Issue #219: October 15, 2008
- Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Sound
of Music opened in Toronto at the Princess of Wales
Theatre on October 15. This was the result of using the
formula that was successful in the UK with a reality based
television show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? This
North American premiere looks to have hit a home run with
both critics and audiences.
- Helen Mirren stars in the National Theatre
production of Phaedra, which is scheduled to open in
June.
- Edie Adams, appearing in a Muriel Cigars television
commercial running for almost 20 years, died on October 15th at the age
of 81. Adams made her Broadway debut playing Rosalind
Russell’s sister in the 1953 production of Leonard
Bernstein’s Wonderful Town, directed by the legendary George
Abbott. In 1956 she made her second Broadway outing was as Daisy
Mae in the musical Li’l Abner for which she won a Tony. Even
though she began her career on the stage, the call of film and television
weren’t far behind. She appeared opposite Jack Lemmon and Shirley
MacLaine in The Apartment, with Doris Day and
with Rock Hudson in Lover Come Back and again
with Lemmon and Carol Linley in Under
the Yum Yum Tree. She appeared with icons such as Duke Ellington, Count
Basie and Sammy Davis Jr. and hosted her own
variety show in 1963 called Here’s Edie. After her marriage
to comedian Ernie Kovacs was tragically cut short in
1962 when he was killed in a car accident, Edie continued
to perform both on television and on stage. I remember meeting her when
she was in Toronto with a touring musical called Baby in the
late 80’s, and thought she was a lovely, gracious woman
a true professional….she had every media person hanging on her
every word.
- Note from Webcrone: Janine gets to see show openings much more
often than I do but I must say even a performance well into what
looks like a long run for Jersey Boys, was worth a trip
to Toronto for me. It's always exciting to hear a poor boys make
good story and this one, based on the lives of Franki Valli and
the Four Seasons, made a great
musical with substance. The uplifting story of triumph over adversity
is taken from a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick
Elice. Everyone taking part in this well crafted
show turned in good performances with strong young voices and exciting
dance moves. Some exciting local talent had important roles. Both
Director Des McAnuff and Choreographer Sergio
Trujillo are from Toronto. Jeremy Kushnier who
played Tommy DeVito and dance captain Kara
Tremel, who also subbed for Sarah Darling,
are also Canadian. The crowd with us that evening gave them a well-deserved
standing ovation.
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