I left this musical theatre offering from Theatre Howl, Saskatoon, SK, with mixed feelings. [WARNING SPOILER: I won’t give away any details specifically, except to say that there are spoilers to give away].
Matchstick is the coming-of-age love story between a girl from an undesirable country and boy from the land of freedom and opportunity. The story is told with music, drama and a simple set made of projected ink drawings, instruments, photos and tin cans. The music is all the best parts of Canadian singer-songwriter folk. The melodies were lovely and the lyrics poetic...
This musical took Broadway by storm about 10 years ago - and it’s still a damn funny show. It has puppets! Naked puppets! Sex with naked puppets!
And even better, Avenue Q aims to make you think. Featuring puppets of all colours, races and orientation, the show mercilessly mocks our age of political correctness with dazzling musical numbers such as “If You Were Gay”, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet Is For Porn.” Though Avenue Q is not authorized or approved by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop, puppets such as porn-addicted Trekkie Monster and...
As Director Bill Millerd rightly states in the opening sentence to his written message contained in the program for DREAMGIRLS, “musicals are a special breed, and they have their ardent fans and equal ardent detractors.” Certainly detractors were thin on the ground at the opening on Wednesday evening of DREAMGIRLS, the final show of the season at the Stanley Industrial Alliance stage. Instead, “ardent fans” practically tore the place apart with some of the most robust cheering I have heard - anywhere - in many years of attending and appearing in productions.
Drawing from a number popular dystopian themes, Broken Sex Doll is a slick, silly, scifi satire. Kinda like if Ray Bradbury had written Grease.
The story revolves around, as you can imagine, a “broken” sex doll but there are a number of twists and turns in the plot to keep you on your toes. The musical numbers are strong, the set is fabulous, and the acting is fun and fearless. Without giving too much away I’d like to say that my favourite parts were the very first action sequence, the umbrella montage and some very expressive leg acting.
Holmes and Watson Save the Empire is a musical farce produced by First Impressions Theatre running in North Vancouver until March 16th. The writers Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner flew in from Oregon to direct the Canadian premiere of their script.
As advertised this is a genre piece, not for seriously intellectual Sherlock Holmes fans. The script is peppered with contemporary word play and the characters indulge in much pomp and silliness. The musical accompaniment is similarly tongue-in-cheek and for the most part the plot progresses with a light-hearted, energetic pace that will keep your feet tapping. The script was fun, but some of the refrains and dialogue became...
Damon Calderwood , Gordon Roberts in Holmes & Watson, photographer Ryan Crocker
Coming soon to a theatre near you - a new Canadian musical about six teenagers killed in a roller coaster tragedy in small-town Saskatchewan! Atomic Vaudeville brings a revamped version of Ride The Cyclone to the Arts Club Granville Island Stage under the auspices of the PuSh Festival. It's the second stop on a major Western Canadian tour from Calgary to Vancouver to Edmonton to Winnipeg to Saskatoon to Nanaimo. Not too shabby for a recent group of mostly UVIC grads led by Jacob Richmond (writer/director/music/lyrics), Britt Small (director), Brooke Maxwell (music/lyrics/music director) and Treena Stubel (choreography/staging).
Created by a group of Grade 10 students from Carson Graham Secondary in North Vancouver, RIOT explores what happened on June 15, 2011, just before and after game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. The students are remounting an award-winning show in the first week of school led by teacher Rob Walker.
Taking inspiration from the hit television show GLEE, the Grade 10 students created a play about what happened in their own community. It's exciting to see work by a large group of students (26 in the cast, 2 in the band and likely another 3-4 on the tech...
There is a wall separating our heroine from the rest of the world, an invisible wall that she comes up against with a loud bang if ever she tries to connect with others. She is different. “The loner, the lone wolf, The Oddity.” At the start of Tiffany Anderson’s original play Oddity, we are introduced to a girl of five with lots of energy and a wonderful imagination. She talks to herself. She talks to us. She talks to Aliens. She’s got a camera in her head and she’s gonna show the aliens what the world looks like.
Half an hour before the show started, the Firehall was already packed with an upbeat vibe. Everybody was ready to start this year's Vancouver Fringe Festival with a high note. Did this show deliver tonight?...yes it did!
Comedy, Musical Theatre, Queer, New Work- http://www.riverviewhighthemusical.com
