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The popularity of David S. Craig’s award-winning Danny, King Of The Basement hasn’t been dethroned. The Roseneath Theatre show is currently on a six-month tour of Canada and the States, including a performance that was part of last Sunday’s official opening of Parliament. Want more cachet? How about the fact that Ed Broadbent sold tickets?
The show is touring England, and next season will be staged in Germany and Austria, where it’s the first Canadian script nominated for the prestigious German Children’s Theatre Prize. And there’s another 15-week American tour set for next season.
Experimental strokes
Have an idea for a theatre piece you want to work on, but don’t want the pressure of developing or performing a new work?
Nightswimming ‘s Pure Research program, now in its third year, offers space, money and resources for theatrical experiments to further artists’ work, without the necessity of their creating a new show. As the company says, “We want you to tell us what you don’t know, and how you might be able to answer your questions through a Pure Research workshop.”
Some previous workshops looked at how live vocal music affects theatrical narrative and the interaction between a visual artist and actors in exploring improv vocal texts and abstract sound.
Application deadline is March 1, for projects to be initiated next October. For more info, check out the company’s Web site, www.nightswimmingtheatre.com .
Chong without Cheech
Can you sustain a comedy act with one repeated joke? Tommy Chong , one-half of the legendary stoner duo Cheech And Chong, attempted that during two sold-out performances Saturday at Yuk Yuk’s Downtown.
The sexagenarian stand-up had lots of energy and stories about his recent nine-month stint in jail after pleading guilty to drug paraphernalia charges.
But his act was a continuous riff on the “pot makes ya stupid” theme, padded with a silly Latino dancing sequence with his long-term partner, Shelby . The lowest point came when Chong talked about “wanting to do the Johnny Carson show,” a gaffe that even the heaviest pot smoker should have been alert to.
Still, the show’s closing number, with new lyrics to the classic Up In Smoke, became a touching anthem to taking it easy, and the crowd of mostly 20- and 30-somethings accepted the message with head-nodding right-on’s.
Check out Chekhov
The Co. , as a funder for next season’s production of Uncle Vanya , offers audiences three of Chekhov ‘s rarely performed short comic works, dubbed vaudevilles. Swan Song , The Proposal and A Reluctant Tragic Hero make up the trio, with Dean Gabourie directing a fine cast – John Gilbert , Adrian Griffin , Keith Knight and Irene Poole . See One-Nighters, page 80, for details.
Buddies’ youth movement
Are you between 15 and 25 and lesbian, gay, bi, transgendered/transsexual, queer or maybe just questioning? Buddies in Bad Times has launched a new Queer Youth Program to offer you a chance to get involved in theatre and also see shows at Buddies.
The program, run by Buddies’ youth program director Evalyn Parry and requiring no previous theatre work by participants, kicks off Wednesday afternoons with this year’s Rhubarb! festival. Beginning in March, established queer artists like Diane Flacks , d’bi. young , Sky Gilbert and Daniel MacIvor offer workshops. There’s also a monthly youth open mic, QueerCAB , and plans for a youth cabaret in next summer’s Pride Fest.
It’s a great way for one generation to hand the torch to the next. For more, check out www.buddiesinbadtimestheatre.com/youth .
