{"id":53738,"date":"2024-09-26T17:52:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/?p=53738"},"modified":"2024-09-26T17:53:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:53:25","slug":"rosmersholm-zucco-turner-bartolucci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2024\/09\/rosmersholm-zucco-turner-bartolucci\/","title":{"rendered":"On Stage in TO: Theatre, Music, & Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theatre<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As fall formally begins and the major Toronto theatre companies launch into their 2024\/25 seasons, two star-studded and atmospheric tragedies take centre stage. Each directed by their host company\u2019s reliably inspiring artistic director, Crow\u2019s Theatre\u2019s Rosmersholm<\/em><\/strong> (Chris Abraham) and Buddies in Bad Times\u2019 Roberto Zucco<\/em><\/strong> (ted witzel<\/a>) both offer short but heady translations of European texts exploring themes of death, wealth, and relative morality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Abraham\u2019s take on Ibsen\u2019s Rosmersholm<\/em> (by way of adapter Duncan Macmillan) is stark and understated, its tone fully captured by Joshua Quinlan\u2019s evocatively dusty set and how Kimberly Purtell\u2019s gorgeous lighting design selectively cuts through it. witzel\u2019s vision of Bernard-Marie Kolt\u00e8s\u2019 Roberto Zucco<\/em> (translated by Martin Crimp) is dirty in a different way, coated with the grime of use rather than neglect, each panel of Michelle Tracey\u2019s excellent modular design revealing new layers of accumulating ick.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Though both shows feature rock solid casts doing strong work, neither text lifts completely enough out of the intellectual realm to fully engage emotionally beyond when Zucco<\/em> lighting designer Logan Raji Cracknell and witzel team up for a startling moment or two of memorable theatricality (I was heartbroken to miss what promised to be a stirring climax when a fire alarm caused by the production\u2019s smoke machine cut the show short by one key minute). Overall, I\u2019m surprised to say that competency carries the day in both of these productions rather than the full artistic impact both directors are more than capable of delivering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Music<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While Toronto\u2019s theatre scene may be a little staid at the moment, the city has played host to an incredible array of exciting touring musicians this summer and into the fall (the Eras tour hits in November; we\u2019re not ready). I\u2019m not much of a concert person, preferring to keep our music branch afloat with artist spotlights<\/a> and the occasional cabaret rather than brave the giant shouting crowds at a stadium show, but there is one artist I will always see when he\u2019s in town- intellectual punk-folk troubadour Frank Turner<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last time Turner was in town, it was to support his acoustic album No Man\u2019s Land<\/em> so the concert was a quieter, seated affair. This time I saw him at the final performance of his sprawling four-day annual Lost Evenings festival (named after his song \u201cI Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous\u201d, in my opinion one of the greatest songs ever written). In order to make the festival work, the concert(s) took place at the Great Canadian Casino & Resort, an odd and pretty uncool venue far from downtown Toronto. The casino allowed for the tricky logistics of the festival, which needed an attached hotel as well as spaces for panels, smaller acts, and other initiatives, but if it\u2019s atmosphere you\u2019re after, the casino is not the place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Luckily, Frank Turner is a killer showman so truly none of the surrounding noise matters. After the quiet atmosphere of his last spin through town, it was a thrill to watch (from the safety of the grandstand) as the excited crowd on the floor moved as if he was conducting them. They jumped when he said jump, they danced when he said dance; at one point he told them to sit on the floor and they actually did it. Perhaps most poignant for me, however, was Turner\u2019s inclusivity. He made a point during the all-ages event of acknowledging that not everyone is comfortable jumping, so he made room for us to be there, happily jumping on the inside and feeling no less valid for being just a little less punk rock.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Comedy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finally, one of Toronto\u2019s strongest artistic fronts is its incredible comedy scene. Any night of the week, in any number of venues across the city, there\u2019s an improv, stand-up, or sketch show that\u2019s worth seeing. There\u2019s probably a few. At Comedy Bar on Bloor, one such show that I got the chance to see last month was Gillian Bartolucci<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s solo sketch work. One of the most consistently energetic and inventive solo performers around, Bartolucci\u2019s shows are always a great mix of goof and gravitas with smart insight and moments of profundity that show off the solid acting foundation on which her comedy performances sit. At least one of the sketches in her latest show was familiar to anyone who saw her 2019 Fringe show but it\u2019s a hit so I didn\u2019t mind revisiting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theatre   As fall formally begins and the major Toronto theatre companies launch into their 2024\/25 seasons, two star-studded and atmospheric tragedies take centre stage. Each directed by their host company\u2019s reliably inspiring artistic director, Crow\u2019s Theatre\u2019s Rosmersholm (Chris Abraham) and Buddies in Bad Times\u2019 Roberto Zucco (ted witzel) both offer short but heady translations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On Stage in TO: Theatre, Music, & Comedy","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[36,3],"tags":[303,1271,2426,2385,554,291,4,1181,358,566,511,440,6,1956,365,2320,394,675],"coauthors":[1858],"class_list":["post-53738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-theatre","tag-adaptations","tag-buddies-in-bad-times","tag-comedy-bar","tag-comedy-reviews","tag-concert-reviews","tag-concerts","tag-contemporary-theatre","tag-crows-theatre","tag-folk","tag-music-reviews","tag-one-acts","tag-punk","tag-reviews","tag-sketch","tag-theatre-reviews","tag-toronto-theatre-reviews","tag-tours","tag-translations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/MixCollage-26-Sep-2024-05-46-PM-7187-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53917,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2025\/01\/landscape-solstice-duchess\/","url_meta":{"origin":53738,"position":0},"title":"On Stage in TO: Last Landscape\/ Winter Solstice\/ Dinner with the Duchess","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"22 January 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Landscape (Bad New Days in association with Common Boots Theatre at Buddies in Bad Times through Jan 26) The surface joy of this inventive and thoughtful piece allows the audience a meditative break from the noise of the modern world. 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