Here are some brilliant people – working on- and offstage – you’ll be talking about this season.
See cover story.
A Shaw Festival actor and director, Mezon brings brains and sensitivity to his work, most recently as a fearsome Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. In John Logan’s award-winning Red, Mezon makes a rare Toronto appearance playing opinionated abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko, tackling the biggest commission of his career. Look for fireworks when he confronts his young assistant and protegé, played by talented newcomer David Coomber. The Canadian Stage production runs at the Bluma Appel November 19 to December 17. 416-368-3110.
Interpretations of the Orpheus myth have dominated local stages recently: strong productions of Gluck’s opera, a postmodern take by Edouard Locke’s La La La Human Steps and two very different (but excellent) SummerWorks shows. But count on Montreal’s Chouinard to put a distinct spin on the story with her sensual movement, intriguing designs and unusual score by Louis Dufort. November 1 to 5 at the Bluma Appel. 416-368-3110.
A powerful actor and director whose striking ideas and performances have galvanized dozens of productions, Ferry returns to the director’s chair for James Cunningham and Martin Hunter’s play, in which a handsome burglar breaks into Tennessee Williams’s apartment and stirs the playwright’s memories. Great cast, too, including Nigel Bennett and Allegra Fulton. Coincidentally, it’s the second biographical play about Williams this season (see His Greatness, page 70). October 19 to 22 at Hart House Theatre. 416-978-8849.
Anyone who’s seen poet/theatre artist young onstage understands her magnetism as performer and writer she can evoke laughter and tears in the space of a few seconds. She makes her first Tarragon appearance in the sankofa trilogy, her collection of plays (previously done separately) examining three generations of Jamaican women. Expect politics, poetry and passion. October 22 to December 4. 416-531-1827.
National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Côté’s also a composer, musician and choreographer – and he’s married to talented dancer Heather Ogden. If he weren’t such a nice guy, it’d be easy to hate him. Besides dancing the lead in the world premiere of the National’s new Romeo And Juliet (see page 68), he’s debuting a new work for Roberto Campanella’s hot-ticket ProArteDanza series, which brings the best of modern and classical dance together. Also on the program are new works by Robert Glumbek, Kevin O’Day and Campanella himself. October 5 to 8 at the Fleck Dance Theatre. 416-973-4000.
For two decades, Modern Times Stage’s Parsa has introduced Toronto audiences to Persian theatre and stories, combining arresting staging with little-known texts and characters. Hallaj, by Peter Farbridge and Parsa, follows the life of the legendary Sufi poet and teacher (Farbridge) adored by the public and feared by those in power. Look for a production filled with ideas and physicality. At Buddies in Bad Times November 18 to December 4. 416-975-8555.
Fresh from his layered, sinister performance as the wolf in Theatre Rusticle’s Peter And The Wolf, dancer/choreographer Yong debuts his latest dance ensemble work, a Buddhist-inspired look at coping with distractions and life’s miseries to gain insight and enlightenment. Since founding his company, Zata Omm, in 2005, Yong, a standout in his five years with Toronto Dance Theatre, has emerged as a choreographer to watch, winning two Dora Award nominations for his 2009 show Frames. October 20 to 22 at the Enwave. 416-973-4000.
Alas, the burly stand-up comic didn’t win an acting Emmy Award last Sunday for his excellent (and still unavailable in Canada) sitcom Louie. But you’ve got two chances to see him tear a strip off modern society’s foibles and follies as he takes the mic for two sets at the Sony Centre. If you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen him, rent his most recent concert film, Louis C.K.: Hilarious. More than lives up to that title. October 15 at 8 and 10:30 pm. $35.50-$45.50. 1-855-872-7669. Pictured above.
Second City alum, Dora Award-winning actor (for The Lion King) and fine playwright (Kilt, My Own Private Oshawa), Wilson’s one of the most versatile artists around. In Studio 180’s new production of Larry Kramer’s ground-breaking play about the politics and personal costs of the early AIDS crisis in 1980s New York City, the openly gay actor gets a big challenge playing the semi-autobiographical Ned Weeks, an impassioned writer whose principles and confrontational style get him in trouble with his activist organization. Joel Greenberg directs a fine cast. October 14 to November 6 at Buddies in Bad Times 416-975-8555.
Adept at both comic and serious material, Walker isn’t on local stages nearly enough. After his Dora Award-winning performance in The Turn Of The Screw, he tackles Geoff Kavanagh’s play about two sailors on the 1845 Franklin expedition to the Arctic, destined to end in tragedy. Look for Walker and fellow performer Robert Tsonos to mine the work’s dark humour imaginatively. The Sometimes Y production hits the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace November 2 to 20. 416-504-7529.
