DAILY DISH:
Kushnier Broadway bound
1 NOV/11

JOHN COULBOURN,
QMI Agency


TORONTO - Holy smoke! Ex-pat Winnipeg boy and perennial Toronto fave Jeremy Kushnier has joined the cast of the Stratford Festival’s Broadway-bound production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, understudying both Christ and Judas and playing a priest/apostle.

Although the New York-based Kushnier is best known for his run as Tommy DeVito in the Toronto production of Jersey Boys, other Toronto appearances include runs in Tommy, Rent, Aida and, most recently, Next To Normal.

After it closes its extended run in Stratford’s Avon Theatre Sunday, the Festival’s acclaimed production of JCSS is slated to open a limited run at in La Jolla Playhouse in California Nov. 18 before decamping to the Great White Way for a Broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre, slated to begin Mar. 22.

THEATRE REVIEW:
2 PIANOS 4 HANDS
31 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN,
QMI Agency
R: 5/5
PIctured: Ted Dykstra,
Richard Greenblatt


TORONTO - Were it not for a bit of divine intervention, this is a show that could just as easily be called 2 Sticks 4 Skates, 2 Feet 4 Pointe Shoes or even 2 Snowboards 4 Feet.

While 2 PIANOS 4 HANDS may be set in the world of music, the story it tells — two kids with enough talent to carry them to the top of the class, yet not possessed of the kind of gift required to make it into the rarefied atmosphere of the big leagues — crosses all boundaries. Regardless of the field, any kid who has ever dared to dream big — and fallen short — will surely identify with this tale. The kids in question here are known simply as Ted and Richard — and just like they were back in 1996, when 2P4H first hit the stage of the Tarragon Theatre, they are played by playwright-performers Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt, who have added a directorial credit to their resumé here.

After a considerable hiatus, they’ve returned to their international hit show and the roles they created 15 years ago, launching something of a valedictory tour Sunday on the stage of the Panasonic Theatre, under the Mirvish imprimatur.

Now, for those who have somehow managed to miss the show in any of its previous incarnations, a word or two on the plot is perhaps in order. Teddy and Richard are two young kids when we first meet them. They appear, almost magically, taking over and inhabiting the betuxed bodies of Dykstra and Greenblatt respectively, middle aged men, heretofore preoccupied with sending up concert pianists at the two grand pianos that dominate the stage.

And even though they’re wearing the bodies of those middle-aged men, Teddy and Richard are just a pair of normal kids who find themselves in thrall to a parental notion that learning the piano will somehow turn them into well-rounded adults. To that end, they find themselves chained to the keyboard and forced to practice, even while they’d rather be out playing with friends.

From there, we follow them through a growing love affair with the piano, proceeding from Leila Fletcher through the annual Kiwanis Music Festival (Dyksta has a wonderful meltdown here) to Conservatory exams, accompanied by a sideshow of teachers, parents and others, all brought expertly to comedic life. But as their skills develop — and it becomes more and more obvious that these are talented lads indeed — things start to grow more serious. As each contemplates a career as a pianist — Teddy in concert, Richard in jazz — and then comes face to face with the knowledge that in the face of genius, talent is only a starting point, they are forced to set those dreams aside.

As they relive their story, they team up periodically to demonstrate just how deep those talents ran, interspersing their vignettes with musical compositions from the aforementioned Fletcher to Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Billy Joel, played with impressive skill. But fingerwork notwithstanding, it is finally acting skills that drive this show.

While Greenblatt has a tendency on occasion to lay things on with a trowel — still flogging a routine about an adjudicator with an unfortunate accent that wasn’t that funny back in ’96 — both actors are superb at capturing the comedy and tragedy that marks, often simultaneously, so much of childhood. Best of all, they prove that though the dream may be gone, the music and the magic linger on. And that’s a lesson every dreamer needs.

OPERA REVIEW: DON GIOVANNI
30 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
R: 4.5/5
Pictured: Peggy Kriha Dye, Phillip Addis, Vasil Garvanliev

TORONTO - When it comes to his dealings with the bad boy of the opera world, Opera Atelier’s Marshall Pynkoski clearly didn’t waste a lot of time on psychoanalysis and the like — and chances are, that’s something that’s going to leave a lot of OA patrons tickled pink.

For, while Pynkoski’s latest production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI may be incredibly short on the darker threads of motivation that are often woven through productions of this work, it is more than redeemed by an effervescent spirit of youthful exuberance that not only makes up for any lack of the former, but serves to prove that sometimes, especially when it comes to sex, human nature is the only motivation necessary.

Opera Atelier’s new production of Mozart’s tale opened Saturday on the stage of the Elgin Theatre, where it runs through Nov. 5; and while it’s been pretty much rebuilt from the ground up since 2004 — with new designs from Gerard Gauci, OA’s master of tromp, and new, largely monochromatic costumes by Martha Mann — it is, on quite another level, simply the same old story, told as Mozart might have intended, and not coincidentally, just the way Pynkoski likes it.

Which means that it is simply a high-spirited story about a young rake — the Don of title, sung here by baritone Phillip Addis — and the swath he cuts through the beautiful young women of 17th-Century Seville, few of whom seem to be immune to his charms, as he leaves a string of broken hearts in his wake. Unquestionably, the fair Donna Anna (soprano Meghan Lindsay) is enjoying those charms thoroughly at the top of the show — at least until she’s caught in the clinch and her father (bass-baritone and OA regular, Curtis Sullivan) is killed in an ensuing duel with the Don, much to the chagrin of her loyal fiance, Don Ottavio (tenor Lawrence Wiliford).

Definitely, Donna Elvira (soprano Peggy Kriha Dye) remembers him with something more than fondness, despite the fact that the Don has had his wicked way with her and cast her aside. And certainly, the luscious young Zerlina (soprano Carla Huhtanen) can appreciate his charms, despite the fact that she’s about to be married to the loving and lovable Massetto (played by Sullivan as well) when she catches the Don’s eye and becomes his most recent prey. All of this, of course, means great fun for the Don, even while it drives his long-suffering manservant, Leporello (baritone Vasil Garvanliev) to distraction — until finally, the hell-raising Don gets his otherworldly comeuppance and meets a fate that has seemingly been cast in stone.

It’s not always easy to stage, of course. In Lorenzo de Ponte’s libretto, elements of opera buffa and opera seria are blended in such seemingly haphazard fashion that many directors have been known to get so caught up in the shifts in tone that they’ve done themselves and their productions serious harm. Pynkoski, however, simply goes for the comedy, and sails right over the opera’s darker motifs, aided at every turn by the excellence and commitment of his cast.

Taken individually, both Addis’ and Garvanliev’s performances are strong, but the measure of their excellence is in their scenes together — and while Huhtanen, Dye and Sullivan all prove equally adept at meeting the comedic demands of the script, the entire cast truly shines in facing the complex demands of Mozart’s score — a score that offers a wonderful range of duets and arias to showcase their talents. Meanwhile, conductor Stefano Montanari finds the pulse of Tafelmusik’s talented musicians and cranks it up for maximum effect, creating a Don that is nothing short of delightful.

THEATRE REVIEW: CIRCUMCISE ME!
27 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
R: 3.5/5

TORONTO - In a world of televangelism and partisan politics, we’ve become so inured to those who insist on preaching to the converted that we almost expect it. And we can all list a number of folks who are guilty of the crime.

But now, it seems, the converted are starting to preach right back. Although “preaching” isn’t really the right world for what Yisrael Campbell (or Christopher Campbell, as he was christened in his infancy) is doing in a show he’s brought from New York to Toronto at the invitation of the Harold Green Jewish Theatre.

The show, which opened a limited run at the Jane Mallett Theatre Wednesday, is titled CIRCUMCISE ME! and, while it deals with Campbell’s long and often funny journey from booze-and-drug addled lapsed Catholic to devout Orthodox Jew and family man, there is little in the way of proselytizing involved. Instead, it emerges as one man’s journey into faith — a journey that started, Campbell suggests, when he was introduced to a little book called Exodus, a book that left the already unhappy (and clearly botanically challenged) youth dreaming of moving to Israel and “digging avocados out of the desert.”
Instead, he moved to Florida, having, with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, kicked a major substance abuse problem before he was out of high school. From there, he seems to have followed the path of least resistance, which led him inevitably to Los Angeles and put him on a collision course with Judaism.

Mind you, as he tells it, he pretty much had to throw himself in front of the truck to make that collision happen — but after taking a course in the fundamentals of the religion, he was curious enough about it that he began to explore the possibilities of becoming a Jew himself. Conversion proved a complex affair, requiring him, first of all, to answer five basic and fundamental questions that required a good deal of soul searching, then progressed through the mikveh, a ritual bath and other requirements.

Inevitably, there was the question of circumcision, perhaps the most enduring manifestation of the Jewish people’s covenant with their God — and, not entirely coincidentally, a surgical procedure the mere mention of which can induce pallor and sweating in most grown men. On the plus side, Campbell, like many men of a certain age, had endured the procedure as an infant, which meant he could get by with a (relatively) simple bit of ritual bloodletting in the same area as opposed to the full monty as it were.

But while most of us can appreciate the difference between simply nicking a finger and slicing off the end of one, it was nonetheless a procedure Campbell endured not once but twice as he continually upped his commitment to Judaism, progressing from the Reformed branch to the Conservative before finally coming to rest in the Orthodox branch after he had relocated to Jerusalem. Along the way, he married his Talmud teacher, became a father and found personal peace and a strong sense of community, without ever losing his delightful sense of humour.

Directed by Sam Gold, with a video design by Aaron Rhyne that is either highly arty or simply badly focused — depending on one’s point of view — CIRCUMCISE ME! never stoops to preaching to the unconverted, even while it emerges as a bit of an inside joke on occasion. But if one listens very carefully, one hears overtones of a universal tale — one that involves faith, to be certain, but also talks meaningfully and with gentle wit about the value of personal struggle and the healing powers of belonging.

MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW: FELA!
26 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
R: 4/5
Pictured: Sahr Ngaujah (centre)

TORONTO - Not surprisingly, the phrase “the hardest working man in show business” yields results in the multi-millions when Googled.

The real surprise however is that the name Sahr Ngaujah isn’t at the very top of the queue, for as anyone who has seen the touring production of FELA! — currently playing in a limited run through Nov. 6 at the Canon Theatre — can tell you, Ngaujah generates enough electricity in his performance in FELA!’s title role to light up the theatre, with more than enough left over to brighten the long road home.

For the uninitiated, FELA! is an extraordinary piece of musical theatre about the life of an extraordinary musician, specifically one Fela Anikulapa-Kuti (better known as simply Fela), the Nigerian-born father of what has become known as the Afro-beat, a distillation of traditional Yoruba music, blended with influences as diverse as jazz, funk and even chanting. But though FELA! features a compelling sampling of the artist’s music, it aims to dig a little deeper than the music — and, as often as not, it succeeds in a truly impressive fashion.

With a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones (who also directed and earned a much-deserved Tony for his choreography), FELA! is set in The Shrine — Fela’s performance home in Lagos, Nigeria, in the late 1970s. It is not, however, your standard-issue nightclub, located as it is in a seamy part of town and surrounded by soldiers assigned to keep an eye on the musician and his followers.

And though Fela dismisses those soldiers as mere mosquitoes, he’s recently learned the power of their sting, when, under orders from a corrupt government, they swarmed The Shrine and murdered his mother — an internationally recognized feminist and thinker played in flashback by a stately Melanie Marshall. It is not his first encounter with the authorities — but the death of his beloved mother has led him to believe that it is time to move on. So, when he hits the stage, Fela announces this will be his final show and that he will be leaving Nigeria — but first, he must consult the ancestors.

What follows is part history lesson, part music lesson and all party, as Ngaujah and a high energy cast recreate a night at The Shrine, filling the space with music, memories and a range of high energy dance that is certain to amaze anyone not familiar with Jones’ breathtaking gifts as a dancemaker. They also fill it with blazing colour, courtesy of designer Marina Draghici (who along with sound designer Robert Kaplowitz claimed two more Tonys for the show) and lighting designer Robert Wierzel.

Along the way, they touch lightly but tellingly on the minutia of Fela’s life, referencing a range of topics from his Christian forefathers through to his drug habits and his embrace of bigamy — he would amass 27 wives before giving up on the institution. Fela! even explores his political beliefs, underlining at the same time, with songs like Zombie, the whole notion that it is the role of the artist to expose problems, not solve them.

But mostly, FELA! is a celebration of the man and his music and while it eventually gets a little bogged down in the supernatural before abandoning either its hero or its audience — depending on one’s point of view — it remains a celebration you shouldn’t miss. This is a most happy FELA! indeed.

THEATRE NEWS:
Soulpepper announces new season;
Stratford's Twelfth Night to be filmed
25 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

Albert Schultz has broken out an impressive 12-pack to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Soulpepper Theatre — an even dozen plays to showcase not just the established talents in his company, but some of its new faces as well.

In fact, the show Soulpepper's founding artistic director has chosen to launch the new season and a new year — Ins Choi's Fringe hit, Kim's Convenience — was not only written by a member of the Soulpepper Academy, but will be directed by another (Weyni Mengesha) and feature designs and lighting by two others — Ken MacKenzie and Lorenzo Savoini, respectively.

It will be followed in February by a new production of Lee MacDougall's High Life, which premiered back in 1996. Directed by Stuart Hughes, casting will include Oliver Dennis, Diego Matamoros and Mike Ross.

February will also see director Diana Leblanc revisit Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, which she turned into the toast of Stratford's 1994 season. This time out, Leblanc will be working with a cast that includes Evan Buliung, Nancy Palk, Gregory Prest and Joseph Ziegler.

Ziegler and Palk will be front and centre again in April, as Soulpepper tackles Kaufman and Hart's You Can't Take It With You. This time out, Zeigler will direct, while Palk joins Derek Boyes, Eric Peterson and Krystin Pellerin in the cast. Come May, Schultz himself will direct David Story's Home, with casting to be announced.

Meanwhile, four productions will open at the Young Centre next July, with David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow kicking off the summer in a production directed by David Storch, starring Ari Cohen, Jordan Pettle and Sarah Wilson. It will run in rep with a production of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys, directed by Ted Dykstra, starring Peterson, Pettle and Kenneth Welsh.

The other two shows launching in July are Mikhail Bulgakov's The Royal Comedians (directed by Laszlo Marton and starring Matamoros, Prest and William Webster) and Arthur Miller's The Crucible (directed by Schultz and starring Hughes, Ziegler and Patricia Fagan).

Soulpepper slides into fall with a revival of their acclaimed 2010 production of Miller's Death of a Salesman, reuniting most of the original cast — Ross will take over the role of Happy, originally played by Tim Campbell — under Schultz's direction.

And finally, before they wrap up the year with Michael Shamata's evergreen production of A Christmas Carol, once again starring Ziegler, Soulpepper will feature a new production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame, starring Ziegler and Matamoros, working under the direction of Daniel Brooks, who directed an earlier SP production of the play in 1999, which also starred Matamoros.

While Schultz is particularly exited by two of the summer offerings — The Crucible and The Royal Comedians, both of which view politics through a prism of historical allegory, he's also pretty stoked, it seems, about Kim's Convenience, which he admits moves the company much closer to premiering new and original work. "This has always been the plan," he insists, "But the idea was to carve out a niche first — to become a classical repertory company."

With that accomplished to his satisfaction, he's now launching a four-part new play development project which will make Kim's Convenience the start of a bigger vision, that will eventually yield five commissioned works over the next several years "about specific communities in our city," Schultz says.

Current Soulpepper subscribers can renew today, whil new subscribers will have to wait until Nov. 15. For rates and info, call 416-866-8666 or visit soulpepper.ca

****

The Stratford Festival’s production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by artistic director Des McAnuff, will be the latest Fest production to be captured on film for future broadcast.

Filming of the about-to-close production is already underway and according toTuesday’s announcement the finished product, produced and directed by Barry Avrich (who also produced earlier films of Festival productions of Caesar and Cleopatra and The Tempest) is slated to be screened across Canada sometime in 2012.

THEATRE (MUSIC) REVIEW:
MICHAEL JACKSON: The Immortal World Tour
22 OCT/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
R: 3.5/5

Considering the maelstrom of publicity, both bad and good, that was the life of the late pop sensation Michael Jackson, it is ironic — oddly fitting, but ironic nonetheless — that in death, Jackson's memory is being honoured with, of all things, a circus.

Not just any circus, mind you. When it comes to paying tribute to the King of Pop, only the king of circuses will do. And in today's world, even though pretenders abound, few would argue that the crown of the circus world still sits securely on the brow of the Quebec-based international phenom, Cirque Du Soleil. So it is that Cirque last month launched its latest big-budget, big-everything stadium show titled Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, which pulled into Toronto's Air Canada Centre on Friday for a weekend run that ends Sunday.

And while there may be more than a degree of irony in the fact that Jackson's life is being commemorated with a circus, the show itself turns out to be a largely irony-free zone. Director Jamie King and his cast and crew focus all of Cirque's considerable genius on how best to conjure the myth, the man and his music — without inadvertently opening any portals into the much-publicized darker side of a man finally and tragically consumed by fame. But despite their best efforts, it remains an affair both haunted — in this case, by design, with a (speaking of irony) white-faced mime evoking Jackson's spirit throughout the show — and haunting, as the news from Dr. Conrad Murray's trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Jackson features prominently in the nightly news.

It is also, even by Cirque standards, a bit of an extravaganza. It mixes the very latest in stage technology with a few breathtaking feats of physical skill and precision — not to mention more than enough moonwalking and crotch grabbing to put both NASA and a passel of andrologists out of business. There is also, as is to be expected, a lot of music — all of it Jackson's, from his earliest days with the Jackson Five right through to the too-early end of his career. Sometimes it is served up under the musical direction of Greg Philliganes, featuring a strong musical ensemble. At others, it is delivered by Jackson himself, appearing posthumously on giant video screens woven into a modified thrust stage that allows Immortal to combine elements of both thrust and proscenium staging in such a way that it becomes impossible to focus attention on any one element of the show.
 
Woven into the fabric of musical memories that includes everything from I'll Be There to Billie Jean, Thriller and Beat It are a series of often jaw-dropping effects and circus routines. Not all of it is new, but impressive nonetheless.

But while the never-ending parade of giant puppets, robots, living statues, ghouls and ghost-like animal heads certainly add up to something visually engaging, some of the circus routines feel more imposed than integrated into Immortal's warp and weave. While the synchronized tumblers featured near the end of the show certainly seem a logical extension of the kind of coordinated movement Jackson espoused, the pole routine performed by the diminutive and supple Anna Melnikova simply doesn't fly, from a contextual point of view, even while it soars.

Finally, however, Immortal's creators simply over-reach themselves, not content to simply celebrate the talents of a very talented man. As their show assumes more and more of a messianic fervour, using images of Gandhi and Mother Theresa, it feels less and less like a tribute, and more and more like a revival meeting. That's a kind of Immortal that's tough to swallow.