I have just one rule about adaptations and that one rule makes or breaks my assessment of said adaptation’s worth, every time. I need there to be a reason it’s been adapted. In adapting Victor Hugo’s novel into the Schönberg & Boublil musical, Les Miserables gains the group-think momentum of a rousing war anthem and the haunting ache […]
To celebrate the home entertainment release of the most serious filmmaking Michael Bay has ever attempted, Paramount Home Distribution has given us a copy of the newly released 13 hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Combo to give away to one lucky reader. Gangly Office cutiepie John Krasinski bulked up like crazy to play a soldier in […]
From June 29 to July 10, seven of our Toronto staffers- Kelly Bedard, Duncan Derry, Kymberley Feltham, Lisa McKeown, Beth McNeil, Lorenzo Pagnotta and Whitney Richards- reviewed 100+ plays in this year’s Fringe Festival. Special thanks to the Fringe Staff & Volunteers (especially Will King in the press office who handled all our ticket requests) […]
Two classics- one British, one American- both, in their way, about growing up and letting go. They both feature real-life couples as their young lovers and both are currently playing on the Royal George stage. That usually would be where the comparison ends but, for her production of Shaw’s contemplation of the worth of women, […]
Back in March, the great and wildly underrated Artemis Pebdani won the MyTV Award for Outstanding Guest Actress for her role as refreshingly un-corruptible politician Susan Ross on Scandal. With the dramatic fifth season (and *spoiler alert* Susan’s run for president) wrapped, Artemis took a few moments to answer our burning questions about Scandal, her […]
It’s tempting to criticize Peter Hinton’s new adaptation of Alice in Wonderland for its emptiness. There is no real story, no great moral, no particular meaning, not even a coherent character to invest in beyond Tara Rosling’s cute but fairly blank-slate Alice. That feels like a flaw of the production but, let’s just be honest, […]
Jojo is a pretty generic Bachelorette. She’s approachable, fun, pretty and easy to root for but she doesn’t really stand out in any particular way. She doesn’t have Andi’s intelligence or Ashley’s endearing vulnerability, she’s more predictable than Ali and she gives way more fucks than Kaitlyn. She does, however, run circles around Des so […]
Set in Newfoundland in 1985, director Jillian Keiley’s production of Shakespeare’s irresistible pastoral is simple, lighthearted and creative. A bare stage gets its sense of place from the actors (designer Bretta Gerecke‘s comical ’80s costuming, accents of varying effectiveness) and the audience. The crowd is armed with grab bags full of participatory aids like bleating […]