Mary’s Musings

St. Thomas’ favourite son Aaron Walpole started rehearsals last week for “Rock of Ages”. I had a chance to chat with Aaron about this show, which will begin previews April 20. “There will be mullets and big crimped hair,’ Aaron says with a laugh. It’s a show built around 1980s music. Aaron has the role […]

The poster lounge in London’s Grand Theatre was crowded Wednesday afternoon, with a large group of subscribers, the cast of Pride and Prejudice, the cast of Macbeth, and a smattering of media representatives on hand, as Susan Ferley described the upcoming season. She had some amazing help with her descriptions – thanks to a group

Olympic Closing Ceremonies ~ February 28, 2010 What a great finish to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics! I thought the opening of the show was brilliant – the ultimate in Canadian self-deprecating humour. Let’s make fun of the big goof-up when the arm of the caldron failed to rise on opening night. So out of the

I heard an interesting little story recently, from Mark Harapiak who is currently touring with Camelot as King Arthur. When Mark’s mother, Carol, passed away two years ago, he had the bittersweet task of cleaning out her belongings. Having been in that position myself, I know it’s, of course, a very sad time. But it

It’s a busy weekend for area high school students who want to be on stage in Disney’s High School Musical. Kids will be lining up for a chance to audition to be in the Pep Squad for High School Musical at Drayton Festival Theatre in Drayton and Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend. The auditions

A Great Big Thank You to the Cast & Crew of Camelot As Camelot continues on its National Tour (mostly U.S. with a few forays into Canada), the cast & crew took on fundraising duties. With a desire to help the people of Haiti after the devastating earthquake, the Camelot company asked the audience for

Wow – Great Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics! Way to go, Vancouver & Canada!!! I thought K. D. Lang stole the show with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Just beautiful, so much emotion: I don’t think K. D. ever sang better! And operatic soprano Measha Brueggergosman was wonderful singing the Olympic hymn. I also enjoyed Quebec singer

Memphis – Ragtime – Finian’s Rainbow I promised to write more about our New York weekend. Of the four shows Thomas & I saw on Broadway, three had themes of racial discrimination.  It made for interesting comparisons,  although we didn’t plan it that way. Memphis is a great new show, based on the true story

I had a chance to see Courageous yesterday—just closing at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. It’s a new play by Michael Healey (The Drawer Boy). It’s interesting – Act I and Act II have completely different main characters. In Act I, we see a very young couple getting married at city hall – fighting, swearing

White Christmas & The Trans-Siberian Orchestra in One Day! It was a treat to see White Christmas at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton over the Christmas Holidays. What a good cast – in the lead roles were Stephen Patterson and Michael Therriault as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, with Robin Hutton and Dayna Tekatch as the