FRINGE: You can’t HANDEL this brilliant musical!
You may have seen a touching coming-out-of-the-closet tale at the Fringe – but never one like this. And you may have seen a Broadway show tune revue – but never one like this. Elegantly combined in Handel: The Musical! (Stage 16), the result is sublime. George Frederick Handel is arguably the most popular composer who […]
FRINGE REVIEWS: 4 plays about DEATH
British performer Rob Gee was plagued with problems on the opening night of his new Fringe show, Death – A Romantic Comedy (on Stage 5). First there was an unfortunately-timed fire alarm, delaying the opening by precious minutes. He also told us that some git had nicked his pants – so he had to perform […]
FRINGE 5 out of 5: Scorch an enthralling revelation
Scorch (Stage 28) is based on the true story of the British schoolgirl who was found guilty of posing as a Goth boy to get another teenage girl into bed. She was charged and went to prison. This event, chronicled in Britain but largely unknown here, is the obvious basis for this play – but […]
REVIEW: Classic Canadians thrive at Rock Fest
Edmontonians waking up yesterday morning to head down to Hawrelak Park for Day 2 of the eighth annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival might have felt a bit of relief: While they knew they’d be losing a bit more of their hearing throughout the day, at least they’d be able to breathe without putting themselves at […]
FRINGE: 2 ‘One Man’ parodies
When faced with the rash of “one man” plays at this year’s Fringe – that is, single actors attempting to render an entire popular movie or TV series in a comedic manner – a nagging question comes up: Do you have to be a diehard fan of the original material to fully appreciate its lampoon? […]
REVIEW: 2 more MASTERS of the Fringe
Bright Young Things don’t mind taking on the big ones. The company has given us, and received much audience (and Sterling Award) love for previous productions such as Sartre’s No Exit and Rattigan’s Deep Blue Sea. Their current Fringe production is Tom Stoppard’s minor theatrical masterpiece, the confounding The Real Inspector Hound (Stage 12). Two […]
Saga dominates Edmonton Rock Music Festival
Edmonton might have been covered in a thick blanket of asthma-inducing white acrid smoke, but none of that stuff was being blown during Saga’s performance down at Hawrelak Park as part of Friday night festivities at the Edmonton Rock Festival. Most Canadians are clueless how big this band was and still is internationally. Last time […]
Actor literally breaks leg, has to cancel Fringe show
It’s all fun and games to say “break a leg” to an actor – until he actually breaks his leg. It happened to Reed McColm, who was to star in the one-man Glen Berger play Underneath the Lintel at Stage 14 – but it has been cancelled in the wake of his injury. “Break a […]
REVIEW: 2 MASTERS of the Fringe
Don’t Frown at the Gown (Stage 12) comes from those long-time Fringe Masters Darrin Hagen and Trevor Schmidt under the production umbrella of Guys in Disguise. The duo, who write and perform their own stuff, have long since broken out of the gay ghetto (although their orientation is obvious and celebrated), with shows like Flora […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Rockfest scores SAGA
For music fans still in the outdoor festival spirit – and really, who isn’t – the action this weekend shifts upriver to Hawrelak Park for the annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival. This is classic rock at its biggest and brightest, and the organizers have done a commendable job putting together some impressive names throughout the […]
PLAYBOT: Foolish Foreigner fights Fringe!
What a bonehead move: A bigass high-production jukebox musical is plopping into Edmonton to compete with the opening weekend of the biggest theatre festival in the Americas – and on the same weekend as the classic rock festival, too! What were they thinking? Literally a jukebox musical called Jukebox Hero, based on the songs of […]
