Theatre

In Goethe-inspired opera, a fatal attraction

Opera of Montreal Shortly after the curtain rises on Opera of Montreal’s production of Werther, a young boy wheels a bicycle across the stage, laughing and carousing with his friends. The bicycle remains onstage through the first act, occasionally pedaled by the boy but mostly left in a corner, untouched[Read More…]

The Tempest

Many of the films that will be contending in this year’s Academy Awards were released during the holiday season. For this reason, we bring you a rundown of the best movies from December 2010 that you should be sure to catch in theatres before school starts taking over.

Don’t cheat on the queen

Sophie Silkes  As a broke college student, attending an opera can be jarring and strange: spectators are dressed to the nines, songs are sung in languages most of us don’t understand, actors are wearing over-the-top costumes, and melodramatic stories are being unfurled before us. But if you suspend your cynicism,[Read More…]

The show about writing a show

Something about musical theatre is inherently ridiculous. It has to do with the fact that, whenever you see people singing onstage, you can’t help but notice that you’re watching a performance. As Julien Silverman and Dane Stewart point out in their director’s note, there is a long-standing tradition of “self-reference[Read More…]

Beauty and its discontents

Adam Scotti “I like what I got, and I’m gonna protect that. Wouldn’t you?” After Steph finds out that her boyfriend Greg has just called her face “regular,” she delivers the play’s first monologue, in which she explains why, though still clearly in love with Greg, she had to go[Read More…]

Leaping and soaring to Chopin

I have only experienced a few perception-altering performances in my life, and Friday night’s National Ballet performance of Marie Chouinard’s 24 Preludes by Chopin and Crystal Pite’s Emergence was one of them. Prior to the performance, I was certain I was not a person who could enjoy contemporary ballet. I[Read More…]

Opera de Montreal explores the dark price of laughter

Opera de Montreal’s season-opening production of Rigoletto’s famous tunes, virile tenor solos, rousing choruses, lavish costumes, and talented cast are well worth the price of admission.   Spectators will be rewarded with a dark, compelling fable of comedy and fate. Rigoletto is the hunchbacked, misanthropic jester in the court of[Read More…]

Oinking out the Laughs in Fat Pig

Offering a refreshing but often all-too-realistic presentation of human nature, Fat Pig is a new play to come from Montreal’s Through Line Productions and Theatre Sainte Catherine. Written by film director, playwright, and screenwriter Neil LaBute-best known for In the Company Of Men, and Nurse Betty with Reneé Zellweger-the script is an unforgiving portrayal of society’s vain obsession with looks and body types.

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