Cabaret and burlesque meet opera in Against the Grain’s take on Orphee, on stage in Toronto

I did not know what to expect from “an electronic, baroque-burlesque, descent into hell” when I took my seat at Against the Grain Theatre’s production of Orphée. I knew what to expect from the work, having seen Opera Atelier’s interpretation of the same work in 2015, but I couldn’t really imagine how an electronic, burlesque aesthetic would fit in. Continue reading Review: Orphee (Against the Grain Theatre) →

First performed in 1639, The Return of Ulysses by Claudio Monteverdi is currently being produced by Opera Atelier. It is one of the earliest operas you are likely to see performed on a 21^st century stage. The timelessness of this universally-known story likely has something to do with the work’s ongoing popularity. It’s based on the second half of Homer’s Odyssey, wherein Ulysses (Odysseus), the King of Ithaca, returns home to his faithful wife Penelope. In order to reclaim his kingdom and his wife, he must fight off three evil suitors with a little help and hindrance from the gods. The Opera Atelier production is beautifully rendered and, as usual, a  feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Continue reading Review: The Return of Ulysses (Opera Atelier) →

Opera blends with puppetry in a breathtaking performance captivating Toronto audiences

The Nightingale and Other Fables (Canadian Opera Company) is a hauntingly beautiful production that innovatively weaves several short works by Igor Stravinsky into an integrated dramatic presentation. It is comprised of song cycles, short stories and instrumental pieces that are dramatized through puppetry, culminating in Stravinsky’s charming  opera The Nightingale. Crafted by celebrated Canadian stage director Robert Lepage, The Nightingale and Other Short Fables is rapidly becoming part of the 21^st Century operatic canon internationally. Continue reading Review: The Nightingale and Other Fables (Canadian Opera Company) →

Raven Dauda performs her new one-woman show Addicted in Toronto

Addicted, a new one-woman show produced by ADEDO Collective with The Watah Theatre is a confessional and spiritual exploration of intergenerational substance abuse stemming from colonial trauma that straddles the line between realism and surrealism. The use of mime, physical comedy, wry humour, storytelling and puppetry created a united whole that cuts a little too close to the bone emotionally. Continue reading Review: Addicted (ADEDO Collective with The Watah Theatre) →

Tapestry Opera with Canadian Stage brings The Overcoat to Toronto in movement and opera

Tapestry Opera and Canadian Stage ’s world premiere co-production of The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring by playwright Morris Panych and composer James Rolfe is an atmospheric and clever interpretation of the original 1842 short story The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol. On the surface, the premise of the story is simple. A bean-counter caught in the nine-to-five hamster wheel needs a new coat and finally gets a beautiful one tailored, with unforeseen results. Adapting this story as an opera is ingenious because music is used to engagingly illustrate the deeper subtext of the tale. Continue reading Review: The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring (Tapestry Opera/Vancouver Opera/Canadian Stage) →