Author Archives: Liz Nicholls

Away (far away) in a manger: The Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant returns to the Varscona this week

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Don’t get just anyone’s baby for Jesus Christ. Get a quiet one….” That’s the sage advice from the usual director of the small-town Newfoundland Christmas pageant to her temporary replacement. What Mrs. O’Brien inherits is a … Continue reading →

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Burning Bluebeard: out of the flames and into the festive season

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In the resolutely cheery world of holiday entertainments, where the halls (and not your relatives) get decked and grinches see the errors of their ways, there is nothing quite like the macabre, strangely joyful circus/vaudeville that … Continue reading →

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The Citadel’s A Christmas Carol: a new addition to the Scroogian gallery

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca When a frozen man declares, with some heat, that “Christmas, sir, is a cheat!” you’re in the presence of a Christmas tradition. And there’s magic to it: Ebenezer Scrooge, the poster boy for last-minute heart thaws, … Continue reading →

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Yule Be Swell! Teatro La Quindicina’s musical comedy concert tonight

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The stockings were hung by the green room with care…. In the fraught world of Yuletide concerts (which account for a disproportionate percentage of the world’s supply of opening night nerves), you have a chance tonight … Continue reading →

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It’s beginning to look a lot like … and other weekend possibilities on Edmonton stages

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca We’ll start with things of a wintry, possibly Yule-ish, tinge, and their antidotes. •If you’ve already had it up to here with the fa-la-la’s even though you’re still eating crappy leftover Halloween candy … If the … Continue reading →

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A legendary clown guru returns to the stage … in a box: Over Her Dead Body at Fringe Theatre Adventures

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “I’ve been spending a lot of time in a coffin lately,” says Jan Henderson cheerfully. “Talk about rubbing your nose in mortality.”  As a way to celebrate a return to the stage after 25 years, the … Continue reading →

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Nuns get down, and raise your spirits: Sister Act at MacEwan’s snazzy new theatre

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca There’s something pretty sweet about christening a new theatre with a musical that includes an all-inclusive singing benediction like the one you’ll hear in Act II of Sister Act: “Bless the songs we’re gonna sing./ Bless … Continue reading →

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Fun with espionage: Our Man In Havana, a review

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The turquoise paint is fading picturesquely, the shuttered windows are open, laundry is hanging, the light feels warm. Musica cubana is in the air. Batista’s Havana in the ‘50s — as conjured festively by designers Chantel … Continue reading →

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I spy with my little eye: Our Man In Havana launches the Varscona Theatre Ensemble

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca In the comical spy thriller that opens Thursday on the Varscona stage, you’ll see two worlds that (to my knowledge) rarely meet actually collide: the world of espionage and the world of vacuum cleaner sales. In … Continue reading →

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Shakespeare reimagined into Cree cosmology: Pawâkan Macbeth

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Whenever you do indigenous theatre, it’s never just theatre,” says Reneltta Arluk. “It’s theatre and….” The Inuvialuit Cree Dene actor/ playwright/ director/ artistic director — and the Banff Centre’s new head of indigenous arts — is … Continue reading →

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