Think of a town, on a speck, on a clover.
An explosive tale of young love, hilarious gullibility and dangerous obsession, Paul Kane’s production of Oklahoma! welcomed the audience to a world of southern charm and musical pizzazz. First performed in 1943, Oklahoma! was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and played a record-breaking 2,212 times on Broadway. A favourite of high school and college productions, Oklahoma! explores life in small-town Oklahoma in 1906.
The division between tragedy and comedy seems, at first glance, to be very sharply defined. Look closer, however, and the distinction is not quite so clear. What happens when the line between comedy and tragedy blurs? J.H. Picard’s recent production of The Visit put the audience into that uncomfortable limbo where one is unsure whether to laugh, cry — or perhaps scream.
In an explosion of colour, exuberance and song, an enchanting tale full of beguiling characters captivated the audience at Harry Ainlay’s recent production of The Wiz.
Vivid hues of turquoise and blue reveal a magical forest unbound by either time or space as the costumed cast silently introduce their elusive spin on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Inspiration is a flighty creature. Man finds it from the greatest of sources, at the worst of times, and, sometimes, in the oddest of places. West Side Story drew on Shakespeare. Wicked had Oz. And now, the world can credit European pay-per-use toilets for creating a musical gem.
Often restricted to newspaper articles or enumerated as statistics, the struggles of those with mental handicaps rarely involve us on a personal level. As the lights illuminated the stage at McNally High School recently, the issue of intellectual disabilities was brought out of the shadows in a rendition of Flowers for Algernon.
With the opening setting of a Victorian Christmas beautifully displayed onstage, the audience at Festival Place was rapidly immersed in the holiday celebration in London of 1843. The Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, adapted by Darwin Reid Payne, was artfully performed by the student production team from Archbishop Jordan High School.
Four zealous young lovers, a spiteful fairy king and a mischievous imp named Puck all sprang to life in M.E. LaZerte High School’s modernized production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The Cappies Gala Awards night opening number. Choreography: Amber Bissonnette Video: Codie McLachlan
Check out photos from the Cappies 2010 gala and red carpet
Strathcona High School’s production of West Side Story, one of the most demanding pieces in the musical theatre repertoire, scooped up the top honour in the musical category at the third annual Cappies gala Sunday night.
Here’s what some of the Cappies critics and teachers had to say about the program:
Intended as the epic expansion of a classic animated masterpiece, the real-life version of the iconic 1940s short, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, quite missed its magical mark. From the moment we meet nerdy, unkempt Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), there’s something very familiar about not only the overly predictable casting choices, but the way the upcoming scenes play out.
“One Cappies nomination, every little step we take ...” As the excitable crowd roared its approval, the bowler-hatted dance line on the Citadel’s Maclab stage Sunday night reworked the classic Chorus Line anthem to Broadway ambition, dreams and the mysterious showbiz fatalism that showers the chosen one in stardust.
Has someone out there made a guidebook for creating a movie?
When it comes to “lights, camera, action,” Jon Turteltaub means business.
Built around the timeless cartoon of the same name involving renegade mops, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice stretches the animated short uncomfortably into a feature-length film. A spell cast by the likes of Hollywood, Sorcerer is sure to vanish from collective memory by September. Studded with stars Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) and Jay Baruchel (She’s Out of My League), the million-dollar project is cheapened by over-ambitious special effects and a thin script.
It’s increasingly rare to encounter a film without CGI or extreme special effects.
It’s going to take a lot more than the wizardry and hocus-pocus of a summer blockbuster to revive the career of Nicolas Cage.
The stage was set to celebrate the best of the best in Edmonton-area high school theatre when nominees were announced this afternoon for this year’s Cappies Awards. Altogether, there were more than 160 nominations in more than 33 performing, technical and writing categories.
Stephanie Beauvais Ross Sheppard Ah, the glamour of New York’s Broadway productions, complete with eccentric dancers, bright lights, and ... cowboys?
Samantha DeChamplain Paul Kane High School Ah, 13, the age of voice cracks, cliques, acne, and uncertainty.
Jessica Glover M.E. LaZerte High School “Welcome! So nice to see you. Thank you for coming. Please, take a seat. There are drinks at the back, and cake should be out shortly.”
Two vicious rivals, two star-crossed lovers, and one forbidden romance – some stories only get more true with time.
Lauren Chalaturnyk Paul Kane High School Given an address of “first star to the right and straight on till morning,” it was no wonder that a journey into Neverland would be full of magic and adventure.
A hot summer afternoon, the stifling confinement of a locked room, and the life of a young man dependent on the jury’s decision – how could it not get a little tense?
There’s a blizzard of Arctic proportions, a chilling note about three blind mice and a crazed killer on the loose. Suddenly, your week doesn’t seem nearly as stressful as Molly and Giles Ralston’s maiden voyage into the wilds of guest house ownership in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.
Grab your text books and hold onto your kippahs as St. Thomas Aquinas High School takes you on a wild ride through the trials and tribulations of junior high in its recent production of the coming-of-age musical 13.
The majestic snow-brushed Alps ... seven mischievous, endearing, lovable children … a galvanized captain with a heart of gold … and the looming shadow of fascism haunting the horizon. This is the setting that the effervescent Maria was thrust into last Wednesday.
Attending court can be an arduous and hectic process.
The ancient Greek myth of Philomele has been told and retold through out the centuries, each with a different twist and turn. Many diverse adaptations have been made, but none as striking as Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Love of the Nightingale.
If you had the power to revisit the past, would you? Is there a moment, or perhaps a regret, you would want to go back and change the outcome of? This was the recurring theme at Concordia Collegiate High School's recent performance of Warren Graves' memory play The Last Real Summer.
If your father is the supreme ruler of an entire empire, his conniving, money-hungry wife is your stepmother and her brawny, brainless son is your half-brother, then where do you fit in? In Louis St. Laurent High School’s production of Pippin,
With recent dumpings of snow, it’s doubtful the city of Edmonton will have to dream of a white Christmas, and anyone who attended Victoria School of the Art’s performance of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, will certainly be dreaming of nothing but.
Imagination is an innate ability that children all across the globe possess and that no adult could ever really comprehend.