Theatre

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Mr. Paul Scofield

Posted by graemepowell under Movies, Radio, Theatre
[3] Comments 

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Goodness me, it seems The Culturatti is taking on a rather elegiac bent of late. Paul Scofield, one of my favourite actors, has died at the age of 86. While his passing is not as tragic as that of Anthony Minghella, it still strikes a melancholic chord.

Scofield made only a small number of films, as his true love was the theatre. Sadly, I will never see any of his theatrical performances, (aside from his Shakespeare outings, I would have loved to have seen him as Salieri in the first performance of Amadeus) so all I have of him to enjoy are images on celluloid. And his voice. What a voice! He was the narrator of a BBC Radio play about ancient Troy that I listened to several years ago. The drama was of the usual BBC standard, but Mr. Scofield’s voice was the highlight – the old cliché about great actors reading the phone book and making it enjoyable to listen to, is true in Scofield’s case. Actors like Alec Guiness and John Gielgud, or Lawrence Olivier, were undeniable masters of the craft, but Scofield’s voice possessed an other-worldliness, a certain timbre that was able to penetrate the soul. I can only imagine what it would have been like to hear it from the house at the Old Vic in London.

While he made few films, A Man For All Seasons still holds up as a powerful experience, and Scofield is wonderful in it. I think it rightly deserves its status as a classic, and it is hard to imagine anyone else as Sir Thomas More. Robert Redford’s Quiz Show features Scofield in a supporting role, but he’s very memorable. The scene in which Ralph Fiennes and he toss Shakespearian quotations back and forth at each other is a delight. John Frankenheimer’s The Train is also a cool bit of cinema, with Scofield playing a Nazi, and Burt Lancaster playing a member of the French Resistance (it works depsite Lancaster playing a member of the French Resistance).

It may seem funny to base an opinion of an actor on only a hand full of films and some radio work, but I think that only goes to serve how great an actor he was. His mark is indelible; he will be missed.
llewopemearg

 

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Crimes Of The Heart

Posted by graemepowell under Theatre
[3] Comments 

Crimes of the HeartIf you’re in the greater Port Perry area in the next two weekends, you’ll want to check out The Borelians’ latest production, Crimes of the Heart, by Beth Henley. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, and currently enjoying a revival in New York in a show directed by Kathleen Turner, Crimes of the Heart tells the story of the three Magrath sisters, Lenny, Meg and Babe. Reunited after a long absence when Babe shoots her husband (accidentally? on purpose?), the sisters certainly know how to put the fun in dysfunctional. The play is full of humour and heart-ache, and full of classic moments. Other characters, Doc Porter, cousin Chick, and the ‘nice-looking’ Barnette Lloyd, round out the cast.

Showtimes: Thursday 21, Friday 22 at 8:00 pm, and Saturday 23, 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. The show also runs the following weekend, from Thursday 28 to Saturday March 1.

Tickets are $18, with discounts for seniors and students.
llewopemearg

 

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The Nuit Blanche That Was

Posted by James17930 under Media, Museums/Galleries, Nightlife/Hot Spots, Theatre, Visual Arts
[3] Comments 

For anyone who didn’t make it to this year’s Nuit Blanche in Toronto (like me), here’s a cool slideshow from CBC.ca to give you an idea of what you missed.

Photo Credit: Lauren Krugel

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Sunday, August 12, 2007

Titillating

Posted by frenchie under Nightlife/Hot Spots, Theatre
1 Comment 

Titillating is not a word I use very often; it is, however, the perfect word to describe a burlesque show I recently attended, so I am using this opportunity to not only use it, but to also use it as the title of this entry.

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Friday, April 27, 2007

The Mystery of Thade Mansion

Posted by graemepowell under Theatre
[5] Comments 

 

Premiering Thursday, May 3, is a brand new murder mystery by Port Perry playwright, Dave Ellis. Think Agatha Christie meets Raymond Chandler. It’s 1938, and a group of Americans are all invited to the Thade Mansion in Buenos Aires. Their only connection: they were all key players in the sensational trial of wealthy Chicago industrialist Thomas Thade. But Thade died before the trial ended - so why have all these people been invited to the house of a dead man?  As the bodies begin to pile up, so do the clues, until all is revealed in a thrilling conclusion.

The Mystery of Thade Mansion is full of fun and interesting characters, loads of deaths, singing, dancing, and yeah, even a good ol’fashioned fight scene. Your humble blogger, is also one the stars, so if you’re in Port Perry the nights of May 3-5, or May 10-12, or the afternoons of the 5 and 12, swing on by the Port Perry Town Hall, and catch a world premiere extravaganza. Check out the official site at http://www.borelians.org/llewopemearg

 

Friday, February 9, 2007

Mr. Ian Richardson

Posted by graemepowell under Movies, Television, Theatre
No Comments 

House of Cards

Well, while it seems every other news agency in the world is talking about Anna Nicole Smith’s untimely demise (reviled and made fun of in life, pitied and made fun of in death), in the real world, a true artist and Shakesperian actor par excellence has passed away at the age of 72.

Ian Richardson was primarily a stage actor, having been among the original young actors drafted to form the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late-1950s. He played a variety of roles including Hamlet, an experience, he said, that “is so traumatic and scary that nothing you encounter again can ever equal it.”

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Notes From The Field

Posted by James17930 under Music, Theatre
No Comments 

The holiday season is upon us once again, and with it comes the usual slate of annual anxieties: harried, last-minute shopping excursions, figuring out what to re-gift and what to return, dinner with the in-laws, sifting through the New Year’s invites etc. It’s also a time of year-end wrap-ups, top-ten lists and talking heads pontificating on the preceding twelve months and on what the forthcoming twelve may have in store for us all.

We here at The Culturatti are, of course, members of this talking-heads fraternity, and are therefore obligated to fulfill our year-end duty of telling you what we thought was the best of this and best that in 2006.

Only problem is that I can’t really remember anything from before June. Before this site came to be, I wasn’t taking notes; therefore, I don’t feel qualified in undertaking a venture such as this. It’s possible Beal and graeme may have something up their sleeves, and if so I’ll leave it to them. What I can give you is a quick run-down of some events I attended recently and how they were significant. (more…)

 

Monday, October 16, 2006

Hay Fever

Posted by graemepowell under Theatre
1 Comment 

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Opening this Thursday, and running for two weeks, Borelians Community Theatre presents Noel Coward’s wonderfully silly masterpiece: Hay Fever.

Hay Fever, set in the glamourous world of 1920s England, tells the tale of the moody, impossibly artistic and ’slapdash’ Bliss family. The mother, Judith, is a famous actress, now retired, and her husband, David, writes the 1920s equivalent of Harlequin romances. Their children, Simon and Sorel, bicker and fight. Each member of the household, unbeknownst to the others, invites a guest to their country house for the weekend: Sandy, the hapless romantic, head over heels in love with Judith, Myra, who, to quote from the play, ‘uses sex as some kind of shrimping net’, the diplomatist Richard, and Jackie, the clueless flapper. However, the Bliss’s are the worst kind of hosts, as they act out their familial eccentricities, while the guest’s can only look on aghast and confused.

Coward’s writing is fast-paced and often hilarious. So, if you’re in Port Perry this weekend (October 19-21) or next (Oct 26-28) stop by the Town Hall at Queen and Simcoe to see the show. Or heck, why not make it a point to actually come to Port Perry to see the show - and check out the great shopping and dining while you’re there.

Evening performances are at 8, and two matinees on both Saturdays begin at 2. Tickets are $18 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, or $16 each if you buy a group rate of 10+. High school students with a valid ID can see the show for just $5! lle

llewopemearg

 

Monday, October 2, 2006

Ma Nuit Blanche

Posted by James17930 under Museums/Galleries, Music, Nightlife/Hot Spots, Theatre, Visual Arts
[2] Comments 

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I will without hesitation declare the first-ever Nuit Blanche Toronto an unmitigated success. I had been worried that the rain might keep people away, but by 10:00 (the festivities started at 7:00) the skies had cleared and thousands of people were flooding into the streets to take it all in. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, do some catch-up here.

Now, obviously with such a huge event — three ‘zones’ encompassing roughly an area from Davenport in the north to the Gardiner in the south, Jarvis in the east to Dufferin in the west — it’s impossible to see everything, and therefore I can only speak to my experience. But most of what I saw, and the energy this event created, I thought very impressive. (more…)

 

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Hang In There COC

Posted by James17930 under Theatre
No Comments 

Scene from Siegfried

I’m not a huge fan of opera. I’ve given it a couple tries, since I do really enjoy symphonic music, and of course music is a huge part of opera. But, for whatever reason, I wasn’t overly taken with either that I saw — Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Die Walküre. I’m not saying opera sucks or anything like that — it is really quite a bombastic and interesting form of theatre, but overall it isn’t for me. I’ll stick to the TSO.

That being said, I’m very interested in what’s going on right now at the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts here in Toronto. To commemorate the opening of this new opera house, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) decided to stage the largest and most elaborate opera-cycle ever written — Wagner’s full Ring Cycle. I won’t get into too much detail here about the operas — check out the above links for that — but as you can see, this is a huge undertaking, a huge event, and a huge opportunity for both the COC and the city of Toronto. (more…)

 

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