On The Boards and In The Wings 2011

On The Boards and In The Wings, by Janine

Serving the Theatre Community since 1998

Issue #252: May 1, 2011

The new and improved version of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is currently in rehearsals with the first preview scheduled for May 12 and the official opening night now June 14. Not only is there a new director apparently there is new music by Bono and The Edge. Hopefully this next staging will be a safer production for all involved.

There’s a new summer festival launching in Toronto this year…Black Creek Summer Music Festival and one of the offerings is a night of the very, very best Broadway musicals have to offer. On the bill for the July 9th extravaganza are Tony winner Jane Krakowski ( TV’s 30 Rock), Broadway alum Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and funny man Martin Short. The entire musical evening is under the direction of Tony winner Marvin Hamlisch.

The launch of the North American tour of American Idiot, the musical based on rock group Green Day’s album, will take place in Toronto. Following spring auditions the local presenter Dancap Productions announced that the extensive tour begins on December 28. On Broadway the musical was critically acclaimed garnering two 2010 Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, the Drama Desk Award to name a few. After 422 performances on Broadway the show closed on April 24, 2011…so the road will be the only place to see this production.

I had the pleasure of attending the touring production of Disney’s The Lion King recently in Toronto. Although I saw the musical in previews before it opened on Broadway back in the mid 90s it is clear that the producers have maintained the high quality and magic that deemed it a ground breaking piece of theatre. The performances were stellar…and the magnificence of the puppetry has to be seen to be believed. No dusty road show here….just a brilliant theatrical experience.

The Tuesday night, a school night, I took in The Lion King it was a sold out house with an abundance of young children in the audience. This perhaps was their first theatre experience…what a wonderful introduction to theatre this musical is.