All posts by Jenna Rocca

Press Release: Assassins (BirdLand Theatre)

BirdLand Theatre with Talk Is Free Theatre Presents:

ASSASSINS
Last years critically acclaimed and award winning production returns to Toronto

Birdland Theatre with Talk Is Free Theatre is pleased to announce Sondheim’s ASSASSINS, the winner of the 2010 Dora Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical, returns to The Theatre Centre from January 6th – 23rd, 2011. Tickets are now on sale through Arts Box Office by phone at 416-504-7529 or online at www.artsboxoffice.ca.

“This production of Assassins is a sharp-edged treat from start to finish. Miss it at your peril.”
– John Terauds, The Toronto Star

Part vaudeville extravaganza, part exposé, and wholly electrifying, Assassins is a dark and controversial Tony Award-winning musical about the American dream gone awry. This wickedly comic one-act historical “revusical” lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated, or tried to assassinate, various presidents of the United States. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Sondheim and Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish rollercoaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and in an intense final scene inspire each other to harrowing acts all in the name of the American Dream.

Continue reading Press Release: Assassins (BirdLand Theatre) →

Review: Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge (The Electric Company Theatre)

by Jenna Rocca

The fact that Studies in Motion has a “Creators’ Note” rather than a “Director’s note” tells you a lot about the production.  The Canadian Stage Company presents the Electric Company Theatre mashup of events and notions of Eadweard Muybridge’s life as a part of their current season.

For those of you aren’t familiar with the series of photos of galloping horses, Muybridge invented a method of photography that took a series of photos as a motion transpired. This zoopraxiscope is known as an early manifestation of what were to become motion picture cameras.

He, however, saw it as an opportunity to catalogue all possible forms of motion from the  trivial (man walking) to the profound (woman with child). Continue reading Review: Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge (The Electric Company Theatre) →

Review: The Cream of Comedy (Tim Sims Encouragement Fund)

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by Jenna Rocca

The Cream of Comedy showcases the top five comic acts to move on after the Fresh Meat presentation about a month ago. At the end of night the winner of the Tim Sims Encouragement Award was announced.

My partner, who came with me the last time around, at intermission said half-jokingly: “they should put them all in the show.” Continue reading Review: The Cream of Comedy (Tim Sims Encouragement Fund) →