Monthly Archives: February 2011

SOULPEPPER: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

The near-to-first production I saw of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the legendary Peter Brook mounting of forty years ago that placed a smugly grand Alan Howard as Oberon on a trapeze. At the end, the cast burst into the … Continue reading

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DANCAP’S SOUTH PACIFIC AT TORONTO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

South Pacific’s lead characters, ensign Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque, originate conspicuously from two distinct worlds. She is from Little Rock and exudes an aura of everyday small town folk. She is twangy, good-willed, innocent in the ways of … Continue reading

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SAINT CARMEN OF THE MAIN AT CANADIAN STAGE

The slowly ascending curtain reveals 70s-ish high heels, then some leg, then high hemlines, then fourteen garishly attired members of the Chorus, some of indeterminate gender. These are whores and cross-dressers of every sexual persona, a loud bunch of aggressively … Continue reading

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OPERA HAMILTON POPERA

Opera Hamilton’s last Popera at Hamilton Place, before the company’s move to the more intimate and less pricey Dofasco Centre for the Arts for 2011-2012, was a richly satisfying evening. With David Speers conducting, the orchestra began the overture to … Continue reading

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SOULPEPPER: DAVID MAMET’S OLEANNA

“It’s just a course,” says Prof John. He speaks from the world of academic concept where he, on the verge of tenure, is secure, assertive, intellectually confident, professorally efficient, and a man of patronizing empathy. Yes, he is annoying. But … Continue reading

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TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

First Movement: Press conference regarding the 2011-2012 Season Conductor Peter Oundjian is warmly chatty, richly anecdotal , ingratiating, and gently passionate about music and all else it seems. He tells us he has put together “a bold season” for 2011-12, … Continue reading

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