UPDATE: Tonight’s Bachelorette finale was, as Chris Harrison has been promising all season, a doozy. I was not expecting that. For one thing, when Chris Harrison says something is “the most dramatic ever”, it’s hardly ever true because he says it so damn often. But, really, the reason I didn’t believe this week would at […]
Mamet is a fantastic playwright; one of my favourites. His work is dark and invasive but also incredibly funny. In the right hands, Mamet can be extraordinary to watch or, rather, listen to. He writes in incomplete thoughts, long-winded musings, and abrupt expletives- essentially, he writes how we talk. At least the fast-talkers, he writes […]
I was really looking forward to Magic Mike. I used to think Channing Tatum was a bit of an oaf, but I started to come around when The Vow proved he can sell a love story, and I was fully on board after he knocked 21 Jump Street out of the comedic park. After that, […]
I’ve always loved Greg Berlanti’s work. He has a unique grasp on clever family drama and worthwhile character stories as well as never being afraid of honesty, whether it be in the form of grit, cheese, darkness or light. Though rarely a workplace-story writer, Berlanti has covered politics a lot before- with the late/great Jack […]
Next year, The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is getting a new Artistic Director. Antoni Cimolino isn’t actually all that new, he’s been with the festival for decades (remember when he played Romeo to Megan Follows’ Juliet?) and is currently its General Manager. But his promotion means a lot for where the festival is going. And, predictably, […]
This was a frustrating episode that I was prepared to mostly slam, but it ended with a beautiful sequence set to Coldplay’s ever-emotional “Fix You” that was everything the show is meant to be and I ended the hour bouncing with potential (mostly because of Don, but we’ll get to that). Let’s take this […]
This was a tough Fringe. On one hand, I did a terrible job of getting out to shows, only seeing 9 in total (plus whatever I take in at Best of Fringe). On the other hand, part of the reason I was so unenthused about long days of Fringing was that I wasn’t impressed with […]
Big-dreaming, well-intentioned Mirvish rival Dancap Productions is leaving Toronto in just a couple weeks after an inspiring but unprofitable 5-year run. Before they go, they have two big musicals taking stages uptown (Million Dollar Quartet– Toronto Centre for the Arts) and downtown (Beauty & The Beast– Four Seasons Centre). Neither is perfect but one is […]