurring the lines of what is considered theatre, dance, music or visual art.

HATCH 2012 runs from April 14 – May 5, 2012. Patrons can purchase a HATCH pass (includes tickets to all four productions) for $40, individual tickets for $15, or students/seniors/arts professionals $12. Visit the website here or call the box office at 416-973-4000 for more information.  Following each HATCH presentation, there is a Q&A, where the audience can engage with presenting artists.

ABOUT HATCH
Now in its ninth year, HATCH is a key initiative in Harbourfront Centre’s mission to develop local artists and their unique practices. HATCH mentorship provides resources and professional assistance to contemporary artists looking to explore a new element of their practice. By giving the space and time for this to happen, Harbourfront Centre hopes to develop and grow the best new work coming out of Toronto. This season’s guest curator is Toronto-based performance artist, Jess Dobkin.


HATCH has produced many projects which have gone on to presentations around the world and have garnered awards and professional accolades, including Hannah Moscovitch’s The Russian Play and Aluna Theatre’s Nohayquiensepa.

Acting Up Stage announces 2012/13 Season

Fresh on the heels of a stunningly successful year, Acting Up Stage is thrilled to announce their ninth season featuring two Mainstage productions, the Toronto premiere of a West Coast hit, a Canadian commission, a new performance venue, a prize for emerging artists, and 45 new young-artists in-training.

All of the programs in 2012-2013 explore 'connections': making connections in an isolating online world; losing and rebuilding connections with those we love most; celebrating connections between long-standing collaborators; fostering connections between young artists.

Musical Productions:

Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata
By Veda Hille and Bill Richardson
Directed by Amiel Gladstone

A hilarious and surprisingly poignant song cycle that sets actual Craigslist ads to music.
February 2-March 3, 2013
Factory Studio Theatre
Co-produced with Factory Theatre

Falsettos
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by William Finn and James Lapine
Directed by Robert McQueen, Music Directed by Reza Jacobs, Choreographed by Tim French

The first major Toronto revival of this Tony Award-winning masterpiece in 18 years, presented in the city's newest arts & cultural centre!
April 23-May 12, 2013
Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre
Produced in association with Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company

Tapestries: The Music of Carole King and James Taylor
Music Direction, Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Reza Jacobs
Directed and Dramaturged by Elenna Mosoff

Some of Canada's finest musical theatre artists re-conceive this iconic music in an astonishing evening that blurs the lines of folk, cabaret and musical theatre.
November 17-18, 2012
Jane Mallet Theatre



Education & Outreach:

The Syd & Shirley Banks Prize for Emerging Musical Theatre Artists

An inaugural prize that gives two emerging musical theatre artists the opportunity to advance their careers through financial assistance, mentorship and increased exposure.

One Song Glory

The seventh year of our musical theatre training program, nurturing 45 emerging artists aged 13-19; the only local program of its kind, One Song Glory is free of charge for all.

November 10-December 2, 2012.


New Musical Development:

Alexandria
Book and lyrics by Andrew Kushnir
Music by Reza Jacobs
Co-Commissioned by Acting Up Stage Company and The Belfry Theatre

Our first musical commission will receive a reading in Summer 2012 and a workshop in Fall 2012 in preparation for a full production in a future season.

NoteWorthy Phase 1

A new round of NoteWorthy begins in June 2013 with six established composers and playwrights paired in different combinations to explore musical collaborations.

New Musical Development:

Alexandria

Book and lyrics by Andrew Kushnir

Music by Reza Jacobs

Co-Commissioned by Acting Up Stage Company and The Belfry Theatre

Our first musical commission will receive a reading in Summer 2012 and a workshop in Fall 2012 in preparation for a full production in a future season.

NoteWorthy Phase 1

A new round of NoteWorthy begins in June 2013 with six established composers and playwrights paired in different combinations to explore musical collaborations.

SummerWorks News: S.L.I.P Applications Available Now

For the fourth year SummerWorks is offering aspiring Arts Managers the opportunity to participate in their Leadership Intensive Program (S.L.I.P.)  This two week intensive is for emerging arts professionals with a specific focus on business and management.  The S.L.I.P program is designed to coincide with the SummerWorks Festival and will take place this summer from August 9-19th.

Applications for S.L.I.P are available on the SummerWorks website here.

If you have ever dreamed of producing or managing in the performing arts this is a unique chance to explore the world of theatre arts business, in a hands-on and dynamic environment.  Past points of focus have included: Professional Etiquette, Marketing, Publicity, Grant Writing, Fundraising, Touring Logistics, Financial Planning, Artistic Directing and How to Do Everything at Once.


There are some requirements for applicants which can be found by downloading the pdf. application at the above link.  There is also a $25.00 application fee.  The deadline for applications is April 6th.

Preview: Musicals That Fly: Amelia

Up-and-coming, Toronto-based Theatre 20 is thrilled to present, in concert, Musicals That Fly: Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly. This is the story of Amelia Earhart, her meteoric rise to fame, and her mysterious disappearance while attempting a solo World flight. Amelia's story has fascinated playwrights and storytellers for generations.

The production stars Theatre 20 founding artist Eliza-Jane Scott. The story-driven Canadian musical is written by John Gray of Billy Bishop Goes to War fame. This concert is the heart of Theatre 20's Musicals That Fly series.

Amelia: The Girl Who Wanted to Fly is directed is by Sarah Phillips, with Musical Direction by our friend Michael Barber. For more information on tickets click the header. And to learn more about the show visit the P.E.I county website, Festival Players.

We will be in attendance on Monday, October 3rd, for the only scheduled performance of Amelia: The Girl Who Wanted to Fly. The show starts at 8pm at the Panasonic Theatre. You can also purchase tickets here. Or by calling 416.872.1212, and in person at the Mirvish Box Office.

Preview: What's on at Factory

On now until September 25th, at the Factory Theatre, is MacHomer, starring creator Rick Miller. Billed as a one man show featuring over 50 voices, from Shakespeare to The Simpsons. MacHomer has run for 14 years and been seen in over 150 cities, worldwide. This show gets audiences laughing out loud at Rick's spot on impressions. Don't miss this imaginatively staged comedic version of the famous tragedy, MacBeth.

MacHomer

starring: Rick Miller

direction by: Sean Lynch

sets, lighting and costume: Beth Kates

sound design: Rick Miller

at Factory till September 25th

click here for ticket info.

Rick Miller can also be seen in this seasons' Bigger Than Jesus and Hardsell

call 416.504.9971 to find out how you can subscribe to all three Rick Miller productions.

Starting next week at Factory is independent Artists Repertory Theatre, (iART)'s production of His Greatness. This is iART's inaugural production, and a Toronto premiere for His Greatness. Daniel MacIvor's award winning play, about a potentially true story centres around the great American playwright Tennessee Williams.

His Greatness is directed by: Edward Roy

starring: Richard Donat as the Playwright, Daniel MacIvor as the Assistant and Greg Gale as the Young Man

His Greatness runs at the Factory's Studio Theatre from September 20th - Oct 23rd.

Click here for specific ticket information.

I Move Forward

Join EAP, on October 25th, in supporting a great cause and local talent Marc Kimelman. I Move Forward is a fundraiser to support artists affected by cancer, working in part with the Actors' Fund of Canada. Please click the header for more information and be sure to get your tickets for the event early. With local talents like Sara Farb, Sharron Matthews, and Jamie McKnight on the line-up it is sure to be a great night of performances. And be sure to check the blog for regular updates about this one time event, you don't want to miss.

Our Friends at New York Theatre Barn Are At it Again

Joe Barros is one of the most amazing producers that EAP knows. He's the artistic brain behind NYTB in New York. When I was last in town he filled me on a few of his upcoming projects. One of which is playing this Monday, April 6, at the Julia Miles Theater. Hey You Know What Movie Would Make a Good Musical? I am sure you can imagine, but it is about a pair of playwrights who can't get any original work published, so they begin writing musical versions of popular movies. Talk about art imitating life, imitating art, you get the picture. The musical is a campy combination of Jerry Maguire, Scream and Twister. I also want to shout out Jason Michael Snow, who wrote the music. He is also featured in the clip below from Hey You Know... I was fortunate to get to work with him in Wood at the Manhattan Theatre Club last summer. I knew he was a super talented singer and genuine actor but I had no idea he could write such great music. Check out Twister below, from Hey You Know What Movie Would Make a Good Musical?



And also from Twister in Hey You Know...



Celina Carvajal and Kate Weatherhead, who play Jo and Melissa respectively, KILL IT in, "Blow Her Away." Kate was also in Wood, and I don't Celina personally but she was a member of the Young Peoples' Teen Musical Theatre Company in San Francisco, along with Joe and I.
click here to learn more about NYTB and the show

O here we go again - "Million-Dollar Quartet"

I always get pegged as a tough critic, a nay-sayer, what-have-you, but I cannot help but be a bit concerned about this trend in musical theatre. The regurgitated song cycle. A new musical is making news in the New York Times, as well as regionally, Washington and Chicago specifically, "Million Dollar Quartet." It is based on a historic, almost mythical jam session, between Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, with a score that includes "Blue Suede Shoes" among many others of the period's blue chip rock and role. The Times is expecting "Million-Dollar Quartet" to do very well, and likely make its way to Broadway, a speculation made all the more likely with a New York Times puff piece under its belt.
Here is what concerns me. On Wednesday Justin and I went to see Jersey Boys. Despite the SNOW and reoccurring sound problems we enjoyed ourselves. But after we left the theatre I said to Justin, "in all honesty that was not better than "The Drowsy Chaperone". You may recall that Jersey Boys beat out "The Drowsy Chaperone" to win the Tony for best new musical in 2006. I mean sure the music was great and I was totally into it. And I can see how with a stellar cast "Jersey Boys" would explode off the stage, but where is the creativity in stitching a musical together from period hits.
Now I love "Mamma Mia!" just as much as the next musical geek, but the difference is that ABBA wrote musicals, and most of their music was so theatrical in intention, that it seems more appropriate. I have also been guilty of suggesting, albeit late one night, that the Carpenters story and songs would make an awesome musical. So I don't want to rule it out completely, it just concerns me that creativity is dying.
Look at the most successful shows in New York in the last few years, many have been film-to-stage adaptions and revivals. And Toronto is even worse, the biggest hits here this year were "We Will Rock You" and "Dirty Dancing", both awful - in terms of writing, development, and even basic character evolution. And "Jersey Boys," which I overheard an usher say, will likely have a second extension beyond the February extension announced when the show opened. That is good for the city and for performers working here, since it will continue with a local cast. But why is it that people wont come out for multiple extensions of "The Drowsy Chaperone"? A show that was born here, and was brought back to Toronto with the original Man in the Chair, Bob Martin, in tow. It baffles me. Anyway we will have to wait and see about "Million-Dollar Quartet." (image from the New York Times.)

Underwear: A Space Musical

This is a video clip from a new musical out of New York, that EAP is hoping to bring as a reading and development project to Toronto in the fall of 09. It may seem like a long ways off people, but that's what it takes to get things done. Anyway, these kids in New York are workin' it. They are coming off a very successful run at NYCFringe, the review at nytheater.com is a rave, and TimeOut New York, was also very positive. I have posted the link for nytheatre.com's review below. I have also posted the Underwear: A Space Musical blog. I think it's great to utilize the blogs as a marketing tool, and Undearwear has done it right. The show looks great, and if all goes well it may eventually be seen by Toronto audiences. Now if only "The Theatre" would catch up with the internet, in terms of production speed, life would be grand. I would also like to shout out Adam Enright, who stars. I had the distinct pleasure of working with him on Wood in July and he is a real talent. http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/fnyc08_rev.php?0=S&1=544

In addition to Adam, the Fringe cast featured Cait Doyle, already a favorite of mine. She does an amazing cabaret show at the Duplex in the Village (NY not TO.) Look for her Hot Mess in Manhattan, her myspace page bellow is a good start. And damn if Gisela Adisa, who is playing Patricia Pezon, doesn't just melt my heart with her weave line in this interview with the cast. It comes out around the 1:20 mark. I have to meet that girl! Congrats to all, and be sure to check out the Underwear blog for more.

http://www.underwearaspacemusical.blogspot.com/ http://www.myspace.com/hotmessinmanhattan

LM

Emerging Artist

Ryan singing at the AIDS vigil. He is one of our favorite performers. Ryan is a jack of all trades: singer, actor, comedian and artist. We are hoping that if we are able to do a reading of Wood - the new musical by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis - come next spring that Ryan will be a part of it. I'm thinking he would make an awesome Chad, Twink or maybe even Herman.... I am also looking forward to hearing him sing I'm Out the show-stopping number from Wood.

Liza Mattimore