Author Archives: Liz Nicholls
That masked man is back: a new Phantom of the Opera sings the music of the night
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained….” With this opening gambit, and signature organ arpeggio, a 1911 beauty-and-the-beast potboiler by an obscure Parisian hack/bon … Continue reading
Getting your Gasp! back. The Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios: a cabinet of the curiouser and curiouser
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca A burnished antique music box opens, and suddenly, set in motion, is a trapeze act with no trapeze. A strong man plants his feet and flings a beautiful woman into the air again and again; she … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 12thnight.ca, Belle Epoque, circus, Cirque du Soleil, grand chapiteau, Kurios, Northlands Park, Victorian carnival
A direct link between theatre and our shared history: Indecent in New York
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “There is a story we want to tell you….” There is no shortage, in the theatre archive, of plays about plays, the writing of them, the putting on of them, the view of them from … Continue reading
Posted in Features
Tagged 12thnight.ca, Broadway, Folkways Records, Michael Asch, Moses Asch, New York Theatre, Off-Broadway, Paula Vogel, Sholem Asch, Tony Awards, Vineyard Theatre
Bringing Canada to New York: Soulpepper on 42nd Street
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Last week in New York I had the excitement of seeing what a top-drawer Canadian theatre company, venturing forth, can bring to the stage in a highly demanding world theatre capital. Coming from away for … Continue reading
I Heard About Your Murder: a new Lemoine comedy reinvents the who-dunnit
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca An early exchange in I Heard About Your Murder, a teasing title with its own built-in line of inquiry, is a tip-off about the mystery concoction to follow. Irritated by efforts to smooth out the awkward … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 12thnight.ca, Edmonton theatre, murder mystery comedies, Stewart Lemoine, Teatro La Quindicina, Varscona Theatre
Getting away with murder? Stewart Lemoine’s new mystery-comedy I Heard About Your Murder premieres at Teatro
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In Stewart Lemoine’s new murder mystery thriller comedy — a tricky theatrical category with precious few representatives — you’ll meet a married couple of Canuck urbanites with an idyllic rural retreat. Little do Howard and Dodie … Continue reading
Posted in Previews
Tagged 12thnight.ca, Edmonton theatre, murder mystery comedies, Stewart Lemoine, Teatro La Quindicina, Varscona Theatre
So…. wanna go out some time? I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a review
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The title sounds like a one-liner, I’ve always thought: a Henny Youngman reboot channelled by Jerry Seinfeld perhaps? Pause to imagine that signature tone of exasperated bemusement at work on I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 12thnight.ca, Edmonton theatre, Joe DiPietro, Kate Ryan, Mayfield Dinner Theatre, Off-Broadway, relationship comedies
The women run the show: The Merry Wives of Windsor are having a blast in the park
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Dance party! You will never get a more spirited welcome into a play than you do at the start of the Tudor screwball currently hustling across the stage in the Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s summer season in … Continue reading
Celebrating the Edmonton theatre season: Irma Voth, Crazy For You, Stupid Fucking Bird lead the 30th annual Sterling Awards
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Art and life got down, mixed it up, and partied together at the 30th anniversary Sterling Awards gala Monday night, celebrating the best of the Edmonton theatre season. Three productions that, in dramatically different ways, spoke … Continue reading
A world of casual bigotry darkens: Freewill Shakespeare Festival revisits The Merchant of Venice. A review
By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Vivacious women, high-spirited men, spontaneous dancing, drinks and keep ‘em coming…. Venetian cafe society is in a festive mood at the start of the absorbing production currently bringing one of Shakespeare’s most troubling plays outdoors into … Continue reading
