I’m all in on FOX’s new sports drama about the first woman to play Major League Baseball. There’s something about the recipe of non-procedural, non-genre, non-soap dramas that network TV hasn’t gotten right in years outside of the work of Jason Katims. Creator Dan Fogelman has offered up two possible solutions this fall and, though […]
Filament Incubator is presenting 8 plays in 8 months, creating opportunities for young playwrights to get their work on its feet and in front of an audience. The ambition of that is remarkable and, no matter the merit of any particular production in said slate, it’s an overall extremely impressive feat. It therefore pains me […]
Little Night Music All I knew about A Little Night Music going in was “Send in the Clowns”, arguably the crown jewel of Sondheim’s canon. It would have been best to leave it that way. It turns out that Hugh Wheeler’s book has none of the subtle ache or bittersweet poetry of the musical’s standout […]
NBC’s new family drama This Is Us is being marketed as the new Parenthood. The fact that Parenthood had to die so this could live has to be one of the great tragedies of the modern television age. Where that show was honest and nuanced, this one is contrived and obvious. Naturalistic dialogue is replaced […]
How? Why? What? Literally, though, HOW?! Does Kevin James have illicit photos of the CBS top brass? Is there a curse on Erinn Hayes? Is it possible this has been on a shelf for ten years and CBS only pulled it out because hackers erased all of their 2016 pilots leaving them with nothing to […]
Friday night, Bad Dog Theatre Company premiered the first two new formats in their fall season: Past Dark and La Grande Jatte. Because the improv company’s Bloor West theatre offers the best deal in town (see an additional show for only $5!), I stayed for the 11pm performance of fan favourite Network Notes as well. […]
Written and directed by SNL‘s recently promoted co-head writer Chris Kelly, Other People follows misanthropic struggling writer David (Jesse Plemons) in the final year of his mother’s life. We first meet Joanne (Molly Shannon in the performance of her career) applying makeup for a New Years Eve party that’s raging downstairs without her. She has […]
All My Sons This Arthur Miller drama feels a-typical for the company that’s made its name on Shakespeare and its money on musicals. Though modern drama isn’t Stratford’s usual racket, Martha Henry’s smartly cast and emotionally wrought production might be the best thing at the festival this year (well, maybe second to Breath of Kings: […]