Summer for most people is time for pools and barbecues and baseball. And, don’t get me wrong, I both adore and partake in all of those things. But, for me, what makes summer what it is (beyond those iconic Marine Land ads that mark the beginning and end of the season) is theatre. There’s the […]
At first glance, ABC’s bizarre new alien sitcom The Neighbors is abismal. So, as I try to do with shows I hate on contact, I gave it an extra week to grow on me. And, for the first time since I implemented that policy, it actually did grow on me. I wouldn’t go all the way […]
Tom Stoppard’s absurd Hamlet spinoff is beloved among my particular demographic of friends who are really into Hamlet, Gary Oldman (who starred in the movie version), and wacky British things like Doctor Who. I am not one of these people, I just hang out with lots of these people and find them exhausting. Despite this, […]
Omar Vizquel has barely taken the field in his one season with the Toronto Blue Jays, but at last night’s final game of the season, even the thousands of displaced hockey fans who had never heard of the man knew they were in the presence of a legend. 24 years in the major leagues, 11 […]
This is a very weird year in Stratford because most of the really good productions are musicals. North America’s most prominent Shakespeare company usually does fine musicals and great Shakespeare, but Pirates of Penzance and Wanderlust are two of the only highlights of this season (Charlie Brown is good, but not a standout). I was […]
Fox’s extra Tuesday comedy is fine. It’s cute, it’s good for the occasional chuckle and sympathetic quirk. But that’s about it. The reason I call Ben & Kate Fox’s “extra” Tuesday comedy is that it’s programmed alongside New Girl, The Mindy Project and Raising Hope in what I think is the strongest comedy block on […]
First a story: My dad doesn’t like Charlie Brown; he finds him depressing, and this is an argument we have every December when it’s time to pull out the old tape of Christmas specials. I love Charlie Brown and the whole Peanuts world (especially Lucy!). If I had to pick a Christmas special to call […]
Death of a Salesman is exactly the sort of piece that Soulpepper does brilliantly- intimate, personal, actor-driven, and a modern classic. The tight-knit company always fares well with family stories and any time you can cast the first couple of Soulpepper- Joseph Ziegler and Nancy Palk- as the parents at the centre of things, it’s […]