La Cage aux Folles is a wonderful story of acceptance. “We are what we are” is the message: Don’t judge your family and those who love you the most, just love them back unconditionally. And while this show tugs at your emotions and comes packaged with lessons well worth remembering, it is also a hilarious comedy.

Born as a French play, La Cage aux Folles later became a French movie. Then Harvey Fierstein rewrote it as a musical and it opened first on Broadway in 1984. An American English language movie was created, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. The Broadway musical has been revived twice, most recently with Kelsey Grammar in one of the lead roles, and has won many Tony awards.  In all these incarnations, the funny, touching story has been the constant.

Georges owns La Cage aux Folles, a drag queen night club on the French Riviera, where his long-time partner, Albin, stars as the diva Zsa Zsa. They are surprised when Georges’ son, Jean-Michel tells them he is marrying Anne, the daughter of a politician who is notorious for his inflexible stance on conservative family and morality issues. Jean-Michel has invited Anne’s straight-laced and strict parents over to meet his parents, and tells Albin he can’t be present, preferring that his birth mother, who has been absent in his life, be on hand, to pretend that his parents are happily married and not involved with the night club. Of course, Albin, who raised Jean-Michel, is heartbroken. Then the pretence crumbles with comedic twists and turns.

Neptune Theatre’s production does justice to the endearing and witty plot, enhancing it with excellent singing and dancing. Steven Gallagher as Albin-slash-Zsa Zsa captures and keeps our attention throughout the show. Gallagher is great fun as the diva but he also tugs at our heartstrings when he is excluded by his family. When he belts “I am what I am” at the end of Act I, there is not a dry eye in the house.

The Cagelles, six young men in full drag, are amazing singers and dancers. Credit goes to choreographer Mike Jackson for his excellent work with this group. From can-can kicks to splits, the dancing is first-rate. Grown men in high heels, they are smooth on their feet: Chad McNamara, Erik Markewich, Devin Herbert, Joel Taylor and Andrew Taylor, with special mention to Zak Kearns for his back flips in heels!

David Lopez is an audience favourite as Jacob, the family’s butler who really wants to be a maid, and longs for the day he can go on stage with the Cagelles. Lopez provides the comedy with his quirky moves and sassy attitude. Ian Simpson as Georges and Chris Zonneville as Jean-Michel both bring rich singing voices to their roles.

The costumes are extraordinary: the Cagelles change frequently into various styles with sparkle and glitter. I particularly enjoyed the can-can costumes, with the old-fashion bonnets, ruffled pinafores under their dresses, and to complete the look, there were even lacy ruffles on each derriere. The Cagelles have a fabulous wardrobe, from ball gowns to bikinis in the style of synchronized swimmers.

One final note: My son, Thomas Alderson, is swing and understudy in this production. A swing is a dancer who can cover any of the dancers should they have illness or injury. He is swing for the six Cagelles, plus understudies two other roles. At this writing he has performed once, but I did not see him on stage when I attended two performances during my Halifax visit. While I was sorry not to see him perform, I am glad to report that the entire cast is healthy and happy! And even though I encouraged them to “break a leg”, no one has…

La Cage aux Folles continues at The Neptune Theatre in Halifax until May 27. For tickets, go to www.neptunetheatre.com.

Photo Credits: thank you to www.theChronicleHerald.ca  — Joel, Chad, Zak, Erik. 

La Cage aux Folles
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
Directed by George Pothitos
Choreographed by Mike Jackson
Musical direction by Patrick Burwell
Performed by Steven Gallagher, Ian Simpson et al.
Neptune Theatre, Halifax
April 10 to May 27, 2012
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

Halifax

I get a kick out of being a tourist – I grew up near Grand Bend, the tourist capital of the Lake Huron shoreline (I was going to say Southern Ontario, but it’s not quite as touristry as Niagara Falls.) I spent my summers at various jobs waiting on tourists, and let’s face it; some of those tourists were not good customers. So I vowed to be a good tourist whenever I travelled.

Now, at my day job, I work with for an association of economic developers and I know how valuable tourism is to the local economy. By night, I like to support theatre whenever I can – theatre is a wonderful tourist attraction, with spin-off benefits for restaurants, bars and even ice cream shops. So, I had great fun being a tourist in Halifax last week.

We went to Halifax to see La Cage aux Folles at the Neptune Theatre. As a “friend of theatre” I always tell anyone who will listen that I am there to see a show – they need to know the part theatre plays in tourist attraction. So I talk to desk clerks, servers, retail sales people, tour guides, everyone, telling them I am a tourist and I was drawn to their town by their theatre. I love the look on their faces when I say “I just came from Ontario to see a show at the Neptune.”

In Halifax, everyone I talked to was aware of the Neptune Theatre, but alas, servers and desk clerks hadn’t been to shows there. I took the opportunity to tell them that the Neptune has rush seats at a lower price available a half hour before show time. I hope some of them will take advantage. Some folks I talked to had seen La Cage and were raving about it. And even those who hadn’t seen the show told me that they heard it was the best show the Neptune has ever done.

That inspired me to do a “Best” list – for Halifax tourists:

- Best musical ever at the Neptune, and likely in Halifax: La Cage aux Folles.

- Best seafood chowder and yummy lunches: McKelvie’s “delishes fishes dishes”

- Best Room: At the Waverley Inn on Barrington where we stayed, which was once occupied by Oscar Wilde in 1882 – how appropriate when we were there to see La Cage! Oscar would have approved, I’m sure.

- Best scenic lighthouse on a rock: Peggy’s Cove.

- Best tour guide: Richard at the Maritime Marine Museum, who knew more facts about the Titantic then James Cameron, and could easily point out all of Cameron’s errors! Richard is a great story teller, and while he amused us with many stories, he didn’t let us forget about the tragedy.

- Best art exhibit: small sketches by each member of the Group of Seven in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

- Best Oreo Cookie Cheesecake: at a martini bar called “The Bitter End” – one might not expect desserts there!

- Best Big Bang: The canon at the Citadel on the top of Halifax’s hill, which blasts each day at noon hour.

- Best fresh fruit: Pete’s Frootique (of CBC fame) but we didn’t get to the farmers’ market down on the pier, so I really can’t compare…. Anyway, the staff at Pete’s were cooperative and helpful, even in the Mother’s Day rush.

- Best historic pub: The Henry House, just a few doors down from the Waverley Inn. Dinner was good too, but we were interested in the building and its first owner, one of the Fathers of Confederation, William Alexander Henry.

- Best restaurant with a view: Murphy’s right down on the wharf over the water – where we saw a gorgeous sunset over the MacDonald Bridge and beautiful reflections on the harbour.

- Best city drivers: When it comes to giving the pedestrian the right of way, Halifax drivers are the best. They stop for jay-walkers every time. Even when you’re just standing there trying to figure out where you are, a driver will stop, just in case you might step off the curb.

Brian rocked the place with all his old favourites – The Kids Wanna Rock, Summer of ’69, Cuts Like a Knife, Run to You, and my favourite, Everything I do (I do it for you) from the movie Robin Hood. Now in his fifties, Brian was full of energy and along with his long-time guitar player, Keith Scott, he had the crowd with him all evening.

Johnny is also full of energy, bouncing through the entire show. A Scottish-Canadian, he charms the audience with his hint of an accent. He even danced his way around the entire arena, singing the whole time, shaking hands and hugging as many fans as he could. In fact, he flirted with every woman and girl in the audience. Dancing Shoes, Let’s have a Party, Right out of the Blue and Let’s Go Higher were on his set list and he often invited the audience to sing along which they did with gusto. Fire it Up, complete with pyrotechnics, was also a crowd pleaser.

Both Bryan and Johnny are great entertainers with an instinct for giving the crowd what they want. They are also brilliant song-writers. And they both know how to make the most of those raspy voices.

London Free Press photo

Suede vests with long fringe, head bands, psychedelic colours, bell-bottoms with bandanas tied at the knees, huge Afros, and long hair….Hair. The costumes and wigs at the Grand Theatre’s production of Hair will transport anyone old enough to recall right back to the sixties.

I can remember when long hair was considered the root of all evil: some of my male classmates in high school were kicked out because their hair touched their shoulders, and they were told they couldn’t return to class until they had gone to the barber. It now seems (as it did to many of us back then) such a silly thing to anger school principals. But the older generation’s hatred of long hair spawned the musical Hair, which pointed out that there were many things of greater concern: racism, gender inequality, pollution, violence and war.

Even today, Hair’s revolutionary concepts require a caveat. At Friday night’s opening, Director Susan Ferley gave the audience a warning – the f-word would be used liberally: she said it would be a “noun, adjective, adverb, expletive, and on one occasion, used as a verb”. She also warned that there would be nudity. Nobody got up and walked out. I think the Grand’s over-55 crowd is well aware of Hair’s reputation – we giggled about it back in 1968.

Hair is the story of one “tribe” of hippies in the sixties. They tuned-in, turned-on, and then dropped out of the rigid society of their parents. It’s a celebration of sexual freedom and mind-expanding drugs, while at the same time condemning war, prejudice, and hatred. But the show cleverly contradicts itself as well: the “free love” ends up hurting those who aren’t loved in return, Jeanie’s pregnancy makes us fear for the baby’s future, and Claude decides to go fight in the unwarranted war. The celebration of the drug culture just makes us laugh at the stupidity of the stoners.

It is wonderful to see four Londoners in the young cast: Rebecca Peters is delightful as Crissy and her solo “Frank Mills” is beautiful, almost a show stopper. Western University opera grad Jennifer Kee is Sheila, and sings the hits “Easy to be Hard” and “Good Morning Starshine”. Sara Hunter is very convincing as the pregnant Jeanie, and pulls our heartstrings with her lost love, while Jazz Testolini’s smile lights up the ensemble.

Andrew McAllister steals the scene as Margaret Mead, providing the show’s comedy. He and Jess Abramovitch also draw the laughs as the parents who expect Claude to join the army when his draft card arrives.

Jamie McKnight as Claude plays the stoned hippie very well, and shows off his wonderful vocal talent. In fact, he’s so convincing as a hippie, that it’s hard to believe he doesn’t burn his draft card, and we never understand his motivation for going to fight in Viet Nam.

Don’t go to see Hair expecting a nostalgia trip with the music. The orchestra lacked the sixties rock ‘n’ roll sound, and in fact the Broadway version of the familiar songs are different than what we were used to hearing on the radio. If you love Three Dog Night’s rendition of “Easy to Hard” then the Hair version will be disappointing as the tune is slightly different and doesn’t pack the same power. Similarly, the song Hair is not the same as the Cowsills’ hit that we all love so well, nor does Good Morning Starshine sound like Oliver’s version. Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In is not the familiar Fifth Dimensions style. But despite the original Hair musical score not being the same as the hits we heard on the radio so long ago, you can still bask in memories of 1968.

Hair
Book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado
Directed by Susan Ferley
Choreographed by Tim French
Musical direction by Jeannie Wyse
Grand Theatre, London
April 10 to May 13, 2012
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

Hair continues at the Grand Theatre, London until May 13. Tickets are available at the Grand box office at 672-8800 or 1-800-265-1593 or visit www.grandtheatre.com.

Had great fun at the 4th Annual Big Comedy Go-To in London. Billed as a colossal collision of Sketch, Improv, Stand-Up, Monologue, Music and Comic Theatre in The Heart of Downtown London, it provides lots of laugh-out-loud good times.

I had the pleasure of seeing the comedy duo Peter ‘n’ Chris perform at The Arts Project on Saturday afternoon. They are Canada’s answer to “Flight of the Conchords”, doing crazy sketch comedy. Chris Wilson, the Chris in Peter ‘n’ Chris, is the son of my good friend Susie (Schlegel) Wilson who grew up with me near Grand Bend. Chris was born and raised in Victoria, B.C. and now makes Vancouver his home and comedy headquarters.

The pair writes and performs their own material, and does their own sound effects. They have a repertoire of a few one hour pieces and about 100 short sketches. I saw their show entitled Peter ‘n’ Chris and the Mystery of the Hungry Heart Motel. Spoiler alert: The Hotel Manager did it. We know that for sure as the show starts and yet we’re still captivated by the mystery. Peter and Chris tell us that they are solving mysteries just like the Hardy Boys (or was that Nancy Drew they were emulating?) and off they go. They have 2 wooden boxes on stage that can be a car, a bed or anything else they need. The show is a hilarious spoof with similarities to the Bates Motel.

The laughter continues throughout the show and audience at The Arts Project was very appreciative, having a wonderful time.

Peter ‘n’ Chris travel across Canada performing at comedy events and fringe festivals, winning awards for their great entertainment. These two young men are well on their way to Second City or Saturday Night Live, with excellent writing skills and great comedic timing.

All the original band members are still together – yes, they broke up during the 80’s, but reunited in the 90’s and have been singing and playing together ever since. It may be, as it says in one of their later recordings, that it “sure beats working”.

The group began in the 60’s with six members – they did the bar scene in Alberta and then moved to Toronto to try to make it big. When three members of the band left, the trio of Kim Berley, Ronnie King and Rich Dodson carried on. “Carry Me” was successful across Canada, and then in 1972 “Sweet City Woman” became a hit across North America, then spread around the world.

Today, they put on a great show, mixing those golden oldies with later creations. Kim Berley (born Kim Meyers) plays the drums and sings the beautiful ballads with a soaring voice. He amazes the audience with the ability to give full energy to the drums and still have a powerful voice, never losing his breath. Ronnie King (who during the show refers to himself by his original Dutch name Cornelis Van Sprang) entertains the crowd with humour, and has the voice for the rockin’ numbers. He plays bass in the first act, and switches to lead guitar for a few numbers in act two. He even does an impersonation of his friend, the late great Wolfman Jack. Rich Dodson has nimble fingers on the guitar and a great voice. All three blend their voices for excellent harmonies, sounding really sweet, despite all the jokes about aging!

Hits include “Devil You”, “Then Came the White Man”, “Wild Eyes”, and audience participation with “Hit the Road, Jack”. Their repertoire comprises hard rock, beautiful ballads, love songs and protest songs. A great night out, a wonderful nostalgia trip – makes you feel like a sweet city woman!

Bill Hall as Aldolpho, Ceris Thomas as The Drowsy Chaperone

If you love musical theatre, and you have a good sense of humour about being a musical theatre geek, you’ll enjoy The Drowsy Chaperone, now running at the Palace Theatre in London. An exceptionally good production for community theatre, this show spoofs the old genre of musicals.

An all-Canadian show, The Drowsy Chaperone has an interesting history. Originally written by their friends, it was performed for Bob Martin and Janet Van de Graaf as a wedding gift. From that performance for family and friends Bob Martin and Don McKellar re-worked it, and the Chaperone made its way to the Toronto Fringe.  There it caught the attention of David Mirvish. After a run in Toronto, it went to Broadway, with the incomparable Sutton Foster starring as Janet.

I was fortunate enough to see it later in Toronto when it went on tour, with Bob Martin himself playing the Man in Chair. Also in that cast was Georgia Engel (best known as Georgette, Ted’s girlfriend/wife on the old Mary Tyler Moore show) in the role of Mrs. Tottendale. It was a hilarious production.

So I was delighted to see it now in London – it is one show where “over-the-top” is the way to go. This cast pushes it beyond the limit, enjoying themselves as zany sterotypes, and the audience on opening night ate it up. Credit goes to director Rick Smith for letting them be extreme and making it work.

A musical within a play, this story has a couple of secondary plots and allows a musical theatre nerd to enjoy the show on various levels. An apparently lonely man sits in his chair in his tiny apartment, going through his old collection of record albums, putting a favourite musical on his old record player. He narrates the story, telling the audience about this particular old musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, explaining bits of the plot and critiquing it between songs. He also fills us in the actors playing the roles, giving us juicy tidbits of celebrity gossip of the day. As the record plays, the characters he describes come to life right there in his living room. They crawl out of his Murphy bed, walk in through his fridge and even dance on his countertop.

Donald D’Haene is a natural as Man in Chair. We believe him when he says he is feeling a little anxious, which makes him sad to feel anxiety at his age, which in turn makes him feel blue. The cure? Listen to some old musicals on the record player. D’Haene is delightful as he watches the musical unfold in his kitchen, especially when he gets up and dances with the characters who of course, are oblivious to his presence.

Jonathan Gysbers as Robert Martin, the groom, shows off his strong vocal and tap dancing talent in the number Cold Feets. Duane Woods as Best Man George joins in the lively tap dance. Christine McKeon is excellent as Janet Van de Graaf, the lovely bride. She excels in “I don’t want to Show Off no more”, giving an excellent demonstration of her song and dance talent, along with many other entertaining skills.

Ceris Thomas is perfect as the drunken, drowsy Chaperone, with her rousing anthem “As we Stumble Along”. Her suitor, Adolpho, played hilariously by Bill Hill, provides many of the laughs with his melodramatic moves. Other audience favourites are the gangsters/pastry chefs Matthew J. Stewart and Sam Shoebottom. Mrs. Tottendale (Kathryn MacDonald) and her Underling (Jordan Henry), along with Feldzieg (Chris Wood) and Kitty (Alana Rapacz) also add to the fun. Angela Southern shows strong vocals as Trix the Aviatrix to wrap up the show.

Martin and McKellar have written a clever satire of old musicals, but only a musical theatre aficionado can truly appreciate it. If you regularly go to musical theatre, and you enjoy a hoot, take in this production at the Palace this week. There are many laugh-out-loud moments.

The Drowsy Chaperone continues at the Palace Theatre, London until April 1. For tickets, call the Palace Theatre box office at 519-432-1029 or visit www.palacetheatre.ca.

The Drowsy Chaperone
Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar
Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Directed by Rick Smith
Choreographed by Laura Wood
Musical direction by Andrew Rethazi
Performed by Donald D’Haene, Christine McKeon, Jonathan Gysbers, Bill Hill, Jordan Henry, Duane Woods, Matthew J. Stewart, Sam Shoebottom, Ceris Thomas, et al.
Musical Theatre Productions, Palace Theatre, London
March 23 to April 1, 2012
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

By Robert Chafe
Directed by Jillian Keiley
Performed by Deidre Gillard-Rowlings, Darryl Hopkins, Willow Kean, Robert Wyatt Thorne.
Theatre Newfoundland Labrador Production
The Grand Theatre, London
March 13 to March 31
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

Newfoundland’s Florence Nightingale

A century of service along the coast of Newfoundland comes to life on the stage of London’s Grand Theatre, by way of Cornerbrook. The production of Tempting Providence, from Theatre Newfoundland Labrador is educating the rest of Canada, telling the true story of a heroine.

Nurse Myra travels from England to take on a two year contract as a nurse, providing the sole source of medical help to Newfoundlanders up and down the unforgiving coast line. She delivers babies, extracts teeth, and even prevents miscarriages. She marries Angus Bennett and stays on, continuing as a nurse, leaving Angus to manage the household and look after their baby.

The cast – a foursome who are all on the stage for the entire show – are all excellent. Deirdre Gillard-Rowlings shows us the tough and dedicated Nurse Bennett while giving us a glimpse of her vulnerability, and Darryl Hopkins is charming her husband Angus. Willow Kean plays an assortment of neighbours and patients, and provides much of the humour in the production with her delightful Newfie accent. Robert Wyatt Thorne covers the role of Angus’ brother Alex as well as young boys and patients.

Angus narrates the endearing story – it includes determination, love and comedy. The audience is enamoured by Nurse’s strong spirit. But we see her softer side when lives are lost, or when Angus falls in love with her. She believes she is marrying because it is the practical thing to so, but we see the love grow between the couple. And despite the bleak, rugged setting, and demanding, discouraging work that Nurse is doing, her story is still infused with humour.

In one funny scene, a boy (Wyatt Thorne) has been walking on a fence and taken a fall into a straddling position. His mother, (Kean) smacks him on the side of the head for his foolish behaviour, while the all-business nurse tries to examine the patient who is overwhelmed with embarrassment.

Nurse tries to become more domesticated, knowing that she needs to bake bread and darn socks to keep a husband happy. After her attempts at baking, her neighbour, Mary, with some quick head bobs, tells her, “Your bread is fine. (pause) It will be better with time.”

The set is minimal: a table and four chairs with a white table cloth. They are used constantly to represent various things. The table becomes bed, or a wall, or even a house. The chairs are a boat, a crib, a backpack, a cradle, a stall, and sleigh. And the table cloth can be a blanket, a shawl, a wedding gown, and when twisted firmly, a baby.

The movement of the chairs and table as they morph into other objects is carefully choreographed. The table cloth is flapped and folded with great care to become numerous props. In the beginning, it was fascinating to see all the pieces evolve into other things. But as the show went on, it became a little tiresome – we knew that a change was coming. At times the flourish of the movement of chairs or the folding and rolling of the cloth almost became distractions, pulling us away from the story being told.

Nevertheless, it is a wonderful piece of theatre. The story of Myra Bennett is fascinating Newfoundland lore – and, thanks to Newfoundland joining confederation in Nurse’s lifetime, now the rest of us can claim the play as Canadiana. Myra Bennett lived to be 100 years old, passing away in 1990, but not before she received many honours for her lifetime of dedication to the folks of her adopted land.

Tempting Providence continues at the Grand Theatre, London until March 31. Tickets are available at the Grand box office at 672-8800 or 1-800-265-1593 or visit www.grandtheatre.com.

Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford
In association with the Handspring Puppet Company
Original direction by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris
National Theatre of Great Britain Production with Mirvish
Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto
Opened February 28, with tickets on sale to September 30, 2012
Reviewed by Mary Alderson

Horses star in World War I Epic

The horses are the stars of the show in War Horse, currently running at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. The audience is in awe of the large animals, hooves pounding across the stage and down the theatre aisles. We actually have to stop and remind ourselves – these are not real horses – it takes three actors to bring these giant puppets to life.

I confess that I wasn’t an immediate fan of the horse puppets. Joey, the horse at the centre of the story, first comes on stage as a young foal. Because he’s small, the operators aren’t underneath him as they are with the full-grown horses. So the hind leg operator just followed the foal around, making the legs trot and gallop. Having worked at a riding stable as a kid, I was very uncomfortable with this image. No one stands close behind a foal: those hooves can fly up without warning and pack a powerful punch.

But once Joey grows up, there are two operators underneath the horse frame and one walking or running along beside the horse, operating his head. Soon, he became invisible, as did the human legs under the horse. The swish of the tail, the toss of the mane, the prancing hooves, and the heaving torso as the horse breathes are amazingly realistic. It is truly riveting to see a full grown man jump on the horse’s back and ride him.

The horses are life-sized, carefully crafted frames. Despite seeing the frame and the fake mane and tail, they seem so real. But before I was totally convinced, I wondered why they didn’t cover the frame with a hide-like fabric and then the horses would have been completely believable from the beginning. I assume the audience needs to know they are fake so that we can truly appreciate the operators’ work.

War Horse originally opened in London, England in 2007 and moved to the West End in 2009. Then it opened on Broadway last year, where it took the Tony for the best play along with 4 other Tony awards. The Toronto production opened February 28.

The story was originally told in a novel for youth, with Joey, the horse, as the narrator. It’s a wonderful tale about a boy named Albert raising and training a horse, only to have his father sell it to the cavalry to fight in World War I. Albert follows Joey off to war, but the two go through many of the horrors of war before they are reunited.

On stage, the war is depicted with stunning devastation. A strip of torn paper, matching the paper bearing a sketch of Joey that Albert carries with him, hangs across the stage. Various images of Europe in 1914 and the destruction of war are projected onto the paper. The horse puppets, lighting, projected images and costumes put the audience directly into World War I. They make this show magnificent and compelling.

However, on occasion, the actors didn’t live up to the high standards of this production, and my main concern is with their voices. Accents were used intermittently, and often difficult to understand. British, French and German accents seemed to fade in and out for no reason – at first I thought they ceased using an accent when there was a language barrier and other people on stage weren’t supposed to understand the speaker’s language, but that was not consistent. As well, almost everyone shouted all the time. Of course, in a war zone, one needs to shout. But again, my early work at a riding stable tells me that one doesn’t yell around horses, and in fact when training a young horse, you get a lot further talking softly.

Nevertheless it is still a remarkable play and I would highly recommend it for the poignant story (take along your Kleenex) and the fantastic production value with the amazing horses.

If you’re interested in how the actors bring the horses to life – The Globe and Mail posted this sketch of how the horses work:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/horsepower-the-war-horse-puppets-and-puppeteers/article2342366/?from=2342124

War Horse continues at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto. Tickets are available www.mirvish.com or call TicketKing at 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333.

Borrowing an idea from Broadway, Mirvish is now offering Lottery Tickets. Enter your name in a draw 2 hours before the performance, and then at 1.5 hours before the performance, they will pick names. Those lucky people get to purchase a seat for only $25. (Usual ticket prices range from $70 to $130.)

Drayton Entertainment is once again reaching out to the community to involve local youth in its season opening production of The Wizard of Oz, which runs from June 4th through June 23rd at the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend.

An Open Audition will be held on Sunday, March 25th at the Huron Country Playhouse to cast boys and girls in grades five through ten to play the part of the munchkins in one of the greatest family musicals of all time.

Younger performers, ages 8 through 11, are asked to arrive to audition at 12:30 p.m. Older youth performers, ages 12 through 15, are asked to arrive beginning at 2:30 p.m. through 4:30 p.m. No appointments are necessary, however the aspiring young performers should be prepared to sing “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”. Performance experience is an asset, but not required. A passion for theatre is the only prerequisite!

Hopeful munchkins are asked to bring a recent photo and resume of any theatrical productions that they have been involved with (school choirs, dance schools, etc.).

Wanted: Annie!

Sing "Tomorrow"

Do you know a young girl with her sights set on the stage? Award-winning Drayton Entertainment is now accepting video submissions for its much-anticipated production of the hit family musical Annie, which runs at three locations during the 2012 Season: May 29th through June 23rd at the King’s Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene; August 15th through September 1st at the Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend; and November 13th through December 23rd at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse.

In order to allow as many young girls as possible to have the opportunity to be considered for the coveted role of the infamous red-headed orphan, Drayton Entertainment is accepting video submissions from now until Friday, March 23rd.

Aspiring young actresses across Ontario are invited to record a video of themselves singing the memorable song “Tomorrow” and send it to the Drayton Entertainment casting team by following the easy step-by-step instructions outlined on www.draytonentertainment.com.

The submission process is open to girls ages 9-14 years. No theatre experience is necessary, but enthusiasm and spirit are required! The actress cast in the role of Annie must be available for rehearsals and performances at all three venue locations.