REVIEW: RING OF FIRE: The Music of Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was born in a shack in Arkansas and grew up on a hardscrabble farm. He started his career as a rockabilly singer in Memphis but from then on followed a path that was all his own. He defiantly turned his back on the growing glitz of what was called “country” music to join […]
Fringe festival to tee off on James Bond
And the Fringe theme of the year is … Bond, James Bond. Doesn’t “From Fringe With Love” open a whole can of fun and adorable worms – the classic Bond film from 1963, made at the height of the Cold War. Fringe themes rarely coincide with actual content of the plays – but the fact […]
Van Wilmott under no pressure to revive the past
An astounding thing is discovered in talking to Edmonton music guru Van Wilmott to mark his 20th year of producing musical theatre for the Mayfield Dinner Theatre – there isn’t a trace of his old band Grace Under Pressure on the Internet. No photos, no videos, no music, just a little entry in the Canadian […]
On thin ice: play looks at global warming
One of the most disturbing things about global warming is hearing people’s reactions on how it’s going to affect their “lifestyle.” Another example comes in a play called “6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won” – a funny yet poignant tale of champion figure skaters trying to stage a comeback in […]
REVIEW: Titanic, the musical, sinks
The Titanic will go on forever as a symbol of European industrial arrogance. It was – according to lyrics in a musical about the greatest nautical disaster in history – “the largest moving thing on Earth.” Its designer, owner and captain all thought it too big to sink, and thus deemed it unnecessary to provide […]
THEATRE: Yuppies with kids behave badly in God of Carnage
If life has taught us one thing, it is this: If you want to anger someone, all you have to do is accuse them of being passive-aggressive. Want to piss them off even further? Show them you can dish out the “passive-aggressive” label, but can’t take it. This sure-fire method will have you pushing the […]
REVIEW: David Mamet lays waste to liberal white guilt in Race
Race does matter – and it always will. Hence the title of David Mamet’s controversial legal drama, which makes its Canadian premiere in a Theatre Yes production at the Catalyst Theatre through March 11. Right off the top of “Race,” black lawyer Henry Brown asks and answers the question, “Does the black man hate white […]
Sam Shepard like a bad boyfriend in Fool for Love
Picture this: The play starts with May (Jamie Konchak) wrapping her arms around the legs of her rodeo cowboy-stuntman-estranged boyfriend Eddie (David MacInnis) to cling onto him, and – within minutes – she plants her knee square in his nuts to push him away. This opening seems to be the thesis statement of not only […]
THEATRE: Chris Craddock mines for laughs, tears in Moving Along
Chris Craddock knows he’s breaking a sacred “blood oath” in revealing the secret initiation he went through to become a life-long member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, the U of A fraternity that took all that bad press for its cruel hazing practices. “I’m not afraid,” declares the award-winning comic actor, who will detail his experience […]
REVIEW: Blind Date a good time with a ‘bad’ girl
So I go to the Citadel Theatre box office to pick up my reviewer’s ticket for Blind Date. The ladies give me my comp and slap a red wristband on me. “The hell?!” I exclaim. “Well, she pulls someone out of the audience and she doesn’t want to be picking media,” is their matter-of-fact answer. […]
