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Stage Scenes: Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George

If you’re a fan of musical theatre, you’re sure to have seen the warm, talented and towering George Masswohl in a number of shows, including Seussical at Young People’s Theatre, Fiddler On The Roof at Stratford and, at Canadian Stage, in the title role in Sweeney Todd as well as in last year’s Dora-winning ensemble of London Road.

But he’s never done a solo concert until now, the strikingly titled George Masswohl Stands. And Delivers.

Maybe the title celebrates the first anniversary of his hip replacement surgery – it’s certainly easier to be on his feet now – but Masswohl is also sure to hold centre stage, using his big baritone voice in a rep than includes musical theatre, pop, rock and folk tunes.

He’ll have some guests, too, including Sara Farb, Nathan Carroll and the magnetic Sharron Matthews.

See listing.


Sketch surprises

The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival wrapped up its 10th anniversary edition with style with over 40 acts from across North America.

Highlights included SNL’s Kate McKinnon doing a decent job at stand-up – not her forte, obviously, and we missed her Justin Bieber impression. She had great rapport with the crowd, and her parodies of singer/songwriter tunes scored lots of laughs. Opener Mark Little delivered one of the best sets we’ve ever seen, opening (as he’s been doing lately) with his critique of the photo shoot of his recent NOW Magazine cover.

The Pajama Men haven’t been in town in ages, and their surreal, physical, focused brand of quick-changing sketch is still pretty hilarious.

Falcon Powder’s Scott Montgomery, Jim Annan and Kurt Smeaton have such great chemistry, and such different comedy styles, that they’re a joy to watch. Their beautifully structured SketchFest show featured call-backs and a great sense of physicality.

For Uncalled For’s show, we saw only two members out of about six (Anders Yates and Colin Munch), but that was enough for a series of sketches tied together by a loopy, surreal bit at a fraternity house. Terrific audience participation.

And if this fest taught us anything, it’s that the Somethingorothers need to perform more often. Their last public appearance was in 2007 (!), when they made NOW’s roundup of the best comedy of that year. Their premises were clearly set-up, their writing immediate and their delivery razor sharp. They even ad libbed some lines that they felt were “dated.”

We also caught promising appearances by Hip.Bang!, Palcoholics, Nicky Nasrallah and Allana Reoch.

torontosketchfest.com


Valerie wins Gina

Calgary-based director Valerie Planche is the winner of this year’s Gina Wilkinson Prize, awarded to a Canadian female theatre artist transitioning from one theatre discipline to directing. That same move was made by the late -Wilkinson.

Sixteen nominees were considered by the award committee, and the short list for the $5,000 prize included Kelli Fox, Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Nancy McAlear as well as Planche.


Opera meets DJ

Tapestry Opera isn’t your average classical music company rather, it looks wholeheartedly to opera’s future.

This year’s Tap:Ex (Tapestry Explorations) presentation, Tables Turned, brings the opera singer and the turntable DJ head to head.

Soprano Carla Huhtanen, a frequent performer with Tapestry in its workshopping and production of new vocal works, shares the stage with composer, turntable artist and electronics specialist Nicole Lizée.

The production involves remixed clips from Alfred Hitchcock movies, The Sound Of Music and video recordings of opera legend Maria Callas, which are projected alongside the performers, who use voice and turntable to perform a live duet.

The result is sure to be unlike anything you’d see on the stage of the Four Seasons.

See listing.


Nightwood call

Nightwood Theatre seeks submissions from emerging women playwrights for its 2015-16 Write from the Hip. The year-long script development program supports new writers through mentorship, dramaturgy, developmental workshops and readings.

Those in the program work toward the completion of a full-length play that will be given a public reading.

Applicants may apply with a script at any stage of development, but the script cannot have had a professional production.

Deadline is May 1. For more information, see nightwoodtheatre.net.

stage@nowtoronto.com

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