From the category archives:

STAGE

STAGE

Sins of the Father

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L’Opéra de Montréal’s FAUST offers two Canadian tenors the opportunity for some father/son bonding

by James Gartler
19.05.2012

“Everybody wants to – when they get to a certain age – go back and do the things they didn’t have time to do, you know?” begins Antoine Bélanger.  Nearby, his father Guy Bélanger nods and smiles in agreement.  “Youth”, he adds, ““is energy and beauty…and it’s a dream for him.”  They speak of course [...]

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STAGE

Oh MAI MAI

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ECLECTIK, MAI, May 25-26

by Veena Gokhale
18.05.2012

My friends had always spoken well about MAI over the years, and I was curious to find out more. Knowing a little about its mandate to promote artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, I decide to check out the curtain raiser for their annual cabaret, ECLECTIK. Running May 25-26, ECLECTIK features dancers, writers, actors, songwriters, musicians and interdisciplinary artists. About thirty artists in 13 mini performances reflect the theme ailleurs ici (elsewhere here), which also informs their overall programming for the year.

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DANCE

Dancing with Myself

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Le Bancs d’Essai Internationaux dance festival at Tangente May 10-12

by Kallee Lins
14.05.2012

Le Bancs d’Essai Internationaux brings together dancers and choreographers from around the world to put the newest generation of dance on display. The biannual tour ended its Montreal run Saturday night before heading to Europe. Though the performers came from diverse regions throughout Italy, Canada, France, The Netherlands, and Wales, a common thread ran through the night. Multimedia, once a novel addition to put dance-based pieces in the often provocative territory of interdisciplinary performance, has become the status quo. The question of adding a video backdrop now seems as necessary a consideration as the number of dancers onstage.

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THEATRE

Hillbilly Delight

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Haunted Hillbilly, Centaur Theatre, until June 3rd

by Anna Fuerstenberg
12.05.2012

Haunted Hillbilly is a great whopping romp of a play. It is a fabulous send up of all the country and western clichés one has come to know. There is also a touch of the gothic story as naïve Hyram Woodside (played with infectious energy by Mathew Raudsepp) sells his soul to the evil cowboy couturier, Nudie. Greg Kramer is magnificent in his role as the cowboy designer who has serious designs on the young Hyram. He even brings a kind of poignancy to the vampire Mephistopheles persona.

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THEATRE

Same Old Same Old

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Same Time Next Year, dir. Diana Leblanc, Segal Centre, to May 20th

by Anna Fuerstenberg
07.05.2012

About a couple who are married but not to each other and agree to meet every year on the same date at a motel, Same Time Next Year first opened in 1975. It is a terrific play for summer stock theatre because it has only one set and two actors. It is also very dated and just the right kind of shmaltzy old time sentimental pap that seems to be targeted at the Segal’s silverback audience. I thought that when I heard the pre-show music, and I was right.

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THEATRE

Unorthodox Puppetry

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Heretics of Bohemia, Segal Centre, to May 19th

by Alex Woolcott
03.05.2012

Style triumphs over substance in The Heretics of Bohemia, the newest play from Scapegoat Carnivale Productions. A zany extravaganza involving a cast of thousands (many of them are puppets), Heretics overflows with shtick, witty banter and delightful theatricality. But its narrative is far too weak to support even its brief seventy-five minute running time. One can easily sit back and enjoy the ride – just don’t expect to understand what any of it was about when you’re done.

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THEATRE

Delightful Pinocchio – No Lie!

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Pinocchio, Geordie Productions, Centaur Theatre until May 6th

by Anna Fuerstenberg
02.05.2012

Pinocchio is one of my favourite stories and, according to my Italian speaking friend, it is a verb in that country which means you are fibbing and comes with an equally adorable gesture which starts at the nose and then moves away from the face.

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DANCE

Time to Danse

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Festival Quebec Danse ending a great week on a high note

by Kallee Lins
29.04.2012

There is still time to get your toes tapping, arms swinging, or body bouncing as part of the first annual Québec Danse festival. Studios all over Montreal and 10 other cities in the province have opened their doors since Monday for free classes in everything from contemporary dance and street jazz, to bharata natyam and Afro-Brazilian.

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STAGE

Still A Beauty

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The classic love story returns in a spirited touring production

by James Gartler
28.04.2012

Last year, I asked The Lion King to tell the rest of its Broadway friends to swing by Montreal for a visit. Looks like they listened, as the NETworks production of Beauty and the Beast has waltzed into town, bringing with it much of the magic and romance of the Academy Award-winning Disney classic…if little [...]

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CIRCUS

Girls Gone (ber)Cirque

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Cirque du Soleil joins the ‘new new circus’ movement with Amaluna

by Crystal Chan
27.04.2012

Caliban’s stealing me away. He gives my date a glance — ‘You with her?’ — then jealously whisks me away. This pre-show audience warm-up bit is a clown echo of his character’s role in the Shakespeare plot on which Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna is based. The show’s Caliban (Viktor Kee) is joined by a Miranda (Ikhertsetseg Bayarsaikhan) and Prospera (Julie McInnes). But there’s a Romeo, not a Ferdinand (Édouard Doye). Director Diane Paulus hasn’t only mashed up Shakespeare: at the media preview, she explained that she also threw in The Magic Flute—which she directed for the Canadian Opera Company last year—and Greek mythology for good measure.

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THEATRE

« Everything under the sun is in tune… »

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L'éclipse, Groupe de la Veillée

by Mélanie Grondin
27.04.2012

De manière on ne peut plus opportune, le Groupe de la Veillée présente une pièce de celle que l’on nomme « la grande dame de la littérature américaine », c’est-à-dire Joyce Carol Oates, quelques petits jours après que celle-ci eut remporté le Grand Prix littéraire international Metropolis bleu.

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THEATRE

Achoo!

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Hay Fever by Noel Coward, Dawson Theatre until April 28th

by Alex Woolcott
20.04.2012

Quebec’s students are on strike but thankfully no one told the folks at the Dawson Professional Theatre Program: in the final production of their season, the graduating class of 2012 not only showed up for the performance but also brought all their usual infectious enthusiasm. This time their production is Hay Fever, one of Noel Coward’s most popular plays, and it’s a surprisingly sharp and witty rendition that proves the cast is more then ready for the outside world.

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THEATRE

Not a Gilded Cage

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Blackbird, Shadowbox Productions, at Les Ateliers Jean-Brillant until April 22

by Alex Woolcott
15.04.2012

Don’t make the mistake of going to see the latest incarnation of David Harrower’s play Blackbird expecting a raucous night at the theatre. Harrower’s play, most recently seen in French at Theatre Prospero, is a dark and demanding tragedy with a reputation for leaving audiences fighting for breath. In this new production the harsh subject matter is well served by its cast, but the power of the script is mitigated by a lack of sharp direction that keeps us squarely in acting school territory.

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THEATRE

Strings Attached

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Penny Plain, by Ronnie Burkett, Place des Arts to April 21

by Kallee Lins
14.04.2012

Stock markets closing down, world-wide meat contamination, and the absence of life in No. 10 Downing Street set the stage for the end of the world. Penny Plain, blind but with unwavering commitment to the small joys of cultured living, decides to wait out in her armchair.

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THEATRE

Art mineur

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Les Peintres de charbon, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe

by Mélanie Grondin
12.04.2012

Que ce soit un urinoir signé ou des boîtes de conserve pleines de merde, presque tout peut être qualifié d’« art » de nos jours. Surtout si cet art est créé par un artiste reconnu ou qu’il est exposé dans un musée. En fait la question « qu’est-ce que l’art? » se pose-t-elle encore vraiment? La question ne serait-elle [...]

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