Blog Feed: The Way I See It

Last year I hit Toronto Fringe hardcore and I had one of the most rewarding, inspiring, riveting and fun experiences of my life. I’d like to impart on you some things I learned during my time being a Super Fringing Machine and some thi > read more

Derrick Chua's Toronto Fringe 2011 Recommendations!!

Published on 2011-07-02 01:12:00

The person who usually sees the most shows at the Toronto Fringe Festival is not a member of the media, a performer or a zealous theatre fan from the festival’s enthusiastic public; it is Derrick Chua, the President of the Fringe’s Board of Direc > read more

We Ain't Afraid of No Ghost!

Published on 2011-06-28 23:27:00

Dear Stephen Harper,I know that you think that you have the ultimate power in our country, that you are able to squash out dissent and anything else that you disagree with like a pesky ant crawling up the walls of 24 Sussex Drive. I know that you see > read more

DONATE TO TWISI

Published on 2011-06-13 10:03:00

Dear People of the World, In case you hadn’t noticed the recent (and slightly phallic looking) giant thermometer addition to TWISI, I wanted to let you know that I am in the midst of a fundraising campaign to benefit this website.The goal is $5,00 > read more

DONATE TO TWISI

Published on 2011-06-13 10:03:00

On the Verge is an Exuberant Adventure

Published on 2011-06-09 01:42:00

gina thornhill, jessica barry & lesley smith Once Upon a Theatre Collective’s mandate is a deep-rooted belief that play is the essence of theatre. Their newest production, Eric Overmyer’s On the Verge, playing until June 11th, 2011 at the Bus > read more

On the Verge is an Exuberant Adventure

Published on 2011-06-09 01:42:00

TWISI Presents: International NTOW DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-31 17:06:00

ron pederson, naomi snieckus, matt baramphoto by may truong My favourite thing about The National Theatre of the World is that their shows always seek to bring artists together in collaboration with one another. Ever since its inception almost three > read more

TWISI Presents: International NTOW DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-31 17:06:00

WeeTube FTW: OMG WTF ROTFL

Published on 2011-05-28 23:22:00

maiko bae yamamoto & james longI have said this before under different circumstances, but I firmly believe that YouTube video comments represent some of the worst of humanity. This is not compared to things, of course, like genocide, rape, tortur > read more

WeeTube FTW: OMG WTF ROTFL

Published on 2011-05-28 23:22:00

TWISI & The NTOW Present: BRAD FRASER DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-27 16:47:00

brad fraser Today I am attempting to gather my exhausted wits and to celebrate a wonderful playwright and a man that I deeply respect and admire, Mr. Brad Fraser, who has written two pages of a brand new play and the rest will be improvised live in 3 > read more

TWISI & The NTOW Present: BRAD FRASER DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-27 16:47:00

TWISI & The NTOW Present: HANNAH MOSCOVITCH DAY!!!!

Published on 2011-05-26 14:32:00

hannah moscovitch In preparation for the writing of this blog I just googled Hannah Moscovitch (and it was not my first time) and the first headline that caught my eye was one from The Star from October 2007 (!) that read, “Hannah Moscovitch is Alr > read more

TWISI & The NTOW Present: HANNAH MOSCOVITCH DAY!!!!

Published on 2011-05-26 14:32:00

... and stockings for the ladies: A Poignant Tour-de-Force

Published on 2011-05-26 12:27:00

brendan mcmurtry-howlett As Attila Clemann, playwright of The Gesamtkunstwerk Project’s (Montreal) ... and stockings for the ladies, now playing at Eastern Front Theatre’s Supernova Festival, points out in his programme notes, there have bee > read more

... and stockings for the ladies: A Poignant Tour-de-Force

Published on 2011-05-26 12:27:00

Sooooo... What About Heart?

Published on 2011-05-26 10:01:00

andrew chandler, amy reitsma, garry williams Two years ago I was blown away by DaPoPo Theatre’s original musical offering for the 2009 Fringe Festival, a last-minute song cycle So... What About Love written and performed, almost accidentally, by A > read more

Sooooo... What About Heart?

Published on 2011-05-26 10:01:00

The NTOW & TWISI Present: WOODY HARRELSON DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-26 08:40:00

woody harrelson What can I tell you about Woody Harrelson that you do not already know, and very likely know better than I do? Harrelson is a fascinating artist who has had a very successful career in all three mediums of the performing arts, on tele > read more

The NTOW & TWISI Present: WOODY HARRELSON DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-26 08:40:00

Dedicated to the Revolutions Makes Science Fun

Published on 2011-05-25 04:21:00

dedicated to the revolutions (photo from 2008 Rhubarb Festival) Small Wooden Shoe (Toronto)’s production of Dedicated to the Revolutions was inspired by a list of seven scientific revolutions, Guttenberg, Copernicus, Newton, Industrial, Darwin, Nuc > read more

Dedicated to the Revolutions Makes Science Fun

Published on 2011-05-25 04:21:00

TWISI & the NTOW Present: DANIEL MACIVOR DAY!!!

Published on 2011-05-25 03:15:00

daniel macivorWhen Naomi Snieckus was brainstorming ideas for which playwrights to ask to write two pages for The National Theatre of the World’s Script Tease Project, the first words out of my mouth were, “Daniel MacIvor!!” and so today, TW > read more

TWISI & NTOW Present: JUDITH THOMPSON DAY!

Published on 2011-05-24 15:44:00

judith thompson Today is International Judith Thompson Day, as the National Theatre of the World kick-starts their Script-Tease Project at the Theatre Passe Muraille tonight (Tuesday May 24th) at 8pm. Thompson is the first playwright who has written > read more

nggrfg: Bravery and Heart, Uniting Us One Audience At a Time

Published on 2011-05-23 17:56:00

berend mckenzie I observed something quite unusual in the lobby of Neptune’s Studio Theatre on Saturday night waiting for the commencement of Vancouver-based performer Berend McKenzie’s show at the Eastern Front Theatre’s Supernova Festival. It > read more

My Titanic: A Tragic Tale of Lobster and Ego From "Jenny Penny"

Published on 2011-05-23 14:02:00

jennifer overton There is a story, maybe it could even be considered a folktale, that has become legendary among the theatre community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. If I told you that this story centers on the Titanic, you may not be too surprised, as Hal > read more

Emile's Dream is a Sweet One

Published on 2011-05-23 13:49:00

emile benoit If someone asked me what made an “East Coast” play stand out from those written in the rest of Canada, I may respond, tongue firmly in cheek, that an “East Coast” play would need to have fiddlers, fish, some kind of strange accen > read more

Alana Johnston: Self Esteem Party

Published on 2011-05-21 20:24:00

alana johnston Before Rebecca Black was “gettin’ down on Friday” Toronto’s own (okay- technically Orangeville, but I claim her for Team Toronto) Alana Johnston, currently courting fame, fortune and glamour in Los Angeles, was “makin’ it w > read more

Shine A Light: Matthew Gray Gubler & Jason Alexander

Published on 2011-05-21 04:12:00

by matthew gray gubler/ jason alexander Yesterday I read an incredibly fascinating and moving article in The New Yorker written by American sitcom pioneer Roseanne Barr about her experience being launched from a working class stand-up comic to the st > read more

A Little Lemoine for Toronto

Published on 2011-05-19 15:46:00

stewart lemoinephoto by andrew macdonald-smith Aieeeeeee! Hold on to your britches, Toronto, tonight, at the Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley Street, Toronto) as part of the Canadian Stage Festival of New I > read more

Alabanza

Published on 2011-05-17 16:47:00

arthur laurents As you can probably imagine, my love affair with musical theatre began fast and furious. Beginning at twelve I embarked on a mission to know every single show ever written inside and out; but, without any chronology, my knowledge, un > read more

Soaps, Laughs and Fun(d)Raisers

Published on 2011-05-03 14:03:00

script tease project For a great many of us today has been difficult to stomach and we may be feeling especially demoralized, disheartened, hopeless and anxious for a pote > read more

Steve, It's Time To Leave

Published on 2011-05-02 20:48:00

stephen harperDear Canada,My dear fellow Canadians, I am sitting here at a table, adorned with the leftover accoutrements from St. Patrick’s Day, in Tantallon, Nova Scotia, in a house that my uncle designed and built with his bare hands. I grew up > read more

A Stage full of Top Girls and Some Lunasea

Published on 2011-04-29 22:40:00

top girls Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls was written in 1982, at a time when Great Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, had driven the country i > read more

Jeff Madden: On the Jersey Boys Down Under

Published on 2011-04-22 23:08:00

jeff maddenphoto by pierre gautreau Jeff Madden was well known within the Canadian theatre community and to Canadian theatre audiences for his eight consecutive seasons at the Shaw Festival before his Dora Award winning performance as Frankie Valli, > read more

When It Rains: A Play 2b Seen

Published on 2011-04-22 08:52:00

christian barry & anthony black 2b theatre’s newest play When it Rains, written and directed by the company’s co-Artistic Director Anthony Black, is all about projection; the projection of self and others, as well as the question of how we im > read more

The Debacle is Anything But

Published on 2011-04-22 06:12:00

sue leblanc-crawfordphoto by scott munn When I was an undergraduate student at Dalhousie University, Zuppa Circus Theatre, now known most often just as Zuppa Theatre, > read more

Guilty or Not Guilty: That is the Question***

Published on 2011-04-16 20:38:00

simon henderson and jeremy webb Bill Shakespeare stands onstage in chains. There is something rotten between the pages of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The illustrious characters that he has slaved mercilessly to bring to life have > read more

Alabanza

Published on 2011-04-07 03:29:00

wayne robson It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of another great, iconic Canadian actor, Wayne Robson, yesterday, April 5th, 2011. My Robson story is one I am slightly sheepish about, but I will tell it to you nevertheless. In Oct > read more

Alabanza

Published on 2011-04-06 08:10:00

When I was in grade eleven my best friend at the time, who was a year older than me, had the opportunity to play a background role in Neptune Theatre’s holiday production of Scrooge. Based on the Dickens novel A Christmas Carol, the show boasted of > read more

Theatre Meditation

Published on 2011-03-28 10:40:00

babar the elephant By Roberta Barker In his Poetics, written in the fourth century BC, Aristotle argues that one of the distinguishing characteristics of human beings is our love of imitation. From childhood, he observes, we love to watch skillful m > read more

World Theatre Day: A Question of Why

Published on 2011-03-27 18:20:00

julia lederer By Julia Lederer On the first day of Playwriting Class at Dalhousie University, fifteen of us (third and fourth year theatre students) sat around a big wooden conference table, and were asked to write down why we wanted to do theatr > read more

Stepping into the Unknown – Reflections on Courage in the Theatre

Published on 2011-03-27 12:25:00

photo by guillaume brisbois houet Written by Tara Hughes A friend once told me that she found comfort in the idea that solitude is the only natural human state. It is the state in which we come into the world, and it is the state in which we lea > read more

The ‘prov is in the Pudding

Published on 2011-03-27 09:19:00

jacob baniganby Jacob Banigan In the year 1680, the Hopi Tribe was living peacefully in the arid, rusty red landscape of the Southwest. One day as the elders were schooling the youth in the traditional rites and dances celebrating the rare appearance > read more

The Voice Next Door: I Say It's Wonderful

Published on 2011-03-25 06:28:00

marcus nance Toronto-based musical theatre artist Marcus Nance, who is currently gearing up to play Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar and appearing in Camelot at the Stratford Festival this Spring has recently released his debut album entitled The V > read more

Party Girl: Get It, Get It.

Published on 2011-03-25 04:41:00

sharron matthews Have you ever sat in the audience for the lustrous Sharron Matthew’s legendary Cabaret phenomenon Sharron’s Party and wished that you could take even just a little bit of the experience home with you? Have you felt that even afte > read more

Gabi Epstein Shows Off

Published on 2011-03-25 02:07:00

gabi epstein The name “Gabi Epstein” has become synonymous with the recent revitalization of Toronto’s Cabaret culture by the musical theatre youth of the city, young performers fresh from post secondary education and training, bursting with en > read more

Amanda LeBlanc; The Solution: To Fly.

Published on 2011-03-24 23:03:00

amanda leblanc Santa Claus left Toronto-based actor/singer/songwriter Amanda LeBlanc’s debut album Yours Truly in my mother’s stocking this past Christmas and it has yet to leave the stereo in her car three months later. Surely I inherited some o > read more

Theatre of Merritt in Nova Scotia

Published on 2011-03-21 22:07:00

halifax harbour In 1990 an unnamed Edmontonian actor told Canadian Theatre Review not to include The Citadel, the city’s regional theatre, in its issue on Prairie Theatre because “it was not even reasonable. It’s a roadhouse for American and Br > read more

The Middle Place of Humility and Hope

Published on 2011-02-23 05:34:00

akosua amo-ademphoto by aviva armour ostroff In 2007 Toronto-based actor and playwright Andrew Kushnir was approached by Project Humanity, an incorporated not for profit organization that raises awareness of social issues through the arts with a stro > read more

More Fine Girls!

Published on 2011-02-23 02:02:00

martha ross, leah cherniak, ann-marie macdonald In November 2009 I had the great fortune to attend a reading of Theatre Columbus’ newest play, More Fine Girls, which is currently in previews at the Tarragon Theatre, opening on March 1st, 2011 in th > read more

Musical Theatre at Soulpepper: Fantastick!

Published on 2011-02-23 01:07:00

krystin pellerin & jeff lillicophoto by cylla von tiedemann The quickest cure for the February blahs that I can think of is a sojourn down to Soulpepper Theatre to see Joseph Ziegler’s sweet and lovely production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt > read more

Oh Oleanna.

Published on 2011-02-22 19:45:00

diego matamoros & sarah wilsonphoto by bruce zinger There is a line in David Mamet’s play Oleanna (1992) in which the character of John, a University professor, tells his student that education is about provocation and that in stirring the emot > read more

Easy to Get Stuck On Vincent River Very Bloody Good

Published on 2011-02-16 11:52:00

kyra harper and matthew gormanphoto by scott gorman It is so often from the small independent theatres in this city where audiences are treated to arresting new work electrically performed and directed and that is certainly the case with Cart/Horse T > read more

St. Carmen of the Main: A Study on Form and Content

Published on 2011-02-11 13:26:00

jackie richardsonphoto by bruce zinger At the Opening Night gala for Canadian Stage’s current production of Saint Carmen of the Main director Peter Hinton spoke about how playwright Michel Tremblay originally wrote this play in 1976 in support of Q > read more

Christopher Plummer has Looks, Heart, Talent & Ego as BARRYMORE

Published on 2011-02-02 17:38:00

christopher plummer According to Christopher Plummer’s memoir In Spite of Myself, before Barrymore, his one man tour de force, now playing for a limited engagement at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, opened at the Stratford Festival of Canada in 1996, > read more

Thom Allison is Sailing Away

Published on 2011-02-01 21:51:00

thom allison I vividly remember the first time I met Thom Allison. It was September, 2007 and Acting Up Stage was having their annual Toronto Musical Theatre Stars Sing Songs from Legendary Pop Culture Phenomenons Evening of Song and so Thom Allison > read more

Daniela Vlaskalic On Secret Salons

Published on 2011-01-27 02:39:00

daniela vlaskalic Ever since I first saw her perform in Doubt at Canadian Stage in 2009, Daniela Vlaskalic has become one of my (many) favourite people to see onstage. She also happens to be delightful and smart and a prolific and talented playwright > read more

Boston Marriage: A Wilde Mamet Party to Pass the Time (You Vile Cow)

Published on 2011-01-27 02:01:00

rebecca northan, julie orton, daniela vlaskalicphoto by joel charlebois. I have a secret to share with you all. There is a secret play at a secret place which is presented by some of this country’s finest theatre actors, directed by one equally di > read more

Gina Wilkinson: I Can Feel Her Glimmer

Published on 2011-01-25 17:49:00

gina wilkinson As I said in my earlier article, I saw Gina Wilkinson speak at the intimate Soulpepper cabaret, Friday Night at the Young, just one time, just briefly, back in November 2010. Then, after it was over, I did what I so often do when I fee > read more

Theatre 20: I Dreamed a Dream

Published on 2011-01-24 05:58:00

Early on Thursday morning I sat in the Panasonic Theatre and watched one of my dreams come true. This was the official launch of Theatre 20, a “Toronto-based, artist-led theatre company formed to present story-driven musicals by developing Canadian > read more

Joseph Cast Tickles Stage West Audiences (White and) Pink (and Orange and Blue)

Published on 2011-01-24 02:19:00

liam tobin, as joseph, with his band of brothers(and his snazzy coat) Before theatre producers invented Jukebox musicals, the mega-musical was the Broadway phenomenon that used to make me cringe. Not necessarily each mega-musical individually, as som > read more

Out of the Ashes: The Mill Makes a Triumphant Return!

Published on 2011-01-19 05:22:00

ryan hollyman, frank cox-o'connell, eric goulem, maev beaty, michelle monteithphoto by chris gallow Last season I became utterly captivated by TheatreFront’s The Mill, a series of three plays, originally conceived by Daryl Cloran and Matthew MacFad > read more

Fool For Love: You'd Be a Fool to Miss It

Published on 2011-01-17 14:12:00

fool for love Sam Shepard’s rough and tumble play Fool For Love (1983) is the perfect match for Toronto’s Ezra's Atlantic Co-Op, a sort of guerrilla theatre company that produces gritty, intense and powerful productions in untraditional theatre s > read more

The Apology: A Sexy Philosophical Romp

Published on 2011-01-17 12:15:00

kaitlyn riordan, brendan mcmurtry-howlett, sascha cole and david beazely At the apex where theoretical and practical collide is The Apology, a seductive and wildly imaginative retelling of the early life of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein (1 > read more

Swan Song of Maria: (A Tragic Fairytale)

Published on 2011-01-16 22:19:00

There have always been three people in Joe’s marriage: him, his wife Jillian and the fantasy of Maria, a ballerina that he met and became enraptured with as a young man. Thus begins Swan Song of Maria, a fascinating mixture of ballet, Swan Lake, Ot > read more

Eating With Lola: A Satisfying Meal

Published on 2011-01-16 19:37:00

Sulong Theatre’s Eating With Lola, which played as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival, centers on a young woman, Grace, and her relationship with her sometimes cantankerous, sickly grandmother (or Lola in Filipino), Ruffina, for whom she acts > read more

Alabanza

Published on 2011-01-15 16:51:00

michael langham (from the guthrie theatre archives) Once again the Canadian theatre community has suffered a loss with the death of influential director Michael Langham, who passed away, succumbing to a lingering chest infection contracted before Chr > read more

Tom's A-Cold is Deliciously "Canadian"

Published on 2011-01-15 06:49:00

shane carty and matthew macfadzean It seems absurd to me now, but the truth is that before 2004 and the exceptional Dr. Roberta Barker’s Canadian Theatre History courses at Dalhousie University, the concept of a “Canadian play” had never really > read more

Full of Grace: The Grace Project: SICK

Published on 2011-01-15 05:31:00

the cast of sicksarah miller-garvin When I first moved to Toronto in September 2007 I was immediately overwhelmed and perpetually flabbergasted by how polished and professional every single theatrical event that I attended seemed. Then in 2008 I atte > read more

Fairy Tale Ending is Happily Ever After

Published on 2011-01-15 02:57:00

andrew moyes, jennifer walls, amanda leigh I was sixteen when the movie Shrek came out and not only did I loathe it, I was also immediately impassionate in my offence and moral outrage by what I felt to be an attack on childhood innocence, not to men > read more

At the Sans Hotel: Don't Go Without!

Published on 2011-01-13 10:17:00

nicola gunn In the study of literature we sometimes have to contend with the convention of an ‘unreliable narrator,’ who, as his or her unreliability is revealed to us, forces us to reconsider our point of view concerning the tale that he or she > read more

Duel of Ages is Sharp and Winning

Published on 2011-01-13 00:36:00

duel of ages Let’s be honest, Toronto, it’s snowy, it’s cold, it’s Wednesday night, we’re still nursing our post-Christmas hangovers, but, incredibly, for some reason, amid all Mother Nature’s very persuasive arguments that we should be i > read more

BIG NEWS: This is a Parade Not to Be Missed

Published on 2011-01-12 04:53:00

michael therriault and tracy michailidisphoto by john karastamatis In 1998 Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics) and Alfred Uhry (book) collaborated with celebrated Broadway director Harold Prince on Parade, a Tony Award winning musical based on the > read more

Assassins Will Blow You Away!

Published on 2011-01-11 04:55:00

janet porter and lisa hornerphoto by guntar kravis On the Ides of March Marcus Junius Brutus assassinated the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar thus securing an enduring legacy for himself that still immortalizes his name over two thousand years later. In > read more

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