INGÉNUE: DEANNA DURBIN, JUDY GARLAND AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD
Melanie Gall can sing, but she doesn’t know how to tell a story, so what starts out as a recital with some great insider dish devolves into a recital with narrative interruptions. The program promises an exploration of the relationship between Judy Garland and Deanna...
IN IRELAND WE RENTED A CAR FROM CRIMINALS
The story is about an American couple traveling in Ireland but, stylistically, this show has no idea where it’s going. Central characters Tom and Mary, who are married and middle-aged, rent a car and search County Clare for Mary’s ancestors in the graveyards and...
DESTINY, USA
Because it’s humble and autobiographical, some people might ignore Destiny, USA, but that would be a huge mistake: it’s one of the most skilful and moving shows I’ve ever seen at the Fringe. Laura Anne Harris is the sole live performer in this production of her...
Coriolanus: the despair looks familiar, but doesn’t feel it
What’s wrong with this production? For all of its physical beauty, why does it have about as much emotional impact as a video game? Well, the script is odd to start with — especially for Shakespeare. A warrior to the core, Coriolanus is happiest when slaughtering:...
Silence! The Musical: shut up!
Why, dear God? This production of Silence! The Musicalis a waste of talent. The musical is a parody of the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs. Quick reminder: in that movie, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is assigned to interview cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter...
The Drawer Boy belongs on the drawing board
***Guest review by David Johnston My editor would probably ask me to rewrite this review if I just made it the word “NO” in 128-point font, so let’s get through this as painlessly as possible. Farmer friends Morgan (Darcey Johnson) and Angus (James Gill) have their...
Superior Donuts: superior production
Superior Donuts is delicious. Set in 2008, Tracy Letts’s script is about the friendship between Arthur Przybyszewski, a white, second-generation Polish-American guy who runs a donut shop in the Uptown neighbourhood of Chicago, and Franco Wicks, an ebullient young...
Born Yesterday: a difficult birth but, finally, a healthy baby
Billie Dawn, the central character in Born Yesterday, may go down in history as the greatest bimbo of all time. I’ve watched the movie version of Born Yesterday over and over and there’s a small, sunlit temple in the inner reaches of my heart that’s dedicated to the...
Newsies: the news is it’s frickin’ fantastic
This show features some of the best musical-theatre choreography I’ve ever seen — and I’m gay and old, so I have seen a lot of musical theatre, my children. Newsies is based on an actual newsboys’ strike that took place in New York City in 1899. Publishers Joseph...
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