Author Archives: Liz Nicholls

Lost dreams restored in theatre magic: Michel(le) at L’UniThéâtre

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “Dramatic, tragic, eventful, and very singular.” That’s how Joey Lespérance describes the real-life story that inspired his first-ever solo play Michel(le). The L’Unithéâtre season finale opens Thursday at La Cité francophone (in French with English surtitles), … Continue reading →

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The Sterlings, a coda

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca Diverse disconnected thoughts from the Sterling gala Monday night. •It was an evening of three-and-a-half-plus hours hosted by a pair of improvisers, Marguerite Lawler and Gordie Lucius from Rapid Fire Theatre who actually (on purpose?) managed … Continue reading →

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Celebrating the season in Edmonton theatre: Mermaid Legs leads the way at the 36th annual Sterling Awards

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The spirit of off-centre ‘small theatre’ originality blew through the 36th annual Sterling Awards gala Monday night as the theatre community gathered to toast the 2023-24 season on Edmonton stages. And two challenging productions that live … Continue reading →

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The gods have their eye on you: Zulu creation mythology erupts in dance at Theatre Prospero. A review

Posted on June 23, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca “In the time before time….” The gods were busy creating and discussing and arguing, and generally keeping an eye on cosmology. Because that’s what Zulu gods do. They’re busy. Actually, their all-seeing eyes are upon us, … Continue reading →

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‘Rough magic’ for the great outdoors: Freewill Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a review

Posted on June 21, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca On a perfectly calm summer evening under an azure sky, a tiny ship, The Lady Capulet, careens among us, capsizing its way toward the stage, flinging drunken party people here and there, topsy turvy. It’s a … Continue reading →

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A first for Grindstone: a mainstage subscription season of big musicals at the Orange Hub

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The little comedy theatre that never sleeps just got bigger. The little theatre with the insomniac energy has announced their first mainstage subscription season, three big musicals, two from Broadway and one original. With a big … Continue reading →

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Our revels now have started: Nadien Chu stars in Freewill Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in an outdoor hockey rink near you

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The play that launches the 35th annual Freewill Shakespeare Festival this week — destined for four outdoor community league hockey rinks — is full of strange transformations. The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s late-period “romances,” begins with the … Continue reading →

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Finding a creative spark that had gone missing: theatre director Dennis Garnhum walks the Camino

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

“The noise in my head has been quieted by the gentle sounds of the ocean….” — Toward Beauty by Dennis Garnhum By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca This is the story of a theatre artist who found something he thought he’d lost … Continue reading →

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Musical theatre, opera, comedy, hockey: the weekend on Edmonton stages

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca On the stages of this theatre town this weekend, you can seek out an exquisite Stephen Sondheim musical, a classic opera buffa, a homegrown comedy with moving undertones. Plus a nutty (and kinda cool) idea by … Continue reading →

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The thrill of the unpredictable: Improvaganza is back at Rapid Fire Theatre

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Liz Nicholls

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca The only truly predictable thing about Improvaganza, besides laughter (yours), is that it returns, every June — with an international array of improv talent who are all about spontaneity. I’m not making this up. Making stuff … Continue reading →

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