Rock opera dares to suggest Jesus human
When Jesus Christ Superstar was released in 1970, it was condemned by many Christian groups because it dared to suggest that Christ was human and Judas was a tragic figure. At the time, lyricist Tim Rice observed, “It happens that we don’t see Christ as God, but simply the right man at the right time […]
REVIEW: Starcatcher flies like Peter Pan
Avast there, matey, prepare to go aloft! And I abide that ye’ll have a crew of plundering picaroons at yer back. The Citadel’s current show Peter and the Starcatcher does briefly soar aloft, but that comes later. James MacDonald’s rollicking, inventive production starts small with what is known as “physical theatre,” or the more poetic […]
The Believers an unbelievable scare
The first thing you notice is a deep blackness, a dark menacing cloud that hangs over everything. It bleeds down in ragged sheets of rain. There is a wall, a staircase and a table. After the creepy preamble, around that table are two people engaged in a heated argument. They are slowly and painfully trying […]
Prostitution play fails to grasp serious subject
When it premiered in Toronto in 2014, Erin Shield’s new play Soliciting Temptation conflicted the reviewers. The Globe and Mail could only eek out “tolerable” while The National Post found it “the season’s best new play.” A new co-production from Calgary’s Sage Theatre and Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre – at the Varscona Theatre until March 26 […]
Crazy for You makes old hat new again
You want an escape from the March blahs? Crazy for You, the joyous “New Gershwin Musical” playing at the Citadel Theatre until March 26, is just the medicine you need for melancholy. This two hours and 40 minutes of grace, wit and great music is part screwball, part vaudeville, part Busby Berkeley and all cheerfully […]
Stupid Fucking Bird gives wing to Chekhov
Anton Chekhov is best known outside of Russia as a playwright of yearning disappointment, unrequited love, missed opportunities and unsatisfactory relationships. He actually thought he was writing a comedy when he penned a play called The Seagull in 1896 – and therein lies a part of the problem. According to those who know about these […]
Ah, Romance! welcome as spring breeze
“In spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” burbled Tennyson in 1835. Apparently, so does the fancy of Edmonton’s accomplished Plain Jane Theatre Company, whose latest offering Ah, Romance! A Revue of Song, Dance and Other Passionate Musings, is on stage at the Varscona Theatre until Feb. 25. The Plain Janes, […]
REVIEW: Kinky Boots a really good shoe
Back in 1983, a punk princess in goofy makeup, bargain basement wardrobe and disordered hairdo told the world that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. The world listened. Cyndi Lauper’s music and fizzy personality was bright, happy and upbeat. She became the queen of the newly emerging MTV, went on to reign in every nook of […]
Detective farce a riot at Mayfield
We’re going to get quite a bit of Ken Ludwig in Edmonton in the next while. On March 4, the Citadel opens his Gershwin musical, Crazy For You – and in the meantime, until April 2, fans can see his comic take on the sleuth of 221B Baker Street at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre: Baskerville, […]
Bust hits close to home for Theatre Network
For a company dedicated to presenting local productions, it’s hard to imagine a more Albertan show than Theatre Network’s current offering, Bust. At the Roxy on Gateway until Feb. 26, Matthew MacKenzie’s play takes place in Fort McMurray just after the great fire in May of 2016. It features two couples trying to cope with […]
Everybody Footloose in marvelous MacEwan musical
Sorry, all of you who fondly remember the 1984 film Footloose as a quintessential part of your teen years – it really wasn’t much of a movie. No one expected much from it. And who was this kid, Kevin Bacon, anyway? Anyone who knew about those things was surprised when a whole generation of restless […]
Dinner party implodes in powerful Disgraced
Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced is a worthy member of a theatrical sub-genre that might be described as the “imploding dinner party.” A group of people gather in a living room for an evening of civil conversation, there are already tensions in the air when the evening starts and everything goes south from there. […]
