TITANIQUE - REVIEW OF 2024 PRODUCTION OF MUSICAL AT CAA THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

Can you turn the sinking of the Titanic, a tragic event of 1912 where more than 1500 of its 2240 passengers drowned, into a stage farce? The answer from most people would be not bloody likely but that applies only to people  who have not seen the musical Titanique that is now playing at the CAA Theatre in Toronto.

The musical is loosely based on the mostly fictional story of the 1997 James Cameron  film with the  added character  of Celine Dion (Veronique Claveau). She is in a museum about  the ship and takes over as our host in the telling of the story based on the movie. The story is about Jack (Seth Zosky), an impoverished artist passenger who stops Rose (Mariah Campos), a beautiful young woman from committing suicide by jumping overboard. They fall in love, of course, but here are some issues. Rose is engaged to the wealthy Cal (Michael Torontow), an arrogant jerk whom she does not love. Celine Dion is a focal point of the play with a soaring voice and a spell-binding performance that is hilarious at times and in control of the audience throughout. At the end of the performance you will find out about her presence on the Titanic in 1912 and in a museum  a century later. I do not se and tell.

The book for the musical is by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue. It has eighteen songs by various composers. Molly Brown (Erica Peck) better known as the unsinkable was in fact a passenger on the Titanic who survived. 

What do you get? You get an assault on your ears, eyes and the senses that lasts for the full 100 minutes of the show. The singing is outstanding but the excessive volume is at best annoying. The spectacle of lights and kinetic energy on the stage has its place but there is such a thing as too much. 

The original Canadian company of Titanique. 
Photo Credit: Marie-Andrée Lemire

The whole thing is a farce, a burlesque, a spectacle. We saw Veronique Claveau imitate Celline’s performance style and she was indeed spectacular. The great voice is only a small part of her performance artillery. She uses her whole body like an additional punch to her singing, throwing her arms in the air, twisting her body, soaring and keeping the audience in the palm of her hand. If she just sang, however beautifully or powerfully, she could keep an audience entertained for a while but she does a lot more than that.

The other songs the singers are part of the comedy as well as belting out songs at a volume and pitch that should leave them without vocal cords after 100 minutes but most of it is turned on volume through the speakers that should mean  the strain is felt (and endured) by the audience and not the performers.

To turn a tragedy into a farce you need broad humour, slapstick, and good and bad jokes. There is only lettuce to eat today, someone says. I hope it is not iceberg, comes the reply. The pathetic number of lifeboats, the speed of the legendary liner and the relationship between Jack and Rose is always played for laughs. Acting is almost never considered and overacting is practiced incessantly. The actors take comic poses, throw their arms up in the air and overdo everything for a laugh. Rose’s mother Ruth  (Constant Bernard) is an example of a caricature of a comic character that is played strictly for laughs.

The humour is current (we have to put up with Trump for another four years) and slapstick and everything else in between is done  as long as it garners a laugh. It did frequently. Christopher Ning appears as the Iceberg Bitch, he Tour Guide and id I am not Mistaken as Tina Turner, played for laughs, of course.

I go to the theater to review the performance  and not the audience but many times a comment about them is irresistible.

A lady near me found the whole show so absorbing and entertaining that she laughed at almost every line, posture and gesture, and invoked her deity or her virtue (OMG) with alarming frequency. There were some good lines but I had a mixed reaction to her enthusiasm. On the one hand I envied her because she enjoyed the performance so enthusiastically but on the other hand, I could not figure out her endless excitement, especially when she was almost the only one in the theatre doing it. I could not join her extreme enjoyment that was so artificially enhanced by, as I said, an assault on my ears, eyes and senses. There may have been others in the audience who shared my views but most people probably did not.

Well, there is no accounting for people's taste.  
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Titanique by  Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue continues at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto, Ontario. For more information go to: www.mirvish.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture, of The Greek Press

UNBELIEVABLY BELIEVABLE – REVIEW OF 2024 TWISTED DOG THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

In the opening scene of Unbelievably Believable, three actors, one male and two females  enter the playing are of the tiny Sandcastle Theatre. They appear sleepy. One is lying on a pillow and trying to get comfortable, the other is reading a book and the third appears with a cup of something trying to do the same. They say nothing and the action is mimed. The man (Gregory Katsenelson) is a magician and he performs a few tricks.

When the three do speak we realize that they are mice or puppeteers and we enter their dream world. The 55-minute show is played in a number of scenes that appear disparate but are connected by the disparate nature of dreams be it by humans or mice or birds. The show has birds like chickens (only four allowed per house in Toronto and NO roosters), a raccoon, a baby-delivering stork and of course the mice.

There is a dragon on a video projection who cleverly jumps out of the screen and ends up in the hands of Katsenelson. There are humorous exchanges with the stork, the raccoon, the chickens and the mice, songs and dances. Sophie St. Jean has a lovely voice and sings in the play in addition to being the choreographer and a provider of songs. 

Gregory Katsenelson, Sophie St. Jean and Katie Crompton. 
Photo: Ivan Kaydash 

Katsenelson showed dancing and athletic prowess in addition to an expert hand in magic and a fine overall performance. Katie Crompton did fine work in all aspects of the play.

The play is intended for all ages but its length and starting time of 6:00 pm on weekdays  in the evening and 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on weekends suggests an important focus towards children. There were some children in the evening that I saw the play and they reacted enthusiastically to the show but there was not enough broad humour to engage and keep the little tikes roaring.

The play has a  good deal of variety in the vignettes that make it up and with humour, song, dance and magic it is very entertaining

Unbelievably Believable, to the credit of Maleikova, is also a celebration of Toronto. They project a large map of  the Leslieville and Riverdale areas of east Toronto with pride. What’s more, Unbelievably Believable owes a great deal to the Maleikov duo of  Catherine who wrote, produced and directed the play as well as designing the costumes and to Ivan Maleikov who designed the lighting.

It is a highly entertaining production and may I suggest that it deserves a bigger theatre? Have the people at Young People’s Theatre seen it?
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Unbelievably Believable  by Catherine Maleikova opened on December 6 and will run until December 15, 2024, at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen St. East, Toronto. https://twisteddog.ca/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

SLEEPING BEAUTY … A Fairy’s Tale – REVIEW OF 2024 THEATRE ORANGEVILLE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Sleeping Beauty … A Fairy’s Tale is a boisterous, irreverent and very funny parody of the famous fairy tale. Please note the apostrophe. Debbie Collins and David Nairn have written the farcical rendition of the beautiful princess who is put to sleep by a spell from a nasty fairy and is woken up after a long snooze by the kiss of a handsome prince. Well, sort of.

Sleeping Beauty is now playing at the small (273 fans capacity) and lovely theatre, the Orangeville Opera House in a production by Theatre Orangeville.

The play is introduced by the vivacious and rhyming couplets spouting Larry the Fairy (Ben Skipper). That is his job and not his sexual orientation. He and the other two good fairies, the lanky Sophia (Andrew McGillivray) and the diminutive Meriweather (Christina Gordon) are the protectors and the adoptive parents of Princess Bella (Annika Tupper). All three of them? you ask. Please, this is a fairy tale and not 60 Minutes.            

The three fairies sing, dance, fool around and provide delightful comedy. But there is also an evil fairy, properly named Maleficent, who has an axe to grind and is dedicated to doing nasty things. Dressed in black with horns that make her resemble Brünnhilde, she is intent on killing or making the lovely princess sleep for a  long time. A juicy role that co-playwright Debbie Collins plays with gusto and relish helped by the energetic boos of the audience.

Maleficent has a junior sidekick in Diablo (Ben Skipper), a raven dressed in black and asked to provide comedy for all, even if it means overacting.

On the human side, we have a King (with William Lincoln doubling in the role) who speaks  with a thick Scottish accent and a Queen (Annika Tupper doubling in the role) and both are richly attired is royal outfits and you would never guess that the actors playing them are the stars of the show.

            A scene from Sleeping Beauty .. A Fairy’s Tale. Photo: Sharyn Ayliffe

But let us concentrate on the stars, the beautiful Princess and the handsome Prince (William Lincoln) who sing well and win our hearts as soon as they appear. They have to experience some tribulations, even setbacks but we know they will find happiness with their beautiful singing and despite their uneven dancing.

This is interactive theatre. Larry the Fairy instructs the audience on how to react to each fairy, positively and enthusiastically for the nice ones and boo loudly the bad Maleficent. There were few children when I saw the play but the mature audience cheered and booed with relish. They needed very little instruction or coaching. They just did it. Playing the audience proved a wonderful ploy for the authors and director David Nairn. The actors seem to enjoy it and the audience reveled in it.

The production has a complement of behind-the-scenes artists that would be the envy of many bigger professional companies. Set Designer Beckie Morris (she is also the Production Manager) designed the pretty view of a fairy tale including the royal castle represented on a panel that can be pushed on and off center stage as required, Costume Designer Wenndi Speck needs to outfit the four fairies, and the raven with colourful and comic attire. The Princess needs a beautiful dress and the Prince should look like he is worthy of her. He does and is.

Nicholas Mustapha, the Musical Director, played the piano and directed the songs from “Happy times are here again to” to “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” from The Pirates of Penzance.

Most of the characters whooped it up, danced to the choreography of Candace Jennings fracturing the fairy tale and entertaining the audience. Chris Malkowski is the lighting designer for the numerous scenes from the castle to the forest and others.

Sleeping Beauty … A Fairy’s Tale manages to be faithful to the story (well, sort of), pokes fun at it, generates fun and humour and ends with a kiss. Sort of. I am no snitch to give precise details. I will  give one snippet provided by Sophia: Marriage is like a game of bridge: you need a good partner and if you don’t have one you need a good hand. It brought the house down.
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Sleeping Beauty … A Fairy’s Tale  by Debbie Collins and David Nairn produced by Theatre Orangeville will run until December 21, 2024 at the Orangeville Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville, Ontario. www.theatreorangeville.ca/
James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

TOSCA – REVIEW OF 2024 REVIVAL OF McVICAR’S PRODUCTION LIVE FROM THE MET

Reviewed by James Karas

Puccini’s Tosca is back on the stage at the New York’s posh Met Opera and brought to a movie theater near you, Live in HD, as they say. It  is a revival of David McVicar’s redoubtable 2017 production that replaced the earlier and highly controversial staging by Luc Bondy. Seeing an opera by Puccini is a reminder that with is death in 1925 came the demise of opera as we know it from the standard repertoire. There are many brave and notable attempts to insert a post-1925 opera into the hearts of opera lovers but none has succeeded completely.

McVicar with Set and Costume Designer John Macfarlane has chosen a traditional approach following the precise locations of the three acts of the opera. The monumental Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Act 1 is displayed in all its grandeur and beauty. When the choir sings the Te Deum, we are immersed in physical and choral splendor. Similarly, Scarpia’s residence in the Palazzo Farnese in Act II is big, dark and the abode of a man who wields power. A clue to the type of power he wields is provided by the painting of Peter Paul Rubens’ Rape of the Sabine Women hanging on the wall.  

The final act takes place on the ramparts of Castel Sant’Angelo and the set resembles a faithful reproduction of the place of execution of Cavaradossi and the revenge of Tosca.

 A scene from Act Iii of Tosca. Photo: Marty Sohl/Met Opera 

Tosca has four main characters and its main arias, duets and choral pieces, are well known and most opera lovers have probably seen and  heard numerous recordings. The pivotal role is that of the beautiful, jealous singer Floria Tosca. Lise Davidsen takes on the role with assurance and delivers a performance with vocal prowess and beauty. She is a tall lady and no one can mistake her for a wilting flower but her passion for Cavaradossi leads her to “betray” him when he is being tortured. It is a delight to hear her intone “die, die” over Scarpia’s body. My slight complaint is that when the guards realize that she has killed Scarpia and they rush to capture her she hurls her famous last words “O Scarpia before God” as she jumps over the parapet. In this production she sings those words and then runs up the few steps to the edge. I think she should say them as she jumps.

Tenor Freddie De Tommaso has a sonorous voice that sounded bigger than it probably is especially in the first act where the theatre I was in played the broadcast at  an uncomfortably loud volume. They reduced it after several complaints at the intermission. But he was fine as the lover, good friend and defiant victim of torture and finally in his swan song “E lucevan le stelle” when he thinks he is about to be executed. Beautifully done and emotionally sustained.

The brutal Police Chief Scarpia steals the show with his unbridled evil and his misogyny that spills over into a desire to rape. Baritone Quinn Kelsey exudes all those traits with frightful force and conviction. It is hard to imagine him as the loving Germont in La  Traviata asking his son to return to the beautiful land of Provence or one of the boys in La Boheme. Superb performance.

A tribute to bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, a comprimario singing the role of the Sacristan. It is a small role but he sings it well and invests it with humour in an opera that is not known for too many laughs. A bow to Mr. Carfizzi.
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Tosca by Giacomo Puccini was shown Live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera on November 23, 2024 at the Cineplex VIP Don Mills, Shops at Don Mills, 12 Marie Labatte Road, Toronto Ontario M3C 0H9 and other theatres across Canada. For more information: www.cineplex.com/events

JAMES KARAS IS THE SENIOR EDITOR, CULTURE OF THE GREEK PRESS