At The Stanley until April 13, 2014
The ‘wow’ factor in Helen Lawrence is huge. So hyped has this show been no one believed it could live up to expectations. But from a technical and aesthetic perspective, it really does.
Lisa Ryder as Helen Lawrence. Credit: David Cooper
At the Performing Arts Lodge Theatre (PAL) until March 30
Lowest Common Denominator reminded me that I’m an older, heterosexual female. Nothing wrong with that; it’s just that lust at first sight is hard to wrap my head around.
Dallas Sauer as Trevor in Lowest Common Denominator. Credit: Mark Halliday
At The Cultch until March 22, 2014
Jennifer Lines was still misty-eyed – and with good reason – when the cast of Whose Life Is It Anyway? took its bows. I was choked up, too. And for good reason.
Jennifer Lines, Bob Frazer and Patti Allan in Whose Life Is It Anyway? Credit: Tim Matheson
At Pacific Theatre until March 29, 2014
Those who know Ron Reed, artistic director of Pacific Theatre, will be astonished at how he has transformed himself for his role in The Seafarer. In it, his hard drinking Irish character Richard punctuates almost everything he says with the f-word and he’s so filthy, so unwashed, you’d swear you can smell what undoubtedly are Richard’s frequently pissed-in trousers.
Ron Reed as Richard in The Seafarer. Credit: Emily Cooper
At York Theatre until March 30, 2014
This is a glorious production of a very strange musical. It’s certainly not Rodgers and Hammerstein; it’s not even Stephen Sondheim whose Sweeney Todd is comically dark. Floyd Collins is just dark.
Daren Herbert as Floyd Collins. Credit: David Cooper
At Jericho Arts Centre until March 14, 2014
Adapted from John Gay’s 1728 ‘ballad opera’ by David Newham, with music composed by Daniel Deorksen, this Seven Tyrants Theatre presentation of Beggar’s Opera is, as the opening number claims, like nothing you’ve ever seen.
Martha Ansfield-Scrase as Jenny Diver in Beggar’s Opera. Credit: David Newham
No more performances
I love Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg’s mind; it goes into such dark and funny corners. Like her supple dancer’s body, it turns on itself, wickedly undercutting what she has just created.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg in Porno Death Cult. Credit: Clancy Dennehy
At the Firehall Arts Centre. No more performances
Alon Nashman, co-creator (with Paul Thompson) of Hirsch, kicked off his solo performance by coming down the back stairs, through the audience to the stage, announcing, “I am your actor for the evening”.
Alon Nashman as Hirsch. Credit: Cylla von Tiedermann
No more performances
There’s nothing tiny about Tiny Music: A Sound Design Musical. There are songs but it’s not really a musical. There are musicians – piano, accordion, clarinet, violin, drums, bass and ‘live electronics’ – but it’s not a concert. There’s a story, a heartbreaking/heartwarming one, but Tiny Music is much more than a play.
At Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) until March 2, 2014
Creator/director Kendra Fanconi tells us in her director’s notes, “Nothing But Sky is based on a true story. That is, the life story of Joe Shuster, the artist, Jerry Siegel, the writer, and Joanne Kovacs, the original model for Lois Lane, and their creation: Superman.” And who knew it was a nerdish, Jewish, bespectacled Canadian who first drew Superman?
Amitai Marmorstein and Robert Salvador in Nothing But Sky. Credit: M. Sider