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Culture Stage

10 artists taking the fall

RAMIN KARIMLOO Actor

After wowing London’s West End in the title role of The Phantom Of The Opera and its less successful sequel, Love Never Dies, the pride of Richmond Hill comes home to sing one of his other signature roles: that of Les Misérables’ Jean Valjean, the ex-con who’s chased all over France by the maniacal Inspector Javert (Earl Carpenter). Karimloo seems younger than the men who’ve made the role famous (Colm Wilkinson, Michael Burgess), so we’ll see how he works as the elderly Valjean (undoubtedly better than Hugh Jackman’s screen version). He arrives with the acclaimed 25th-anniversary production of the old warhorse, which doesn’t feature the revolving set. You’ll begin hearing the people sing from September 27 at the Princess of Wales. mirvish.com.


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VIV MOORE Actor

As engaging a dancer as she is an actor, Moore brings elegance and warmth to her stage work. A regular collaborator with Theatre Rusticle, she rejoins the company in a remount of Dinner At Seven-Thirty, a memory work inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves that uses text and movement to trace the lives of six friends from childhood to death. Her Woman From The Country is a character who chooses the natural world over civilization and later deals with the limitations of her choice. At Buddies in Bad Times, October 12 to 20. 416-975-8555.


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DAMIEN ATKINS Actor/writer

Atkins is currently burning up the stage as Prior Walter, the spurned gay lover living with AIDS who communes with some of the angels in Soulpepper’s revival of Angels In America, a bona fide queer classic. Coincidentally, later this fall Atkins looks at the idea of history and legacy in The Gay Heritage Project, which he’s created with fellow performers Paul Dunn and Andrew Kushnir along with historical consultant Paul Halferty. Expect something bold and theatrical and in-your-face it’ll be right at home in Canada’s premier queer theatre. November 17 to December 8 at Buddies. 416-975-8555.


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CHRISTOPHER HOUSE Choreographer

A new piece by House is always a major dance event, and this one’s doubly special. Eleven Accords marks his 20th anniversary as artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre. Every season he challenges the troupe with new demands, bringing in foreign choreographers, mixing up their process and performing styles. This work draws on the music of minimalist composer Steve Reich, which has an infectious drive and rhythm that should suit the talents of the troupe. November 6 to 9 at the Fleck Dance Theatre. 416-973-4000.


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SARAH ORENSTEIN Actor

Orenstein knows how to command a role, whether she’s playing the classics or contemporary fare. It’s a good bet she’ll increase the dramatic tension in God Of Carnage, Yasmina Reza’s play about the initially civilized meeting between two well-off couples trying to resolve their sons’ playground altercation. Things escalate – quickly. As Annette, who’s into “wealth management” and expensive shoes, Orenstein works with a strong cast that includes John Bourgeois, Tony Nappo and Linda Kash, under Joel Greenberg’s direction. Presented by Studio 180, from November 23 to December 15, part of the off-Mirvish season at the Panasonic. 416-593-4225.


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BRENDAN McMURTRY-HOWLETT Actor

In the past two years, McMurtry-Howlett has made a name for himself as artistic director of Shakespeare in the Ruff. Local audiences first saw him in the 2007 Toronto Fringe: he was a National Theatre School student and sole performer (though playing some 20 characters) in Attila Clemann’s …and stockings for the ladies, in which a Canadian military man does his best to alleviate the pain of those just liberated from a concentration camp. The play is revived as part of the Harold Green Jewish Theatre season, from October 8 to 24 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. 1-855-985-2787.


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CARLY STREET Actor

The central role of Vanda in David Ives’s play-within-a-play Venus In Fur makes huge demands. It requires an actor to play both a struggling contemporary actor trying to land a part and a poised and completely confident classical performer. Nina Arianda won a Tony Award for the part a couple of seasons ago. Street should have the versatility to pull it off. She’s been on Broadway in the comedy drama Clybourne Park and recently got a Dora Award nod for Theatre 20’s inaugural outing, the musical Bloodless. The equally versatile Rick Miller – he of a thousand voices – plays the playwright who falls for Vanda, and at the helm is the always brilliant Jennifer Tarver. September 29 to October 27 at the Bluma Appel. 416-368-3110.


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STERLING JARVIS Actor

Equally skilled in musical and straight roles, Jarvis brings energy and great vocal chops to his work, which has included The Whipping Man, Ruined, The Overwhelming and musicals The Lion King and Caroline, Or Change. This fall he turns his attention to the Broadway hit Annie, playing Oliver Warbucks (he’s not known as “Daddy” in this kids’ version), a character who mixes affection and gravitas in equal measure. That deep voice and sparkling presence are sure to draw the attention of everyone in the audience, young and old. November 11 to December 19 at Young People’s Theatre. 416-862-2222.


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MARGIE GILLIS Choreographer/performer

It’s been a few years since the ethereal, instinctual Gillis graced a local dance stage. And unfortunately, the last time she made headlines was for being baited and attacked on Sun TV about arts funding. But now she returns with a two-night run of The Light Between, a collaboration between herself, choreographers Holly Bright and Paola Styron and painter/sculptor Randal Newman. Fitting, since Gillis’s dances have always resembled living, breathing, moving sculptures. November 12 and 13 at the Fleck Dance Theatre. 416-973-4000.


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LITMUS THEATRE Creators

The Litmus team – Matthew Thomas Walker, Claire Wynveen and Adriano Sobretodo Jr. – burst onto the indie scene with Matchbox Macbeth, staged in a garage and one of the cleverest versions of Shakespeare’s tragedy we’ve ever seen. Now, with Birth Of Frankenstein, they turn their attention to the great Gothic novel and its creator, Mary Shelley, along with such legendary people as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and Mary Wollstonecraft. Should make for an electrifying evening of theatre. October 22 to November 3 at St. Luke’s United Church. litmustheatre.com.

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