In which our intrepid reporter must solve the mystery of a magician-turned-physic, dodge the distractions of dames and meet his deadline.
By Dana Lacey
No, the play doesn't star Cary Grant. But it could have.
It was a sticky day, the kind that makes you long for winter’s cruel slap. Last thing i wanted to do was sit in a theatre with a bunch of bodyheat. Imagine my surprise when the show started with a cool, breezy jazz that calmed the senses while a fedora-wearing shadow clacked away on a typewriter. The shadow would soon emerge from behind the screen, now a zoot suit-clad investigative reporter-turned-entertainment columnist named Danny Bell. He’s about to watch his deadline whiz past him and his editor is breathing down his neck. Continue reading The Big Lie (Audeamus) – 2010 Toronto Fringe Review→
Fat animator becomes skinny performer – a story of what happens in between playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival
Songs about Orangeville, life lessons learned at Sheridan College, an ode to a yet-unconceived ugly baby. These are just a few gems from the 2010 Fringe Festival’s Amy Zuch’s Key to Key. On the surface, it’s about a fat animator who becomes a skinny performer. But it’s more than that – it’s a personal tale (starring the writer herself) that portrays her younger, lumpier and obsessive-compulsive self as she takes the steps toward a healthier self and a career that doesn’t revolve around creating unrealistic Disney princesses. Continue reading Amy Zuch's Key to Key (Combustive Theatre) – 2010 Toronto Fringe Review→
Frankenstein on stage as Toronto’s Canadian Stage’s last 2009-2010 show in the Bluma
You all know the story of Frankenstein. What if Dr. Seuss wrote it?
I’m one of those people who can’t stand watching movie trailers for fear of ruining the experience. Same goes with plays: when I read that Frankenstein was lurching into town, I booked my ticket and avidly avoided all other information about the play. This time, it was especially important: the story of a mad genius who creates life has been told countless times in countless ways, and I liked that there’d still be an element of surprise, even if the story was one I’d heard before. It was worth the wait.
My roommates and friends are artists, my neighbours run an art gallery, and I’m around art a lot. But me, well, I’m not an artist, or even a dabbler–call me an appreciative outsider. So when I read the sell lines for The Canadian Stage Company’s production of Art–something about defining “art”–I almost passed on the play. Yet another exploration of the shit-or-art debate? No thanks.
But in the end, I was lured by star power (albeit of the dimly-lit-Canadian variety) of Colin Mochrie, who stars as art connoisseur Serge. In my youth, I spent many an afternoon enjoying the comedian’s Whose Line antics, and I felt like I owed him one.
