Tag Archives: YEGtheatre

Citie Ballet’s ‘Boundaries’ Preview for Vue Weekly

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Martine Martell Photography

I previewed Citie Ballet’s third and final production of its 2016/2017 season for Vue Weekly today.

This weekend, Edmonton’s Citie Ballet wraps its fifth season at the Timms Centre for the Arts with Boundaries—dance that challenges traditional balletic conventions.

The company’s artistic director, Jorden Morris says the two-part performance features something for everyone. Read more

The first featured ballet is choreographed by 22-year-old Kylee Hart, who’s also a dancer with Citie Ballet. It was incredible speaking with both Hart and Morris about the way they’re trying to push the conventions of their art.

Check out the company’s website to learn more about Boundaries and to grab tickets to the 7:30 p.m. evening performances on Friday and Saturday, as well as the 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday.

‘9 Parts of Desire’ Theatre Preview for Vue Weekly

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I wrote in Vue Weekly this week about The Maggie Tree theatre company’s production of 9 Parts of Desire.

The original one-woman play, 9 Parts of Desire, isn’t meant to explain things simply. Written and performed by award-winning Iraqi-American Heather Raffo, it’s that depth which caught the attention of Edmonton’s The Maggie Tree theatre company.

The Maggie Tree co-executive director and director for the production, Vanessa Sabourin, looks forward to bringing the project to the Varscona Theatre.

“Something that we have always enjoyed with Maggie Tree is getting people to gather, and also putting forward big questions,” Sabourin says. Read more

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to interact with The Maggie Tree, but talking to Sabourin about their brand of theatre got me excited all over again. At the Varscona Theatre, 9 Parts of Desire opens tonight and runs through April 15.

‘Soliciting Temptation’ Theatre Preview for Vue Weekly

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Here’s a preview I wrote for Vue Weekly about an exciting looking play called Soliciting Temptation opening at the Varscona Theatre tonight.

Soliciting Temptation tackles the social complexities of sex tourism from the inside of one nondescript hotel room set in an exotic country. And that hotel room shuttled from Calgary to Edmonton this week for a new crowd to see. Read more

The Jason Mehmel-directed play is coproduced by Calgary’s Sage Theatre and Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre, starring Patricia Cerra and Mattie Overall. The 90-minute, two-person performance opens at 7:30pm tonight and runs until Mar. 26.

‘Sister Sister’ Theatre Review For Vue Weekly in November

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This review is for one of my all-time favourite pieces of modern theatre. I critiqued Northern Light Theatre’s Sister Sister for Vue Weekly back in November.

When it comes to Northern Light Theatre’s mandate of dark and provocative productions that challenge audiences, Sister Sister delivers and satisfies.

Playwright Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s script about two sisters’ reconnection after 15 years sets a grim theme, as the women come together to celebrate their deranged mother’s death. Read more

The two-woman performance from Louise Claire Lambert and Arielle Rombough was intense, and I’m glad I got to share my opinion with the community.

Monster Pro Wrestling Profile for Vue Weekly Last September

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This week, I’m fleshing out my clips directory with some older freelance work I completed in the last six months.

Here’s a profile of the Edmonton’s Monster Pro Wrestling that I wrote and shot for Vue Weekly in September.

Only a handful of active independent Canadian wrestling promotions can say they’ve been going strong for 14 years with no signs of slowing. Edmonton’s Monster Pro Wrestling, founded by Sean “Massive Damage” Dunster in 2002, just crested that milestone. Read more

Dunster and his team run a truly entertaining monthly docket of fights. You can find out more about all their upcoming events on the Monster Pro Wrestling Facebook page, Twitter, and website. The promotion has a big event coming up this Saturday at 7pm. Tickets are $20 in advance, and $25 at the door at The Ranch Roadhouse.

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‘La Cenerentola’ Opera Review for Vue Weekly

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I reviewed Edmonton Opera’s production of La Cenerentola for Vue Weekly earlier this month. I’ve never heard so many laughs in an opera house.

Edmonton Opera’s rendition of Cinderella is a funny, modernized take on Gioachino Rossini’s 1817 masterpiece La Cenerentola that’s as much a display of great theatre as it is a demonstration of the beautiful limits of the human voice.

Every acting performance in Cinderella is superb. Don Magnifico (Peter McGillivray) is great as a bumbling idiot who respects food and wine more than he respects people, and Tisbe (Sylvia Szadovski) and Clorinda (Caitlyn Wood) play their obnoxious sister roles perfectly. But it’s Dandini (Michael Nyby) who really steals the show. Read more

The La Cenerentola production already finished it’s run, but Edmonton Opera already announced its 2017-2018 line up. You can check it out on their website, featuring Les Feluettes, HMS Pinafore, and Don Giovanni.

Wildfire Teen Improv Festival Preview for Vue Weekly

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I missed this preview going live on Vue Weekly earlier in the month, but the Wildfire Teen Improv is still ongoing. The junior high division finals of the competitive festival are on Saturday with additional performances tonight and tomorrow.

“Wildfire Teen Improv Festival is very strange,” says 17-year-old Darby Gynane.

She’s heading into her fourth run at the festival alongside her teammates from Louis St. Laurent. The improv competition, running from Feb. 7 to 25 at the Citadel’s Ziedler Hall, pits teams of junior and senior high students from across Edmonton and Alberta against each other to see who’s the most spontaneously entertaining.

“You see people who are creating art in front of your eyes that they’re never going to do again and you’re never going to see again,” Gynane says. “It’s very much an in the moment kind of thing.” Read more

Rapid Fire Theatre is an absolute force in Western Canada, and their festival that develops youth is no exception. You can get tickets for the last three shows of the festival through Eventbrite. Each performance starts at 7pm in the Citadel’s Ziedler Hall.

Footloose Review: A Triumphant Farewell at The John L. Haar Theatre

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Wrapped in a charged presentation of a musical theatre classic, Footloose, is the history of decades of MacEwan University theatre arts.

And while each performer’s voice may not hold a weighty, well-produced presence, the energy of their performance culminates in another triumphant night for the final season at the John L. Haar Theatre.

Continue reading →

Henry V: Vue Weekly Theatre Review

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Here’s part of my review for Grindstone Theatre and The Malachites Henry V which appeared on Vue Weekly yesterday.

‘All things are ready, if our minds be so,’ but fighting the nature of our own ears isn’t always an achievable task.

The elegance of the space inside Holy Trinity Anglican Church certainly lends itself to champion the spirit of Shakespeare in a modern time, but the effects of that grand mission statement are lost when I can’t hear what the players are saying. Read more

The joint production between Edmonton’s Grindstone Theatre and London, England’s The Malachites is directed by Benjamin Blyth. Brynn Linsey’s performance and King Henry V marks a Canadian first, and you can try to listen to her great performance at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. The play runs tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm.

Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes: Vue Weekly Theatre Review

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Here’s a part of my review for Cardiac Theatre’s Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes which appeared on Vue Weekly yesterday:

No one knows what it’s like to die, at least no one alive to recount the experience. Still, the seconds, minutes, and hours before death can be observed and communicated with as much precision as a dying person’s five senses and remaining faculties will allow. Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes is an incredibly lucid journey that leads us through the mind of a boy who suffered one of the most politically public deaths of the 20th century. Read more

Cardiac Theatre’s production of Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes is directed Harley Morison and written by Jordan Tannahill. You can catch Bradley Doré in the lead role while the play runs at the PCL Studio Theatre of ATB Financial Arts Barns. It plays tonight at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm.