On Stage: Stratford, 2013

This year at Stratford was our most ambitious yet - eight plays in five days!  Instead of reviewing all of them for you, I decided to write my thoughts in Haiku.  Here they are, ranked in chronological viewing order.

Tommy
Rock!  Who! Lights! Action!
Wanted this to be much more.
Geriatric glow?

Fiddler on the Roof
So many songs I knew!
The cast was infectious good!
Singing in my sleep.

Romeo and Juliet
Not a favourite play.
Hype so low, shouldn’t disappoint.
Verily, it did.

Merchant of Venice
Mediocre set.
Portia stole the show; Shylock?
Creative treatment.

Othello
You know the story:
Jealous Moor, vile Iago.
Fab stage; coughing bitch.

Waiting for Godot
I don’t get modern.
It’s true.  Needed more tramps, wit.
Charmed by the actors.

Three Muskeeters
Swashbuckling good times!
Source text? Pulpy fiction goodness.
Very good looking gents.

Mary Stuart
Daydreaming hist’ry:
Fantastical clash of Queens.
Yes, she is my King!

I thought the theme of prejudice made for some interesting inter-play - especially when Tevye and Shylock are played by the same actor.  You can't help but feel like there's a conversation happening there.  And how Desdemona must sneer at Portia and her mean-spirited attitude. 

Next year, there's talk of madness.  I can' wait.

On Stage @ Stratford, 2012

Can't believe I didn't tell you about this poppets!  Sometime in May, between Quebec City and Boston, there was a quick trip to Stratford with AnCe.  After gorging on theatre last year, this year's offerings were fairly light, so we popped into the Bard's House for the day.

Up first: MacHomer.  Really, this was the only reason we even went out there this year.  A one-man performance where are all the characters are from the Simpsons?  Yes, I'm there.  Aye Carumba, it was amazing.  Rick Miller is pretty much genius in this and he was so lovely and generous with his time after the show.  He even thanked us for playing hookie from work.  

Second show was the Pirates of Penzance, which was okay.  If anything, it made me google the "I am the very model of a modern mahjor general" song - though that song is a lot longer than it needs to be. 

A quiet day.  Looking forward to 2013.

On Stage: Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Sometimes, the stars align just so.

Nish is only in town for ten days, straddling my Birthday Weekend(tm). Our favourite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast (…hello? he gives her a library!). The Beauty and the Beast Musical is playing in Toronto for just three weeks, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. And we (unknowingly) booked our hotel right next door. Sublime.

AnCe, Nish, Jadek and I caught the Saturday matinee, along with about two hundred little girls in princess dresses. That had to be the best washroom lineup ever. They sang all my favourite songs and there was a happy ending. I thought Gaston was particularly good. It was all excellent.

On Stage @ Stratford, 2011

The annual pilgrimage to the Bard's House happened this past weekend, with AnCe and her sister V.  Nish, who is currently in the exotic climes of Madagascar, had to give up her tickets, which was both sad and regrettably.  This would mark my first non-Nish Stratford.  As has become tradition, we checked into Ellerby's for the weekend.  Olive is her usual cheerfully spry self and gave us our key on the "Hope Diamond" because we were such pretty girls.  *giggles* she really is the cutest.  This would also mark my first non-sharing Stratford weekend, as I usually end up splitting a room with Nish.  So, I had a double all to myself (which meant one thing... NO PANTS!).  Unpacked, freshened up and ready to hit the town!  Weather was perfect: sunny, cool breeze, almost no humidity. 

Before we left, we made passing introductions with Ted, who was staying in the single at the end of the hall.  He would prove to be excellent fun at the breakfast table. 

Shades on, stepping out!

Friday lunch in Pazzo Pizzeria (a Soprano Pizza for me!)

Titus Andronicus in Tom Patterson: a little gore and guts in the afternoon!  Notably WillyShakes' bloodiest play, it did not disappoint in drama and death.  Near the end of the third act, there was a great gasping and wheezing sound near back left seats.  What I thought to be a rude patron snoring turned out to be someone having a seizure.  Yet another first: they stopped the play in the middle of a most dramatic scene!  Actors left, house lights came up, ambulance arrived.  Much hullabaloo ensued an patron is just fine.  All I could think was that there was no way the actors would be able to pick up where they left off - all that tension had been deflated... but no!  These guys aren't pros for nothing and we were right back into it.  All in all, much fun.

Friday dinner @ Boar's Head Pub (Mushroom and Steak Pot Pie)

On Stage: Hugh Jackman in One Night Only

I was first introduced to Hugh Jackman via X-Men as the deliciously sexy Wolverine.  Fast forward ten years, and I'm watching the same man put on a one-man Broadway show, singing and dancing and making us laugh and cry... what the hell?  Am I in some weird bizarro world?  (Wait, that's DC).  What can I say, Hugh Jackman is awesome!  Well, I kinda knew that already, from his turn as Oscar host, which I thought was so brilliant; they need to bring him back.  His limited engagement in Toronto ended July 17 (I caught the July 16 show) but I think he may make it to NYC and if he does?  Go see it.  It was entertaining as heck!

On Stage: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Do you know me? If you do, the you’ll know just how much I LOVE Dr. Seuss’ classic Christmas book.

Background: I didn’t read this book until I was in my teens. I did, however, see the inimitable Boris Karloff-helmed version on CBC in 1987 and I just fell in love. It has been a tradition ever since to watch it on Christmas Eve. I couldn’t think of better way to spend a cold December night than singing along to “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” with hundreds of other kids (and kids-at heart)! Thanks to Jadek, that happened this past Monday and boy was it fun!

Of course, the classic songs are in the play; but they also have some originals that can really get stuck in your head. (“Who likes Christmas? Whos like Christmas!”). The kids are just great in it, without being saccharine. The costumery and sets are perfect, evoking all the images associated with the book, without looking cheap or cardboard-like. Honestly, it was a great time. If it’s still around, it, too, might become a tradition!

On Stage: Wicked

As with the book, I expected a lot from this production.  I mean, it's just crying out for green glitz and glamour!  While the actors did a phenomenal job of singing - especially Glinda! - I found the staging rather boring (so many empty stage numbers) and the song lyrics a bit, well, underwhelming.  Andrew Lloyd Webber, this is not.  There are some songs I could sing again - okay, really only "Popular" - and I do think I may be reviving my very first Halloween costume.  Would I recommend this?  Not really - not when you can see Lion King or Chicago or something instead.

Regardless, it was a nice way to spend a Wednesday night with the ladies.  And I got a really neat sweatshirt out of it!